Monday Open Line


Over the past few years, an activist group called the “Tea Party” has become a force within the American political structure. It takes its name, by some reckoning, and its inspiration from one of the most effective and famous protests ever staged — the Boston Tea Party. On this date in 1773, colonial protestors boarded ships in Boston Harbor and dumped many crates of valuable tea overboard to protest British tax policies. Britain’s retaliatory moves only hardened the position of the colonists wishing for independence and moved the American colonies closer to the revolution. Tea is no longer the expensive and dominant drink of choice that it once was in those years. Americans drink an average of 9 gallons of tea a year, compared to more than 23 gallons of coffee. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.

Sunday, December 15th. It was on this date in 1791 that Virginia ratified the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, making them law. Known as the Bill of Rights, we usually take them pretty much for granted, yet still find plenty of ground for philosophical contention over their real world, 21st century meaning. Among other things, these amendments guarantee freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the rights to peaceably assemble and fair trials, freedom of the press, and free exercise of religion. Every day Americans exercise these rights, many by attending the religious services of their choice. About 228 million Americans identify themselves with an established religion. Three-quarters say they are Christian. Another 2.6 million are Jewish, and 1.3 million others are Muslim. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.

Saturday, December 14th. Among other special observances being noted in December is Learn a Foreign Language Month, with the goal of getting people to broaden their outlook on the world by taking a course in another language. Increasingly, many different languages are heard across the nation. In the U.S., nearly 61 million people over age 5, or 21 percent, speak a language other than English at home. The leading non-English language is, unsurprisingly, Spanish at over 34 million. It’s a long drop to second place, held by the several Chinese variants at nearly 2.5 million. Other languages spoken in over 1 million households each are Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and German. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.