Growing up, My first loves were Elvis Presley, Donald O'Conner and Jerry Lewis...

By 1990, the cost of the average U.S. film had passed $25 million.^[153] Of the nine films released that year to gross more than $100 million at the U.S. box office, two would have been strictly B movie material before the late 1970s: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dick Tracy. Three more—the science-fiction thriller Total Recall, the action-filled detective thriller Die Hard 2, and the year's biggest hit, the slapstick kiddie comedy Home Alone—were also far closer to the traditional arena of the Bs than to classic A-list subject matter.^[154] The growing popularity of home video and access to unedited movies on cable and satellite television along with real estate pressures were making survival more difficult for the sort of small or non-chain theaters that were the primary home of independently produced genre films.^[155] Drive-in screens were rapidly disappearing from the American landscape. ^-wikipedia

Spock and I

Like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, I, too, am a devotee of the iconic Mr. Spock of Star Trek. I never confused him with the actor Leonard Nimoy until I saw the next iteration of him in Zachary Quinto, who seemed 'illogical' on some level.  But, unlike Sheldon, I am a woman, and I had this mad attraction to Mr. Spock, as did my college roommate, Jane, and apparently, a million other women. 

I made jokes about it, but when Star Trek (the Original TV Show) appeared on Netflix, I started binge-watching it all over again, and, again, becoming infected with my adoration of all things Vulcan and Mr. Spock.  Damn you, Netflix, Damn you! Better than ever! No commercial interruptions! and ON DEMAND! I'm am only my only second cycle of the 80 or so episodes. 

Now, I was a child in 1967-69 when the show aired, but I remember my older brother watching it. I caught on when I attended college in the 70s and it was on every day at 4pm after Jane and I returned from our classes at our Colorado college. We usually got high and settled in for the daily strange new frontier. Then, on Spring Break, we went to Los Angeles to visit friend Betsy of Santa Monica and she took us on a drive around Hollywood pointing out the stars' homes. Of course, we wanted to know where Spock lived, and she drove by some Brentwood estate, walled in, with no apparent entrance.
 
I had a flashback to that I Love Lucy episode where she jumps the wall of a movie star's home, but now in retrospect, I think Betsy was goofing on us. Her friend, a snarky surfer, kept telling us,
"Look, its Milton Berle!"
and we would whip our heads around, yelling, "Where?????"

Milton Berle, of course, was dead. We did go to Marilyn's grave, and we did see a 'star' when we passed some premier in action and Micheal York was visible. But, no Spock. 
So, Jane and I went back to school and returned to our ritual Star Trek routine with bong, 
and lusted like Nurse Chapel at the unobtainable Mr. Spock, too logical for romance, too emotionally distant to be a hot, passionate, steamy romance.

But, when these feeling erupted yet again via Netflix, I became a little more concerned.
I mean, I'm a baby boomer and I'm pushing 60, so this 'schoolgirl' crush caught me offguard.
I had actually seen Leonard Nimoy give a lecture at university where he was on a book tour for "I am Not Spock" and had carved out a post Star Trek career as a writer, photographer, and actor/director.I was of course, disappointed in the mundane Leonard Nimoy. I wanted Spock.

I went to my first Star Trek convention at college, too, and bought a really cool orange tee shirt with the Enterprise  stamped on the front. It was later stolen. I still miss that shirt.
and, of course, I watched with interest at the various incarnations of Star Trek in the latter days, but my only interest now was to write for the show. I sent a resume to Gene Roddenberry and got a call from the Next Generation producers who asked me to submit a script, but nothing ever came of it.  I wrote a script called "The Aurics," about a race of aliens who had some sort of electromagnetic powers, but in these pre-internet, pre digital days, this script, written on an IBM Selectric, got lost in space, along with my career. 

My attraction to aliens waned because I met real ones walking the planet, and, while I had my fair share of romance, I was subconsciously still looking for that coolly, logical, mindmeld with a vulcan.  Now, in retrospect, I see that Jane and I, probably adored the unemotional Spock since we came from alcoholic dads, and overemotional mothers, whose lives quickly disintegrated into soap operas, rather than space operas  Jane and I detested stupidity and emotional displays, and now, I see why my unrequited passion for Spock and the myth of logical romance became an unrealized dream for me. 

I would call it 'emotional logic, ' or a mind over matter approach to control one's passionate nature and not be controlled by it.  Self mastery and self discipline became a form of self love for me in an age of excess, sexual revolution, drug and alcohol abuse, and well, all things baby boomer. I battled my own addictions and excesses, and lately, watched as alcoholism consumed the lives of loved ones in ways I could never anticipate.  I long for the cool, emotional logic and self discipline of First Officer Spock, the scientific Vulcan with no apparent character flaws except for his keen logical approach, and emotional control. Spock who will remain forever - fascinating.

Baby Boomers invented the "HOOKUP" calling it FREE LOVE

Editor's note: Ian Kerner, a sexuality counselor and New York Times best-selling author, writes about sex and relationships for CNN Health. Read more from him on his website, GoodInBed.

(CNN) -- For many young adults, college is a rite of passage, filled with experiences ranging from parties to all-night cram sessions to that first serious relationship.

Yet romance may be getting short shrift these days, replaced instead with quick "hookups" devoid of any real emotion. That's the argument of a provocative new book, "The End of Sex: How Hookup Culture is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused About Intimacy."

Not only are more college students hooking up -- kissing, making out and having sex -- but these experiences often leave them feeling empty, sad and regretful, author Donna Freitas argues.

But is this generation's view of sex and love really so grim?

Ian Kerner

Freitas's book is partially based on the results of an earlier Internet survey she conducted of 2,500 U.S. college students at secular public, secular private and Catholic universities.

Of the 557 male and female students who responded to a question asking how they felt the morning after a hookup, 41% of those expressed sadness, regret and ambivalence.

The problem, contends Freitas, is a culture that overwhelmingly pressures young men and women to have meaningless hookups -- even though they might not enjoy it.

When your child walks in during sex

It's an intriguing argument, but is it really accurate?

"What has really changed is that among youth we see a decline in dating culture and so most college students have had more hookups than first dates," says Justin Garcia, a sex researcher at the Kinsey Institute in Indiana.

"Our data has shown that one of the greatest contributors to hookup behavior is a desire for sexual pleasure. However, there are also a large number of college students -- around 50% in one of our studies -- that hook up because they are hoping to start a romantic relationship or want emotional gratification."

Additionally, Kristen Mark, a sex and relationships researcher at Kentucky University, has found that students tend to view casual hookups as a positive alternative to romantic relationships.

"When we discuss the topic of casual sex and the hookup culture, they talk about it in the context of being too busy now to maintain a relationship or not wanting to make a relationship a priority at this stage in their life," she says. "Without exception, they discuss a long-term monogamous relationship as their desired end goal, but for now, casual sex meets their needs."

But true hookup culture isn't just about sex itself, says Freitas.

"Students define the sexual aspect of the hookup as 'anything from kissing to sex'," she explains. "To equate a hookup with casual sex is to miss the really important part of the conversation, which is that students feel so much pressure to show they are a part of things that they'll count almost anything as a hookup."

Why you should talk about sex before marriage

In other words, today's college culture has turned hooking up into a sport that all the "cool" kids are playing -- or at least talking about -- even if they secretly hate it.

But is hooking up -- and its sometimes bittersweet emotions -- just part of life?

"Although we tend to associate hookups with college students, people of all ages are doing it," says Justin Lehmiller, a social psychologist and Harvard researcher.

"Many men and women do express regret over some of their past hookups. But this is nothing new -- for as long as people have been having sex, they've had sexual regrets. And it's important to note that people often regret their romantic relationships, too, but we don't take that as a reason people should stop pursuing love."

Freitas says she would like to see college administrators take a role in expanding sexual education programs on campus. She also encourages young people to take breaks from "hooking up," find quiet time to talk to friends about intimacy and go out on real dates.

Emily Nagoski, wellness education director at Smith College, believes a holistic approach is necessary: "To create a culture that fosters satisfying relationships and sex, we must teach students how to live inside their bodies with confidence and joy," she explains. "Sex is part of that, but so are food, physical activity, sleep and mental health. The solution is living inside your body, rather than inside your beliefs about what's expected of you."

What to do after an affair

The good news? The urge to participate in hookup culture might be fleeting.

"As people get a bit older, we also see more traditional dating practices across all age groups," says Garcia. "That will never change -- pursuit of sex and love are at the core of the human condition."

The Sugar Rush of the Century

One of the most famous American candies of all time, the Tootsie Roll, was invented by an Austrian immigrant named Leo Hirschfeld who came to America in the late 1890s. Jews have always played a large role in candy making of yore, as Tablet magazine explains:
“One hundred years ago, most confections were generic, sold as penny candy from jars on shop counters. They were usually distributed by peddlers, most of them Jewish immigrants from Europe who sold a variety of goods on their rounds. Some of those peddlers arrived in the United States with little more than the clothes they were wearing and an entrepreneurial spirit, learning the candy trade from employers. Candy was a relatively easy thing for a newcomer to make. It did not require significant investment in equipment, materials, or labor, and could be made on a stove top with a few inexpensive ingredients. Ruined batches were cheap failures, and regular production helped move businesses from the kitchens and pushcarts to retail shops and factories. No other immigrant group is as central to the candy trade as Jews.”
Hirschfeld is said to have gone into the trade after learning from his father. Hirschfeld’s story, however, is not without its controversies. The official version as to how Tootsie Rolls started from humble beginnings goes like this, courtesy of Tootsie Roll Industries:
“The Tootsie Roll story began in 1896, when Austrian-born Leo Hirshfield opened a tiny candy shop in New York City. Taking full advantage of his confectioner’s background, Hirshfield hand-crafted a variety of products, including an individually wrapped, oblong, chewy, chocolate candy that quickly became a customer favorite. Sold at a penny apiece and affectionately named after Hirshfield’s five-year old daughter, Clara, whose nickname was “Tootsie,” Tootsie Rolls propelled Hirshfield’s modest corner store into burgeoning candy enterprise that has evolved in little more than a century into the multinational corporation, Tootsie Roll Industries.”
Hirschfeld is said to have arrived in New York Harbor in 1884 by steamship. His father’s trade was candy, so that’s the business he tried to get into, setting up shop in Brooklyn and selling to neighborhood children. To keep each Tootsie Roll clean, Hirschfeld reportedly wrapped each one individually in its signature red and brown wrapper, making the Tootsie Roll the first individually wrapped penny candy.
But what really happened may be more complicated than “official” version from Tootsie Roll Industries and others. Samira Kawash, a former professor at Rutgers University, lays out in her candyprofessor.com blog the myths that have shrouded Hirschfeld’s story. For one, Kawash notes that the inventor’s name, according to city records, was actually spelled “Hirschfeld,” not “Hirshfield,” as Tootsie Roll Industries writes it. According to Kawash, Hirschfeld was indeed the inventor of the Tootsie Roll, but he was far from the lone worker in bringing the candy to fame; instead, Hirschfeld was working in a Manhattan-based company called Stern & Saalberg.
Kawash believes that sometime between May 1, 1891 and May 1, 1892, Hirschfeld moved to Manhattan for a job with the company. There, he assigned a half interest to his machine patents—Hirschfeld was first and foremost an inventor—to his employers at Stern & Saalberg. He also invented one of Stern & Saalberg’s top sellers at the time, as Kawash explains:
“Well before Stern & Saalberg started selling Tootsie Rolls, they had another hot item: Bromangelon Jelly Powder. Jelled desserts were all the rage at the turn of the century. Jell-O is the only one we remember, but around 1900 you could have your pick of such temptations as Jellycon, Tryphora, and Bro-Man-Gel-On (also known as Bromangelon).”
Kawash is likely the most notable—and dedicated—researcher on the Hirschfeld found on the web. She writes in her February 3, 2010 entry:
“All the patents, trade-marks, and advertising put Tootsie Rolls in motion between 1907 and 1909. As far as I can gather from the evidence, the invention of Tootsie Rolls in 1896 in Hirschfeld’s little Brooklyn candy store is a myth.”
“Tootsie Rolls made Leo Hirschfeld very rich. He couldn’t have done it on his own, though. Without Stern & Saalberg, an established business with sufficient capital to launch a major candy line, Hirschfeld would have languished in his little Brooklyn house, selling bits of candy to the neighborhood kids. And without Hirschfeld and his inventions, The Stern & Saalberg Company would have gone on as a small candy wholesaler offering ‘Fluffy Mints’ and ‘Diamond’ brand gelatin dessert mix. But The Stern & Saalberg Company went on to become The Sweets Company of America, which in turn became Tootsie Roll Industries, a business today worth well over one billion dollars.”
That fortune came largely because of America’s love of the famed candy. Even during World War II, the Tootsie Roll was one of the few candies that remained in production due to its long-lasting qualities; it was rationed to GI troops sent overseas.
But Hirschfeld never saw the days of that scope of success, and his latter days were quite dark. Despite having invented one of Stern & Saalberg’s most prominent candies, he was unable to move past the position of vice president in the company. He was an inventor, not a businessman, as Kawash notes.
In addition, not all was well in his personal life. His wife is said to have been mentally ill, while he suffered from stomach problems.
Hirschfeld committed suicide in the Hotel Monterey at West 42nd Street in Manhattan in 1922. The New York Times obituary reads as follows:
“Mr. Hirschfeld was at his office in the morning, but left early saying that he would not be back that day. He had been suffering considerable pain from stomach trouble and was depressed by separation from his wife, who had been in a sanitarium. He went to his hotel, where had been stopping for some weeks, and from his room sent down word to the clerk asking for a headache remedy, but directed that it should not be sent up for an hour.”
“When the boy finally went to the room, he found Mr. Hirschfeld sitting in a big arm chair near the bed with a heavy caliber revolver in his lap. After the bullet had passed through his head from the front, it smashed the bedpost and buried itself in the wall.”
He left a short note saying that he was “sorry, but could not help it.”
From the obituary, we also learn that he had a daughter, who lived at 87th Street.
But Kawash thinks Hirschfeld’s death is much more complicated than the Times would have it, writing:
“By the time Stern & Saalberg reorganized as The Sweets Company of America in 1917, Stern and Saalberg were both retired. But Hirschfeld, who had been there longer than anyone else, had never risen beyond Vice-President. Others came in and took over the company. Hirschfeld was a brilliant inventor, but maybe not such a great businessman. He was pushed out at The Sweets Company of America, so he ventured out on his own to start fresh with the Mells Candy Corporation. But nothing came of it. Mells was bankrupt by 1924.”

We may never know why Hirschfeld pulled the trigger, or why myths continue about the Tootsie Roll’s humble beginnings (even Tablet magazine featured an article based on Tootsie Roll’s official version, writing “The story of Tootsie Rolls began in 1896, when Leo Hirshfield opened a little corner candy shop in New York City.”). But what is nearly certain is that the candy, largely unchanged for over a century, will continue to be one America’s favorites.
And as of 2010, Jews who keep kosher have been able to enjoy Tootsie Rolls, too.
“It’s the kind of news that rocks the kosher world, as did Oreo’s entry into the kosher marketplace in 1997 or Entenmann’s in 1989,” one blogger wrote in Jewish Journal the day Tootsie Rolls’ kosher status was announced. “There is no shortage of kosher candy—nearly all Hershey’s, Nestle, Mars and Ferrara Pan’s products are kosher, and Jewish brands like Paskesz and Bloom’s do a pretty good job of reproducing kosher versions of all the sweet, chewy, sticky stuff that kids (of all ages) crave. But even with Jelly Belly’s recent entry into the kosher marketplace, nobody comes close to imitating the chocolaty, toothy satisfaction of biting into a Tootsie Roll.”
Asked why the Tootsie Roll went kosher, president of Tootsie Roll Industries Ellen Rubin Gordon told KosherEye: “I am pleased and excited that more people will have the opportunity to enjoy the Tootsie products. Tootsie’s sister products Andes Mints and Cella’s Cherries have been kosher certified for a long time. So this decision was arrived at naturally,” before adding, “There were no ingredient changes to make Tootsie Rolls kosher; the primary change is that production is now supervised by the OU.”
Tootsie Rolls are considered dairy.
Junior Mints, Blow Pops, Tootsie Roll Pops, Caramel Apple Pops, Charms, Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies have been kosher-certified by the Orthodox Union since 2011.

Geriatric Comedian?

Roseann Brown is a fitness instructor for older adults.

By KERRY HANNON

INSIDE the lower-level studio of the McBurney Y in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, Abba’s 1970s hit “Dancing Queen” is thumping out: “See that girl, watch that scene, diggin’ the dancing queen.” Right in step to the bouncing beat is a senior squad of 40 slightly sweaty women and men, ages 60 to 85.

Enlarge This Image

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

Ms. Brown leading an Active Older Adults Power class at the McBurney Y in Chelsea.

This Active Older Adults Power class is filled to capacity. The high-energy 59-year-old instructor, Roseann Brown, is not surprised. Attendance has doubled in these kinds of active adult exercise classes since she became a senior fitness instructor four years ago. Little wonder that the number of fitness clubs and gyms across the country offering these special classes is rapidly multiplying, according to fitness industry experts.

Ms. Brown has tapped into a budding field. As the population ages, jobs like senior fitness trainer and other jobs in health care, housing and other areas are on the rise. By 2050, according to Pew Research projections, about one in five Americans will be over 65, up from 13 percent of the United States population now. This demographic shift is already creating new fields and opportunities for workers of all ages.

“As tens of millions of people live into their 80s and 90s, we’ll need millions of others in their 50s and 60s and 70s to help care for them — not just within families, but through second careers,” said Marc Freedman, author of “The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife.”

“They’ll be able to fill millions of positions we will need to fill — as nurses, home health aides, health navigators and roles we’ve yet to even define,” he said.

Certain workers are already clearly in demand, including fitness coaches like Ms. Brown, people who modify homes to make them safer, certified financial planners and people who can offer monthly help with finances and bill-paying.

How do you exploit the emerging gray-jobs marketplace?

First, you probably need to bolster your résumé with new skills. But if heading back to school for a full degree program or a master’s seems too expensive and time-consuming, there are less expensive and faster certificate programs that could fit the bill. In recent years, they have been proliferating at community colleges and universities across the country. And employers and clients are increasingly accepting professional certifications as proof of one’s expertise.

Here is a sampler of growing job sectors serving an aging population and the continuing education you may need for a job:

Home Modification Pro

A recent report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies predicts a continued period of recovery and growth for the American home improvement industry, powered in large part by the many older homeowners who are preparing to age in place.

So the industry is likely to look different from just a few years ago. Rather than building an addition to a home or refinishing a basement, jobs are likely to involve remodeling to make homes easier for older adults to live in after retirement. “It’s a concept whose time has come,” says Esther Greenhouse, an independent consultant on elder- and disability-friendly design and policy based in Ithaca, N.Y.

Pay can start at $40 an hour, but experts like Ms. Greenhouse, 42, who teaches courses on aging in place for the National Association of Home Builders and consults for major manufacturers, charge $150 an hour.

According to the Remodeling Futures program, as of 2011, nearly half of all United States home improvement spending came from homeowners over 55 (10 years ago, they were responsible for less than a third of it).

Although most owners 55 and older have a bedroom on the first floor to avoid stairs, only a third have wheelchair-accessible kitchens, and fewer than one in six have raised toilets, lever door handles rather than knobs, or wider doorways and hallways for easier navigation, according to the Harvard report.

To prepare for this job, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist courses from the National Association of Home Builders teach design and building techniques for making a home accessible to all ages. The program consists of three individual classes that cover such things as design basics, building standards, how to do a home assessment and the best methods to market services. Total fees for the combined courses are typically under $1,000.

Many in the program are professional builders and remodelers, but interior designers and occupational therapists enroll, too. Even landscape designers take it to help them create retiree-friendly gardens and outdoor spaces in private residences.

Surprisingly, according to Jeff Jenkins, the home builders’ association’s director of education, women make up a large share of those who attain the designation.

Courses are offered at N.A.H.B.-sponsored events like the annual International Builders’ Show and the Remodeling Show in the fall. They are also scheduled at builder association locations across the country. Every three years, continuing education is required to maintain the designation.

“There is so much more than stairs and tripping hazards,” Ms. Greenhouse said. To teach awareness of the environment and help her students understand what their clients are dealing with, she asks them to explore a living space with earplugs, or glasses with dark lenses smeared with petroleum jelly to simulate macular degeneration. They might ride around in a wheelchair or use a walker.

A profession complementary to Aging in Place home modifications is installing home automation systems. “If Grandma has a system where she can see who is at the front door via video, can unlock the front door remotely, can control her heating, cooling, window shades and lighting from a tablet, that is an enormous step for safety and independence,” Ms. Greenhouse said. Go to the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association for training and information.

Move Manager

For those downsizing to smaller quarters later in life — usually an apartment or retirement community — a move manager can coordinate a move and configure a new home setup.

Clients need advice on choosing which furniture, collectibles and household goods make the cut to head over to the new residence. A move manager can assess what can be sold, donated or given to friends and family, and might even be in charge of shopping for new furniture that suits the new home, or organizing and running an estate or yard sale.

This job calls for configuring and cajoling, and the moves involved are fraught with emotion. A calm but take-charge demeanor is a desirable personality trait.

Fees range from $30 an hour to more than $75. Knowledge of interior design is essential. A relationship with a real estate agent can jump-start your business as well as provide a steady clientele down the road. For more information on courses and certification, contact the National Association of Senior Move Managers.

For leads on jobs, move managers can stop by real estate offices and visit retirement and assisted-living communities to ask about their future residents’ needs. Find out who is handling this type of work for them. The community’s management office usually provides arriving residents with suggestions for moving specialists to lend a hand with what can be a daunting endeavor for downsizers of any age.

Patient Advocate

Last fall, Kelly Lonigan, a 71-year-old former clinical social worker who lives in Sacramento, decided to “unretire” after five years out of the job market.

On the radio, she heard an interview with a cancer patient who said the best $4,500 he ever spent was to hire a patient advocate to help him deal with his health care.

That clicked with her. She looked up “patient advocate” online, and the patient advocacy certificate program from Empowered U.C.L.A. Extension came up on her screen. “My heart just opened. This is something I can get my heart into again,” Ms. Lonigan said.

The role of patient advocate varies. Some advocates tackle billing mistakes and insurance coverage rejections. Others might help in choosing doctors, offer guidance in treatment choices, assist in locating a specialist or hospital, go with patients to doctor appointments and keep track of prescriptions.

Job opportunities might include working privately for one person or a couple, or working on staff as an advocate or patient navigator at a hospital. Fees vary from $15 up to $150 an hour.

Empowered U.C.L.A. Extension is an online education company that offers fast-track certificate programs for older adults. These 20- to 25-student classes are taught on an iPad screen through an app that delivers audio, face-time video and discussion boards.

Once enrolled, students meet with their career counselors as often as they like, through face-to-face video chats, phone calls, e-mail and group webinars. Dedicated career counselor support will last for two years starting when the first school bell rings.

“I know I’m pushing my neurons,” Ms. Lonigan says. “And that’s a good thing at my age.”

To enroll in Empowered’s Patient Advocacy certificate program, you need a bachelor’s degree in any field, or an associate degree in nursing, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy (assistant) or physical therapy (assistant). Tuition is $7,400.

Community colleges and nonprofit organizations also are developing training and certification programs for patient advocates. Nurses, social workers, medical professionals and insurance experts are in high demand for these positions. But someone who has steered his or her own hair-pulling path, or a parent or partner’s, through the medical system might be the perfect person to take on this role.

No licenses are required, but there are credential programs available. Contact the National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants in Berkeley, Calif., and the nonprofit Patient Advocate Foundation for information. The Master List of Health and Patient Advocacy Educational Courses, Programs and Organizations is a good resource for workshops and courses across the country.

Fitness Trainer

Get-up-and-go and good communication skills are prerequisites. Trainers teach group classes and one-on-one sessions that typically run 45 minutes to an hour. An understanding of human physiology, proper exercise practices and an ability to judge a client’s fitness level is essential.

Aqua aerobics is a growing specialty, as is “accessible” yoga, which adapts techniques for people with chronic illness and disabilities. Instructors tweak traditional yoga positions for people who are in a chair or wheelchair or have other physical issues.

Hours are generally flexible. Pay is $17 to $30 an hour, but in larger cities, rates can increase to $60 or more. Most health clubs collect the cost for the session from members and dole out a percentage to you.

Certification is not required by law, but most fitness clubs require it. Several groups offer some type of credential. These include the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America, the American Council on Exercise, the International Sports Sciences Association, the National Exercise Trainers Association, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Y.M.C.A. Silver Sneakers and the Arthritis Foundation.

Such programs cost about $200 to $400 and usually consist of a written test and a practical exam. For all credentials, an additional certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation is required. Insurance might also be necessary.

At the Y in Chelsea, Ms. Brown says fitness instructor is her dream job, after three decades working in the garment industry. She leads 17 classes a week in groups of 15 to 40 older adults at a variety of locations and earns about $40 to $50 an hour.

She is gratified when she sees a client who once was unsteady on her feet gradually growing steadier and more confident. “There’s a certain vitality that shows through in their smiles that’s hard to describe, but it’s magic,” Ms. Brown said.

Kerry Hannon is the author of “Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy ... and Pays the Bills” (John Wiley & Sons)

Nixon anti-American?

 The other day I got one of those emails berating Jane Fonda ("Hanoi Jane") for her disrespect to Veterans because she was an anti war protestor. I should have saved it, for the irony would come a few days later in this news story:


 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21768668
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21768668


From the BBC
Declassified tapes of Lyndon Johnson.
On the White House tapes we learn that Johnson wanted to know from Daley how many delegates would support his candidacy. LBJ only wanted to get back into the race if Daley could guarantee the party would fall in line behind him.
They also discussed whether the president's helicopter, Marine One, could land on top of the Hilton Hotel to avoid the anti-war protesters.
Daley assured him enough delegates would support his nomination but the plan was shelved after the Secret Service warned the president they could not guarantee his safety.
The idea that Johnson might have been the candidate, and not Hubert Humphrey, is just one of the many secrets contained on the White House tapes.

They also shed light on a scandal that, if it had been known at the time, would have sunk the candidacy of Republican presidential nominee, Richard Nixon.
By the time of the election in November 1968, LBJ had evidence Nixon had sabotaged the Vietnam war peace talks - or, as he put it, that Nixon was guilty of treason and had "blood on his hands".
The BBC's former Washington correspondent Charles Wheeler learned of this in 1994 and conducted a series of interviews with key Johnson staff, such as defence secretary Clark Clifford, and national security adviser Walt Rostow.

Continue reading the main story

We now know...

• After the Viet Cong's Tet offensive, White House doves persuaded Johnson to end the war
• Johnson loathed Senator Bobby Kennedy but the tapes show he was genuinely devastated by his assassination
• He feared vice-president Hubert Humphrey would go soft on Vietnam if elected president
• The BBC's Charles Wheeler would have been under FBI surveillance when he met administration officials in 1968
• In 1971 Nixon made huge efforts to find a file containing everything Johnson knew in 1968 about Nixon's skulduggery

But by the time the tapes were declassified in 2008 all the main protagonists had died, including Wheeler.

Now, for the first time, the whole story can be told.
It begins in the summer of 1968. Nixon feared a breakthrough at the Paris Peace talks designed to find a negotiated settlement to the Vietnam war, and he knew this would derail his campaign.
He therefore set up a clandestine back-channel involving Anna Chennault, a senior campaign adviser.
At a July meeting in Nixon's New York apartment, the South Vietnamese ambassador was told Chennault represented Nixon and spoke for the campaign. If any message needed to be passed to the South Vietnamese president, Nguyen Van Thieu, it would come via Chennault.
In late October 1968 there were major concessions from Hanoi which promised to allow meaningful talks to get underway in Paris - concessions that would justify Johnson calling for a complete bombing halt of North Vietnam. This was exactly what Nixon feared.

The Paris peace talks may have ended years earlier, if it had not been for Nixon's subterfuge

Chennault was despatched to the South Vietnamese embassy with a clear message: the South Vietnamese government should withdraw from the talks, refuse to deal with Johnson, and if Nixon was elected, they would get a much better deal.
So on the eve of his planned announcement of a halt to the bombing, Johnson learned the South Vietnamese were pulling out.
He was also told why. The FBI had bugged the ambassador's phone and a transcripts of Anna Chennault's calls were sent to the White House. In one conversation she tells the ambassador to "just hang on through election".
Johnson was told by Defence Secretary Clifford that the interference was illegal and threatened the chance for peace.

 

 

Nixon went on to become president and eventually signed a Vietnam peace deal in 1973

In a series of remarkable White House recordings we can hear Johnson's reaction to the news.
In one call to Senator Richard Russell he says: "We have found that our friend, the Republican nominee, our California friend, has been playing on the outskirts with our enemies and our friends both, he has been doing it through rather subterranean sources. Mrs Chennault is warning the South Vietnamese not to get pulled into this Johnson move."
He orders the Nixon campaign to be placed under FBI surveillance and demands to know if Nixon is personally involved.
When he became convinced it was being orchestrated by the Republican candidate, the president called Senator Everett Dirksen, the Republican leader in the Senate to get a message to Nixon.
The president knew what was going on, Nixon should back off and the subterfuge amounted to treason.

Publicly Nixon was suggesting he had no idea why the South Vietnamese withdrew from the talks. He even offered to travel to Saigon to get them back to the negotiating table.
Johnson felt it was the ultimate expression of political hypocrisy but in calls recorded with Clifford they express the fear that going public would require revealing the FBI were bugging the ambassador's phone and the National Security Agency (NSA) was intercepting his communications with Saigon.
So they decided to say nothing.
The president did let Humphrey know and gave him enough information to sink his opponent. But by then, a few days from the election, Humphrey had been told he had closed the gap with Nixon and would win the presidency. So Humphrey decided it would be too disruptive to the country to accuse the Republicans of treason, if the Democrats were going to win anyway.
Nixon ended his campaign by suggesting the administration war policy was in shambles. They couldn't even get the South Vietnamese to the negotiating table.
He won by less than 1% of the popular vote.
Once in office he escalated the war into Laos and Cambodia, with the loss of an additional 22,000 American lives, before finally settling for a peace agreement in 1973 that was within grasp in 1968.
The White House tapes, combined with Wheeler's interviews with key White House personnel, provide an unprecedented insight into how Johnson handled a series of crises that rocked his presidency. Sadly, we will never have that sort of insight again.

Dark Side

Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side’: 40 Years Later, 40 Mind-Blowing Facts About The Mad Classic

By Chris Willman | Stop The Presses! – 

Sure, like everybody else, you’ve listened to Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon so many times that you can recite not just every line but every heartbeat, clock tick, and cash register ring by heart. But how much do you really know about the landmark prog classic, which is celebrating its 40^th anniversary this month?

To celebrate the 40 years we’ve been listening to what is arguably the preeminent rock album of the 1970s, here are 40 things you ought to know about Dark Side. Because lunacy breeds albums about lunacy, and albums about lunacy breed lunatic obsessions with album trivia. Let’s start with that iconic cover art, shall we?The original prism coverThe band members spent three minutes deciding on the front cover. Designer Storm Thorgerson brought seven designs into the Abbey Road studio where they were still recording. “The band trooped in, swept their gaze across the designs, looked at each other, nodded, and said ‘That one,’ pointing at the prism. Took all of three minutes,” Thorgerson recalled in liner notes for the 2011 deluxe box. In an 2003 interview, the designer elaborated, “No amount of cajoling would get them to consider any other contender, nor endure further explanation of the prism, or how exactly it might look. ‘That’s it,’ they said in unison, ‘we’ve got to get back to real work,’ and returned forthwith to the studio upstairs.”
One of the rejected designs involved a then-popular Marvel comic book superhero. Imagine how differently we’d think of the album if the Floyd members had expressed any interest in one of Thorgersen’s alternative ideas, to have the cover feature… the Silver Surfer!
The band had always hated having their photos in the artwork. “When Storm showed us all the ideas, with that one, there was no doubt,” guitarist David Gilmour told Rolling Stone in 2003. “It was, ‘That is it.’ It's a brilliant cover. One can look at it after that first moment of brilliance and think, ‘Well, it's a very commercial idea: It's very stark and simple; it'll look great in shop windows.’ It wasn't a vague picture of four lads bouncing in the countryside. That fact wasn't lost on us.”
It was keyboardist Rick Wright who was insistent that the cover not feature any photography at all, even conceptual photos. The Hipgnosis design team was famous for elaborately staged and photographed covers, like Wish You Were Here, which came out two years later. But in this instance, as Thorgerson remembers it, Wright “said, ‘Storm, let’s have a cool graphic, not one of your tatty [figurative] pictures…’ I protested. ‘Rick,’ I said, ‘I do images, I don’t do cool graphics.’… Whereupon Rick said, ‘Why don’t you try to see it as a challenge.’”
The prism design was partly inspired by Floyd’s extravagant live light shows. “The refracting glass prism referred to Floyd light shows–consummate use of light in the concert setting,” Thorgerson said in an interview for the album’s 30^th anniversary. “Its outline is triangular and triangles are symbols of ambition, and are redolent of pyramids, both cosmic and mad in equal measure, all these ideas touching on themes in the lyrics. The joining of the spectrum extending round the back cover and across the gatefold inside was seamless like the segueing tracks on the album, whilst the opening heartbeat was represented by a repeating blip in one of the colors.”The infra-red pyramids posterThe designer went to Egypt to shoot infra-red photography of the pyramids for an inside poster. Pyramids are triangular, like the prism on the front cover, so there was that angle. But Thorgerson also figured pyramids tied in with the album’s running theme of insanity, being “fantastic structures intended to elevate Pharaohs and assist in transporting worldly goods skywards to heaven—and how mad is that?”
For a while the album had a different working title. It was to be named Eclipse (A Piece for Assorted Lunatics].
The reason it had a different title for a while was because there’d just been another album come out called Dark Side of the Moon. A group called Medicine Head beat them to the punch with a 1972 release by that title, which made Pink Floyd temporarily drop it as theirs. But when the Medicine Head album flopped, the original title was a go again.
“Money” is one of the few hit singles ever to utilize a 7/4 time signature. Roger Waters has made it sound like David Gilmour wasn’t down with that weird rhythm. “Occasionally,” Waters told Rolling Stone, “I would do things and Dave would say, ‘No, that's wrong. There should be another beat. That's only seven.’ I'd say, ‘Well, that's how it is.’ A number of my songs have bars of odd length.” But part of the song does take place in a traditional time signature. As Gilmour said, "We created a 4/4 progression for the guitar solo (but) made the poor sax player play in 7/4."

Running for Pope

Elmore’s Op-Ed in The New York Times

The Next Pope:  A Cool Black Nun?

WHEN I was a boy, around the time Pope Pius XI died, in 1939, I remember my dad saying he could be the next pope if he got the votes. He said there were no rules saying the pope had to come out of the cardinal pool, or be a bishop or priest of some kind; he only had to be a Catholic — male, of course — of good standing in the church, to be elected. My mother, Flora, normally a kind soul, would tell Elmore Sr., “Shush, you could never in the world be the pope.” It was the only subject I remember them arguing about.

Read the rest in The New York Times.

Real Indians?

http://youtu.be/LoVhgaj6PiE

 Real Indians, or Native Americans have been around forever, but in fact, their numbers have greatly diminished. The US Census reports there are less than two million Native Americans left in North America, but there are some both North and South of the Border. So, US Real Indians are referred to as the 'Vanishing American' 

Now, the US Census reports On the other hand, there are numerous Americans who have been real indians in a past life, myself included. 

Here's an example from Psychic Silvia Brown Indian Medicine asks How many Past Lives have I had, and does the name "Inoya" have a play in any of those lives? Thank you for your time and your work for others. 

Sylvia: You've had 39 past lives and Inoya was your name as a Mayan. 

I, too, was a Real Indian in a past life, but way back during prehistoric times. And, I died as a small child of hunger. but, I digress, whenever there's a drought, I tell people to do a raindance. They think its funny, but little do they know, it actually works. Why? I have no idea. For some reason, whenever I have problems or stress, I like to dance it out. 
That's what Real Indians do.

So, last time I looked there was 2 million Real Indians, but now in 2012, it seems there are less than two million.  So, there it is - The Vanishing American.


US census calls Real Indians - American Indian or Alaska Native — Print name of enrolled or principal tribe

 and here's the wiki on Real Indians

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct Native American tribes and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities. The terms used to refer to Native Americans have been controversial. According to a 1995 U.S. Census Bureau set of home interviews, most of the respondents with an expressed preference refer to themselves as American Indians (or simply Indians), and this term has been adopted by major newspapers and some academic groups; however, this term does not typically include Native Hawaiians or certain Alaskan Natives, such as Aleuts, Cup'ik/Yup'ik, and Inuit peoples.

So, I'm kind of a Poplulation nut, so here's the wiki on that:
but first here's to historical inaccuracies...
In the 2000 Census, respondents were tallied in each of the race groups they reported. Consequently, the total of each racial category exceeds the total population because some people reported more than one race.^[3]
According to James P. Allen and Eugene Turner from California State University, Northridge, by some calculations in the 2000 Census the largest part white bi-racial population is white/Native American and Alaskan Native, at 7,015,017, followed by white/black at 737,492, then white/Asian at 727,197, and finally white/Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander at 125,628.^[22]

The Census Bureau implemented a Census Quality Survey, gathering data from approximately 50,000 households in order to assess the reporting of race and Hispanic origin in the 2000 Census with the purpose creating a way to make comparisons between the 2000 Census with previous Census racial data.^[3]

In September 1997, during the process of revision of racial categories previously declared by OMB directive no. 15, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) recommended that OMB combine the "race" and "ethnicity" categories into one question to appear as "race/ethnicity" for the 2000 US Census. 

The Interagency Committee agrees, stating that "race" and "ethnicity" were not sufficiently defined and "that many respondents conceptualize 'race' and 'ethnicity' as one in the same [sic] underscor[ing] the need to consolidate these terms into one category, using a term that is more meaningful to the American people."^[4]
The AAA also stated,

"The American Anthropological Association recommends the elimination of the term "race" from OMB Directive 15 during the planning for the 2010 Census. During the past 50 years, "race" has been scientifically proven to not be a real, natural phenomenon. More specific, social categories such as "ethnicity" or "ethnic group" are more salient for scientific purposes and have fewer of the negative, racist connotations for which the concept of race was developed." "Yet the concept of race has become thoroughly—and perniciously—woven into the cultural and political fabric of the United States. It has become an essential element of both individual identity and government policy. Because so much harm has been based on "racial" distinctions over the years, correctives for such harm must also acknowledge the impact of "racial" consciousness among the U.S. populace, regardless of the fact that "race" has no scientific justification in human biology. Eventually, however, these classifications must be transcended and replaced by more non-racist and accurate ways of representing the diversity of the U.S. population." ^[4]

The recommendations of the AAA were not adopted by the Census Bureau for the 2000 Census or the 2010 Census.

Population and distribution

The 2010 census permitted respondents to self-identify as being of one or more races. Self-identification dates from the census of 1960; prior to that the race of the respondent was determined by opinion of the census taker. The option to select more than one race was introduced in 2000.^[121] If American Indian or Alaska Native was selected, the form requested the individual provide the name of the "enrolled or principal tribe". The 2010 Census showed that the U.S. population on April 1, 2010, was 308.7 million.^[122]
Out of the total U.S. population, 2.9 million people, or 0.9 percent, reported American Indian and Alaska Native alone. In addition, 2.3 million people, or another 0.7 percent, reported American Indian and Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races. Together, these two groups totaled 5.2 million people. Thus, 1.7 percent of all people in the United States identified as American Indian and Alaska Native, either alone or in combination with one or more other races.^[122]
The definition of American Indian or Alaska Native used in the 2010 census:

According to Office of Management and Budget, “American Indian or Alaska Native” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.^[122]

78% of Native Americans live outside a reservation. Full-blood individuals are more likely to live on a reservation than mixed-blood individuals. The Navajo, with 286,000 full-blood individuals, is the largest tribe if only full-blood individuals are counted; the Navajo are the tribe with the highest proportion of full-blood individuals, 86.3%. The Cherokee have a different history; it is the largest tribe with 819,000 individuals, and it has 284,000 full-blood individuals.^[123]

 

 

Census 1790

In 1790, first official year of the U.S. Census, the following questions were asked, four of which had racial implications:

• Number of free White males aged under 16 years
• Number of free White males aged 16 years and upward
• Number of free White females
• Number of other free persons
• Number of slaves^[7]

In 1800 and 1810, the age question regarding free white males was more detailed.^[7]

Census 1820

The 1820 census built on the questions asked in 1810 by asking age questions about the slaves who were formerly owned. Also the term “colored” enters the census nomenclature. In addition, a question stating “Number of foreigners not naturalized” was included.^[7]

Census 1830

For the 1830 census, a new question which stated “The number of White persons who were foreigners not naturalized” was included.^[7] This reflected the growth of Nativist movements in American society at this time - as well as combining the number and age question of both slaves and free colored individuals.^{[citation needed]}

Census 1850

The 1850 census saw a dramatic shift in the way information about residents was collected. For the first time, free persons were listed individually instead of by head of household. There were two questionnaires: one for free inhabitants and one for slaves. The question on the free inhabitants schedule about color was a column that was to be left blank if a person was white, marked "B" if a person was black, and marked "M" if a person was mulatto. Slaves were listed by owner, and classified by gender and age, not individually, and the question about color was a column that was to be marked with a "B" if the slave was black and an "M" if mulatto.^[7]

Census 1870

For the 1870 census, the color/racial question was expanded to include “C” for Chinese, which was a category that included all east Asians, as well as “I” for American Indians.^[7]

Census 1890

For 1890, the Census Office changed the design of the population questionnaire. Residents were still listed individually, but a new questionnaire sheet was used for each family. Additionally, this was the first year that the census distinguished between different East Asian races, such as Japanese and Chinese, due to increased immigration. This census also marked the beginning of the term “race” in the questionnaires. Enumerators were instructed to write "White," "Black," "Mulatto," "Quadroon," "Octoroon," "Chinese," "Japanese," or "Indian."^[7]

Census 1900

For 1900, the “Color or Race” question was slightly modified, removing the term “Mulatto”. Also, there was an inclusion of an “Indian Population Schedule” in which “enumerators were instructed to use a special expanded questionnaire for American Indians living on reservations or in family groups off of reservations.” This expanded version included the question “Fraction of person's lineage that is white.”^[7]

Census 1910

The 1910 census was similar to that of 1900, but it included a re-insertion of “Mulatto” and a question about the respondent's "mother tongue.” “Ot” was also added to signify "other races", with space for a race to be written in. This decade's version of the Indian Population Schedule featured questions asking the individual’s proportion of white, black, or American Indian lineage.^[7]

Census 1920

The 1920 census questionnaire was similar to 1910, but excluded a separate schedule for American Indians. “Hin”, “Kor”, and “Fil” were also added to the “Color or Race” question, signifying Hindu (South Asia Indian), Korean, and Filipino, respectively.^[7]

Census 1930

The biggest change in this year’s census was in racial classification. Enumerators were instructed to no longer use the "Mulatto" classification. Instead, they were given special instructions for reporting the race of interracial persons. A person with both white and black ancestry (termed "blood") was to be recorded as "Negro," no matter the fraction of that lineage (the "one-drop rule"). A person of mixed Black and American Indian ancestry was also to be recorded as "Neg" (for "Negro") unless he was considered to be "predominantly" American Indian and accepted as such within the community. A person with both White and American Indian ancestry was to be recorded as an Indian, unless his American Indian ancestry was small, and he was accepted as White within the community. In all situations in which a person had White and some other racial ancestry, he was to be reported as that other race. Persons who had minority interracial ancestry were to be reported as the race of their father.
For the first and only time, "Mexican" was listed as a race. Enumerators were instructed that all persons born in Mexico, or whose parents were born in Mexico, should be listed as Mexicans, and not under any other racial category. But, in prior censuses and in 1940, enumerators were instructed to list Mexican Americans as white.^[8]
The Supplemental American Indian questionnaire was back, but in abbreviated form. It featured a question asking if the person was of full or mixed American Indian ancestry.^[7][9]

Census 1940 (Population)

The 1940 census was the first to include separate population and housing questionnaires.^[7] The race category of "Mexican" was eliminated in 1940, and the population of Mexican descent was counted with the White population.^[8]

Census 1950 (Population)

The 1950 Census questionnaire removed the word “color” from the racial question, and also removed Hindu and Korean from the race choices.^[7]

Census 1960 (Population)

The 1960 Census re-added the word “color” to the racial question, and changed “Indian” to “American Indian”, as well as added Hawaiian, Part-Hawaiian, Aleut, and Eskimo. The Other (print out race) option was removed.^[7]

Census 1970 (Population)

This year’s census included “Negro or Black”, re-added Korean and the Other race option. There was a questionnaire that was asked of only a sample of respondents. These questions were as follows:
a. Where was this person born?
b. Is this person's origin or descent...

• Mexican
• Puerto Rican
• Cuban
• Central or South American
• Other Spanish
• None of These

14. What country was the person's father born in?
15. What country was the person's mother born in?
16.
a. For persons born in a foreign country- Is the person naturalized?
b. When did the person come to the United States to stay?
17. What language, other than English, was spoken in the person's home as a child?

• Spanish
• French
• German
• Other
• None, only English^[7]

Census 1980 (Population)

This year added several options to the race question, including Vietnamese, Indian (East) Guamanian, Samoan, and re-added Aleut. Again, the term “color” was removed from the racial question, and the following questions were asked of a sample of respondents:
11. In what state or foreign country was the person born?
12. If this person was born in a foreign country...
a. Is this person a naturalized citizen of the United States?
b. When did this person come the United States to stay?
13.
a. Does this person speak a language other than English at home?
b. If yes, what is this language?
c. If yes, how well does this person speak English?
14. What is this person's ancestry?^[7]

Census 1990 (Population)

The racial categories in this year are as they appear in the 2000 and 2010 Census. The following questions were asked of a sample of respondents for the 1990 Census:
8. In what U.S. State or foreign country was this person born?
9. Is this person a citizen of the United States?
10. If this person was not born in the United States, when did this person come to the United States to stay?^[7]
The 1990 Census was not designed to capture multiple racial responses, and when individuals marked the Other race option and provided a multiple write in, the response was assigned according to the race written first. “For example, a write in of "Black-White" was assigned a code of Black, a write in of "White-Black" was assigned a code of White.”^[3]

In the United States, census data indicate that the number of children in interracial families grew from less than one half million in 1970 to about two million in 1990. In 1990, for interracial families with one white American partner, the other parent...was Asian American for 45 percent...^[10]

Census 2000 (Population)

Race was asked differently in the Census 2000 in several other ways than previously. Most significantly, respondents were given the option of selecting one or more race categories to indicate racial identities. Data show that nearly seven million Americans identified as members of two or more races. Because of these changes, the Census 2000 data on race are not directly comparable with data from the 1990 census or earlier censuses. Use of caution is therefore recommended when interpreting changes in the racial composition of the US population over time.

Snapshot: Race in the US Census

The 23rd federal census, 2010 [11] asks one ethnic and one race question (questions 1-4 not reproduced here, questions 5 and 6 paraphrased): 8. Is the person of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin? No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano Yes, Puerto Rican Yes, Cuban Yes, another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin — Print origin, for example, Argentinean, Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Spaniard, and so on. 9. What is the person's race? White Black, African Am., or Negro American Indian or Alaska Native — Print name of enrolled or principal tribe. Asian Indian Chinese Filipino Other Asian — Print race, for example, Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Pakistani, Cambodian, and so on. Japanese Korean Vietnamese Native Hawaiian Guamanian or Chamorro Samoan Other Pacific Islander — Print race, for example, Fijian, Tongan, and so on. Some other race — Print race. This census acknowledged that "race categories include both racial and national-origin groups."

The following definitions apply to the 2000 census only.^[12]

• "White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "White" or report entries such as Irish, German, Scottish, Italian, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.^[12]

• "Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as 'Black, African Am.' or provide written entries such as Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian."^[12]

• "American Indian and Alaska Native. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment."^[12]

• "Asian. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. It includes 'Asian Indian,' 'Chinese', 'Filipino', 'Korean', 'Japanese', 'Vietnamese', and 'Other Asian'."^[12]

• "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicate their race as 'Native Hawaiian', 'Guamanian or Chamorro', 'Samoan', and 'Other Pacific Islander'."^[12]

• "Some other race. Includes all other responses not included in the 'White', 'Black or African American', 'American Indian and Alaska Native', 'Asian' and 'Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander' race categories described above. Respondents providing write-in entries such as multiracial, mixed, interracial, We-Sort, or a Hispanic/Latino group (for example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) in the "Some other race" category are included here."^[12]

• "Two or more races. People may have chosen to provide two or more races either by checking two or more race response check boxes, by providing multiple write-in responses, or by some combination of check boxes and write-in responses."^[12]

The federal government of the United States has mandated that "in data collection and presentation, federal agencies are required to use a minimum of two ethnicities: 'Hispanic or Latino' and 'Not Hispanic or Latino'."^[13] The Census Bureau defines "Hispanic or Latino" as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race."^[13] For discussion of the meaning and scope of the Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, see the Hispanic and Latino Americans and Racial and ethnic demographics of the United States articles.
Use of the word ethnicity for Hispanics only is considerably more restricted than its conventional meaning, which covers other distinctions, some of which are covered by the "race" and "ancestry" questions. The distinct questions accommodate the possibility of Hispanic and Latino Americans' also declaring various racial identities (see also White Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Latinos, and Black Hispanic and Latino Americans).
In the 2000 Census, 12.5% of the US population reported "Hispanic or Latino" ethnicity and 87.5% reported "Not-Hispanic or Latino" ethnicity.^[13]

2010 Census

The 2010 US Census included changes designed to more clearly distinguish Hispanic ethnicity as not being a race. That included adding the sentence: "For this census, Hispanic origins are not races."^[14][15] Additionally, the Hispanic terms were modified from "Hispanic or Latino" to "Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin".^[14][15]

Although used in the Census and the American Community Survey, "Some other race" is not an official race,^[13] and the Bureau considered eliminating it prior to the 2000 Census.^[16] As the 2010 census form did not contain the question titled "Ancestry" found in prior censuses, there were campaigns to get non-Hispanic West Indian Americans,^[17] Turkish Americans,^[18] Arab Americans and Iranian Americans to indicate their ethnic or national background through the race question, specifically the "Some other race" category.^[19][20]

The Interagency Committee has suggested that the concept of marking multiple boxes be extended to the Hispanic origin question, thereby freeing individuals from having to choose between their parents' ethnic heritages. In other words, a respondent could choose both "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino".^[21]