The State of the Anglosphere by Joel Kotkin and Shashi Parulekar, City Journal Winter 2012. The decline of the English-speaking world has been greatly exaggerated. The world financial crisis has provoked a stark feeling of decline among many in the West, particularly citizens of what some call the Anglosphere: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
In the United States, for example, roughly 73 percent see the country as on the wrong track, according to an Ipsos MORI poll—a level of dissatisfaction unseen for a generation. Commentators across the political spectrum have described the Anglosphere as decadent, especially compared with the rising power of China. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman praises the “reasonably enlightened group of people” who make up China’s one-party autocracy, which, he feels, provides more effective governance than the dysfunctional democracy of Washington, a point echoed in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed by former Service Employees International Union boss Andy Stern.
Start with economics. Nala - Scared stray Pit Bull living in a ditch - rescued! Please share on facebook & twitter. Sweet Mama Dog Interacting with a Beautiful Child with Down Syndrome Jim Stenson. Bestest Buddies: Orangutan and Hound Dog (must see!) Amazing Japanese Precision (posted by Sanitaryum | Clean Humor) When Choirs Sing, Many Hearts Beat As One : Shots - Health News. Hide captionMembers of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir raise their voices in unison — and perhaps unify their heart rates, too. George Frey/Getty Images Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir raise their voices in unison — and perhaps unify their heart rates, too. We open our hymnals to Hymn 379, and we begin to sing. "God is Love, let heav'n adore him / God is Love, let earth rejoice ... " Lifting voices together in praise can be a transcendent experience, unifying a congregation in a way that is somehow both fervent and soothing.
To find this out, researchers of the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden studied the heart rates of high school choir members as they joined their voices. A Swedish researcher explains how heart rates become synchronized when people sing together. Using pulse monitors attached to the singers' ears, the researchers measured the changes in the choir members' heart rates as they navigated the intricate harmonies of a Swedish hymn. The changing face of Australian immigration. The face of Australia is changing - and it starts at our borders. Whereas Australia’s migrant population once hailed largely from a European background - think of the “Ten Pound Pom” in the post-World War Two era - a decisive shift towards parts of Asia to fill skills gaps in our workforce has emerged. In 2011-12, India (29,018) and China (25,509) were ahead of Australia’s traditional source country for permanent migrants, the United Kingdom, which dropped to fourth on the list with 25,274 migrants.
Immigration is also now geared to the needs of the Australian labour market. 68% of all arrivals now come under the skilled migrant category of the permanent immigration program. Australia remains a cosmopolitan nation, truly the world in one country. But the new immigration figures continue over a decade or so long trend: Australia has now changed from a settler immigration county to one where guest workers are arriving in large and increasing numbers.
Facts and figures Temporary migrant numbers.