Telephone Holds

April 2009

Listen or download this in .mp3 format.     Please go to winamp.com to download the MP3 player.      NEXT APRIL, THE ENTIRE U.S. POPULATION WILL PAUSE FOR A FAMILY PORTRAIT—TAKEN THROUGH THE LENS OF THE 2010 CENSUS, WHICH WILL BE THE 23RD IN THE UNBROKEN STRING OF COUNTS STARTED IN 1790.  THAT FIRST CENSUS REPORTED JUST UNDER FOUR MILLION PEOPLE.  THE JOB IN 2010—COUNTING MORE THAN 310 MILLION PEOPLE IN OVER 116 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS–WILL MAKE IT THE LARGEST PEACETIME UNDERTAKING IN OUR HISTORY.      PROFILE AMERICA IS A PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU.       INTERNATIONALLY, AN INCREASING NUMBER OF POWER PLANTS BURN GARBAGE INSTEAD OF FOSSIL FUELS TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY.         IN APRIL 1972, THE UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY IN ST. LOUIS BECAME THE FIRST U.S. ENERGY UTILITY TO BURN GARBAGE FOR POWER.  THE U.S. NOW BURNS ABOUT 14 PERCENT OF ITS TRASH, COMPARED TO WORLD LEADER DENMARK’S 54-PERCENT.      COAL, NATURAL GAS, AND NUCLEAR POWER CURRENTLY GENERATE MOST ELECTRICITY USED IN THE U.S.      PROFILE AMERICA IS A PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU.      APRIL IS NATIONAL DONATE LIFE MONTH—A TIME TO CONSIDER ORGAN DONATION TO HELP SAVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS.  IT’S ESTIMATED THAT EVERY DAY MORE THAN 70 PEOPLE RECEIVE TRANSPLANTS IN ORDER TO  EXTEND THEIR LIVES.   OVER 100-THOUSAND PEOPLE ARE ON WAITING LISTS FOR DONATED ORGANS TO SAVE THEM FROM CERTAIN DEATH.      TRANSPLANT OPERATIONS HAVE BECOME VERY SUCCESSFUL, WITH THE ONE YEAR SURVIVAL RATE FOR SOME PROCEDURES AS HIGH AS 98 PERCENT.      PROFILE AMERICA IS A PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU.      APRIL IS BOTH “STRESS AWARENESS MONTH”, AND “NATIONAL HUMOR MONTH”; THE FORMER ILLUMINATES A SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEM, AND THE LATTER A POSSIBLE TREATMENT .  EXPERTS SAY LAUGHTER HAS THERAPEUTIC VALUE, AND CAN INCREASE NOT ONLY THE QUALITY, BUT PERHAPS EVEN THE LENGTH, OF LIFE.       STRESS IS ONE OF THE CULPRITS IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE–WHICH TAKES THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 850-THOUSAND PEOPLE IN THE U.S. EVERY YEAR.      PROFILE AMERICA IS A PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU.      AMERICA’S FIRST–AND OLDEST–SCHOOL CELEBRATES ITS BIRTHDAY THIS MONTH.  THE BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL STARTED IN 1635, (WITH A HANDFUL OF STUDENTS). THE SCHOOL HAS LONG BEEN CONSIDERED ONE OF THE TOP PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE NATION.        TODAY, THE BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL IS ONE OF NEARLY 24-THOUSAND PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.  THESE SCHOOLS HAVE OVER 16-MILLION STUDENTS ENROLLED IN GRADES 9 THROUGH 12.      PROFILE AMERICA IS A PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU.      ONE OF THE MARVELS OF MODERN MEDICINE–INSULIN–BECAME AVAILABLE FOR GENERAL USE THIS MONTH IN 1923, SAVING THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM DIABETES.  (NORMALLY, INSULIN IS PRODUCED BY THE PANCREAS.)      THE MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH ENDED WHAT USED TO BE THE AUTOMATIC DEATH SENTENCE OF DIABETES, AND OFFERED ITS SUFFERERS THE PROSPECT OF LIVING FULL AND PRODUCTIVE LIVES.       STILL, DIABETES IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE 73-THOUSAND DEATHS A YEAR IN THE U.S.      PROFILE AMERICA IS A PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU.