Advocates of gun rights often argue that in World War II Japan was deterred from invading the U.S. mainland by a fear of American citizens with guns in their closets. They frequently quote Japan’s Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as saying: "You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."
But this quote is unsubstantiated and almost certainly bogus, even though it has been repeated thousands of times in various Internet postings.
May 11, 2009
In 2007, California exported about 214.5 million pounds of fresh strawberries and 31.9 million pounds of frozen strawberries, with the majority going to Canada.
Source: California Strawberry Commission
May 10, 2009
Last year, 16.1 percent of U.S. imports came from China, and 16 percent came from Canada.
Source: Census Bureau
Gun Control in Australia
Q: Did gun control in Australia lead to more murders there last year?
A: This ‘Gun History Lesson’ is recycled bunk from a decade ago. Murders in Australia actually are down to record lows.
May 9, 2009
In 2008, the U.S. exported $71.5 billion worth of goods to China and imported $337.8 billion in goods from China.
Source: Census Bureau
May 8, 2009
In 2008, Canada was the United States’ top trading partner, with $596.9 billion worth of goods traded between the two countries.
Source: Census Bureau
Was Obama Born in the USA?
Q: Has a “smoking gun” been found to prove Obama was not born a U.S. citizen? Did he attend Occidental College on a scholarship for foreign students?
A: This chain e-mail is a transparent April Fools’ Day hoax. It fabricates an AP news story about an nonexistent group, and makes false claims about Obama and the Fulbright program.
What’s in a Number?
On April 20, President Barack Obama caused a bit of a splash when he gathered members of his Cabinet and directed them to cut (collectively) $100 million in expenses within the next 90 days. Now that sounds like a lot of money. And we’re not ones to complain about cutting costs when the Congressional Budget Office estimated the deficit to be $1.2 trillion in 2009 alone — and that was before accounting for the cost of the stimulus bill.
May 7, 2009
Mexico was the United States’ third-leading trading partner in 2008, with $367.5 billion worth of goods traded between the two countries.
Source: Census Bureau
May 6, 2009
In 2007, 29.2 million U.S. residents were of Mexican origin. That’s 10 percent of the total U.S. population and 64 percent of the Hispanic population.
Source: Census Bureau