Study: One-Third Of Recent Marriages Occurred Between Online Courtships

A new study offered by researchers at the University of Chicago and reviewed by a team at Harvard University shows that a third of recent marriages happen between couples who met online. For the study, researchers examined a sampling of marriages of over 19,000 people that occurred between 2005 and 2012.

Of the couples that participated, the research teams found that 35 percent of those marriages occurred between couples who found one another through the Internet. The type of sites that connected the future spouses varied, U.S. News & World Report learned. Approximately half of those who met online did so through dating sites such as Match.com and eHarmony.

Out of the other half, 20 percent reportedly met through social networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook, while 15 percent met through communication-based online mediums such as email and chat rooms. Read more >>

US Homeownership Rate Hits 15-Year Low

Despite the incentives to buy now — namely that average rates on a 30-year mortgages are now 3.7% — sales of single-family existing homes slipped 1.5% in May from a month earlier, according to data released today by the National Association of Realtors. Experts say the drop, which came during the historically busy spring season, suggests the housing market has a way to go to recover. If anything, the ranks of American homeowners are dwindling. The homeownership rate in the U.S. fell slightly from 66% to 65% during the first quarter of 2012 — the lowest in 15 years, according to the latest data by the U.S. Census. (It peaked at just over 69% in 2004.)

 Renters, meanwhile, have more inventory to choose from as owners who are unable to sell their homes often have no choice but to find tenants, says Dan McCue, research manager at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The number of single-family homes for rent or being rented grew by two million units from 2006 to 2010, according to a JCHS report released this month, and McCue says the number has likely grown since then. “One third of all rentals are single-family homes,” he says. Read More >>

FBI Conducting Precrime Minority Report Investigations

The barrier between science fiction and real-life has all but vanished. The 2002 release of the film "Minority Report" based on the short story by Philip K. Dick took place in the year 2054, where "Precrime", a specialized police department, apprehends criminals based on foreknowledge of an anticipated crime provided by psychics called "precogs".

Although not based on the information from psychics, the FBI has initiated a profiling program to detect what they refer to as "lone attackers" who may only be contemplating crimes. The program is known as the "Lone Wolf Initiative" and began after Obama's inauguration. One of the goals, FBI officials said, is to develop more comprehensive information on possible lone attackers to disrupt plots before they are launched.

"Finding those who might plan and act alone, the so-called lone offenders ... will only be prevented by good intelligence, the seamless exchange of information among law enforcement at every level, and vigilant citizens reporting suspicious activity," said Michael Heimbach, the FBI's assistant director for counterterrorism.

USA Today's Kevin Johnson reports on two U.S. law enforcement officials who were not authorized to speak publicly about details of the program but said agents from all of the FBI's 56 field offices have been dispatched on a range of assignments.

Among the duties:

• Reviewing records in domestic terrorism investigations that may point to more suspects.

• Analyzing records for suspicious purchases at fertilizer or chemical suppliers whose materials could be used in bombmaking.

• Checking rolls of prisoners scheduled for release or who have been recently released for past links to extremist groups.

ACLU policy spokesman Michael German, a former FBI agent, said the government effort resembles a form of "predictive policing" that can sometimes result in the improper profiling of people based on race, ethnicity or political leanings.

The WSJ reports the lone-wolf initiative is just one element of a broader strategy to fight domestic terrorism, dubbed "Operation Vigilant Eagle" launched late last year in response to what the memo identified as "an increase in recruitment, threatening communications, and weapons procurement by white supremacy extremist and militia/sovereign citizen extremist groups."

The FBI memo also referred to an FBI study launched in partnership with Harvard University that would define characteristics and behavior that signal a potential lone-wolf offender. The memo also called on "bureau offices around the country to assess whether the leaders of known extremist groups might be open to cooperating with law enforcement in identifying potential lone offenders...the bureau has been working with the U.S. military and with prison authorities to identify people who may raise concerns, hoping that 'anyone who would be inclined to act out, we'd have a sporting chance to take any kind of preventative measures we can.'"

The FBI can now effectively profile and arrest anyone they believe may commit a crime based on the FBI's subjective decision of what pre-crime is -- e.g., any openly demonstrated opposition to the government or government policies may, in their view, qualify as precrime. This gestapo-like FBI profiling is being conducted under a domestic security rationale of preventing potential terrorist activities by U.S. citizens. Hypothetically, if the FBI designates a subject under investigation for pre-crime as an "Enemy Combatant", that subject could be detained indefinitely without actually being charged with a crime under the Patriot Act.