Report: Is Marriage in America Obsolete? Many Americans Think So (Time.com)

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As the U.S. greeting card industry enjoys another successful day of getting folks to celebrate or stress out about their relationship status, it appears that the other 364 days of the year, fewer and fewer Americans are sold on the institution of marriage.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of married Americans has dropped to around 54% in 2010 from 72% in 1970. A new CBS poll backs up that data: 70% of respondents said they thought the institution of marriage is weaker today that it was 20 years ago.

(More on TIME.com: See TIME's cover story about marriage in America.)

So why get hitched? Studies find that happily married people are some of the happiest — and healthiest —among us. But the demographic closest on their heels are single women who have never been married and who are 50 and over — presumably at a juncture in their lives that they don't sweat whatever cultural baggage their non-married status can carry.

But the satisfaction of these women and other long-time singles probably has a lot to do with the fact they have never had to endure a divorce — as do half the people who choose to get married in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Happy Valentine's Day! (via CBS)

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Hispanics now outnumber Native Americans in Okla. (AP)

OKLAHOMA CITY – A state that has been considered the heart of the nation's Indian Country since the Trail of Tears nearly two centuries ago now has more residents who identify themselves as Hispanic than Native American, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

While Oklahoma is likely to maintain the nation's largest per capita population of Native Americans, their numbers are not growing nearly as rapidly as the booming Hispanic population.

Over the past decade, the number of Hispanics has nearly doubled from 179,304 in 2000 to 332,007 in 2010. Hispanics now account for 9 percent of the state's 3.75 million residents, compared to 8.5 percent for Native Americans.

"I suspect that Native Americans took a little bit of pride in being the largest minority population," said state Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi tribe. "Now it's the Hispanic population that can now take that pride."

Oklahoma's history has been linked to Native Americans decades before it gained statehood in 1907. It is home to dozens of sovereign tribes, many forced from their homes along the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. It's also the birthplace of iconic cowboy and humorist Will Rogers, a member of a prominent Cherokee Nation family who was born in Indian Territory that later became the state.

While the 85 percent population spike has allowed Hispanics to become the state's largest minority, the population of people identifying themselves solely as Native Americans increased from 273,230 in 2000 (7.9 percent of all Oklahoma residents) to 321,687 (8.5 percent) in 2010.

When all combinations of mixed-race people are included, over 12 percent of Oklahomans claim some level of Indian ancestry.

Former Oklahoma House Speaker Larry Adair, chairman of the Cherokee Nation Gaming Commission, said it proves the state continues to be a "melting pot." Still, he said he was surprised Hispanics had moved past Native Americans in population.

Keith Gaddie, a professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma, said the figures show some public policy efforts to curtail illegal immigration may not be having an impact on Hispanic immigration.

House Bill 1804, an anti-illegal immigration bill enacted in 2007, makes it illegal to knowingly transport illegal immigrants, creates state barriers to hiring illegal immigrants and requires proof of citizenship before one can get certain government benefits. The law is being challenged in federal court.

"For folks who thought HB 1804 would lead to an exodus of Hispanics from the state of Oklahoma, that doesn't appear to have happened," Gaddie said.

In the far western Oklahoma Panhandle, Hispanics drawn to the region by swine farms and other concentrated animal feeding operations comprise 36 percent of the population, according to the census figures.

More than 17 percent of the 580,000 residents of Oklahoma City, the state's largest city, now identify themselves as being of Hispanic descent while in Tulsa, the state's second largest city, 14 percent of its 392,000 residents say they are Hispanic. Lawton and Enid also recorded significant concentrations of Hispanic residents.

State lawmakers said the substantial increase in Hispanic residents, especially in south Oklahoma City, make it more likely than ever that they will be able draw new legislative voting districts with Hispanic majorities although proponents of anti-illegal immigration legislation may voice opposition.

"There will be, I'm sure, some," said Rep. Dale DeWitt, R-Braman, chairman of the Oklahoma's House's Redistricting Committee. "But at the end of the day, we'll do this thing as fair as we possibly can. If we don't do it fair, the thing will end up in court."

State lawmakers attempted to draw a majority Hispanic House district on Oklahoma City's south side following the 2000 census, Adair said.

But former Rep. Bill Paulk, a Democrat who headed the legislative redistricting committee under Adair, said the Hispanic population was too dispersed to form the core of a legislative district. He said lawmakers would have been forced to resort to gerrymandering to create a Hispanic majority district.

"It would have looked like a piece of string to make it work," Paulk said.

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Associated Press Writer Rochelle Hines contributed to this report.

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Iran, NKorea are Americans' least favorite lands (AP)

NEW YORK – Americans are not too keen on Iran and North Korea, are all right with Canada and Britain, and are thinking better thoughts about France, according to Gallup's annual World Affairs poll, released Friday.

Iran and North Korea have been the two lowest-rated countries in the poll every year since 2004. This year they tied at the bottom with only 11 percent favorability ratings, according to the poll.

The poll found that Americans have the most positive view of Canada, at 92 percent, followed closely by Britain at 88 percent. Those two countries have been the top-ranked throughout the 11-year history of the poll. They were followed in the rankings by Germany (82 percent), Japan (80 percent) and India (72 percent).

France's favorability rating topped 70 percent in the poll for the first time since 2002. Its ranking has steadily recovered since hitting a low of 34 percent in 2003 when Americans' views of France soured in the run-up to the Iraq war, which Paris opposed.

Americans' favorable opinions of South Korea have also been steadily rising, from 49 percent in 2001 to 65 percent in the current poll. The United States and South Korea reached a free trade agreement at the end of last year; it's awaiting ratification in both countries' legislatures.

At the same time, Americans' opinions of Mexico have plummeted in recent years, from 74 percent in 2005 to 45 percent this year. Gallup said the decline is likely attributable to the controversy over illegal immigration and violence linked to drug cartels.

Egypt's favorability rating plunged to 40 percent this year — an 18-point drop from last year's poll — the biggest change in any single country's ratings from 2010. The poll was conducted from Feb. 2-5 when Egypt was rocked by anti-government protests that made Americans more aware of the Mideast ally's autocratic government, Gallup said. The protests forced Egyptan President Hosni Mubarak to give up power on Friday.

Israel was viewed favorably by 68 percent of Americans, while the Palestinian Authority only had a 19 percent favorability rating.

Americans were more evenly divided in their opinions about Russia (51 percent) and China (47 percent).

Others at the bottom of the poll included the Palestinian Authority (19 percent), Pakistan (18 percent) and Afghanistan (14 percent).

The poll, based on telephone interviews among 1,015 randomly chosen adults, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Online:

http://www.gallup.com

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