A seemingly innocuous post on clarifying the offsides rule in soccer (I wish I could call it football), lead to a flattering post about my blog. If this is your first time here, I hope you find something interesting, funny, or informative.\

Latino assimilate quite well into American society, more so than the anti-immigration conservative right would have you believe. Tyler Cowen and Daniel M. Rothschild have a data-packed column in the Washington Post looking at this issue. Throughout the article, I couldn't help but pick parts where I felt like they were writing about me.

Most Latino immigrants want to become U.S. citizens. This process takes years, so recent immigrants are not a good barometer. But according to the 2000 Census, the majority of Latinos who entered the United States before 1980 have become citizens. And second-generation immigrants are more likely to marry natives than immigrants, further assimilating their children. The majority of immigrants also own their own homes, a key part of the American dream.

Check on all three there, even though technically I'm a first generation immigrant born in Bolivia

A couple folks have already picked up today's article in the Post on the growth of soccer in the States and its an excellent look at the health of the game here.  The World Cup is certainly a good time to look at how soccer is doing, it's enough time to pick out overall trends without being distracted by recent events (omg - they kill San Jose!). Goff and Powell present a lot of reassuring data on the stability and long-term potential of pro-soccer. To a great extent, the national team and Major League Soccer are two different beasts with their own challenges and constraints, but there is also a symbiotic relationship between the two that can't be ignored.\

More than 50 U.S. media outlets sent correspondents to the national team's training camp in Cary, N.C., last month, double the number that attended in 2002. The number of U.S. media requests for credentials to cover the tournament has reached an all-time high, according to Jim Moorhouse, the soccer federation's director of communications. At least 32 daily newspapers will send reporters to Germany.\