Some cool talking points 3/13/12

The number of mosques in the United States soared by 74 percent in the past decade, from 1,209 in 2000 to 2,106 in 2010, according to a new study. The study estimates that 2.6 million American Muslims regularly attend services.
USA Today

Though the number of guns sold each year keeps climbing, the percentage of Americans who own guns has been falling steadily. In 1977, 54 percent of American adults lived in a household that contained a gun; today, 32 percent do. The decline reflects a population shift away from rural areas to urban areas, and the growth of the under-30 population, which has a much lower rate of gun ownership.
ThinkProgress.org

Eighty-four percent of state and local government employees have access to a defined-benefits pension plan, compared with only 20 percent of private-sector employees.
The Washington Times

Four out of five people between the ages of 9 and 21 at least temporarily show some form of mental illness—including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction—according to a Duke University study of 1,420 children over 12 years. “We have to destigmatize the idea of mental disorder,” said study co-author E. Jane Costello. “We shouldn’t be surprised that the brain has problems, just like the rest of the body.”
Discover

Saudi Arabia has refused to send a women’s team to the Olympic Games in London this summer. The conservative Islamic nation considers women who exercise in public “shameless,” and in 2009 the government shut down 153 women’s gyms.
Time.com

Poll watch
63% of Americans, including 60% of Catholics, say they support a requirement by the Obama administration that private health insurance cover the cost of birth control for women. But the issue is sharply partisan: 83% of Democrats support the policy, while just 42% of Republicans do. 62% of independents support contraception coverage.
Kaiser Family Foundation

29% of Americans and 21% of Canadians say Bigfoot is “definitely” or “probably” real. 17% of Britons believe the Loch Ness Monster is “definitely” or “probably” real, including 24% of people in Scotland.
Angus Reid Public Opinion