BagOfNothing.com

Millions of foreign tourists visit the United States every year, and a growing number return home with a brand new U.S. citizen in tow.

Thousands of legal immigrants, who do not permanently reside in the United States but give birth here, have given their children the gift of citizenship, which the U.S. grants to anyone born on its soil.

The number of U.S. births to non-resident mothers rose 53 percent between 2000 and 2006, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Total births rose 5 percent in the same period.

Among the foreigners who have given birth here, including international travelers passing through and foreign students studying at U.S. universities, are “birth tourists,” women who travel to the United States with the explicit purpose of obtaining citizenship for their child.

Catering to the women is a nascent industry of travel agencies and hotel chains seeking to profit from the business.

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1. Mother’s Day (6.3% chance of accident)
2. President’s Day (6.1% chance of accident)
3. Super Bowl Sunday (5.9% chance of accident)
4. St. Patrick’s Day (4.9% chance of accident)
5. Veteran’s Day (4.1% chance of accident)
6. Valentine’s Day (4.0% chance of accident)
7. Columbus Day (2.6% chance of accident)
8. Cinco De Mayo (0.62% chance of accident)
9. Easter (0.58% chance of accident)
10. New Year’s Eve (-0.7% chance of accident)
11. Christmas Day (-14.2% chance of accident)

11Points.com

Of all the assaults that prompted a bus operator to take paid leave in 2009, a third of them, 51 in total, “involved a spat upon,” according to statistics the Metropolitan Transportation Authority released on Monday.

No weapon was involved in these episodes. “Strictly spitting,” said Charles Seaton, a New York City Transit spokesman.

And the encounters, while distressing, appeared to take a surprisingly severe toll: the 51 drivers who went on paid leave after a spitting incident took, on average, 64 days off work — the equivalent of three months with pay. One driver, who was not identified by the authority, spent 191 days on paid leave.

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