The following was taken from Harper's
MagazineIndex:
*Please note: some of these facts/figures may be outdated, as most are from 1998/99.
Chance that a country to which the U.S. sells arms is cited by Amnesty Int'l for torturing its citizens : 1 in 2
Rank of arms trading, illegal drug trafficking and oil production among the world's largest industries : 1,2,3
Amount the U.S. Defense Dept. admits it has "lost track of" : $18,000,000,000
[These are three of the worst statistics I have ever read.]
Estimated number of land mines removed and demolished worldwide in 1995 : 100,000
Estimated number laid : 2,000,000
Number of zip codes in the Pentagon : 4
Estimated number of Americans hospitalized last year for injuries involving the ingestion of Christmas ornaments : 687
Percentage change in the homicide rate in Canada since the 1976 abolition of the death penalty there : -27
Hour that "voracious criminals go to bed", according to Bob Dole : 6 A.M.
Time at which Americans are most likely to have sex : 10:34 P.M.
Length of the average sex session, including foreplay, in minutes : 33.24
Amount a London insurance firm will pay clients who can prove they were impregnated by God : $1,500,000
Amount of sunlight that hits the Earth each second, in pounds : 4.3
Estimated cost of sealing the US-Mexican border with a replica of the Great Wall of China : $45,000,000,000
Ratio of Americans who die from smoking-related illnesses each year to those who die as a result of illegal-drug use : 21:1
[Go War on Drugs! Go War on Drugs!]
Ratio of annual federal spending on Atlanta's homeless in the last five years to the amount spent this year : 1:6
[Look at how the Olympics benefit everyone!]
Annual amount by which Wisconsin's new mandatory workfare plan will outspend its old welfare budget : $102,000,000
Estimated number of abortions performed on victims of rape or incest each year : 15,000
Number performed on born-again or evangelical Christians : 250,000
Maximum number of months humanity could survive without invertebrates : 6
Ratio of blank or "spoiled" ballots cast in the Israeli election in June to the number of votes by which it was decided : 5:1
Estimated number of South Koreans officially registered last year as "club women" for U.S. military bases : 18,000
Units of public housing the federal government plans to demolish by the year 2000 : 100,920
Units it plans to construct by then : 24,679
Ratio of tax dollars spent each day on a U.S. public-school student to the amount spent on a prisoner : 2:7
[Afterall, punishment is so much more important than education.]
Number of states being sued in federal court for inadequate care of foster children : 21
Price McDonnell Douglas charged the U.S. Air Force last year for each C-17 airplane hinge delivered : $2,187
Price per hinge the company had originally charged before deciding its subcontractor was "too slow" : $30
Number of silver teaspoons reported missing each year at the
Washington Hilton : 20,000
Number of teachers for every hairstylist in Detroit : 0.8
Number by which Americans who watched last year's Super Bowl exceeded those who voted in November : 43,000,000
Chances that a person directly affected by the welfare-reform law signed last year could vote : 2 in 5
Rank of Texas, the state with the least generous welfare program, among states with the highest adolescent birth rate : 2
Percentage change in the gonorrhea rate among teens and young adults when the beer tax is raised by 20 cents : -9
Percentage of U.S. teenagers who say they have engaged in oral sex : 55
Percentage who consider the practice "gross" : 55
Average number of words in the written vocabulary of a 6- to 14-year-old American child in 1945 : 25,000
