Saturday, March 12, 2011

From This Month's Harper's Index

A particularly good one:

Chances that an American describes his or her diet as healthy: 9 in 10

Amount Massachusetts has allocated since 2000 to decrease class size and increase teacher pay: $1,200,000,000

Percentage of that allocation that has gone to cover rising health care costs: 100

Percentage by which books on contemporary ethics are more likely than other books to be stolen: 50

Minimum cost of a "pleasure palace" being built for Vladimir Putin: $1,000,000,000

Rank of Communist China among the "greenest" regimes in history, based on total atmospheric carbon reduction: 1

Of Genghis Kahn's Mongol Empire: 2

Number of militias active in the United States in 2007 and in 2010, respectively: 43, 330

Respective number of states with budget shortfalls in those years: 1, 48

Percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 who think violence against the US government is justified: 17

Date on which Glenn Beck hypothesized that an attempted assassination on Sarah Palin "could bring the republic down": 1/10/11

Number of American soldiers who died in combat last year: 455

Minimum number who committed suicide: 407

Number of states that have applied for funding under the 2010 Affordable Care Act: 50

Number that have joined a lawsuit challenging the act's constitutionality: 26

Average minutes more exercise per week that a heavy drinker gets than a non-drinker: 21

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