Harper’s Index

Estimated portion of all U.S. nuclear waste that Nevada's Yucca Mountain dumpsite will hold when it is full in 2046: 3/5¹

Richter-scale magnitude of an earthquake last June twelve miles from the Yucca site: 4.4²

Minimum number of U.S. companies, individuals, and organizations that are licensed to possess radioactive material: 67,000³

Decades by which the United States applied last spring to extend its nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands: 4⁴

Days before Bolivia's June election that the U.S. ambassador warned Bolivians not to vote for the Socialist candidate: 4⁵

Percentage change, after the warning, in the number of Bolivians who supported the Socialist: +198⁶

Ratio of U.S. external debt to that of all developing countries combined: 1:1⁷

Ratio of the amount the U.S. pays to service this debt to the total amount developing countries pay: 1:15⁸

Radius, in miles, around this year's G8 summit in Canada within which unauthorized persons were not allowed: 2⁹

Distance, in miles, from the summit to the area where demonstrations were allowed: 11¹⁰

Projected cost per mile of the security fence Israel is building around the West Bank: $2,563,600¹¹

Number of Jewish immigrants Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in June that he wants to attract to Israel: 1,000,000¹²

Number of the September 11 hijackers whose entry visas came through a special U.S.-Saudi "Visa Express" program: 3¹³

Rank of the United States and Britain among countries viewed most favorably by Muslims aged 15 to 25: 1, 2¹⁴

Number of NATO member nations besides the United States with a civilian oath of loyalty: 0¹⁵

Number of weapons seized in a 1962 desegregation riot at a fraternity then headed by future senator Trent Lott: 24¹⁶

Ratio of the number of acts of Congress overturned by the Warren Court to those overturned by the Rehnquist Court: 25:26¹⁷

Number of bills vetoed by George W. Bush during his first 18 months in office: 0¹⁸

Number of other U.S. presidents who have done this since 1850 besides Bill Clinton and Millard T. Fillmore: 0¹⁹

Number of lawsuits filed since 1999 against a firm then run by the man leading Bush's new Corporate Fraud Taskforce: 3²⁰

Amount that the company paid to settle the cases: $478,000,000²¹

Number of appearances made by corporate representatives on U.S. network nightly newscasts last year: 955²²

Number of appearances made by labor representatives: 31²³

Chance that a U.S. employer faced with a union drive in 1998 or 1999 illegally fired a pro-union worker: 1 in 4²⁴

Percentage of U.S. corporate executives who admit to having cheated at golf: 82²⁵

Percentage of U.S. college students who say they would try to evade the draft if one were called today: 37²⁶

Ratio of military recruiters to college counselors at East Los Angeles's Roosevelt High School: 5:1²⁷

Percentage of students in Cleveland's six-year-old school voucher program who attend religious schools: 99²⁸

Estimated percentage of the world's habitable land owned by major religious groups: 7²⁹

Portion of the world's population living in "severely water stressed environments": 2/5³⁰

Estimated percentage of work-related deaths worldwide last year that were caused by communicable disease: 16³¹

Tons of donated U.S. corn refused by Zimbabwe in May because it could not be certified genetically unmodified: 10,000³²

Days this year that Russia banned the import of U.S. poultry because of health concerns: 35³³

Minimum number of Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets that the company plans to open in France by 2006: 100³⁴

Percentage change since 2000 in the number of awards won by Americans at the World Championship Cheese Contest: +38³⁵

Number of square feet of retail space per American: 27³⁶

Number of U.S. supermarkets where shoppers can pay using fingerprint readers: 4³⁷

Total number of fingerprints on file with supermarkets so far: 6,000³⁸

Number of monkeys that the federal government has infected with smallpox since May 2001: 24³⁹

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