Harper’s Index

Amount by which total U.S. personal debt in 2002 exceeded total disposable income: $628,000,000,000¹

Percentage of federal "domestic preparedness" funds allocated to the states since 1999 that remain unspent: 60²

Amount of new U.S. military aid for Colombia inserted into the Iraq war bill in March: $105,000,000³

Amount of new U.S. military aid promised Israel in April to offset the "burdens" of the U.S. war on Iraq: $1,000,000,000⁴

Percentage unemployment in Palestine, West Virginia, the hometown of former POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch: 15⁵

Number of states in which Wal-Mart is the largest employer: 21⁶

Chance that a network-television advertisement is paid for by one of the 100 largest U.S. corporations: 3 in 4⁷

Days that AT&T ceased its TV advertising last March "out of respect for the U.S. military operation in Iraq": 3⁸

Days that it ceased its telemarketing: 1⁹

Portion of sales of its "Impeach Bush French Fries" that a California cafe will donate to an impeachment campaign: 1/10¹⁰

Percentage "improvement" that Minnesota senator Norm Coleman claims to be over the late Paul Wellstone: 99¹¹

Minimum number of times that actor Martin Sheen has been arrested in political protests: 60¹²

Minimum number of times Abbie Hoffman was: 65¹³

Minimum number of times that the demonstrators at this year's largest U.S. peace rally could encircle the Pentagon: 130¹⁴

Amount Canada spent last summer to keep bears away from the G-8 summit: $31,427¹⁵

Number of mine-detecting monkeys erroneously reported to have been given to the United States by Morocco in March: 2,000¹⁶

Ratio of the top weekly fee paid a Munchkin in 1939's The Wizard of Oz to the weekly fee paid for Toto: 4:5¹⁷

Last year in which no film, screenplay, or performance relating to mental illness was nominated for an Oscar: 1953¹⁸

Percentage of cases of communicable diseases that California medical professionals are required to report that go unreported: 80¹⁹

Rank of Silicon Valley among fifteen-square-mile areas with the largest number of Superfund sites: 1²⁰

Minimum number of chronic medical disorders linked to exposure to industrial chemicals: 110²¹

Number of different strains of tuberculosis whose DNA has been catalogued by a New Jersey microbiologist: 17,000²²

Number of sites nationwide where farmers grew "pharmaceutical crops" last year: 34²³

Chance that a U.S. senior citizen reports having skipped medications or not filled prescriptions because of cost: 1 in 5²⁴

Number of Medicare patients dropped since 1998 by U.S. HMOs claiming inadequate reimbursement rates: 2,400,000²⁵

Average quality-of-life rating researchers assign U.S. children with cancer, on a scale of 1 to 100: 69²⁶

Average quality-of-life rating assigned obese children: 67²⁷

Estimated number of Ding Dongs manufactured per minute at St. Louis's Interstate Brands factory: 1,000²⁸

Chance that a billionaire today is self-made: 1 in 2²⁹

Percentage of male U.S. drivers who "often" or "sometimes" steer with their legs: 12³⁰

Number of motor vehicles owned by Tom Magliozzi, co-host of NPR's Car Talk: 0³¹

Maximum portion of the chemical energy in gasoline that is used by an internal combustion engine: 1/4³²

Percentage change in central London's average rush-hour car speed since a £5 toll was imposed there in February: +111³³

Percentage change since 1973 in overall U.S. energy consumption: +27³⁴

Percentage change since then1973 in U.S. oil imports: +86³⁵

Year in which Detroit presented Saddam Hussein with a key to the city: 1980³⁶

Days after the U.S. invaded Iraq that Sony trademarked "Shock & Awe" for video games: 1³⁷

Days later that the company gave up the trademark, citing "regrettable bad judgment": 25³⁸

Amount the U.S. Air Force spent on a "nostalgic juke box" for a base in Saudi Arabia in the last two years: $14,835³⁹

Amount it spent on cowboy hats: $4,896⁴⁰

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