Harper’s Index

Ratio of the number of words in the last State of the Union address to those in George Washington's first : 5:1¹

Number of press conferences at which President Bush has referred to a question as a "trick" : 11²

Number of New York Times articles about Pfc. Jessica Lynch that were written by Jayson Blair : 7³

Factor by which a U.S. Gulf War veteran is more likely to develop Lou Gehrig's disease than an average American : 2⁴

Reward offered by the U.S. military to any Iraqi who turns in a hand-held launcher and missile : $500⁵

Amount such a weapon can reportedly fetch on the international black market : $5,000⁶

Number of states enrolled in the Justice Department's Multistate Anti-Terrorism Exchange, or MATRIX, in 2002 : 13⁷

Number that have since dropped out or refused to provide DMV records : 5⁸

Months after a data firm was hired to run MATRIX that its CEO resigned, admitting to past drug smuggling : 18⁹

Estimated percentage of Afghanistan's GDP last year accounted for by opium exports : 39¹⁰

Ratio of the U.S. spending on Iraq approved last November to total AIDS spending in developing countries last year : 18:1¹¹

Percentage of new HIV infections worldwide accounted for by people under the age of 25 : 58¹²

Percentage of Americans who say they would prefer a universal health-care system to the current one : 62¹³

Percentage of Americans between the ages of 15 and 22 who favor abortion restrictions : 44¹⁴

Percentage of Americans over the age of 27 who do : 34¹⁵

Estimated number of times a one-year-old was bitten by his peers at a Croatian day-care center one morning last fall : 30¹⁶

Percentage change since 1994 in the annual budget of the U.N.'s Balkan war-crimes tribunal : +780¹⁷

Estimated number of people currently imprisoned in Uzbekistan for their religious or political beliefs : 6,500¹⁸

Percentage increase in U.S. military aid to Uzbekistan since 2001 : 1,800¹⁹

Estimated number of Americans who refuse to pay some or all of their federal income taxes to protest military spending : 2,000²⁰

Days that the NYPD suspended a cop without pay last winter for refusing to arrest a man for sleeping in a parking lot : 30²¹

Days of below-freezing weather last winter in Hell, Michigan : 86²²

Percentage change in the thickness of the Arctic ice pack since the 1960s : -40²³

Days in 1970 that northern Alaska was cold enough to operate oil-drilling machinery without damaging the tundra : 213²⁴

Days in 2002 that it was cold enough : 106²⁵

Rank of oil exports and money sent home by U.S. immigrants, respectively, among Mexico's largest sources of income : 1, 2²⁶

Number of political candidates murdered during Colombia's regional election campaigns last year : 26²⁷

Percentage approval rating of Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo last July : 11²⁸

Amount by which 2004 campaign contributions to Lyndon LaRouche had exceeded those to Wesley Clark last fall : $1,900,000²⁹

Chance that an American believes a "major" third political party is needed : 2 in 5³⁰

Minimum number of political parties registered in the United States : 46³¹

Number of them represented in California's gubernatorial race last year : 6³²

Number of cast members of the movie Predator who have run for governor : 3³³

Number who have won : 2³⁴

Ratio of the first month's sales of the new Elvis 2nd to None album to those of the last album released in Presley's lifetime : 3:1³⁵

Minimum amount boxer Mike Tyson earned in the nine years before filing for bankruptcy last August : $300,000,000³⁶

Price of a dozen action figures of one's self, prototype included : $889.45 ³⁷

Rank of rhinoplasty and liposuction among the most common plastic surgeries performed on men in the U.S. : 1, 2³⁸

Rank of rhinoplasty and penile enlargement among those most commonly performed on men in the U.K. : 2, 1³⁹

Inches by which the Eiffel Tower shrinks in winter : 6⁴⁰

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