Harper’s Index

Percentage of the 156 provisions of 2001's USA Patriot Act that were permanent in the original law: 88¹

Number of the sixteen remaining provisions that were made permanent by Congress in March: 14²

Years by which the other two were extended: 4³

Number of U.S. cities and towns so far that have passed resolutions calling for the impeachment of President Bush: 8⁴

Ratio of the entire U.S. federal budget in 1948, adjusted for inflation, to the amount spent so far on the Iraq war: 1:1⁵

Percentage of U.S. soldiers in Iraq who say the war was a retaliation for Saddam Hussein's role in the 9/11 attacks: 85⁶

Chances that an American believes that the U.S. will suffer a “major terrorist attack” by next March: 2 in 3⁷

Number of beetles that right-wing entomologists have named after Bush Administration officials: 3⁸

Estimated number of animal and plant species known to science: 1,800,000⁹

Estimated number of different official names that have been applied to them: 6,000,000¹⁰

Rank of “Christian” among one-word descriptions of George W. Bush offered by Americans in February 2005: 15¹¹

Rank this March: 5¹²

Number of times that Mary, Jesus' mother, is referenced by name in the Bible and the Koran, respectively: 19, 34¹³

Percentage of U.S. megachurches that “always” or “often” use electric guitar or bass in services: 93¹⁴

Percentage change last year in the number of CDs sold at Starbucks: +307¹⁵

Minimum number of shopping carts that went missing from L.A.–area stores last year: 6,220,000¹⁶

Years that Hillary Clinton sat on Wal-Mart's board of directors: 5¹⁷

Number of “Wal-ocaust” T-shirts sold by a Georgia man before Wal-Mart ordered him to cease and desist: 1¹⁸

Ratio, in the United States, of the number of Wal-Mart employees to the number of high school teachers: 1:1¹⁹

Percentage change since 1940 in the average iron content of milk: –62²⁰

Percentage alcohol content in a 300-year-old whiskey recipe being revived by a Scottish distillery: 90²¹

Months after Hamas's electoral victory that the only Palestinian brewery will release its nonalcoholic beer: 5²²

Estimated number of Ugandan prisoners who escaped in February while guards celebrated the president's reelection: 400²³

Maximum number of Africans brought to America in any single year during the trans-Atlantic slave trade: 35,000²⁴

Average number of Africans who have legally emigrated to the United States each year since 2000: 55,000²⁵

Estimated percentage share of global GDP in 1974 that came from “developed” and “emerging” nations, respectively: 61, 39²⁶

Estimated percentage from those nations today: 49, 51²⁷

Minimum number of world nations that have at least one legislator from a communist party: 27²⁸

Percentage of South Korean youth who say their country should back North Korea in the event of war with the U.S.: 48²⁹

Percentage of China's investable assets that are controlled by the richest half-percent of households: 62³⁰

Percentage of white-collar Chinese workers who have personal blogs: 52³¹

Chances that an unprotected PC will become infected with a virus within an hour of being on the Internet: 9 in 10³²

Chance that a British youth reports having been bullied via text message: 1 in 7³³

Number of billboards with the names and faces of convicted sex offenders that Mississippi will put up this spring: 100³⁴

Percentage change last year in the number of stolen cattle recovered in Texas and Oklahoma: +104³⁵

Minimum number of ranches in Texas where one can shoot a zebra: 56³⁶

Weeks in advance that Al Qaeda operatives must request vacation time, according to seized documents: 10³⁷

Number of Harlequin novels published last year that feature love between a Western woman and an Arab sheikh: 15³⁸

Number by 2008 that will feature NASCAR races: 22³⁹

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