Fun_People Archive
24 Sep
Harper's Index -- July, 1996

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 96 01:39:47 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: Harper's Index -- July, 1996

From: Harper's Magazine, July

Percentage of the promises President Clinton "meant to keep" that he has  
kept, according to George Stephanopoulos : 100

Ratio of the amount the independent counsel's office has spent on Whitewater  
to the amount it spent on Watergate : 6:5

Farm subsidies received since 1985 by the Montana Freeman whose ranch became  
the group's stronghold last March : $676,082

Percentage by which federal funding of legal services for the poor was cut  
last April : 30

Number of class-action suits that the federally funded Legal Services  
Corporation will be allowed to represent next year : 0

Chances that a Normal, Illinois, Mitsubishi worker who the E.E.O.C. believes  
was sexually harassed has filed suit : 1 in 7

Percentage of the plaintiffs whose gynecological and psychological medical  
records Mitsubishi has since requested : 100

Number of states in which employees are guaranteed access to their personnel  
files : 18

Chances an American believes "the next generation will enjoy less personal  
freedom" : 1 in 2

Number of the 33 McDonald's in Washington, D.C., that the city has equipped  
with community policing stations : 33

Number of German police officers who will live with immigrants in Bonn for a  
week this year for "sensitivity training" : 10

Fine levied on a Swedish couple in March for naming a son  
Brfxxxcccxxmnnpcccclllmmnprxxvvclmnckssqlbb11116 : $746

Days in jail to which a British retiree was sentenced in February for  
excessive pigeon feeding : 56

Average amount of food an American woman would have to consume each day in  
order to eat like a bird, in pounds : 134

Ratio of the circulation of Weight Watchers Magazine to that of the New York  
Times : 1:1

Chances that a cartoon in The New Yorker's Women's Issue was drawn by a man  
: 5 in 6

Chances that an American with a 1994 B.A. in journalism works in public  
relations, advertising, or is unemployed : 1 in 3

Number of cards on exhibit at the Business Card Museum in Erdenheim,  
Pennsylvania : 50,000

Ratio of professional jobs available in Mexico in the 1980s to the number of  
Mexicans who graduated from college then : 1:4

Estimated cost of sealing the U.S.-Mexican border with a replica of the  
Great Wall of China : $45,000,000,000

Percentage change since 1991 in the personal income of the Chinese : +50

Number of the world's ten most air-polluted cities that are in Asia : 5

Rank of cigarette butts among the most common debris found on U.S. shores  
during 1995's International Coastal Cleanup : 1

Ratio of Americans who die from smoking-related illnesses each year to those  
who die as a result of illegal-drug use : 21:1

Average number of neuro-active drugs Timothy Leary has ingested each day  
this year, according to his Web site : 8

Average number of hours per week Bob Dole spends tanning : 3.5

Amount of sunscreen Bob Dole uses : 0

Percentage of American voters who say "there is no chance whatsoever" that  
they will vote for Bob Dole : 49

Number of people who accessed "The Definitive UNABOM Page" during its first  
month on the Web : 2,602

Cost per minute to hear the Bill of Rights read over the phone "in a  
provocative manner" by a woman named Bambi : $1.98

Rank of "intelligent," "smart," and "bitch" among the words Americans  
believe best describe Hillary Rodham Clinton : 1,2,3

Rank of "rich," "crazy," and "idiot" among the words Americans believe best  
describe H. Ross Perot : 1,2,3

Number of missiles designed for the Pentagon by Jack Ryan, a designer of the  
first Barbie Doll : 2

Number of months Ryan was married to Zsa Zsa Gabor : 9

Seating capacity of the Menage a Trois Chair, from Kinky Joe's Erotic  
Furniture of New York City : 5

Number of bathing suits sold in the U.S. per second : 4

Number of months before the Summer Olympics that the planners began  
manufacturing ice for the event : 3.5

Number of Elvis impersonators the Olympic Committee has hired to entertain  
in the Olympic village : 3

Gallons of chewing gum scraped up each year by the maintenance crew at the  
Statue of Liberty : 39

© 1996 Peter Langston