What do we know? 31 percent Of Americans believe the Bible is the actual word of God. 34 percent believe in ghosts and 12 percent have seen UFOs
Surfing: Eleven percent of Americans would be willing to have a device implanted in their brains that would allow them access to the Internet.
Cheap flights: In India, customers pay 4 bucks to get aboard a repainted Airbus with a wing missing and no engines, strap themselves in and listen to a loudspeaker describe an imaginary flight.
And the upper class? Two-thirds of middle-class women and one half of the men would be willing to marry solely for money.
You are what you eat: Women who took a daily dose of high fat dairy (such as whole milk) were 27 percent more likely to be fertile than those who ate only skim milk.
Smart kids: Breast feeding improves childhood IQs by 7 points.
Team loyalty: Just over half of U.S. government scientists say that they were ordered to delete references in their work to global warming by political appointees of the Bush administration.
Value comparison: Starbucks spends more for employee health care than it does for its coffee beans.
Sleepy? Yawns are contagious – originating, it is believed, in group behavior as an alerting sign of danger. Probably doesn’t apply to those descended from Adam and Eve directly.
Oil crisis: Annual oil consumption in the U.S. is 26 barrels per person. In Saudi Arabia it is 33 barrels – mostly for air conditioning.
Sex and government: The American Journal of Public Health attributed an earlier, long-term decline in teen birth rates to use of contraceptives. Whether government funded abstinence- only programs and reduced federal funding for contraceptive services have contributed to last year’s rise of 3 percent is not certain.
Pro life or choice? Abortion rates are lowest in countries where abortion is legal and easiest to get. One reason apparently is availability of contraception. The World Health Organization found that rates are highest where the procedure is restricted. Just over 50 percent of those were performed in unsafe conditions
Telling statistics: The U.S., compared with six other industrialized nations (Britain, France, Japan, Canada, Sweden, Germany) in these categories:
Wealth
National resources: 1st
Percentage of billionaires: 1st
Hourly wage for skilled worker: 5th
Health
Life expectancy: 6th
Infant mortality (fewest deaths): 7th
Population covered by health insurance: 7th
Education
Literacy: 7th
Perentage graduating high school: 6th
Student achievement in math: 5th
Housing and work
Housing affordability for population: 7th
Length of commute to work: 7th
Percent of children in poverty: 7th
Crime
Funds spent on crime and security: 1st
Rate of homicide and major crimes: 7th (most)
Percentage of population in prison: 7th (most)
Environment
Reduction in air pollution: 6th
Percent of waste recycled: 7th
Rate of fossil fuel consumption: 1st
Note: Some of these figures are three years old and may have changed – for better or worse.
Rodney Quinn, who lives in Gorham, is a former Maine secretary of state. He can be reached at rquinn@maine.rr.com. His book, “Gorham During the Grea Depression,” can be purchased at the Baxter Memorial Library.
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