For your reading pleasure, a collection of random facts collected from legitimate sources during the past few months:
The Marlboro Man: The lower the IQ, the more likely a smoker. Pack-a-day smokers were 7.5 points lower than non-smokers.
Forty winks: A short nap is often as valuable to a person’s memory and well being as is a full night’s sleep.
Drunk driving: In Colorado its illegal to ride a horse while drunk. No word on the sobriety of the horse.
More drinking: In Texas it is legal for someone under 21 to drink only if accompanied by parents – or their spouse.
Still more drinking: In Florida it’s illegal to drink during hurricanes.
National priorities: 63 percent of American public school teachers say they buy food for hungry students at least once a month.
Anyone in the woodpile? Last year more than 400,000 Americans paid for DNA tests to determine parentage of their children.
Cost of living: In 2002 there were no public college presidents who earned $1 million a year. This year there are 24.
Skin deep: Beautiful women suffer more anger than plain women.
Campaign promise: President Karzai says that Afghanistan will not be able to pay for its own security before 2024.
Host America: One fourth of all the world’s prisoners are in U.S. jails.
Prosperity in the U.S.: There is a 75 percent chance that a child born in the U.S. will use food stamps at some time in life.
Tradeoff: The 3,000 largest companies in the world earn around $6 trillion a year. They also cause an estimated $2 trillion of environmental damage.
From one hand to one hand: GM’s repayment of federal bailout funds has been made entirely with federal funds.
Upwardly mobile: More immigrants hold white-collar jobs than blue collar in the 25 largest U.S. cities.
Unsigned: One-third of Arizonans are Latino, but only one-sixth of them are voters.
Hearts and Minds: Only one in 10 Afghan policemen can read.
Right to life: In eight Mexican states, penalties for abortion are greater for “women of ill repute.”
History buffs: 28 percent of Americans did not know that independence was won from Great Britain – their opinions included France, Mexico and China.
Oily benefits: BP was getting a tax deduction of $225,500 per day for renting the deepwater drilling rig.
Rodney Quinn, a former Maine secretary of state, lives in Gorham. He can be reached at rquinn@maine.rr.com.
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