Facebook explained: Researchers studying the brain have discovered that the area of the brain that indicates pleasure during sex, eating or making money also glows brightly when people are talking about themselves.
Depends on where you stand: When running for Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney said, “I’m a businessman. I know how to create jobs.” During his term, Massachusetts from went 27th to 47th in job creation.
Depends on where you sit: A recent study found that there are more than 400 times as many bacteria on an office desktop as there are on a toilet seat.
Attention Mr. 1 Percent: A condo in New York is offering one parking space for a million bucks.
The gang that couldn’t shoot straight: Germany’s police forces fired only 85 bullets in all of 2011. New York police fired 84 bullets at a single suspect in one day last April.
Male reluctance: Two thirds of the homosexual couples who have gotten married in the United States have been lesbian.
To each according to their needs: The top 1 percent of Americans each saves $66,384 annually under the Bush tax cuts.
What we fought for: A fad has developed among Baghdad teenagers known as “emo,” in which the kids change their hairstyles and clothing to reflect the “emotion” they experience each day. The behavior was ruled disrespectful by the Iraq Interior Ministry last February, and since that time 47 teenagers have been killed for displaying “emo” behavior.
Increase in mid-life crisis: In 1990, 10 percent of people getting a divorce were over the age of 50. By 2010, 25 percent were over 50.
Working couples: Only 1 in 7 married couples are supported by the husband alone.
With age comes knowledge: From 1995 to 2011, the percentage of girls between 15 and 18 claiming to be virgins has increased to 57 from 49.
Test results: Six of 10 questions on American history and government were answered correctly by 93 percent of immigrants applying for citizenship. Only 65 percent of native-born Americans reached that mark.
The power of persuasion: In the United States between 2000 and 2010, Mormon church membership grew 45 percent, while the number of Catholics declined by 5 percent.
Training for politicians: Baboons can distinguish between real and fake four-letter words.
Things are looking up: From 2010 to 2011, profits of the 500 biggest U.S. corporations jumped 16 percent, and Exxon’s income increased 28 percent.
Why NRA members tend to be short: Researchers have shown that wearing a gun makes the bearer appear taller and stronger. In a series of pictures of men holding objects such as tennis racquets, power tools and handguns, those with guns were rated an average of 2 inches taller and 17 percent stronger.
Where the viewers are: One porn site on the Web picked up 4.4 billion page views in a month – triple the traffic on CNN or ESPN.
Handwriting on the wall: In 2011, Google received $36 billion in advertising. The entire newspaper industry received $24 billion.
The war in Afghanistan: The United States Agency for International Development paid $10 million to create a Pakistani TV version of “Sesame Street.”
Coffee break: The average U.S. worker spends 1,092 bucks on coffee each year.
Pink slime with jam? The FDA allows 153 insect fragments and five rodent hairs in a standard jar of peanut butter.
The Bush recession eases: The average cost of an American wedding is $25,621.
Corporate taxes: In the last 10 years, GE has paid 2.3 percent of its profits in taxes.
Rodney Quinn, who died Oct. 27, 2012, wrote several columns in advance for publication, which the newspaper has printed. This is the final column.
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