Cleaning out the files of various random snippets of information collected during the past few months:
Stop and frisk: The U.S. Border Patrol can legally perform warrantless searches for 100 miles within U.S. borders (including maritime). Two-thirds of Americans live within that area.
Why Sarah left: The confirmed cases of gonorrhea in Alaska have risen 77 percent since 2008.
Popularity balance: Some 52 percent of midterm voters said they had an unfavorable view of Democrats, while 53 percent felt that way about Republicans.
Godless science: In a survey, only 7.5 percent of physicists and astronomers in the National Academy of Sciences said they believed in God.
The educated bias: Some 6 percent of American scientists identify themselves as Republican, 32 percent as Democrats.
Health care for all: The nation’s seven largest insurance companies denied coverage to 1 in 7 people because of “existing conditions” – four of the seven classed pregnancy as one of these conditions.
Linguists at work: The U.S. mission in Afghanistan named its local security program inteqal. The word in Pakistani means “dead.”
Take 5! Short naps not only improve health, but also make you smarter
Reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic: Since 1997 the hourly wages of men with a postgraduate degree has increased 26 percent. For high school dropouts, it has decreased 16 percent.
Don’t be scared: In 49 states it is legal for employers to discriminate on the basis of physical appearance.
“Law and Order” legacy: Since 2001, personal injury lawsuits against the New York City Police Department have increased 97 percent.
Benefits of a parochial education: A survey says that 29 percent of U.S. Catholics believe there is “spiritual energy” in trees and mountains and 17 percent believe in the “evil eye.”
Close them borders!! Some 116,782 immigrants were deported during George Bush’s first year, versus 387,790 during Obama’s first year.
The energy crisis: 23 nuclear reactors are under construction in China. None in the U.S.
Tax burden: Last year Americans paid 17 percent of their personal income in taxes. The last time it was so low was in 1971.
Where we shop: Pakistan receives billions of dollars in aid from the U.S. each year, plus a larger, secret, amount in military support. A recent poll of Pakistanis revealed that 16 percent of them had a “favorable opinion” of the U.S. while 84 percent of them had a “favorable opinion” of China.
Murder will out: Ten percent of all American murders are committed by women, but only 1 percent of those executed for murder are women.
The glass ceiling: Some 15 percent of senior-level female executives admitted to having had an affair with a male boss. A significant additional percentage refused to answer.
A keepsake: In Britain one may have his or her ashes pressed into a vinyl record for $4,500.
Communism and food: Cuba imports 80 percent of its food.
Democracy and food: In India, 1 out of 2 children is malnourished.
The day cometh: Two out of 10 red state Americans – and 4 out of 10 who watch Fox News – believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth by 2050.
Gains for Israel: Since Obama took office, the number of Jewish Americans who identify themselves as Republican has increased by 77 percent.
Relative value: The state of Louisiana has sold $5,900,000,000 in recovery bonds since Katrina. One percent of them have been spent on New Orleans, 29 percent on the oil industry.
Government benefits: Last year, under the Patriot Act, federal judges issued 1,150 delayed-notice search warrants (bust the door down and tell the owner later), only six of which were related to terrorism.
Whose deficit? Some 38 percent of this year’s budget is attributable to Bush-era tax cuts and the wars in the Mideast.
Privacy: In the first six months of 2010, Google turned user information over to government investigators 4,287 times.
Accident prone: African-American motorcyclists are twice as apt to wear helmets, but three times as likely to die in crashes.
Devil’s Dictionary ?Definition of the Week
Protection Racket: Differs from legitimate government in that the criminals running the rackets seek only your money; they do not attempt to control your private life.
Rodney Quinn, a former Maine secretary of state, lives in Gorham. He can be reached at rquinn@maine.rr.com.
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