7/18/10

Harper's Index

Total campaign contributions Barack Obama received from BP between 2004 and 2009 : $77,051
Number of politicians who accepted more in donations from BP during that period : 0
Factor by which BP’s 2010 first-quarter profits exceed its $75-million liability cap for the Gulf oil spill : 75
Percentage of “willful” violations by U.S. oil refiners since 2007 that occurred at BP plants, according to OSHA : 97
Percentage of stock-dividend payments made by British companies last year that were from BP : 12
Percentage of all U.S. derivatives that are currently held by five finance firms : 97
Projected amount U.S. state and local governments will lose this year on interest-rate swaps with banks : $1,600,000,000
Estimated amount the Greek government will lose due to tax evasion : $18,000,000,000
Percentage of their personal income Americans paid in taxes last year : 17
Last year in which Americans paid so little : 1971
Percentage of all U.S. personal income last year that came from wages and government programs, respectively : 52, 17
Number of years since record keeping began in 1929 that these fi gures have been so low and so high, respectively : 0
Percentage change since 2007 in the hourly wage of an American man with a postgraduate degree : +26
Percentage change for a high school dropout : –16
Percentage change since 2007 in the median wealth of white Americans and African Americans, respectively : –34, –77
Minimum number of African Americans running as Republicans in this year’s congressional elections : 32
Last year in which an African-American Republican was elected to the House : 2001
Number of immigrants deported during George W. Bush’s first year as president : 116,782
Number deported during Obama’s first year : 387,790
Percentage of Americans in a May survey who thought hiring an illegal immigrant should be a criminal offense : 73
Percentage who thought churches should be required to report illegal immigrants : 33
Percentage of Pakistanis who hold a favorable opinion of China and of the United States, respectively : 84, 16
Number of nuclear reactors currently under construction in China : 23
Date on which the only confirmed survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic-bomb attacks died : 1/4/2010
Number of Medals of Honor awarded to U.S. soldiers in World War II : 464
Number awarded so far in Iraq and Afghanistan : 6
Percentage of all countries that hold “prisoners of conscience,” according to Amnesty International : 30
Percentage of G-20 countries that do : 42
Price of an I ♥ DPRK FOOTBALL onesie from a North Carolina sports-apparel company : $12.99
Percentage of Israeli Jews in an April survey who said Israel allows “too much freedom of expression” : 50
Percentage change since 2001 in the number of personal-injury lawsuits filed against New York City police officers : +97
Chance that a U.S. criminologist thinks abolishing the death penalty would increase the murder rate : 1 in 10
Number of states that have eased restrictions on Sunday alcohol sales since the beginning of the recession : 5
Number of states where it is legal for employers to discriminate on the basis of physical appearance : 49
Percentage of gay marriages performed in Iowa that have been between residents of the state : 40
Percentage of unmarried American men over 45 who use condoms when they have sex : 29
Chance that a sexually active U.S. teenage boy would be “pleased” if he “got a female pregnant” : 1 in 5
Chance that a teenage girl has used the rhythm method for contraception : 1 in 6
Percentage of U.S. Catholics who believe there is “spiritual energy” in trees and mountains : 29
Percentage who believe in the “evil eye”: 17