Percentage decrease in the median U.S. household income during the “Great Recession” : 3.2
During the subsequent “recovery” : 6.7
Portion of income growth since the end of the recession that has gone to corporate profits : 9/10
Minimum number of pigs stolen in Minnesota this September : 744
Amount the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program returned to the Treasury after its allocation deadline passed : $568,000,000
Minimum amount the U.S. government overpaid for federal services in 2010 : $26,000,000,000
Percentage by which the average contracted project costs the government more than the equivalent government-run project : 83
Estimated percentage of U.S. public schools that will fail this year under the standards set by No Child Left Behind : 82
Chance that a school has lowered its proficiency standards to inflate test scores since 2005 : 1 in 2
Price the Berkeley College Republicans charged white men for baked goods at their September “Increase Diversity Bake Sale” : $2
Price they charged black men : $0.75
Date on which Governor Rick Scott said that Florida doesn’t need “more anthropologists” : 10/10/2011
Date on which Scott’s daughter received her anthropology degree : 1/11/2008
Rank of the U.S. Congress among world legislatures for gender parity : 89
Portion of U.S. mothers who read People magazine : 1/3
Percentage of Americans who say news organizations “hurt democracy” : 42
Chance that an American between 18 and 24 has read a book in the past year that wasn’t required for school or work : 1 in 2
Portion of the “Millennial Generation” that is “absolutely certain” God exists : 2/3
Rank of non-denominational Christianity among the fastest-growing religions in America during the past two decades : 2
Rank of “none” : 1
Number of Bibles that have been to the moon : 100
Number of messages in bottles sent out by one resident of Prince Edward Island since 1996 : 5,230
Number of responses he has received : 3,201
U.S. patent number assigned to a device for building the perfect snowman : 8,011,991
Number of codes in the current nationwide system for describing medical services on insurance bills : 17,849
Number in the new federally mandated system : 141,058
Code number for “crushed by alligator, initial encounter” : W5803XA
For “crushed by alligator, subsequent encounter” : W5803XS
Odds a West Virginia driver collided with a deer in the past year : 1 in 53
Date on which Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, unveiled a sculpture commemorating the Beatles’ 1964 visit there : 9/18/2011
Hours that the Beatles spent in the town : 1
Date on which the Chinese city of Chaohu was “canceled” by government decree : 8/22/2011
Percentage of Icelanders who believe that the existence of elves is “probable” or “certain” : 25
Number of Italian earthquake experts currently on trial for manslaughter for downplaying the risk of a 2009 earthquake : 7
Percentage of the vote received by the Pirate Party in Berlin’s September municipal elections : 8.9
Number of sex dolls distributed to SS soldiers by Heinrich Himmler, according to a book released this September : 50
Number of Afghan army battalions currently able to fight without coalition support : 0
Number of “major threats” the Transportation Security Administration has detected in the decade since its creation : 0
Portion of adults under thirty who think Hollywood is a threat to their values : 1/3
Minimum number of times Newt Gingrich has seen The Hangover : 7
