Harper’s Index

Years U.S. Latin American policy adviser Otto Reich was a lobbyist for Mobil Oil before his appointment in January: 6¹

Years Reich spent as ambassador to Venezuela in the 1980s: 4²

Years into his ambassadorship that he was cited for creating illegal "covert propaganda" in the Iran-Contra scandal: 1³

Days after April's Venezuelan coup that he attributed his ignorance of events there to an "information blackout": 4⁴

Number of the 46 journalists imprisoned in Latin America between 1998 and 2001 who worked in Venezuela: 1⁵

Number of reformist daily newspapers in Iran: 6⁶

Percentage of Iranians and Kuwaitis, respectively, who say that the September 11 attacks were "totally justifiable": 8, 18⁷

Percentage of Americans who say this: 5⁸

Number of the seven U.S. vetoes cast in the U.N. Security Council since 1990 that have blocked censures of Israel: 6⁹

Amount the U.S. Agency for International Development spent to build Bethlehem University's Millennium Hall: $1,200,000¹⁰

Months after the building's inauguration in December that Israel used three U.S.-made missiles to destroy it: 2.5¹¹

Number of times Israel has formally recognized the right of a Palestinian state to exist anywhere: 0¹²

Ratio of the number of Israelis and Palestinians killed in political violence last year to the number of Sri Lankans killed: 2:3¹³

Ratio of the number of Americans killed by terrorists last year to the estimated number who died from food poisoning: 3:5¹⁴

Barrels of oil required to raise U.S. cattle for beef each year: 155,000,000¹⁵

Days the University of Georgia heated its campus last winter by burning chicken fat and other leftover food grease: 21¹⁶

Ratio of the amount of food thrown out by South Korea last year to the amount consumed by North Korea: 1:1¹⁷

Number of billionaires worldwide last year and this year, respectively: 580, 497¹⁸

Rank of the United States among countries that lost the largest number of billionaires in the last year: 1¹⁹

Total amount the I.R.S. has paid Americans in improperly claimed slave reparations since 2000: $30,000,000²⁰

Total amount of federal farm subsidies received by Kenneth Lay since 1996: $12,038²¹

Total public financing for which Enron has received approval since 1992: $7,219,000,000²²

Number of recommendations made by the S.E.C. since 1992 to file criminal charges against individuals: 609²³

Number of these recommendations that led to prosecution, conviction, and jail time, respectively: 189, 144, 87²⁴

Weeks during which the U.S. government suspended investment of federal workers' pension funds this year: 2²⁵

Months during which Alabama will suspend most jury trials this year due to a lack of funds: 5²⁶

Percentage of new state laws involving biotechnology that increase penalties for destroying genetically modified crops: 70²⁷

Factor by which the Bush Administration's budget proposal in February increased federal funding to fight bioterrorism: 4²⁸

Number of years the directorship of the National Institutes of Health has been vacant: 2.3²⁹

Estimated percentage of the inhabitants of the contiguous United States who have been exposed to nuclear fallout: 100³⁰

Chance of contracting a "fairly common" form of colon cancer reported on in the New York Times April 4: 1 in 8,000³¹

Chance of a child contracting the "rare disease" neuroblastoma, as cited by another Times article the same day: 1 in 7,000³²

Number of artists employed full-time by the Wall Street Journal to convert photographs into faux engravings: 5³³

Number of ecstasy tablets seized at Miami's airport in February from an 81-year-old woman in a wheelchair: 9,931³⁴

Amount of missing lunch money for which a Kansas City teacher strip-searched 23 third-graders in March: $5³⁵

Number of books to which a national reading program has assigned points that students can accumulate for rewards: 50,000³⁶

Points assigned to Tom Clancy's Executive Orders and Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, respectively: 78, 40³⁷

Date on which the first CD of the Brooklyn rock band I Am the World Trade Center was released: 5/8/01³⁸

Track number of their song "September": 11³⁹

USERNAME
PASSWORD
Subscriber? · Lost password? Lost username? · More help