Harper’s Index

Ratio of Japanese killed in 1945's U.S. atomic-bomb attacks to Iraqi children killed due to U.N. sanctions: 1:3¹

Number of reports that President Bush referred to on September 7 as evidence of Iraq's nuclear threat: 2²

Last year in which the agency Bush cited as the reports' author had new information on Iraq's nuclear program: 1998³

Number of "indications" the agency had then of "any physical capability" to produce weapons-grade nuclear material: 0⁴

Chances an American believes the government should restrict professors from criticizing U.S. policy during war: 2 in 5⁵

Estimated number of U.S. high school graduates who will forgo college this year solely for financial reasons: 168,000⁶

Percentage of U.S. college students who believe the "next Bill Gates" is among today's generation of college students: 50⁷

Percentage who say they are the next Bill Gates: 24⁸

Number of colleges that have organizations to elect John Cusack as U.S. president in 2004: 172⁹

Percentage by which the new campaign-finance-reform law will raise the cap on hard-money contributions: +100¹⁰

Year in which the Washington Post's executive editor gave up voting, in order "to be as unbiased as possible": 1984¹¹

Year in which Disney's Mickey Mouse copyright will expire if the Supreme Court reverses a 1998 extension this winter: 2003¹²

Number of federal trademark cases dismissed since July with opinions stating that the plaintiff is "advised to chill": 2¹³

Percentage of the $3.1 billion owed by securities-law violators between 1995 and 2001 that the SEC has recouped: 13.6¹⁴

Percentage of their assets that Zimbabwe's private pension funds are required to invest in government treasury bills: 45¹⁵

Number of Latin American nations where the percentage of people calling themselves "leftist" has increased since 1996: 2¹⁶

Number of Latin American nations where the percentage of people calling themselves "rightist" has increased: 13¹⁷

Percentage of Latin Americans who said in 1998 that their nation's privatization of state industries had been beneficial: 46¹⁸

Percentage who say this today: 35¹⁹

Percentage of Argentineans who say they have "no" or "little" confidence in their nation's political parties: 95²⁰

Percentage of Americans who say they believe "almost nothing" Al Gore says: 26²¹

Percentage who say this about Bill Clinton: 44²²

Average number of tons of manure produced by U.S. cattle, pig, and chicken feedlots each minute: 100,000²³

Average number of tons of meat recalled by U.S. producers each year since 1994: 8,500²⁴

Percentage change since 1965 in the number of hog and pig farms in the United States: -92²⁵

Percentage change since then in the number of hogs and pigs on U.S. farms: +18²⁶

Ratio of the total number of U.S. forest fires during the 1970s to the number during the last ten years: 3:2²⁷

Ratio of acres burned in U.S. forest fires during the 1970s to those burned in the last ten years: 2:3²⁸

Factor by which estimated homeowners'-insurance losses owing to mold have increased since 1999: 540²⁹

Average number of hours that the calories consumed in an American's Thanksgiving Day meal could power a 27" TV: 49³⁰

Ratio of the number of pardons George W. Bush has issued turkeys to those he has issued human beings: 2:1³¹

Ratio of the average life span of a commercially bred turkey to that of a wild one: 1:7³²

Ratio of the average age of those executed in Texas under Bush to the average U.S. life expectancy: 1:2³³

Maximum milligrams of speed prescribed to U.S. pilots by military doctors during the Persian Gulf War: 5³⁴

Maximum milligrams prescribed during the Afghan intervention: 10³⁵

Number of Australians who listed "Jedi" as their religious affiliation on the country's 2001 census: 70,509³⁶

Years after inventing the Kalashnikov that its namesake said in July that he wished he had made a lawn mower instead: 55³⁷

Places by which Russia's ranking in the U.N.'s Human Development Index of living standards has fallen since 1990: 31³⁸

Rank of the United States and Britain among nations whose residents are most likely to be obese: 1, 2³⁹

Rank of Hungary: 3⁴⁰

Response: March 2003, page 90

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