Fun_People Archive
4 Oct
Harper's Index -- September, 1996

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Fri,  4 Oct 96 21:46:12 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: Harper's Index -- September, 1996

From: Harper's Magazine, September, 1996

Number of Hollywood movies released since last October in which a fictional  
U.S. president is one of the characters : 4

Number of these in which the first lady is already dead or is killed in the  
movie : 3

Percentage change since 1994 in the number of threats of violence received  
by members of Congress : +84

Ratio of the market value of suspected Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's signature  
to that of Bob Dole's : 5:2

Number of books in Dole's "library," according to Jack Kemp in 1985 : 2

Number of them Dole "hadn't even finished coloring" : 1

Amount Disney spent last Halloween outfitting Tipper and Al Gore as Beauty  
and the Beast : $8,365

Percentage of this amount for which Disney was reimbursed by the Democratic  
National Committee : 100

Chance that a supporter of Ross Perot's Reform Party cast a ballot in its  
mail-in primary last July : 1 in 20

Percentage of Dan Rostenkowski's congressional pension benefits he will  
forfeit during his stay in prison this year : 0

Years since states were last allowed to distribute federal welfare funds to  
able-bodied, childless adults : 22

Number of states in which local welfare reform was already legal before the  
passage of July's welfare bill : 43

Number of times since 1906 that Congress has voted against granting the FDA  
jurisdiction over tobacco : 18

Ratio of Americans who die from tobacco-related illnesses each year to the  
number who are murdered : 17:1

Number of convicted drug traffickers executed in China last June to mark  
World Anti-Drug Day : 250

Refugees killed in northern Uganda last July by a group seeking national  
rule "based on the Ten Commandments" : 107

Years it took the Japanese government to apologize for using South Korean  
POWs as "comfort women" for its troops : 51

Estimated number of South Koreans officially registered last year as "club  
women" for U.S. military bases : 18,000

Maximum months of maternity leave Croatia's new "family values" plan allows  
an employed, pregnant mother of two : 36

Estimated number of frozen embryos disposed of by British fertility clinics  
last August : 5,500

Number of these disposed of at the request of the couples who produced them : 2,500

Number of Kenyan orphans Olympic runner Kipchoge Keino has adopted : 100

Percentage of all gold refined last year worldwide that was made into jewelry : 76

Number of countries whose GNP last year was less than the amount spent  
worldwide at Wal-Mart : 161

Chances that a copy of Newt Gingrich's novel was returned to the publisher  
unsold : 4 in 5

Number of times Jack Kemp has seen the musical Les Misrables : 3

Percentage change since 1992 in the number of black delegates at the  
Republican National Convention : - 51

Number of Constitutional amendments called for in the Republican Party platform
: 7

Number of the five Senate Republican leaders who have run for president in  
Bob Dole's lifetime who have won : 0

Percentage change since 1992 in presidential campaign contributions made by  
the gambling industry : +800

Percentage change since 1980 in the population of Las Vegas : +100

Units of public housing the federal government plans to demolish by the year  
2000 : 100,920

Units it plans to construct by then : 24,679

Percentage change since 1989 in the number of federal prison inmates over  
the age of forty-nine : +88

Number of state and federal court opinions written since 1977 that have  
included a reference to Elvis Presley : 189

Estimated number of "well-documented" sightings of Bigfoot since 1958 : 1,500

Years a California rat retailer used the name Rats R Us before Toys 'R' Us  
threatened to sue : 2

Price charged for a "jumbo" rat by the newly christened Rat Paradise : $7.50

Percentage of Americans who would rather have Richard Nixon back in the  
White House than any other president : 3
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