Charlie Buttrey

February 8, 2018

Every now and then I turn to Harper’s Index to provide my readers with the sort of nuggets and tidbits they need before they go out to face the world.  Herewith the Harper’s Index for February:

Estimated average number of arthropod species living in a US home : 100

Estimated portion of pet reptiles that die within a year of being brought home : 3/4

Length, in months, of the Copenhagen Zoo’s waiting period for owners requesting to feed their dead horses to the lions : 3

Minimum number of soldiers who fought in the Battle of Stalingrad whose bodies were found last year : 975

Minimum number of South Koreans currently imprisoned for refusing compulsory military service : 400

Of Israelis : 3

Number of US veterans who have been waiting more than thirty years for decisions on disability-benefits appeals : 22

Who have been waiting more than fifty years : 2

Number of helicopters the United States announced that it would give to Afghanistan’s air force : 159

Number of trained flight crews in the Afghan military : 4

Number of US civilian colleges that have received government funding for intelligence-studies programs : 45

Minimum number of US universities that received funding from the Charles Koch Foundation in 2016 : 300

Number of classroom teachers on Forbes Magazine’s 2018 30 Under 30 Education list : 0

Years of Irish-language study that are required in Irish schools : 14

Portion of Irish who feel confident speaking the language : 3/10

Minimum number of words catalogued by the Dictionary of American Regional Englishbefore it lost its funding last year : 60,000

Percentage of Britons aged 18 to 25 who find it easier to express themselves in emoji than in words : 72

Portion of Australians who have had an intimate photo or video posted to social media without their consent : 1/10

Amount the US Treasury has paid congressional staff in legal settlements since 2008 : $5,963,825

Percentage by which the first FBI crime report under Donald Trump contained fewer data tables than the previous year’s : 58

Estimated portion of US workers whose employers do not grant paid leave for jury duty : 2/5

Amount guaranteed in daily payment for serving on a jury in Arkansas : $50

In Kansas : $10

Amount the federal government spent between 2006 and 2016 responding to extreme weather : $357,000,000,000

Minimum number of Americans who registered for federal disaster aid last year : 4,764,974

Average annual number over the previous decade : 456,998

Number of days by which US winters have grown shorter since 1895 : 14

Portion of the global population who cannot see the Milky Way because of light pollution : 1/3

Percentage change in the level of glyphosate, an herbicide, in Americans’ urine since 1993 : +1,200

Percentage of Americans who stream movies and television outside the home who have done so in a public restroom : 12

Hours that a driverless bus in Las Vegas operated before getting into an accident : 1

Portion of US drivers who do not know how to change a tire : 1/5

Average cost of traffic congestion to a US driver in 2016 : $1,400

Date on which Virginia opened express toll lanes to ease traffic on I-66 : 12/4/17

Maximum price of a one-way commute into Washington that day : $34.50

Amount of funding for the MTA that NYC mayor Bill de Blasio said he would raise this year at an October event : $700,000,000

Number of minutes by which his subway to the event was delayed : 10

Date on which Japan’s Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company issued an apology for a train departing early : 11/14/17

Number of seconds before the departure time that the train left : 20

© 2020 Charlie Buttrey Law by Nomad Communications