The Crystal Ark / We Came To House
The Harper's Index, June Issue, 2014
HARPER’S INDEX
Percentage of all litter on U.S. roadways accounted for by cigarette butts : 36
Estimated additional hours Americans would spend stoned annually if marijuana were legal in most states : 30,000,000,000
Ounces of marijuana left so far this year in “amnesty boxes” at the Colorado Springs airport : 1.4
Boxes of cookies a Girl Scout sold in two hours this February outside a San Francisco marijuana dispensary : 117
Percentage change since 2000 in the average cost of food worldwide : +123
Portion of U.S. minimum-wage earners who are older than twenty- ve : 1/2
Number of inmates a Chicago county jail has successfully enrolled in Medicaid through provisions of Obamacare : 2,629
Percentage of all reported U.S. data breaches last year that occurred at health-care organizations : 43
Number of fraudulent background checks the rm that vetted Edward Snowden submitted to the U.S. government : 665,000
Email accounts a company specializing in spying on unfaithful partners hacked before being shut down by the FBI last year : 5,921
Percentage of same-sex marriages performed in Iowa that have been between people from out of state : 70
Years by which the life expectancy of an American with homophobic views is shorter than that of the average American : 2.5
By which the life expectancy of a gay person living in a homophobic community is : 12
Factor by which a Briton is more likely to die prematurely of loneliness than of obesity : 2
Portion of college students with symptoms of clinical depression who are not receiving mental-health services : 1/2
Percentage change in the Facebook activity of a newly single person on the day he or she is dumped : +225
Factor by which a person in the developing world is more likely to be diabetic if he or she has a television, computer, and car : 2.5
Estimated number of homeless people in Greece : 20,000
Of unoccupied homes there : 300,000
Amount of investment in Malta that will buy a foreigner E.U. citizenship, under a new Maltese law : $1,150,000
Number of mine-resistant trucks the Army plans to donate to domestic law enforcement and foreign governments : 12,400
Chances that a young Afghan man says he has never heard of 9/11 : 9 in 10
Percentage change in the number of active anti–federal government groups during President Obama’s rst term in of ce : +800
Since his reelection : –20
Amount in royalties the band Skinny Puppy is seeking for the use of its music during U.S. military interrogations : $666,000
Estimated percentage of women in the U.S. military who are “very interested” in taking combat positions : 9
Portion of American Catholics who believe that the Church should ordain women : 2/3
Percentage of U.S. married men who say their spouses vote the same way they do : 73
Of U.S. married women who say so : 49
Portion of U.S. kindergartners who are the children of single mothers : 2/5
Chance an average American child eats pizza on any given day : 1 in 5
Amount Americans spent on mayonnaise last year : $2,000,000,000
Portion of North American zoo elephants that are overweight : 3/4
Percentage change since 2004 in the total membership of the World Clown Association : –30
Amount an Italian chocolatier spent to construct a 1.5-ton life-size chocolate sculpture of Pope Francis : $41,847
Percentage change in the past decade in the number of U.S. lms and TV shows that featured an abortion-related plotline : +100
In the number of those plotlines that ended in an abortion : –14
Minimum percentage change in the past year in the number of reported cases of sexual assault in the U.S. military : +50
Date on which the Army suspended its chief sexual assault prosecutor for an alleged sexual assault : 2/21/2014
Figures cited are the latest available as of March 2014. Sources are listed on page 60.
“Harper’s Index” is a registered trademark.
