--CLAP YOUR HANDS, SAY, "YEAH."

…When I was in college Statistics was a required class.
I am not a math guy. I'm an English guy.
I did not do so well in Statistics. I was always lost.
For the final, which was multiple choice, I just circled random letters, then handed in the test. That summer I worked in Alaska on a processing boat (boy do I have stories!) When I got back to Washington State U. and met with my counselor before school began, he had my reportcard in his palm on the other side of the desk.
"You would've had a 4.0 if you hadn't gotten that C."
"C!"
Somehow--miracle of miracles--I aced the final. In Statics.
I hated that class and would skip it to watch "All My Children" which was on at the same time. (I had a crush on Kim Delaney, now of "Army Wives".)

Now that I'm a little older I've come to appreciate and actually enjoy statistics. I don't like the math part--like having to gather up random group sampling and whatnot, but I like the story(ies) they tell about things.

Here is some information, then, about you and I.
I hope you find it interesting. I did.

--According to The Barna Group, 95% of all Americans consistently say they believe in God or a higher power

--13% of all people pretend to talk on their cell phone in order to avoid personal interactions

--Watching up to 25 hours of television a week speeds up death by five years

--The number one single on this day in 1996 was "Macarena" by Los Del Rio. The number one selling album this week (964,000 copies) is "Tha Carter IV" by Lil Wayne

--15% of all Americans currently live in poverty, the highest rate since 1932

--As of 8/1/11, The US Congress has received it's lowest approval rating in recorded history

--In the month of July, the number of unique U.S. visitors to:
Facebook, 162 million
Myspace, 33 million
Twitter, 33 million
LinkedIn 33 million

--Sandwiches from childhood that adults miss most:
25% Grilled cheese
24% Peanut butter and Jelly
13% Bologna and cheese
7% Liverwurst

--Where we buy books:
30%, Online retailers
29%, Bookstore chains
6%, Book clubs
6%, Non-traditional bookstores
5%, Mass merchandisers
5%, Independent bookstores

--In the USA, adults who say, in a week they:
1991 2011

read the bible outside of church 45% 40%
say God is all-knowing/all powerful 74% 67%
attend worship 49% 40%
accept Jesus and expect to be saved 35% 40%
call bible "totally accurate" 46% 38%


28.7 years of age --average age for men at first marriage
26.7 years of age --average age for women at first marriage

11.6% -- Housing vacancy rate in 2006
13.1% -- Housing vacancy rate in 2010
--$100 Billion- current valuation of Facebook

--42 million-fans of Lady Gaga on Facebook

--$40-late fee charged to Reed Hastings by Blockbuster for rental of "Apollo 13." Reed then went onto found Netflix

--89% of all peole hold their computer mouse wrong
--88% of all people have poor typing technique
--84% of all people set their keyboard wrong

--29%, percentage decreas in your risk of lethal prostrate cancer if you drink 1 to 3 cups of coffee a day.

--Cities graded by education and/or intelligence of their population:
A+ Madison, WI
A- Seattle, WA
A- Fargo, ND
A- San Diego, CA
C- New York, NY
D Los Angeles, CA
F Miami, FL

--Countries with the most millionaire households:
USA - 5.2 million
Japan - 1.5 million
China -1.1 million
Britian - .6 million
Germany - .4 million

--1 in 7 drivers are not insured

--13%-Percentage by which your coronary heart-disease risk drops if you are satisfied with your sex life

--Michael Vick, pro athlete convicted of staging dog fights, earned 12 cents an hour working at a federal prison and just signed a 10-year $100 millon contract with about $40 million guaranteed.

--When asked where they'd prefer to age, accroding to Hartford/MIT lab, people said:
50% my current home
41% another home
9% not sure