--THERE WAS NOTHING TO WATCH

 

…Here are some things I've learned (some very unpleasant) of late, or at least the first bit, which I've been following closely and feel compelled to share:

First off, let's get this out of the way:

-On Monday the bodies of 43 men and six women were tossed on a Mexican freeway in Monterrey.  The corpses had their hands and feet cut off.

-On May 4th, nine people were hanged from a bridge in a Mexican town just south of Loredo, Texas.  That same day, in the same city, 14 people were found decapitated.
(Is no one doing anything about this?)

-Sixty percent of all American workers say that the value of their savings and investments is less than $25,000

-42% say it's $1,500 or less. 

-It's just been reported that Robert Downey Jr. is set to make $50 million dollars from the film "The Avengers"

-Average size of new single-family homes (in square feet):

1980 --1,740
1990 --2080
2000 --2266
2010 --2392

Most Well-Read Cities:

12. Seattle
11. Knoxville, TN
10. Pittsburg
9.   Salt Lake
8.   Washington, D.C.
7.   Arlington, VA
6.   Miami
5.   Boulder, CO
4.   Ann Arbor, MI
3.   Berkely, CA
2.   Cambridge, MA
1.   Alexandria, VA
(the two VA cities are merely suburbs of Wash., D.C.)

-32% of all white women aged 18-21 say they've used an indoor tanning bed at least once in the past year.

 -Number of magazine launches and closures in 2010 vs. 2011

2010 Launched: 301
2010 Closed:  311
2011 Launced: 273
2011 Closed: 174

--If you could predict a previous president to run the country today, whom would it be?

36% --Ronald Reagan
29% -- FDR
14% --Thomas Jefferson
8%   --Harry Truman
1%   -- William Henry Harrison

-If Joe Biden does run for vice president next year, which democrat would you favor replacing him?

43% --Hillary Clinton
8%   -- Warren Buffett
6%   --David Patraeus
5%   --Oprah Winfrey
4%   --Andrew Cuomo

 -3 in 4 --Number who say they would vote for a Mormon for president

-1 in 5 --Number who think God has a soft spot for the United States

-44 --Percentage who see natural disasters as signs of biblical "end times."

-29 --Percentage who think God punishes nations for the sins of their citizens

-1 in 2 --Number of men who say religion influenced their choice of spouse

-1 in 2-Number who pray every day

-42 --Percentage of Catholics who know that Genesis is the first book of the Bible

-79 --Percentage of atheists and agnostics who know

-27% --Number of women who are happy with their looks

24% --Number of women who are neutral about their looks
49% --Number of women who are not happy with the way they look

-73% --Percentage of men who are okay daying women who earn significantly more than they do
-19% --Percentage of men who are stay at home dads

-According to Parent and Child Magazine and Scholastic, these are the top 5 Childrens books of all time:

1. -- Charlotte's Web
2. -- Goodnight Moon
3. -- A Wrinkle in Time
4. -- The Snowy Day
5. -- Where the Wild Things Are

 -Number of Billionaires worldwide:

1987 --140
1992 --288
1997 --486
2002 --497
2007 --946
2012 --1,226
 

-13,539 babies are born addicted every year.  That's one every hour.

 -Through March of this year, 6.5% of all new cars purchased had stick shifts.

That's double the rate in each of the past five years.

 -There are seven billion living people and about 98 billion dead people i.e., fourteen dead people for every living person.

-57% of single women have sent a "sext"

-69% of women who are dating have sent a naked photo in an em-mail or text message

-72% of women who are not dating are likely to post something Facebook to grab someone's attention

-67% of people feel more comfortable flirting on Facebook vs. approaching them at a bar

-800,000,000  -- Number of Facebook users

-75 -- Percentage of Facebook users outside of the US 

-Current valuation of Facebook = $110 Billion