Harper’s Index

Percentage of federal “domestic preparedness” funds allocated to the states since [1990s|1999] that remain unspent

Amount of new [USMilitary|U.S. military] aid for [Colombia|Colombia] inserted into the [Iraq|Iraq] war bill in [March|March]

Amount of new [USMilitary|U.S. military] aid promised [Israel|Israel] in [April|April] to offset the “burdens” of the U.S. war on [Iraq|Iraq]

Percentage [Labor|unemployment] in [Palestine|Palestine], [WestVirginia|West Virginia], the hometown of former POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch

Number of U.S. states in which [WalMart|Wal-Mart] is the largest [Labor|employer]

Chance that a network-[Television|television] [Advertising|advertisement] is paid for by one of the 100 largest U.S. [Business|corporations]

[Days|Days] that AT&T ceased its [Television|TV] [Advertising|advertising] last [March|March] “out of respect for the [USMilitary|U.S. military] operation in [Iraq|Iraq]”

Amount by which total U.S. personal [Finance|debt] in 2002 exceeded total disposable income

Number of [HealthCare|Medicare] patients dropped since [1990s|1998] by U.S. HMOs claiming inadequate reimbursement rates

Amount it spent on [Folly|cowboy hats]

Average quality-of-life rating researchers assign U.S. [Child|children] with [Cancer|cancer], on a scale of 1 to 100

Average quality-of-life rating assigned [Obesity|obese] [Child|children]

Estimated number of [Sweets|Ding Dongs] [Labor|manufactured] per minute at [StLouis|St. Louis’s] Interstate Brands factory

Chance that a [Wealth|billionaire] today is self-made

Percentage of [Men|male] U.S. [Driving|drivers] who “often” or “sometimes” steer with their legs

Number of [Driving|motor vehicles] owned by [Comedian|Tom Magliozzi], co-host of [Radio|NPR’s] Car Talk

Maximum portion of the chemical [Energy|energy] in [Gasoline|gasoline] that is used by an internal combustion engine

Percentage change in central [London|London’s] average rush-hour [Driving|car] speed since a ?5 toll was imposed there in [February|February]

Percentage change since [1970s|1973] in overall U.S. [Energy|energy] consumption

Percentage change since then [1970s|1973] in U.S. [Oil|oil] imports

Year in which [Detroit|Detroit] presented [SaddamHussein|Saddam Hussein] with a key to the city

[Days|Days] after the U.S. invaded [Iraq|Iraq] that [Business|Sony] [IntellectualProperty|trademarked] “Shock & Awe” for [VideoGame|video games]

[Days|Days] later that the company gave up the [IntellectualProperty|trademark], citing “regrettable bad judgment”

Amount the [AirForce|U.S. Air Force] spent on a “nostalgic juke box” for a base in [SaudiArabia|Saudi] [Arab|Arabia] in the last two years

Chance that a U.S. [SeniorCitizen|senior citizen] reports having skipped [HealthCare|medications] or not filled prescriptions because of cost

Number of sites nationwide where [Agriculture|farmers] grew “[Drugs|pharmaceutical] [Plants|crops]” last year

Number of different strains of [Disease|tuberculosis] whose [Genetics|DNA] has been catalogued by a [NewJersey|New Jersey] microbiologist

Minimum number of chronic [Medicine|medical] disorders linked to exposure to [Pollution|industrial chemicals]

Rank of [SiliconValley|Silicon Valley] among fifteen-square-mile areas with the largest number of [Pollution|Superfund] sites

Percentage of cases of communicable [Disease|diseases] that [California|California] [Medicine|medical] professionals are required to report that go unreported

Last year in which no [Cinema|film], screenplay, or [Entertainment|performance] relating to [MentalHandicap|mental illness] was nominated for an [AcademyAwards|Oscar]

Ratio of the top weekly fee paid a [Dwarf|Munchkin] in [1930s|1939’s] [TheWizardofOz|The Wizard of Oz] to the weekly fee paid for [Dog|Toto]

Number of mine-detecting [Monkey|monkeys] erroneously reported to have been given to the United States by Morocco in [March|March]

Amount [Canada|Canada] spent last [Summer|summer] to keep [Bear|bears] away from the [G-8|G-8] summit

Minimum number of times that the [Democracy|demonstrators] at this year’s largest U.S. peace rally could encircle the [Pentagon|Pentagon]

Minimum number of times [Hippies|Abbie Hoffman] was

Minimum number of times that actor [Entertainment|Martin Sheen] has been arrested in political [Democracy|protests]

Percentage “improvement” that [Minnesota|Minnesota] senator Norm Coleman claims to be over the late Paul Wellstone

Portion of sales of its “Impeach [GeorgeWBush|Bush] French Fries” that a [California|California] cafe will donate to an impeachment campaign

[Days|Days] that it ceased its telemarketing