Harper’s Index

Number of U.S. states whose legislatures have considered requesting changes in the [Education|No Child Left Behind] Act

Ratio of the typical salary of a paid gladiator in ancient [Rome|Rome] to the salary of a [Doctor|doctor] or [Lawyer|lawyer]

Number of [Afghanistan|Afghanistan’s] 33 provinces with no [NATO|NATO] peacekeeping presence

Number of [Congress|Congress] members present at the [June|June] transfer of power from Coalition military forces to the [Iraq|Iraqi] government

Minimum number of [Congress|Congress] members [Religion|Sun Myung Moon] claims attended his [March|March] coronation as the “King of Peace‚”

Chance that one of them was a member of [Congress|Congress] who became a registered [Corruption|lobbyist]

Minimum number of ex-senior government officials who have worked for a major U.S. [Corruption|defense contractor] since [1990s|1997]

Number of the 50 airstrikes targeting [Iraq|Iraq’s] leadership during the invasion last year that hit their target

Funds allocated for [Iraq|Iraq’s] water programs to be spent on U.S. embassy operating costs

Height in feet of a bronze [September11|September 11] memorial depicting a giant teardrop to be built in Jersey City, [NewJersey|New Jersey]

Estimated number of [Policing|police] per protester

Percentage of [NewYorkCity|New York City] residents it would take to fill every inch of pavement in midtown [Manhattan|Manhattan]

Number of [Congress|Congress] members who have signed a letter asking the U.N. to monitor this year’s U.S. [Democracy|presidential] election

Number that have considered opting out of the [Child|Act’s] requirements entirely

Number of resolutions regarding the [Child|Act] that have actually passed

Number of prospective teachers in 19 states [Education|wrongly] issued failing grades on a licensing exam since [January|January] 2003

Minimum number of Americans who registered to [Democracy|vote] at [Entertainment|strip clubs] since [May|May]

Percentage of [College|college] [Education|students] majoring in the humanities who say politics are relevant to their lives

Percentage of [Student|students] majoring in [Computer|computer] [Science|science] who say this

Estimated total number of [Democracy|protesters] at the [June|June] [G-8|G-8] conference in [Georgia|Georgia]

Secret access code to the [Computer|computer] controls of the U.S. [Nuclear|nuclear]-tipped [Missile|missile] [WMD|arsenal] between [1960s|1968] and [1970s|1976]

Chance that a U.S. [Men|man] says that threatening [HumanRights|“to shoot‚” detainees] is sometimes an acceptable way to get information

Number of amicus briefs filed once the case was accepted by the [SupremeCourt|Supreme Court] last [Fall|fall]

Months before anyone filed an amicus brief supporting a 2002 habeas corpus suit on behalf of the Guant?namo [Justice|detainees]

Months after reporting missing radioactive spent fuel rods last [April|April] that a [Vermont|Vermont] [Nuclear|nuclear] plant found them in a safe place

Number of such [Death|deaths] cited in a “revised‚” report the Department released in [June|June]

Number of [Death|deaths] due to international [Terrorism|terrorism] last year according to an [April|April] [StateDepartment|State Department] report

Minimum number of [Jordan|Jordanian] [Women|women] [Murder|murdered] by their families in “honor [Death|killings]‚” last year

Percentage of [Jordan|Jordanian] [Women|women] who are literate

Weight in pounds of the only [Women|woman] ever to win the Miss America pageant twice

Percentage of pages in [HillaryClinton|Hillary Clinton]’s memoir that mention her [Marriage|husband], and vice versa, respectively

Number of words in the first sentence of [BillClinton|Bill Clinton’s] memoir and in that of [GeorgeWBush|George W. Bush’s], respectively

Percentage recidivism rate of youth released from [Prison|prison] who can read at the 11th and 2nd [Education|grade level], respectively

Number of months of his term in office that a [Kentucky|Kentucky] county’s top [Democracy|elected] official has served from [Prison|jail]

Minimum number of the 542 members of [India|India]’s lower house who have been charged in [Crime|criminal] cases

Percentage of non-jury trials in [Russia|Russia] that end in conviction

Number of these now in [Prison|prison]

Number who have pled guilty

Number of HealthSouth executives charged with conspiracy, [Business|fraud], [Money|money] laundering, or lying since [March|March] 2003