Harper’s Index

Number of [Texas|Texas] high [Education|schools] that offered [Superstition|Bible] courses as electives last year

Score by which [Russia|Russia] defeated [Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan] in the 2006 [Homelessness|Homeless] [Sport|World Cup] final in [September|September]

Ratio of the number of people worldwide who are [Obesity|overweight] to the number who are [Hunger|undernourished]

Chances that a patient who undergoes [Obesity|weight-loss] [Medicine|surgery] will develop complications within six months

Percentage of [Britain|Britons] who say they would give up [Sex|sex] to live to 100

Portion of [Britain|Britain]’s fertility clinics that have an insufficient supply of [Sperm|sperm]

Percentage of [Women|women] who have an [Orgasm|orgasm] during [Sex|sex] with a [Men|man], according to an [Australia|Australian] study

Percentage who do during [Sex|sex] with [Homosexuality|another woman]

Percentage by which a [Men|man]’s chances of being [Homosexuality|gay] increase for every older brother he has

Number of life-size photo cutouts of troops that [Maine|Maine]’s [Army|Army National Guard] has given to relatives

Number of these courses that broke the law by being primarily devotional and sectarian, according to a [September|September] study

Number of times [GeorgeWBush|President Bush] has declared an event or outcome not to be “acceptable‚” so far this year

Number of times he said this the previous three years combined

Percentage of Americans in [October|October] who said that [Congress|Congress] should impeach [GeorgeWBush|President Bush]

Number of non-citizens charged with vote fraud in U.S. elections since 2002

Cost, in one [Mexico|Mexican] town, of a six-hour tour “full of obstacles and persecution‚” across a mock U.S.-Mexico border

Estimated percentage of the town’s population that has illegally crossed the real border

Cost of an eight-day tour of [Israel|Israel’s] “struggle for survival and security in [MiddleEast|the Middle East]‚”

Percentage of [Football|N.F.L.] fourth downs on which teams are better off “going for it,‚” according to a [Hippies|Berkeley] study

Date on which the authorization was extended to 2007

Chances that a [Cuba|Guant?namo] detainee was turned over to [Army|Coalition] forces by an [Afghanistan|Afghan] or [Pakistan|Pakistani] citizen

Average reward that [Propaganda|leaflets] airdropped over their countries promised for every “terrorist‚” turned in

Amount a cable [Television|TV] reporter paid a former Army interrogator to [Torture|waterboard] him in [July|July]

[Minutes|Minutes] into the [Torture|waterboarding] that a producer decided he had to stop it

Number of incidences of [Torture|torture] on [Television|prime-time] network TV shows from 2002 to 2005

Number on shows the previous seven years

Number of people the U.S. [Terrorism|counterterrorism] agent Jack Bauer personally [Torture|killed] last season on the [Television|TV] show 24

Percentage change from 2004 to 2005 in the number of [Crime|criminal] violations by [Army|U.S. military] recruiters

Number of private firms that have been hired since 2002 to recruit [Business|soldiers] for the [Army|Army]

Average amount the firms are paid per recruit

Number of Americans and [Britain|Britons] who now work in the IT industry in [India|India]

Monthly cost for a U.S. [Student|student] to receive unlimited online [Education|tutoring] from a [Bangalore|Bangalore]-based “e-tutor‚”

Minimum number of [Folly|PlayStation 3s] whose spare [Technology|processing] power will be used next year for biological research

Factor by which the interconnected game systems will be faster than the world’s most powerful supercomputer

Factor by which the number of “perfect games‚” [Sport|bowled] last year exceeds the number in [1980s|1985]

Percentage of fourth downs on which N.F.L. teams do go for it

Minimum number of checkpoints [JesusChrist|Mary and Joseph] would face today on their journey from [Palestine|Nazareth] to Bethlehem

Number of worldwide incidents last [Christmas|Christmas] of “[Santa|Santarchy],‚” which involves roving mobs of unruly Santas

Number of [Sweets|fruitcakes] that [Alcohol|drunken] [Santa|Santas] catapulted into the air at the event in [Portland|Portland], [Oregon|Oregon]