Harper's Index #4

Chances that an American is an immigrant: 1 in 14
Chances that a Canadian is an immigrant: 1 in 6

Number of members of the Cossacks, a Moscow motorcycle gang: 8
Number of motorcycles they own: 1

Percentage of American households in which no books were bought last year: 60
Number of Ph.D.s hired last year to "develop" carrot sticks for McDonald's: 45

Percentage of Taiwan's cabinet who have Ph.D.s from U.S. universities: 43
Percentage of United States cabinet members who have Ph.D.s: 0

Percentage of Americans who don't know how long to hard-boil an egg: 74
Percentage of Americans who say they are "excellent" or "very good" cooks: 63

Percent of Japanese high-school seniors who have taken 6 years of English: 100
Percentage of Americans who think "espresso" is an "overnight delivery system" : 7
Percentage of annual U.S. economic aid to Israel used to pay debts to the U.S.: 99
Estimated number of seconds it takes a N.Y.C. thief to break into a locked car: 27
Portion of the world's countries to which the United States has sold arms: 5/6
Number of new saints canonized by the Vatican since 1978: 262
Pairs of moose-dung earrings sold each year at Grizzly's Gifts in Anchorage: 6,000
Value Lloyd's of London has placed on a Viking turd owned by England's Archaeological Resource Centre: $34,000
Ratio of the density of the average fruitcake to the density of mahogany: 1:1
Change, since 1969, in U.S. median household income, adjusted for inflation: 0