Birth month meme

Birthmonth text acquired here.

Strikethru for what doesn't apply to myself.

September:
Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people's mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal, but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive.Thinking generous. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves sports, leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

Harper's Index

I would like to take a moment to say, Harper's Index is insanely great.

I was reminded by a copy of Harper's Magazine recetly how much I enjoy and admire this particular venue for amusing, horrifying, and educational facts. Back in college I once went to the library and photocopied every Harper's Index I could find (four years' worth), and posted them on the wall outside my dorm room for general perousal.

I just posted some highlights from October's HI in nikkinewsnet, and intend to make it a monthly routine there. Two prior months of HI are available online as well, for which I'm posting the highlights below.

August Harper's Index highlights

o Amount the Defense Department has lost track of, according to a 2000 report by its inspector general : $1,100,000,000,000
o Ratio of this amount to the rest of the world's military budgets combined : 2:1
o Approximate number of accounting systems in use at the Defense Department : 2,300

o Number of candy-bar wrappers that Cadbury's new anti-obesity campaign offers to exchange for a basketball : 90
o Minimum hours of basketball required for an 85-pound child to burn off the calories from that many candy bars : 100

o Rank of California governor Gray Davis's approval rating in May among the lowest in the 55-year history of the state poll : 1

o Number of U.S. commercial sites besides Disneyland and Disney World that have been granted no-fly-zone protection : 0

o Percentage change since last year in the number of U.S. Christian adults who tithe at least 10 percent of their income : -62
o Rank of Detroit among major U.S. cities whose residents give the largest portion of their income to charity : 1

o Number of countries to which the U.S. sent troops between 1900 and 1993 for the purpose of establishing democracy : 14
o Number that were democracies ten years after the withdrawal of U.S. forces : 4

o Ratio of Kosovo residents to Western peacekeepers there in 1999 : 40:1
o Ratio of Afghanistan residents to Western peacekeepers there now : 5,000:1


September Harper's Index Highlights

o Change since last year in federal spending to implement the No Child Left Behind Act : -$1,200,000,000

o Year in which Dick Cheney said that his policy as CEO of Halliburton was that "we wouldn't do anything in Iraq" : 2000
o Price of the oil-field supplies sold to Iraq by two Halliburton subsidiaries during Cheney's tenure : $73,000,000

o Rank of measles among diseases that kill the most children worldwide each year and can be prevented by vaccine : 1
o Cost of vaccinating the 745,000 children who died from the disease in 2001 : $558,750

o Estimated number of soccer balls the U.S. government sent Iraq this summer to help "bring life back to normal" : 60,000

o Number of paragraphs devoted to global warming in the EPA's 600-page "Draft Report on the Environment" of 2003 : 1
o Number of paragraphs removed by the White House before publication : 5

o Maximum number of miles that Ford's most fuel-efficient 2003 car can drive on a gallon of gas : 36
o Maximum number its 1912 Model T could : 35