Wrote this not too long ago, but certainly before Paris and San Bernadino. Imagine other numbers would be in the news. Just pay attention to the random numbers they daily hurl in our direction like poison darts. Come to think of it, math is what caused me to become a writer.- JDW
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As I read the St. Petersburg Times, I was struck by the number of numbers thrown at us on a weekly basis.
Eighty-six percent of Chinese believe their country is headed in the right direction, compared with 37% of Americans.
Median home prices in Florida. November 2006 $229,000. Today $137,800.
Talk about your emergencies. A Tampa man is accused of calling 911 five times, looking for someone to have sex with him.
Forty-one percent of Americans say they are irritated with the government. That is down from 54% in 2006. Twenty percent say they think the government’s work makes their lives better. About three-quarters said it has no impact on their lives.
14,700 U.S. taxpayers came forward recently to disclose billions in offshore bank accounts in 70 countries under a voluntary IRS amnesty program, if they pay what they owe.
Nearly 45,000 Americans die every year from a lack of health insurance.
Dow, S&P hit 13-month highs. Gold at all-time record of $1138.60.
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For the first time in history, Florida has more than 100,000 prisoners. Every 1500 new inmates need a new prison, which costs $100 million to build and $20 million annually to run.
Hernando School Board will contribute $503.42 per employee per month for health insurance costs. ($61.92 more than last year.) Some BC/BS plans would see increases of nearly 20%. There are 1700 Hernando teachers. Do the math. If you can. Florida ranks 48th among the United States in preparing high school students for college.
There are approximately 1,000,000 children in the state of Florida without health insurance. The good news is there’s one state worse.
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In the entire world, there are 100 children imprisoned for life without possibility of parole for non-capital crimes. All one hundred are in the USA. 77 of them in Florida.
But there is no income tax in Florida!!!!
Optimists have a 16% lower risk of having heart attacks.
Pessimists run a 19% higher risk of early death than optimists.
Do they read the papers???