Mirth and madness
Edited By Brandon Bosworth
A survey of college students found that the ones most likely to cheat were journalism majors. According to the Center for Academic Integrity, 27 percent of journalism students admit to cheating, followed by 26 percent of business majors.
U.S. airlines lost an average of 10,000 bags a day in 2005, a 23 percent increase from 2003.
Fifteen percent of Web surfers never use search engines. . . . 71 million American adults use e-mail on the average weekday. . . . Over half of all Google Web searches originate in the U.S.
The average new home in the U.S. contains over 2,400 square feet, an increase of almost 50 percent from 1973.
An Australian couple found a 32-pound lump of ambergris valued at about $295,000 while walking on the beach. Highly prized by perfumers, ambergris is a substance vomited by sperm whales.
North Korea makes over $100 million annually by producing counterfeit cigarettes.
One third of French citizens describe themselves as “racist,” according to a poll by France’s National Commission for the Rights of Man. One year ago, the number was one fourth. . . . A third of Italians want to live in a country besides Italy, according to a Eurispes poll. Most want to move to Spain or France.
A whopping 96 percent of Singapore’s citizens favor the death penalty, according to a poll conducted by the Sunday Times newspaper. According to respondents, capital punishment deters serious crimes, keeps the country safe, and is a just punishment for criminals.
London’s Sunday Times reported that heterosexual foreigners are faking homosexuality and entering into phony gay civil unions as a way to gain British citizenship. Homo-sexual civil partnerships became legal in the U.K. last year.
Euan Blair, eldest son of British prime minister Tony Blair, recently began a six-month stint as an intern in the U.S. Congress.
Fully 85 percent of recent military recruits come from middle-class neighborhoods with average household incomes ranging between $30,000 and $200,000, according to research by the Heritage Foundation.
By the end of the decade, the number of U.S. workers aged 55-64 will more than double, reports The Economist. The number of workers aged 35-44 will decline 10 percent.
Only 19 percent of American households lack a cell phone. . . . A quarter of individuals who own a personal digital assistant have lost it at least once.
Americans spent $2 billion on DVDs of old TV shows in 2005. . . . The portion of disposable income Americans spend going to the movies has dropped 17 percent over just the last three years.
Eighty-five percent of Americans oppose an increase in the federal gasoline tax, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll. However, 55 percent said they would support an increase in the tax if it would lead to a reduction of dependence on foreign oil. . . . A Pew Research Center poll found that 50 percent of Americans believe the U.S. can end its reliance on foreign oil within the next 20 years.
Des Moines resident Kimberly Du was arrested after it was discovered she faked her own death in an attempt to escape traffic fines. . . . Florida middle-school gym teacher Terence Braxton was charged with letting students pay him $1 every time they wanted to skip his class.
Within the last year, 15 percent of Amer-icans have drunk on the job, felt the effects of drinking while working, or come to work hung over.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Democrats have accepted $54 million from lobbyists in the last 15 years. Republicans have accepted $48 million.
