Colorless Green Ideas

Modern Day Absurdities

Moving right along, here are some particularly affecting excerpts from Jessica Williams' "50 Facts that Should Change the World:"

- Every cow in the European Union is subsidized by $2.50 a day - more than what 75% of Africans have to live on.
- Black men born in the USA today have a one in three chance of going to jail.
- In more than 70 countries, same-sex relationships are illegal. In 9 countries, the penalty is death.
- In 2001, 13.2 million Americans had some form of plastic surgery.
- More people can identify the golden arches of McDonalds than the Christian cross.
- China has 44 million missing women.
- Every week, an average of 88 children are expelled from American schools for bringing a gun to class.
- More than 70% of the world's population has never heard a dial tone.
- In Kenya, bribery payments make up a third of the average household budget.
- Nearly 26 million people voted in the 2001 British general election. More than 32 million votes were cast in the first season of Pop Idol.
- America spends $10 billion on pornography every year - the same amount it spends on foreign aid.
- A kiwi fruit flown from New Zealand to Britain emits over five times its own weight in greenhouse gases.

posted by Sylpheed @ 5:29 PM