[Reader-list] Vignettes of the World
Monica Narula
monica at sarai.net
Fri Nov 9 12:27:20 IST 2001
Dated, somewhat, but quite timeless nevertheless.
(Thankyou to the User licence of the test version of Nato.055...)
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|||||| matters to consider
Blacks and whites in the U.S.
are victims of murder in almost equal
numbers, yet 82% of prisoners executed
since 1977 were convicted of
the murder of a white person.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice,
Bureau of Justice Statistics.
1998 USA Human Rights Report,
Amnesty International.
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In 1998, the global starvation rate
among children reached its 600 year peak.
Source: UNICEF,
State of the World's Children, 1998.
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Over 3,000 drugs are withdrawn annually
due to unforeseen side effects in humans,
which do not appear in animal tests.
Source: U.S. National Institute of Health,
Report on Animal Testing, 1998.
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Responses to 1972 and 1999 Gallup polls asking,
Do you have a great deal of trust in:
1972 1997
The US Congress 13% 6%
The US mass media 18% 10%
Candidates for US political office 7% 5%
Source: Gallup News Services,
Poll Releases, 1997.
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In 1997, the US maintained 13,750 nuclear warheads,
5,546 of them on ballistic missiles.
Source: US Department of Defense,
1997 Annual Defense Report;
Natural Resources Defense Council,
"Nuclear Weapons Databook Project," 1997.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Since 1995, the U.S. has designated
2,500 targets for its nuclear ballistic
missiles.
Source : The Brookings Institution, 1998.
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An estimated 100 million landmines
laid in 68 countries
kill or maim over 26,000 people a year,
90% of them civilians.
Source: United Nations Secretary General, 1996.
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I'm running out of demons.
I'm running out of villains.
I'm down to Castro and Kim Il Sung."
- US General Colin Powell
Source: Defense News, April 8, 1991
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The impact of the average US citizen
on the environment is approximately
3 times that of the average Italian,
13 times that of the average Brazilian,
35 times that of the average Indian,
140 times that of the average Bangladeshi, and
250 times that of the average sub-Saharan African.
Source: UNICEF, The State of the World's Children, 1994.
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The typical US citizen is exposed to between 50
and 100 advertisements each morning before nine
o'clock. American teenagers are typically exposed
to 3 to 4 hours of TV advertisements a week,
adding up to at least 100,000 ads between birth
and high school graduation.
Source: World Watch Institute,
State of the World Report, 1991.
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1 in 8 women will develop
breast cancer in their lifetime,
a 3-fold increase in the last 50 years.
Source: National Cancer Institute, 1999.
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"Television was our chief tool
in selling our policy."
- Richard Hass
US National Security Council,
on the US war with Iraq.
Source: New York Times,
Nov. 5, 1991, p. B3.
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"By God, we've kicked the Vietnam Syndrome
once and for all!"
- US President George Bush,
on the success of shaping public
opinion for the US-Iraq War.
Source: Newsweek, March 11, 1991.
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Annually, 600,000 women,
99% in developing countries,
die from complications during
pregnancy or childbirth.
Source: World Health Organization, 1998.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
25% of women living in developing nations
suffer from pregnancy-related disabilities.
Source: World Health Organization, 1998.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Half of the world's 1 billion
reproductive-age women are
anaemic and malnourished.
Source: World Health Organization, 1998.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The first 15 days of NATO bombing
in Yugoslavia cost the U.S. an estimated
500 million dollars.
Source: CNN News, April 22, 1999.
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The average NATO jet incurs direct
costs of about $10,000 per sortie.
From March 24 to April 20, NATO flew
more than 4300 bombing sorties over
Yugoslavia.
Source: Center for Strategic and
Bedgetary Assessments, April 22, 1999.
Costs from 1997 figures in
General Accounting Office (GAO),
Operation Desert Storm:
Evaluation of the Air Campaign, June 1997
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1992, the U.S. government spent only 7% of its
drug-control budget on treatment, the remaining 93% of
its budget went to programs of source control,
interdiction and law-enforcement.
Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., (1994),
Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for the Office of
National Drug Control Policy and the
United States Army, Santa Monica, CA:
Drug Policy Research Center, RAND, p. 5.
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"We shall demolish, destroy, devastate, degrade . . .
and ultimately eliminate the essential infrastructure . . . .
We shall relentlessly grind them down and it will continue
as long as it takes to accomplish our objectives."
- US General Wesley Clark, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe,
on the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
Source: International Herald Tribune, March 26 1999.
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From 1980 to 1997, the US federal government
reduced spending on education
by more than one-third.
Source: US Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics,
December 1997.
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About 1 in every 20 Americans is expected to serve
time in prison during their lifetime.
For African-American men, the number is greater than
1 in 4.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice,
Bureau of Justice Statistics,
Lifetime Likelihood of Going to State or Federal Prison,
March 1997.
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"The United Nations Security Council has the primary
responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security."
-NATO Strategic Concept, North Atlantic Council, April 1999.
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An estimated 11% of drug users
in the US are black;
however, blacks constitute
37% of those arrested for drug violations,
42% of those in federal prisons for drug violations,
and 60% of those in state prisons for drug felonies.
Sources: SubstanceAbuse and Mental
Health Services Administration,
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse:
Population Estimates 1996, Rockville, MD:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (1997);
Bureau of Justice Statistics,
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1996,
Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1997);
Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 1996,
Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1997),
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``What we are in effect seeing is that war-making
has become the tool of peacemaking. In the NATO
bombing . . . large numbers of civilians have been
incontestably killed, civilian installations have
been targeted on the basis that they are, or could be,
of military application. And NATO remains the sole
judge of what is or is not acceptable to bomb.''
-- U.N. Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson,
at press conference, Geneva, April 30,1999.
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In 1997, US states spent $29 billion
in state funds on corrections,
and $14 billion on social welfare for the poor.
Source: National Association of State Budget
Officers (NASBO). 1997 State Expenditure Report,
Washington, DC: NASBO (May 1998), pgs. 50, 80.
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"The demonization of Milosevic is necessary to maintain
the air attacks."
Source: US State Department, San Francisco Chronicle,
March 30, 1999, p A10.
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Every dollar invested in substance
abuse treatment saves taxpayers
$7.46 in societal costs.
Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine,
Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and
the United States Army, Santa Monica, CA: Drug Policy Research Center, RAND
(1994).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
21% of US children live in poverty.
Source: US Bureau of the Census,
Current Population Surveys, 1998.
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Worldwide, 115 million women,
have had their genitals mutilated.
Source: United Nations Population Fund, 1998..
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In 1996, the U.S. Department of Defense
dedicated 6,000 employees and $450 million
to promote U.S. arms sales overseas.
Source: World Policy Insitute,
Arms Trade Report, 1996.
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The United States, with less than
5 percent of the world's
population, consumes 25 percent
of the world's petroleum.
Sources: Population Reference Bureau,
World Population Datasheet, 1997.
British Petroleum, BP Statistical Review of
World Energy, 1997.
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During the Gulf War, the United States
suffered 148 soldiers killed in action,
and 458 wounded.
The U.S. estimated that more than
100,000 Iraqi soldiers died,
300,000 were wounded,
150,000 deserted, and
60,000 were taken prisoner.
Source: U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, 1992.
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Farm animals slaughtered in the US during 1998:
# slaughtered
Cows 35.6 million
Calves 1.50 million
Hogs 101 million
Sheep 3.86 million
Eggs 79.7 billion
Chicken 7.76 billion
Turkeys 284 million
Source: United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural
Statistics Service, 1998 Summary.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1998 CEOs earned an average 36% more than in 1997.
White collar workers during the same period, 4% more.
Blue collar workers, 3% more.
Source: Business Week, ^Executive Pay Survey,
April 19, 1999.
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More than 70% of the US grain harvest is fed to farmed
animals, as is 33% of the entire worlds grain harvest.
Source: US Department of Agriculture,
World Cereals Used for Feed, 1997;
Worldwatch Institute, State of the World, 1997.
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In 1965, CEOs earned on average
44 times more than factory workers.
In 1998, CEOs earned on average
326 times more than factory workers.
In 1999, CEOs earned on average
419 times more than factory workers.
Source: Business Week, Executive Pay Survey,
April 19, 1999; Business Week, April 20, 1998.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the US, more than 200 million handguns, rifles,
shotguns and high-powered weapons are currently in
circulation.
Source: Amnesty International, 1998 Report on the US.
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Women and minorities comprise 57% of the US
workforce and 3% of US CEOs.
Source: US Dept. of Labor, Glass Ceiling Commission 1997.
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Weapon manufacturers' stock price increases since the initiation of the
Yugoslavia war on March 24 1999:
Rockwell International: +48% (manufacturer of the Lancer B-1 bomber, etc.)
Boeing Aircraft: +30% (manufacturer of the B-52 Stratofortress, KC-135
Stratotanker, etc.)
Raytheon Systems: +37% (manufacturer of the Tomahawk cruise missile, AGM-88
HARM Missile, etc.)
Lockheed Martin: +18% (manufacturer of the F-117A Nighthawk, F-16 Falcon, etc.)
Northrop Grumman: +16% (manufacturer of the B-2 bomber, EA-6B Prowler, etc.)
Sources: U.S. Department of Defense, May 26, 1999. New York Stock Exchange,
daily historical data, 1999.
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In 1998, more than 400,000 personnel from US Armed
Forces occupied foreign countries, more than one-third
of all US Armed Forces personnel.
Source: US Department of Defense, Defense 98.
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"I don't see this as a long-term operation. I think that this is . . .
achievable within a relatively short period of time." - U.S. Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright, March 24, 1999.
"We never expected this to be over quickly."
- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, April 19, 1999.
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--
Monica Narula
Sarai:The New Media Initiative
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054
www.sarai.net
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