[gweekly] PT1A Weekly Project Gutenberg Newsletter
Michael Hart
hart at pglaf.org
Wed Oct 12 09:52:41 PDT 2005
Weekly_October_12.txt, PT1a
*The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, October 12, 2005 PT1*
******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971********
Editor's comments appear in [brackets].
Newsletter editors needed! Please email hart at pobox.com or gbnewby at pglaf.org
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*
HOT REQUESTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
STATISTICAL CHANGES
Due to various changes in our statistical reporting and coverage,
the accuracy of the weekly count of the number of eBooks will not
be as redundantly checked by a human count, and we will rely more
on the automated system.
***If you notice any inconsistencies, please send email to:
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*
New Site!!!
New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors
http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/ngcoba/ngcoba.htm
which now indexes 24,000 books available free online, including all
PG(US) & PG(Aus)'s books, along with some basic date information
about them and their authors where you can find more.
For information please contact Philip Harper
<webmaster AT kingkong.demon.co.uk>
*
WANTED!
>>> !!!People to help us collect ALL public domain eBooks!!! <<<
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Wanted: People who are involved in conversations on Slashdot, Salon, etc.
*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Search for "*eBook" or "*Intro". . .to jump to that section, etc.]
*eBook Milestones
*Introduction
*Hot Requests, New Sites and Announcements
*Continuing Requests and Announcements
*Progress Report
*Distributed Proofreaders Collection Report
*Project Gutenberg Consortia Center Report
*Permanent Requests For Assistance:
*Donation Information
*Access To The Project Gutenberg Collections
*Mirror Site Information
*Instant Access To Our Latest eBooks
*Have We Given Away A Trillion Yet?
*Flashback
*Weekly eBook update:
This is now in PT2 of the Weekly Newsletter
Also collected in the Monthly Newsletter
Corrections in separate section
53 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
*Headline News from Edupage, etc.
*Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists
***
*eBook Milestones*
***500+ eBooks Averaged Per Year Since July 4, 1971***
17,301 eBooks As Of Today!!!
[Includes Australian eBooks]
We Are ~87% of the Way to 20,000!!!
14,239 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001
That's 250+ eBooks per Month for ~56 Months
We Have Produced 2345 eBooks in 2005!!!
2,699 to go to 20,000!!!
7,534 from Distributed Proofreaders
Since October, 2000 [Details in PT1B]
We Averaged ~339 eBooks Per Month In 2004
We Are Averaging ~250 books Per Month This Year
[This change is due to the opening of Project Gutenberg
sites other than the original one at www.gutenberg.org;
all Project Gutenberg sites have a higher grand total.]
This Site Is Averaging About 59 eBooks Per Week This Year
53 This Week
It took ~32 years, from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000 eBooks
It took ~32 months, from 2002 to 2005 for our last 10,000 eBooks
It took ~10 years from 1993 to 2003 to grow from 100 eBooks to 10,100
It took ~2.00 years from Oct. 2003 to Oct. 2005 from 10,000 to 17,300
*
***Introduction
[The Newsletter is now being sent in two sections, so you can directly
go to the portions you find most interesting: 1. Founder's Comments,
News, Notes & Queries, and 2. Weekly eBook Update Listing. Note bene
that PT1 is now being sent as PT1A and PT1B.
[Since we are between Newsletter editors, these 2 parts may undergo a
few changes while we are finding a new Newsletter editor. Email us:
hart at pobox.com and gbnewby at pglaf.org if you would like to volunteer.]
This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter
***Continuing Requests New Sites and Announcements
*
We have been invited to peruse the various eBook collections
of the Internet Archive for potential Project Gutenberg eBooks.
http://www.archive.org
Don't worry, many of the numbers listed are out of date,
but you should get all the files when you pass through
to the original sites.
Click on "texts" to get started, feel free to pick up any
of the eBooks you would like to work on.
Many Thanks To Brewster Kahle and the Internet Archive!
*
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This is much more important than many of us realize!
***Progress Report, including Distributed Proofreaders
In the first 09.25 months of this year, we produced 2345 new eBooks.
It took us from July 1971 to Oct 2000 to produce our first 2345 eBooks!
That's 40 WEEKS as Compared to ~29.33 Years!!!
53 New eBooks This Week
37 New eBooks Last Week [-2]
53 New eBooks This Month [Oct]
~254 Average Per Month in 2005
336 Average Per Month in 2004
355 Average Per Month in 2003
203 Average Per Month in 2002
103 Average Per Month in 2001
2345 New eBooks in 2005
4049 New eBooks in 2004
4164 New eBooks in 2003
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001
====
14239 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001
That's Only 57.25 Months!
Over 250 books per month!
17,301 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
14,076 eBooks This Week Last Year
====
3,225 New eBooks In Last 12 Months
489 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
[This does NOT include PGAu eBooks posted
at the U.S. site: www.gutenberg.org ]
*
PROJECT GUTENBERG DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS UPDATE:
Since starting production in October 2000,
Distributed Proofreaders has contributed
7,534 eBooks to Project Gutenberg.
For more complete DP statistics, visit:
http://www.pgdp.net/c/stats/stats_central.php
*
Check out our website at www.gutenberg.org, and see below to learn how
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*Project Gutenberg Consortia Center Report
Please note the addition of the Internet Archive
marked with <<< below.
PGCC's current eBook and eDocument Collections listings
of 18 collections. . .with this week's listing as:
Alex-Wire Tap Collection, 2,036 HTML eBook Files
Black Mask Collection, 12,000 HTML eBook Files
The Coradella Bookshelf Collection, 141 eBook Files
DjVu Collection, 272 PDF and DJVU eBook Files
eBooks at Adelaide Collection, 27,709 eBook Files
Himalayan Academy, 3,400 HTML eBook Files
Internet Archive ~30,000 eBook Files [In Progress] <<<
Literal Systems Collection, 68 MP3 eBook Files
Logos Group Collection, ~34,000 TXT eBook Files
Poet's Corner Poetry Collection, 6,700 Poetry Files
Project Gutenberg Collection, 15,035 eBook Files
PGCC Chinese eBook Collection ~300 eBook files <<< Note Name Change
Renaisscance Editions Collection, 561 HTML eBook Files
Swami Center Collection, 78 HTML eBook Files
Tony Kline Collection, 223 HTML eBook Files
Widger Library, 2,600 HTML eBook Files
CIA's Electronic Reading Room, 2,019 Reference Files
=======Grand Total Files=========~137,142 Total Files=====
Average Size of the Collections 8,067.18 Total Files
These eBooks are catalogued as per the instructions of
their donors: some are one file per book; some have a
file for each chapter; and some even have a file for a
single page or poem. . .or are overcounted for reasons
I have not mentioned. . .each of which could cause the
overcounting or duplication of numbers.
If we presume 2 out of 3 of these files are overcounts,
that leaves a unique book total of
~45,714 Unique eBooks
If we presume 3 out of 4 of these files are overcounts,
that leaves a unique book total of
~34,286 Unique eBooks
***
Please also note that over 23,000 eBooks are listed via
The Online Books Page, of which over 5,300 are from PG.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
In addition: The Internet Public Library had a similar
listing which is now in limbo. If anyone knows what is
happening with the IPL, please let us know. Inquiries,
made months ago, and again recently, have not turned up
any current information.
You can try a new IPL service at:
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.60.00/
It would appear that The Internet Public Library ended
its first incarnation with about 22,284 entries, which
has now been surpassed by the Online Books Page.
Still looking for more Internet Public Library info.
***
Today Is Day #280 of 2005
This Completes Week #40 and Month #08.25 [364 days this year]
91 Days/14 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year]
2,699 Books To Go To #20,000
[Our production year begins/ends
1st Wednesday of the month/year]
59 Weekly Average in 2005
78 Weekly Average in 2004
79 Weekly Average in 2003
47 Weekly Average in 2002
24 Weekly Average in 2001
41 Only 41 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers list
[Used to be well over 100]
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***
Statistical Review
In the 40 weeks of this year, we have produced 2345 new eBooks.
It took us from 7/71 to 10/00 to produce our FIRST 2345 eBooks!!!
That's 40 WEEKS as Compared to ~29.33 YEARS!!!
FLASHBACK!
Here's a sample of what books we were doing around eBook #2294
Mon Year Title and Author [filename.ext] ###
A "C" Following The eText # Indicates That This eText Is Under Copyright
[Note: books without month and year entries have been reposted]
Oct 2000 The After House, by Mary Roberts Rinehart[MRR #14][ftrhsxxx.xxx] 2358
Oct 2000 Great Jehoshaphat & Gully Dirt, Jewell Ellen Smith[gjagdxxh.xxx] 2357C
Oct 2000 Tommy and Co., by Jerome K. Jerome [Jerome #22][tomcoxxx.xxx] 2356
Oct 2000 The Formation of Vegetable Mould, by Darwin [CD#9][vgmldxxx.xxx] 2355
Oct 2000 On the Brain, by T. H. Huxley [THH#3] [Darwin #8][huxbrxxx.xxx] 2354
Oct 2000 Tea-table Talk, by Jerome K. Jerome [Jerome #21][ttalkxxx.xxx] 2353
Oct 2000 Eurasia, by Chris. Evans [uasiaxxx.xxx] 2352
Oct 2000 John Halifax, Gentleman, by Mrs. Craik:Dinah Maria[halifxxx.xxx] 2351
Oct 2000 His Last Bow, by Arthur Conan Doyle[A.C.Doyle #23][lstbwxxx.xxx] 2350
Oct 2000 The Adv. of The Devil's Foot, A. Conan Doyle [#22][dvlftxxx.xxx] 2349
Oct 2000 The Disappearance Of Lady Frances Carfax [ACD #21][lcrfxxxx.xxx] 2348
Oct 2000 The Adv. Of The Dying Detective, A Conan Doyle #20[dydetxxx.xxx] 2347
Oct 2000 The Adv. Of The Bruce-Partington Plans [Doyle #19][bplanxxx.xxx] 2346
Oct 2000 The Adv. Of The Red Circle A. Conan Doyle [#18][rcrclxxx.xxx] 2345
Oct 2000 The Adv. Of The Cardboard Box, by Conan Doyle #17[crdbdxxx.xxx] 2344
Oct 2000 The Adv. Of Wisteria Lodge, A. Conan Doyle [#16][wstraxxx.xxx] 2343
Sep 2000 Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre 8, by Goethe[Goethe 20][?wml8xxx.xxx] 2342
[Language: German]. . .
Sep 2000 Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre 1, by Goethe[Goethe 13][?wml1xxx.xxx] 2335
Sep 2000 The Works of Rudyard Kipling/One Volume Edition/12[1vkipxxx.xxx] 2334
*
Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???
1.1 Trillion eBooks Given Away
If our average eBook has reached just 1% of the world population of
6,472,200,341 that would be 17,301 x 64,722,003 = ~1.12 Trillion !!!
With 17,301 eBooks online as of October 12, 2005 it now takes an average
of ~1% of the world gaining a nominal value of ~$.89 from each book.
[1% world population x #eBooks] 64,722,003 x 17,301 x $.89 = ~$1 Trillion
[Google "world population" "popclock" to get the most current figures.]
Our Target Audience Is 1.5% Of The World Population, or 100,000,000 readers.
With 17,301 eBooks online as of October 12, 2005 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.58 from each book.
This "cost" is down from about $.71 when we had 14,076 eBooks a year ago.
100 million readers is only ~1.5% of the world's population!
At 17,301 eBooks in 34 Years and 03.25 Months We Averaged
~505 Per Year
42.0 Per Month
1.38 Per Day
At 2345 eBooks Done In The 280 Days Of 2005 We Averaged
8.4 Per Day
59 Per Week
254 Per Month
If you are interested in the population of the world or of the U.S.
you might want to know that these numbers, official as they appear,
are just just estimates, and perhaps not as accurate as we hope.
Recently the U.S. Congress, pertaining to district reapportionment,
who gets to vote for which Congresspeople, decided that many of the
districts were undercounted by 5%, perhaps then later deciding that
all districts had been undercounted by 5% [can't recall details].
However, I just this moment heard a news item that made me wonder a
bit more about the accuracy of the U.S. Census. A "Special Census"
is taking place in Normal, Illinois, that is expected to count more
people, by a factor of 3,000 or 3,400, depending on which source.
45,386 was the population as per the 2000 Census, so 3,000 added to
this would be an increase of 6.6%, and 3,400 would be 7.5%, above a
possibly automatic increase of 5% as per the same terms above but I
presume this is in addition to previous adjustments.
Of course, we should consider that we would have to double figures,
perhaps to 15% from those above, if are considering the normal time
between censuses of 10 years, these are for 5 years' growth.
In previous news I heard about the U.S. Census, no mention was made
about the annexation of various nearly locations as a cause of this
normally unexpected growth, but it is mentioned at the site I found
on the subject of the current Special Census.
If annexation is the primary cause of such increases, country wide,
then we should not be expecting a huge rise in the 2010 Census, but
rather should expect something more along the norm. However, if it
is not annexation, but more actual people on the average, then this
might be an indicator that the population of the U.S. may have seen
300 million go by some time ago.
For more details, see: www.normal.org/WhatsNew/Census.htm
The production statistics are calculated based on full weeks'
production; each production-week starts/ends Wednesday noon,
starts with the first Wednesday of January. January 5th was
the first Wednesday of 2005, and thus ended PG's production
year of 2004 and began the production year of 2005 at noon.
This year there will be 52 Wednesdays, thus no extra week.
***BREAK FOR PT1A AND PT1B***
*Headline News from Edupage
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
YAHOO ANNOUNCES PODCAST DIRECTORY
Yahoo will launch a new service to search podcasts, making it the first
of the major search services to delve into that type of audio content.
Yahoo estimates that five million people listen to podcasts, and sales
of Apple's iPod--the leading MP3 player--total more than 20 million.
Smaller services such as Odeo.com and Podcast.net offer services geared
toward podcasts. With the Yahoo tools, users can search the Web for
podcasts, looking for those in particular topic areas, and can rate the
podcasts they listen to. Yahoo's service does not include tools to
create podcasts, though officials with the company said one day it
might. Many analysts see audio and video searching as the future for
most search engines, and Yahoo's venture into podcast searches will
likely prompt companies including Google to offer similar services.
MSNBC, 9 October 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9645653/
AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER PULL BOOKS FROM GOOGLE
Google's controversial program to scan millions of books has run afoul
of a very prolific author and his publisher. Jacob Neusner, a research
professor of theology at Bard College, has written more than 900 books.
Calling Google's book-scanning project a violation of copyright,
Neusner requested that his books not be included in the database.
Google's response was that Neusner must submit a separate form for
each book he wanted excepted from the project. Siding with Neusner, the
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, which has published many of
Neusner's titles, then told Google it wanted all of its titles
excluded from the project as well. Calling the scanning project "unfair
and arrogant," Jed Lyons, president of Rowman & Littlefield, said,
"[W]e don't want to do business with an organization that thumbs its
nose at publishers and authors." Lyons said representatives from Google
are trying to persuade the publisher to change its decision.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 October 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005100701t.htm
DELAWARE COURT SHIELDS IDENTITY OF BLOGGER
The Delaware Supreme Court has rejected an effort to identify an
anonymous blogger accused of defamatory remarks online. Patrick Cahill,
a councilman in the city of Smyrna, had sought the blogger's identity
from Comcast following several unflattering postings on the person's
blog. Although a lower court judge had denied the blogger's request
for protection, the Supreme Court said that court had applied the wrong
standard. In the absence of substantial evidence of defamation,
Cahill's petition to identify the blogger will be denied, according to
the high court. In the ruling, the court said it found for the blogger
to protect against what it called "the chilling effect on anonymous
First Amendment Internet speech that can arise when plaintiffs bring
trivial defamation lawsuits primarily to harass or unmask their
critics." An attorney for the blogger said that statements on
electronic bulletin boards and blogs are not generally considered
factual but are seen as individuals' opinions. The court's judgment,
however, did not identify the medium as pertinent in its application of
legal standard.
New York Times, 6 October 2005 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/technology/06blog.html
MORE HINTS POINT TO IDENTITY OF CONNECTICUT LIBRARY
The American Library Association (ALA) has filed a court brief in the
ongoing wrangling over a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act that prevents
organizations under investigation from publicly speaking about the
investigation. Under the terms of that law, federal authorities had
sought information from a Connecticut library group, which has been
forced to keep its identity secret. An article in the New York Times,
though, said the Library Connection Inc., of Windsor, Conn., is the
probable target of the investigation. According to the ALA's brief,
because the Library Connection has refused to confirm or deny the story
in the Times, it is clear that the speculation is correct. Further,
because the identity has been guessed, keeping the group from speaking
about the investigation is pointless, according to the brief. The brief
states: "If the reporting is accurate, the information the government
seeks to suppress has already been revealed, and the gag order serves
no interest but that of silencing a citizen." Last month a judge
ordered that the gag order be lifted, but an appeals court has
reimposed the gag order pending its review of the case.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 October 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/10/2005100601t.htm
FTC SUES FOR ALLEGED SPYWARE
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued Odysseus Marketing,
accusing the company of engaging in distributing spyware. Odysseus
distributed an application called Kazanon, which supposedly allowed
users to trade files anonymously, without fear of being identified by
record companies. According to the FTC, users who downloaded the
application also got a range of adware programs that fed advertisements
to those users' computers and added items to the search results pages
of popular search engines, including Google and Yahoo. The added items,
which were indistinguishable from those supplied by the search engine,
directed users to companies that paid Odysseus for the placement.
Further, the software did not offer users a simple option to uninstall
it. Walter Rines, owner of Odysseus, disputed all of the FTC's claims.
He noted that the user agreement informs consumers of what will be
installed when they download the Kazanon program. He also said an
uninstall tool is available and that his company's software did not
remove any search results but merely added to the list. Rines also said
the lawsuit was "moot" because his company stopped distributing adware
several weeks ago.
MSNBC, 5 October 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9598897/
GOOGLE AND SUN ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP
Google and Sun Microsystems have announced a partnership that many see
as a joining of forces against Microsoft. Sun has long been a direct
competitor with Microsoft, and most analysts believe Google has
aspirations to compete with the software giant. Few specifics were
released about the new arrangement. Google, which already buys Sun
hardware, will expand those purchases, and Sun customers who download
Java will have the option of also downloading Google's toolbar. Beyond
those changes, most speculation about the deal concerns Sun's
OpenOffice, an open source application that competes with Microsoft's
Office suite of software. The companies said they will jointly develop
OpenOffice, though some analysts expect Google to take primary
responsibility for the work. John Rymer, an analyst with Forrester
Research, said he believes Google will not simply redistribute
OpenOffice. "When [Google does] something," he said, "it has to be
cool. It has to go further than Microsoft Office." The deal is also a
reunion of sorts for Sun CEO Scott McNealy and Google CEO Eric Schmidt,
who worked together at Sun for 14 years.
San Jose Mercury News, 5 October 2005
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/12823481.htm
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***
New from other sources:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB112793789066654830-Vjbpkz_NLQ83hrpULt
Cy0XXHgbA_20061010.html?mod=blogs
"You'll find a reasonable argument that Google Print is a Good Thing,
including a link to Jonathon Band's analysis of it, which argues that
it's `fair use'." (Band is a Georgetown U. law professor and gun for
hire on IP issues.)
*
[Not many details available yet, but this week Microsoft apparently
managed to both get out from under all the pending anti-trust case
load that has been plaguing them for years and years, and also has
taken over an even larger portion of the virtual world via mergers
or cooperative efforts with Yahoo, RealNetworks, and others.
Microsoft will team with Yahoo in yet another attempt to take over
the world of instant messaging, while their deal with RealNetworks
brings them into direct competition with iTunes and other services
bring music over the Internet, and also takes another step towards
worldwide domination of the video game market. ;=) ]
[Seattle Times, ZDNet, Reuters, etc.]
*HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA
[As requested adding sources, etc., when possible.]
More and more schools, colleges, and universities are
either handing out free laptop computers to students,
or are requiring them to buy their own.
Indians State University, not very far south and east
where I live, is reportedly going to hand out free
computers to all students with a "B" average or over
in the coming year, and then require all students to
have one the following year, 2007.
WILL-AM Radio, ~12:00 Noon, 10/10
[A word of caution when dealing with grade averages:
when grades were first invented, these were designed
such that a "C" was the average grade on the scale:
A = Excellent/Superior
B = Above Average/Good
C = Average/Fair
D = Below Average/Poor
E = Fail
However, during the years since the peak school year
of the class of 1965, we have seen "grade inflation"
taking place, in which artificially high grades were
given to make us think that students were doing well
when their performance was actually declining.
Not only today, but even over 30 years ago, averages
were being fudged so that the average grade was over
a "B". . .even as famously censored reports stated a
wide use of grade inflation was upon us. The Hoover
Report from the University of Illinois still had one
of the most limited exposures the last time I looked
in the library for it, still not in circulation even
after over 30 years and having been created at great
expense and labor by serious researchers.
The same process has been called into question about
the various nationwide tests, such as the SAT & ACT,
which have recently been renormed when averages fell
below 90% of their original levels.]
*DOUBLESPEAK OF THE WEEK
"The Plum Book" as it is known to Washington insider
circles, is the list of thousands of goverment jobs
given from the new administrations to their friends,
campaign staff.
Example: The daughter of of the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, is the wife of Michael Chertoff, "The
Vulture," Secretary of Homeland Security, somehow kept
her job at FEMA when everyone was being sent to DHS.
[The Nation, etc.]
*PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK
China's much publicized efforts to slow growth so that
the gap between the rich and the poor will not continue
to widen will have little effect on the gap between the
rich and the poor, but may cause general economic haze.
*STRANGE QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"If you wanted to reduce crime, you could - if that were your sole
purpose - you could abort every black baby in this country, and our
crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous,
morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."
William Bennett, former Secretary of Education
[Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News, etc.
*
"They're all bloody civil servants moonlighting as journalists.
"It's their job to protect the status quo."
Sylvia Plath
*ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
The Atlantic Monthly: a child growing up in a family earning over
$90,000 has a 1 in 2 chance of getting a college degree by age 24;
a child in a family earning $35,000 to $61,000 has a 1 in 10 chance;
a child in a family earning under $35,000 has a 1 in 17 chance.
*
When real estate brokers sell their own houses, they take 10% more
time to sell than when they sell your houses and get 3% - 4% more.
[ABC 20/20, 10/9]
*
The low visibility wedding industry takes in about $72 Billion per year.
The high visibility video game industry takes in only about $7 Billion.
*
FEMA paid Carnival Cruise lines hundreds of millions of dollars to put
hurricane refugees up, the price based on what Carnival would have had
as a result of these being normal bookings over a total of six months.
The three ships involved seem to have been filled about half way.
Even if the ships were filled to capacity, the price would be $1,275 a
person for this service, but at half full, the price would be $2,550--
while you can book full service Carnival Cruises for $599, as per Sen.
Tom Coburn's office. Senator Coburn is an Oklahoma Republican.
[Carnival says it is not making any more than they would have otherwise
but I wonder if they are counting all the extra money passengers spend]
"When the federal government would actually save millions of dollars
by forgoing the status quo and actually sending evacuees on a
luxurious six-month cruise it is time to rethink how we are conducting
oversight. A short-term temporary solution has turned into a
long-term, grossly overpriced sweetheart deal for a cruise line,"
according to Senators Coburn and Barack Obama in a joint statement.
They called for a CFO [Chief Financial Officer] to be appointed in
charge of all current hurricane relief.
[The Washington Post, 9/28]
*
Cornbelt News
Farmers are spending ~$11.50 per acre this year just on harvest fuel.
[University of Illinois Extension on WILL-AM Radio, 10/7]
[If they are getting 115 bushels of corn per acre, a very low amount,
then it is costing them an additional $.10 per bushel. Soybeans were
more like 40 bushels per acre, which would be nearly $.30 a bushel in
total fuel prices, probably about double what it was last year.
At 50+ pounds of corn per bushel, this would increase the price of one
pound of corn by at most 1/20 of a cent at the elevator. Presuming an
operation raises the prices of corn 10 times over, that 1/20 of a cent
would become a 1/2 cent increase by the time it reaches your table; if
they increased prices by 20 times, your cost would go up a penny.
Think about this when you see the price of corn go up $.10 - $.25
By the way, at a very low 11,500 ears per acre, fuel prices per ear of
corn would go up 1/10 of a cent; consider this when you go to farmers'
markets next time around, and let us know.]
*
Nicole, a great white shark that has been under observation,
swam from Africa to Australia and back, totalling over 12,000 miles,
and for the first time proving a link between the two shark populations.
*
Still hoping for more statistical updates and additional entries.
"If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely
100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same,
it would look something like the following. There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth
and all 6 would be from the United States
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer [I think this is now much greater]
1 would be 79 years old or more.
Of those born today, the life expectancy is only 63 years,
but no country any longer issues copyrights that are sure
to expire within that 63 year period.
I would like to bring some of these figures more up to date,
as obviously if only 1% of 6 billion people owned a computer
then there would be only 60 million people in the world who
owned a computer, yet we hear that 3/4 + of the United States
households have computers, out of over 100 million households.
Thus obviously that is over 1% of the world population, just in
the United States.
I just called our local reference librarian and got the number
of US households from the 2004-5 U.S. Statistical Abstract at:
111,278,000 as per data from 2003 U.S Census Bureau reports.
If we presume the saturation level of U.S. computer households
is now around 6/7, or 86%, that is a total of 95.4 million,
and that's counting just one computer per household, and not
counting households with more than one, schools, businesses, etc.
I also found some figures that might challenge the literacy rate
given above, and would like some help researching these and other
such figures, if anyone is interested.
BTW, while I was doing this research, I came across a statistic
that said only 10% of the world's population is 60+ years old.
This means that basically 90% of the world's population would
never benefit from Social Security, even if the wealthy nations
offered it to them free of charge. Then I realized that the US
population has the same kind of age disparity, in which the rich
live so much longer than the poor, the whites live so much longer
than the non-whites. Thus Social Security is paid by all, but is
distributed more to the upper class whites, not just because they
can receive more per year, but because they will live more years
to receive Social Security. The average poor non-white may never
receive a dime of Social Security, no matter how much they pay in.
*
POEM OF THE WEEK
Day Seven
On the seventh day,
let your soul light up your eyes
like two candles in the Easter night,
like a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean
where feelings swim, and hope floats.
Copyright 2005 by Simona Sumanaru and Michael S. Hart
Please send comments to: simona_s75 AT yahoo.com & hart AT pobox.com
***
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