out of sight

as a matter of fact #17

Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, does not have traffic lights. Instead it has pretty female traffic directors to manage the few cars on the streets. Reuters

More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993.  Around $19bn (£11bn) a year is spent on gym memberships. Time

The UK builds the smallest houses in Europe. The average room in a newly built dwelling in France is 26.9 square metres, compared with 15.8 square metres in the UK. The average floor space of a newly built home in the US is three times the size of its UK equivalent. BBC News.

A short article about a Norwiegan actress became the three millionth article penned on the English version of the free online encylpodeia Wikipedia. Time

An oil field off Australia’s north-western coast sold to PetroChina for $41bn (£25bn) is the largest trade deal ever conducted in Australian history. BBC News

as a matter of fact #16

The amount of money Latin American expatriates send home is expected to drop by 11%, from $69 billion to $62 billion this year according to the Inter-American Development Bank. The Wall Street Journal

Three per cent of the school-age population in the U.S., roughly 1.5 million students, are home-schooled. This figure has doubled in the last decade according to the Department of Education. The Economist

Figures produced by Cancer Research UK show that since the mid-1990s, rates of oral cancers have gone up by 28% for men in their forties and 24% for women. Greater alcohol consumption is largely to blame. BBC News

U.S. births fell by 2% in 2008, the first full year of the recession, marking the first annual decline in births since the start of the decade and ending an American baby boomlet. USA Today

A survey by UK Music and the University of Hertfordshire found that amongst 14-24 year olds stored on average about 8,000 tracks - about 17 days worth of music - on their computers.

US banks stand to collect a record $38.5bn in fees for customer overdrafts this year. Pricks - the banks that is. FT.com

as a matter of fact #15

According to North Korean news media Kim Jong Il is a renaissance man who has flown fighter aircraft, written operas and shot 11 holes-in-one in his first try at golf. CNN

In June 2009, only 16% of Twitter.com website users were under the age of 25. Nielsen blog

Over a 12 month period Manchester City football club has recruited 12 players from 10 different nations costing the club about £195 million ($330 million). The New York Times

PayPal, the online payments service, has about 75 million active users and is the world’s largest internet-based payment system. It handles $2,000 a second in online transactions. Reuters

Between April and June this year US consumers purchased 5.2 million new iPhones. newmatilda.com

as a matter of fact #14

The five Harry Potter films, not including the most recent one, The Half-Blood Prince, have taken $4.5 billion (£2.7 billion) at the box office.  Time

China retained its position at the top of executioner’s league table for 2008. According to Hands Off Cain, a human rights group, China accounted for at least 5,000 executions, or 87.3 % of the total. The Washington Post

Japan is the grayest country in the world, with 21.5% of its population 65 years-old or over. Its population is expected to shrink from 127 million today to a projected 89 million by 2055. Foreign Policy

The number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank is now over 300,000. According to the Haaretz newspaper the number of West Bank settlers is 304,569 - a 2.3 % increase since January. The Washington Post

There are 13 million abortions each year in China, compared to 20 million births, according to figures published in the China Daily newspaper. BBC (I’m a bit miffed as to the inclusion of “each year”. Do these figures stay static year-on-year?)

Afghan authorities have enlisted 3,100 donkeys to ferry ballots to some of the country’s most inaccessible regions that trucks and even helicopters cannot reach ahead of the upcoming elections. The Washington Post

as a matter of fact #13

Of the ten largest cities in the US three of them are in Texas: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.  The Lone Star state also hosts more Fortune 500 companies than any other American state. The Economist

805: the number of days spent in space by Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev. Still the record for the longest time spent in space. The Toilet Paper

Pubs in the UK closed at a rate of 52 per week in the first half of the year - a third more than the same period in 2008 - according to the British Beer & Pub Association. BBC

Japan has 100 million users of advanced third-generation smartphones, twice the number of users in the United States. NYTimes

There are 62,000 newspaper titles in circulation in India. Foreign Policy

Apple sold 5.2 million iPhones globally according to its third quarter announcements. This was a 626% increase over the same period last year. However, sales of the iPod dropped 7% to 10.2 million. PC Advisor

as a matter of fact #12

According to the Adult Industry Trade Association, a record number of sex toys were sold in the UK last year – the majority to young women. Of the £100m-worth of toys bought, the biggest grossers were hand-held vibrators, designed for women to use on their own, or with their partner. The Indpendent

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death in Iran. In 2008 the Islamic republic executed at least 346 people last year, seond only to China. The Washington Post

There are about 25,000 love hotels in Japan which are visited an estimated 500 million times a year. BBC

Pirate attcaks doubled in the first six months of this year compared with the same period for 2008. Ships were boarded in 78 cases and 31 vessels were hijacked, with 561 crew taken hostage, 19 injured and six killed, according to the International Maritime Bureau. The Washington Post

China’s foreign exchange reserves, the world’s largest, have surpassed $2 trillion (£1.2tn), the country’s central bank has said. Currency reserves rose 17.8% from June 2008 to a record $2.13tn. Its currency stockpile is twice the size of Japan’s - the second-biggest holder. BBC

as a matter of fact #11

The documentary “Coming Attractions” dates the first movie trailer to a 1912 serial entitled “What Happened to Mary?”. After each installment, a black card with white text would appear to inform audiences that “the next incident in the series of ‘What Happened to Mary’ will be shown a week from now.” IFC.com

Europe plans to hunt more whales in 2009 than Japan. Led by the whaling nations of Norway, Denmark and Icleand Europe plans to hunt 1,478 whales compared to Japan’s 1,280 in 2009. This would be an increase for Europe of nearly 20% on last year. The Guardian

Since Operation Enduring Freedom started in 2001 in Afghanistan, 728 US troops have been killed, and 176 British troops have been killed while on service in Afghanistan. iCasualties

The UN estimates that more than 200,000 people have fled the Somali capital of Mogadishu since May as fightining intensifies between government troops and Islamist insurgents. The Washington Post

Bunadoon, a town in New South Wales, Australia, has created a world first by voting to ban the sale of bottled water. BBC

Ireland has set up the world’s largest asset management fund with the establishment of NAMA which will buy up to 90 billion euros in toxic loans. Irish Times

as a matter of fact #10

Australian Geoff Ostling, 65, spent the last 15 years having his body tattooed. He has promised his epidermis (that’s skin, but just a more intellectual way of saying it) to the National Gallery when he dies.  Telegraph.co.uk

2.4 million: the number of visitors PerezHilton.com, the website of the eponymous idiot, I mean blogger, attracts each month. The Toilet Paper.

About 85% of Australian wine sales in Britain are made through supermarkets. Though the volume of Australian wine sold to Britain has more than doubled in the past decade, the price per liter has fallen from 4.36 Australian dollars in 1999 to 2.95 dollars, or £1.45, in the year that ended March 31. NYTimes

A US study into health care found that 40% of all households planned to postpone care in the coming three months, with about 15% planning to put off routine doctor visits. Reuters

President Sarkozy of France became the first leader since 1873 to address parliament this week. The state of the union style address was held in Versailes, home to French Royalty such as the Sun King Louis XIV. The Washington Post

as a matter of fact #8

Palau, a Pacific island nation and former US territory, population 20,000, announced it would accept 17 Chinese Muslims held in Guantanamo Bay. None of the 17 have been named as “enemy combatants” by the Pentagon. Palua is one of the few countries that does not recognise China and maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Washington Post

Worldwide there are an estimated 24 million people living with some form of dementia. Without a major medical breakthrough in the fight against dementia, this number could jump to as many as 84 million who have age-related memory loss by the year 2040. Brain Longevity Centre

A 2006 a study done by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that 24% of Americans, nearly one in four, between 18 and 50 are tattooed. Born to Ride.

In 1960 Ireland ranked 18th in a league table of alcohol consumption (excluding beer) per country, consuming 4.9 litres per capita/person. According to the most recent data Ireland has jumped to third in the league table with a consumption of 13.5 litres of alcohol per person. When it comes to beer, no one quite has a thirst like the Irish. They drink 155 litres of beer per person, more than 35 litres ahead of the Germans, with 119 litres, in second place. Nation Master.com

Fewer Iranians have a favouravle view of the United States since Obama was elected President. A poll by Terror Free Tomorrow found that 29% of Iranians have positive views of the US; this is down from 34% when a similar poll was held in February 2008. Fory four per cent of Iranians said the Jewish state posed the greatest threat to their country. Associated Press

Global warming could lead to the greatest human migration in history. A UN report estimates between 200 and 700 million people will be displaced by environmental pressures by 2050. The Washington Post

as a matter of fact #7

Total prize money for this year’s Wimbeldon tennis championship is £12,550,000. This is up 6.2% on last year’s pay out of £11,812,000. Prize money for the men’s and women’s champions stands at £850,000 each.  Wimbeldon.org

A survey by Panasonic found that 51% of Japanese men betwen the ages of 30 and 60 now pee sitting down. Japan Times

US weddings on average costed $22,000 in 2008. There were roughly 2.2 million weddings in the US last year.  The Wall Street Journal

A 2008 survey by Cycling England found that one in four women were put off cycling because of “helmet hair”.  The Independent

The Eifel Tower which turned 120 last May is made up of  18,038 pieces of iron welded together with 2.5 million rivets.  The Wall Street Journal

Americans started 530,000 businesses a month in 2008. The Economist

as a matter of fact #6

Global newspaper sales increased 1.3% worldwide to 539 million newspapers sold daily in 2008. AFP in Yahoo News

55%: Percentage of porn movie rentals vs. non-porn movies in hotels in the US in 2005. AVN News, State of the Adult Industry

Pregnancy and childbirth kill more than 536,000 women a year, more than half of them in Africa, according to the World Health Organization. NYTimes

More than 70 military organisations in 19 countries around the world recruited and used child soldiers in armed hostilities between 2004 and 2007. Foreign Policy

American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month in the fourth quarter of 2008, almost 80 messages a day, more than double the average of a year earlier. NYTimes

In the four weeks to the end of May 23, Google.com and Google.co.uk captured more than 90% of the search market between them in the UK. Hitwise UK

Mongolia banned alcohol sales and canceled sports competitions, cultural shows and other events during its recent election, the fifth since a popular and largely peaceful uprising overturned the pro-Soviet Union government in 1990. The Washington Post

as a matter of fact #5

• Kuwaitis elected four female parliament members for the first time since women gained the rigt to vote in 2005. [via AP]

• Irish is one of thousands of “endangered languages” worldwide. Though it is Ireland’s official tongue, there are only about 30,000 fluent speakers left, down from 250,000 when the country was founded in 1922. [via NYTimes]

• Norway won the 54th Eurovision with a record breaking 387 points. At the song competition, held in Moscow, 30 gay rights protesters were arrested, Georgia were disqualified for submitting a song disparaging Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister; and Dita von Teese, the burlesque dancer performed alongside Germany’s entry. [via TimesOnline]

• The percentage of people in the US who call themselves in some way Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation. [via USA Today]

• The average Nintendo employee will produce more than $1.6 million in profit in 2009. Meanwhile, financial giant Goldman Sachs employees generate $1.24 million by average. Nintendo staff bring home $90,900, more than ten time less what they produce. But Goldman workers take home roughly $660,000 (as of 2007) - nearly half of the profit each one produces. [via datablock]

• Ireland is technically in depression [via Irish Times]. I thought the use of the word technically is both redundant and hilarious.

as a matter of fact #4

In the first three months of 2009, by official government count, an average of nearly 12 people a day were slain in El Salvador, population seven million. [via the Los Angeles Times]

There were 6,507 racehorses in training in Ireland in 1992. By 2008 there were some 12,119 thoroughbreds. From four private aircraft, the numbers of helicopters and jets rose to an estimated 80, with more being bought in Ireland than in any other EU country. [via the Observer]

Vincent Van Gogh was the world’s price leader in 1989. Now, on a list ranking artists by auction turnover last year, compiled by Artprice, Van Gogh ranks 394. [via breakingviews.com]

In 2008, 93% of the world’s executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US. [Daily Telegraph via Prospect]

Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise. [via chucknorrisfacts.com]