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May 09, 2006
America in numbers
18,710,000 pot smokers
24.6 people with unclassified dry itching skin
Only 140 million drinkers?
How about trends? Migraines are up, acute digestive conditions are down, and cases of ingrown nails are holding steady.
All this and more is revealed in the recently released, 28.5-pound, $825, five-volume Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition.
Joel Garreau explains.
Some bonus bits:
- Barbershops, beauty salons and health clubs went from making $500 million in 1929 to more than 50 times that -- $28.5 billion -- in 1999. But what does that tell us about comely appearance? Sad is the drop in the number of "tailors and tailoresses," going from 172,000 in 1920 to 27,800 in 1990, no matter how cheaply you can get your pants at Wal-Mart.
…
In 1980, IBM predicted that the total market for personal computers in the following 10 years would be something like that year's 246,000. Not 250,000, but a nicely precise, confidence-inspiring 246,000. The actual outcome was almost exactly 100 times greater. If the leaders of IBM had been more optimistic, would they have ever dreamed of letting their operating system be supplied by some snot-nosed kid named Gates?
Posted by tedb at May 9, 2006 11:55 AM
I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten29124 at January 26, 2007 09:54 PM
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I haven't been up to much these days. Today was a loss. Nothing seems important. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days.
Comment by: Sten19429 at January 27, 2007 04:16 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten6335 at January 27, 2007 11:35 PM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten70743 at January 28, 2007 01:28 AM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten41132 at January 28, 2007 09:15 AM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten47753 at January 28, 2007 09:50 AM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten76837 at January 29, 2007 08:37 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten95099 at January 31, 2007 07:19 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten8954 at January 31, 2007 04:19 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten10193 at February 1, 2007 12:25 AM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten66340 at February 2, 2007 12:11 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten3140 at February 4, 2007 11:13 PM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten79801 at February 6, 2007 08:15 AM
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