From curvaceous women to numerate students in 21 steps

from JoeUser Forums

 

Ideal measurement of women's waist to hip measurement (calculated by dividing waist measurement by hip measurement from the point of view of men according to UCL psychology professor John Manning. 0.7

Years since the average British woman had such a ratio which equate to the waist being just under a third smaller than the hips 23

Current ratio 0.73

% of Britons who feel the media cannot be held responsible for dictating the public perception of the ideal body shape 7

Number of article in the UK national press last month that included the word hypocrisy 235

% of these that referred to Diane Abott 20

Number of article in the UK national press last month that included the word diet 929

Average cost of a boob job in the UK £ 3000

Number of teenage girls ion the UK who have turned to plastic surgery in the 12 months in pursuit of bodily perfection ranging from bigger breast to better nose, the majority of whom rely largely on their parents to pay 3000

Annual fees at the city of London School for Boys, near St-Paul, where Diane Abbott's son James will study £ 10000

Number of children around the world who have no access to education 100 m

% of these who are girls 57

Amount spend annually by rich countries on aid for basic education $1.4 bn

Additional money needed annually to ensure all the world's children can go to primary school $5.6 bn

Amount Americans spend on pizza each year $28 bn

Amount British government spend on the war in Iraq $5.6 bn

Amount that American parents spend annually on Barbie dolls for their daughter $6 bn

Amount Europeans spend on ice cream each year $11.2 bn

% of US spending on the Iraq ear needed to pay for all the world's children to go to school 10

Number of time by which the UK would have to multiply its current contribution to aid basic education worldwide in order to provide its fair share of the money 4

Percentage of A-grades at A-level won by the seven per cent of UK pupil who attend private school 40

Compiled by Tom Templeton

Published in the Observer Magazine (7/12/2003)

5,422 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
So what's the significance of how much money Americans spend on Pizza and Barbie Dolls? Are you saying we have poor diets and have succumbed to consumerism? Just curious.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
No, the point that he's trying to convey is percentage of funds. The concept here being if everyone in the US say spared one Pizza in their lives each year and instead donated the US$10 or so that they would have spend to somekind of a word-wide education fund, then the world could afford to educate all of our children. It's not a comment on our lifestyle so much as it's trying to put things into a perspective that our minds can handle. If this were an attack on our society then he's also attacking himself, for he mentions how much money Europeans spend on Ice Cream, which is in these figures nearly double what's spent on Barbies here in the States. I doubt he's trying to portray his own culture as dessert-devouring slobs, so I equally doubt that there's any ill-will directed towards us, either.

In general a very interesting write-up that unfortunately is all too true both in your homeland and in mine. I just hope that this can inspire some thinking on the part of others

--Syrrus
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
This is just the transcript of an article published in the guardian (UK). It is publish as I copied it. These are just number and fact. You have to connect the point on your own and that's the purpose of it.
As UK is following in various area, they choose UK and US statistical as a good illustration. I'm not making any judgement, either to UK or US. A lot of this trend could be applied to europe as well.

Thanks for your comments.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
I hate stats like this. As if every single American would do that anyway... I don't know if you'd noticed, but selfishness is practically the defining characteristic of Americans. I have a funny feeling that most donations come from faithful middle class homes and large donations from celebrities. Oh, and large corporations who want to jump down a tax bracket. But I could be wrong.

~Dan
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
Stat are facts, which should be handle carefully. Isolate a fact form its background can be turned to mean the opposite.