"Fun" facts

Year by which the median full-time wage of a U.S. woman will equal that of a U.S. man, based on current trends: 2050

Average total cost for a U.S. 80-year-old to live out the rest of his or her days on a luxury cruise ship: $230, 497
Average cost to live them out in an assisted-living facility: $228,075

Number of states where women seeking abortions are required to be told that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer: 3
Number of the 89 experts convened in 2003 by the National Cancer Institute who found any evidence of such a link: 1
[For more on how the press has covered this issue, see Chris Mooney's article, Blinded by Science, in the November/December issue of CJR: http://www.cjr.org/issues/2004/6/mooney-science.asp]

Number of black U.S. senators during the entire 1800s, the entire 1900s, and today, respectively: 2,2,1

(source: Harper's Index, Harper's Magazine, Feb. 2005, www.harpers.org )