Opinion

Today's Numbers

By DOUGLAS LUMMIS

Some people believe the news only when it comes with numbers. Newspaper reporters know this and put lots of numbers in their articles. They especially like to mention statistics and survey results. It gives their writing more authority.

In today's paper (from October 16) I found a lot of articles with numbers. I will summarize some of them here. See if you can figure out what they all mean.

Of the people answering a newspaper survey, 71 percent said they had little or no interest in the coming Diet election. Of those in their 20s, only 9 percent said they were very interested. (By the time you read this the election will be over, and you will know the result of this disinterest).

Bankruptcies in Japan exceeded 1,100 for the 20th straight month. A survey found that one in 13 board members in listed banks is a former bureaucrat of the Finance Ministry or other government organ. Meanwhile, the dollar rose to ¥112.18, the highest rate since January, 1994.

Ten people have died in the most recent Ebola epidemic in Gabon. (In the last epidemic in February, 21 people died.)

In the seven years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, only 4 percent of the marriages in Berlin have been between people from the former eastern and western sectors.

Boxer Yasunori Hamada knocked out Toshiaki Tsutada within 10 seconds of starting the first round, breaking the Japan record by two seconds.

The classified advertisement section featured an apartment for foreign businesspersons in Minami Azabu. The apartment has five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a maid's room, large living and dining rooms, a two-car garage, and a terrace. The rent is ¥1,900,000 per month. (At today's rate, that is $16,937.)

The government of the Republic of Korea has brought criminal charges against 444 students arrested during the August demonstrations favoring reunification of the two Koreas. The government has demanded three-year prison sentences for the first 63 who are now on trial.

Benjamin Truehaft, a California piano tuner, has sent his second shipment of pianos to Cuba. His "Send a piana to Havana" project sent 23 pianos to Cuba last year. The U.S. government warned that he could be fined up to $1.3 million and jailed for up to 10 years for his activities.

Indonesian President Suharto visited East Timor, which his government invaded and annexed 20 years ago killing 260,000 people (so the newspaper says; probably more). Suharto made a speech "emphasizing his government's achievements in building roads and schools." A new Japan-U.S. joint venture announced that it will begin broadcasting 100 (repeat: one hundred) TV channels from next autumn. A survey found that 26 percent of Americans watch TV while eating dinner. Another survey shows that for the first time a majority of the people in the U.S. are overweight. It is speculated that the cause of this is less exercise, due at least partly to the invention of the TV remote control.

Shukan ST: Nov. 8, 1996

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