On average, estimated percentage of their tax money that taxpayers believe is not used in ways that serve the interests and values of the people of their country, according to the findings of a BBC World Service global poll across 22 countries, conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA: 52

Percentage of people around the world, and majorities in all but one of 22 countries polled, who think that government should subsidize food to keep prices down for consumers: 78

Source: World Public Opinion.

Percentage of small-business owners who now plan to never retire until forced to do so for health reasons -- up from about 4 in 10 in 2005 and 2007 -- according to a Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index poll: 47

Percentage who plan to cut back on work but stay involved with their business when they retire: 41

Percentage who are planning to stop working in their business altogether, a drop from nearly twice that level in 2005: 10

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of car owners who are planning to drive their current vehicle for 50,000 (or more) miles longer than they drove their previous one, according to AutoMD.com: 80

Source: AutoMD.com.

Though the recession has been declared officially over, percentage of Americans who are still considering a part-time job for extra income, according to a study conducted by The Pampered Chef: 58

Percentage of adults who are more likely to consider taking a second job now than they were six months ago: 33

Amount of extra money per month Americans say would be enough to make a positive impact on most households: $100 to $600

Percentage of Americans who would use some or all of the extra income earned from a second job to pay off bills: 66

Source: The Pampered Chef.

Percentage of working adults who believe that company culture is a critical driver of business success, according to Randstad's Work Watch survey: 66

Percentage of employees who believe company culture has the greatest impact on employee morale: 35

Percentage who believe that it has the greatest impact on employee productivity: 22

Percentage of younger workers, ages 18 to 34, who say it plays the biggest role in building job satisfaction: 23

Source: Randstad-USA.

Year that one of the first communities built by a real-estate developer opened for residents to move into, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1947

Estimated number of Cape Cod and ranch houses that the town ultimately contained, all of which were snapped up by soldiers returning home from World War II and facing an acute housing shortage: 17,000

Cost of the houses in Levittown, N.Y., in 1947: $7,500

Average square footage of floor space: 800

Average square footage of living space in a new home in the U.S. today: 2,500

Average cost of a house today: $232,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Rank of safety and security on the list of concerns for international travelers, according to results of a survey conducted for the U.S. Travel Insurance Association: 1

Percentage of Americans who say that safety and security issues would not deter them from traveling internationally: 70

Percentage who say that safety and security concerns would influence their choice of an overseas destination: 60

Source: Kundell Communications.

Percentage increase in the number of miles driven by U.S. motorists over the past five years, according to research by State Farm: 2

Percentage increase in the number of deer-vehicle collisions in the U.S. during that time: 21

Estimated number of collisions between deer and vehicles that occurred in the U.S. during the two-year period between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2010: 2.3 million

Source: State Farm.

Percentage of teens who say bullying is a problem in their schools and communities, according to a nationally representative survey of teens and 20-somethings conducted by TRU: 64

Percentage of teens who know someone their age who has been the target of hateful or hurtful electronic communication: 52

Percentage who admit to having suffered such intimidation themselves: 29

Source: TRU.

Ranks of Ellen DeGeneres, Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Aniston, each scoring 9 out of a possible 10, on the list of celebrities' hair, according to the new Hair Q Score developed by medical doctor and prominent hair transplant surgeon, Dr. Shapiro: first (tie)

Rank of Donald Trump: last

Source: Dr. Shapiro.

Idle Thought

"Walking is man's best medicine." -- Hippocrates, the father of medicine

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of workers who stated that they need coffee to get through the workday, according to a survey commissioned jointly by Dunkin' Donuts and CareerBuilder: 32

Percentage of coffee drinkers who reported they are less productive if they don't drink coffee while on the job: 43

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage more likely that women are than men to give up sex to balance the budget, according to a survey from ING Direct USA: 56

Ranks of worrying about an unfaithful spouse, losing a job and accumulating debt on the list of issues women are likely to be upset by: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of losing a job, an unfaithful spouse and accumulating debt on the list of issues men worry about: 1, 2, 3

Source: ING.

Projected percentage of the $20.3 billion sports franchising industry for which the NFL is expected to account in 2010, according to IBISworld: 40 (or $8.2 billion)

Should an NFL lockout occur in 2011, estimated revenue loss to the league: $7.6 billion

Percentage of their potential NFL careers that players stand to lose, considering that the average career length for this sport is only 3.3 years with a median salary of $770,000 (2009): 30

Source: IBISWorld.

Percentage of managers who said they are more stressed at work today than they were one year ago, according to an OfficeTeam survey: 30

Percentage who expect their anxiety levels to increase in the coming year, compared to 8 percent who anticipate reduced stress: 28

Source: OfficeTeam.

Amount of money spent on all U.S. advertising in 2009, according to Nielsen: $117 billion

Percentage of all ad spending in 2009 that went into television: 57

Percentage that went to print media: 28

Percentage that went to Internet advertising: 7

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

With our increasing love of gadgets, percentage increase in annual home usage of electricity since 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 17

In that period, percentage increase in our power bills: 69

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Number of types of shoppers that exist and transcend country boundaries, according to a study by Ipsos Marketing: 5

Percentage of shoppers who are "Brand Lovers": 19

Percentage who are "Indulgents" -- the most impulsive group -- attracted to new products in stores and more likely to choose the good tasting over the healthy option: 16

Percentage who are "Price Driven" -- on fixed budgets and go out of their way to find the stores with the lowest prices: 23

Source: Ipsos Marketing, Global Consumer Goods Sector.

Estimated number of the 4.3 million babies born in the U.S. in 2008 who were the offspring of unauthorized immigrants, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center: 340,000

While a little more than 4 percent of the U.S. adult population is composed of unauthorized immigrants, percentage of the newborn population that is made up of their children: 8

Of the overall child population (those younger than age 18) in the U.S., percentage who are the children of unauthorized immigrants: 7

Source: Pew Hispanic Center.

Percentage of U.S. adults who actively plan vacations with the hope they will result in special memories for/about their children, according to a survey conducted by Ypartnership: 88

Percentage of U.S. adults who say that vacation memories occupy a prominent place in our psyche and that they think of them "often" or "very often": 72

Percentage of Americans who say vacations taken with immediate family are the most memorable: 89

Source: Ypartnership Public Relations.

Percentage of Americans who express a great deal or fair amount of trust in the U.S. government to handle international problems (down from 62 percent a year ago), according to a Gallup Poll: 57

Percentage who trust Washington to handle domestic problems, now at a record low: 46

Source: Gallup.

Idle Thought

"Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way." -- E.L. Doctorow, writer

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of human resource managers who reported they typically review 25 applications or less for open positions, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 48

Percentage who said, on average, they spend less than a minute reviewing a resume: 38

Percentage who spend less than 30 seconds: 18

Percentage of human resource managers who said they pay more attention to resumes that are tailored to their open positions: 79

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of U.S. TV households that own one TV: 16.3

Percentage of TV households that own two TVs: 28.4

Percentage of TV households that own three TVs: 24.4

Percentage of TV households that own four or more TVs: 30.9

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Percentage of Americans who say President Barack Obama bears a great deal or moderate amount of blame for U.S. economic problems, according to a Gallup poll: 48

Percentage of Americans who blame former President George W. Bush for the economic problems: 71

Source: Gallup Organization.

Number of calories and fat content packed in the Big Mac, McDonald's signature sandwich, according to an analysis from dietitians with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine: 540 and 29 grams of fat

Number of calories and fat content contained in a double quarter pounder with cheese: 740 and 42 grams of fat

Number of calories and fat content contained in a McDonald's Mighty Kids Meal: 840 and 37 grams of fat

Rank of the McDonald's Mighty Kids Meal on a recent PCRM list of the five most unhealthful fast-food meals marketed to children: 1

Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Year the federal government went into debt for the first time, according to the Census Bureau: 1789

Amount Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton arranged to borrow from the Bank of New York and the Bank of North America to pay the salaries of President Washington and members of the first Congress: $192,000

Length of time it took to pay off the loan: less than 1 year

Amount of the president's annual salary today: $400,000

Estimated amount of the national debt today: $13 trillion.

Source: Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who say it is "unacceptable" for homeowners to stop making their mortgage payments, according to a Pew Research Center Social and Demographic Trends survey: 59

Percentage who say the practice of "walking away" from a home mortgage is acceptable, at least under certain circumstances: 36

Percentage of homeowners who say they owe more on their mortgages than their home is worth: 21

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Percentage of moms who consider themselves "very green" or "somewhat green," incorporating environmentally friendly practices and products into their families' everyday lives, according to a survey from Marcal Small Steps and Kiwi magazine: 59

Percentage of moms who mistakenly believe anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent or more of all U.S. paper products are made from 100 percent recycled paper: 62

Percentage of household paper products sold in this country that are actually made from 100 percent recycled paper: 2

Source: Marcal.

Rank of how a guy smells on the list of factors that determine whether a girl will find him attractive, according to scent expert Dr. Alan Hirsch, director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, in a survey commissioned by AXE: 1

Percentage of girls who say they won't date a guy who smells like their dad: 56

Source: Edelman.

Percentage of the 36 million Americans with a hearing problem who actually use hearing aids, according to a public opinion survey commissioned by HearUSA: 25

Source: HEAR USA.

IDLE THOUGHT

"It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life." -- Edith Hamilton, educator and writer (1867-1963)

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)