Ranks of the United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom on the list of countries ranking highest in terms of charity -- which includes donations of money, volunteering of time and the helping of strangers -- according to CAFAmerica: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Percentage of Americans who said they donated money to charity: 65

Percentage who volunteered their time: 43

Percentage who helped a stranger: 73

Source: CAFAmerica.

In the contiguous U.S., ranks of Rogers Pass, Mont., (70 below zero) and Peter Sinks, Utah, (69 below zero) on the list of places that hold the record low winter temperatures, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1, 2

Lowest temperature ever recorded in the U.S., at Prospect Creek, Alaska: 80 below zero

To put a different perspective on the word "lowest," record low temperature recorded in Honolulu: 53 degrees

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of the world's Internet population age 15 and older that is reached by social networking sites, representing 1.2 billion users around the globe, according to a ComScore study: 82

In October, percentage of the world's global audience reached by Facebook: 55

For every seven minutes spent online around the world, number spent on Facebook: 1

For every four social networking minutes spent online, number spent on Facebook: 3

Source: ComScore.

Percentage of employers who said they have fired a worker for calling in sick without a legitimate excuse, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 15

Percentage that have checked up on an employee: 28

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Americans who oppose increasing the federal gas tax, according to a national Reason-Rupe poll: 77

Percentage of respondents who think the government wastes the gas tax money it already receives: 65

Source: Reason Foundation.

Estimated amount of money that Washington state's tobacco prevention and cessation program saved the state in health care costs over its first 10 years, according to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: $1.5 billion

Cost of the program: $260 million

Amount saved for every $1 spent by reducing hospitalizations for heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and cancer caused by tobacco use: $5

Source: American Journal of Public Health.

When consumers have a positive customer service experience, percentage who are likely to tell a company representative, according to a Spherion survey: 47

Percentage who will express their opinions via social media: 17

Percentage who will write a review: 15

Source: Spherion.

Ranks of growth in sales, job creation and fewer government regulations on the list of things that small-business owners say they would need for their business to thrive in 2012, according to a survey by Gallup: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of increased revenues, an improving economy, and growth or expansion of their business as the top motivations for hiring new employees in 2012: 1, 2, 3

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who plan to take the same or more leisure trips in 2012 than they did in 2011, a 5 percent increase from last year, according to the 2012 Travel-Ticker Traveler intentions survey: 86

Ranks of a beach getaway, a big-city getaway and an outdoor adventure on the list of the most-desired vacations in 2012: 1, 2, 3

Source: Travel-Ticker.com.

Percentage of CIOs who said they plan to expand their IT departments in the first quarter of 2012, according to the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report: 20

Percentage of CIOs who said it's challenging to find skilled professionals today: 73

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Idle Thought

"We are social creatures to the inmost center of our being. The notion that one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong." -- Karl Popper, philosopher

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

Ranks of Vienna, Zurich, Auckland (New Zealand) and Munich in the 2011 quality of living worldwide city rankings by Mercer: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of Honolulu and San Francisco on the list -- the highest-ranking American cities: 29, 30

Source: Mercer.

Percentage of Americans who visit bars who agree a good bartender is more important than how trendy or stylish the decor of the bar is, according to a survey on behalf of Sailor Jerry Rum: 76

Percentage of respondents who tip a bartender more than 15 percent: 74

Percentage who also believe that the better they tip, the better service they will receive: 74

Source: Sailor Jerry Rum.

Percentage of Americans who say that if they earned between $60,000 and $100,000 a year they would consider themselves rich, according to a Gallup poll: 12

Percentage of Americans who say they would need in excess of $1 million in savings in cash, stocks, real estate and other investments in order to consider themselves rich, including 14 percent who say they would need $5 million or more: 26

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of American adults who make one or more resolutions each year, according to author Serge Prengel: 40 to 45

Percentage of respondents who maintain these resolutions past the first week: 75

Percentage who make it past six months: 46

Number of times more likely that people who explicitly make New Year's resolutions are to attain their goals than people who don't explicitly make resolutions: 10

Source: about.com.

Number of mobile applications that are downloaded worldwide each month, according to Mobile Future: 1 billion

Amount of money paid by Apple alone to independent app developers: $3 billion

Source: Mobile Future.

Percentage of Americans who rate themselves an 8, 9 or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 in good looks, according to a LivingSocial survey conducted by Mandala Research: 32

Percentage who say they deserve at least a 7: 56

Percentage of respondents who say people in their city are overweight: 50

Percentage who agree that women in their city are beautiful: 46

Percentage who say that men in their city are handsome: 36

Source: LivingSocial.

Percentage of U.S. adults who have gone shopping or purchased something solely because they were in a bad mood, otherwise known as "retail therapy," according to a CouponCabin.com survey conducted by Harris Interactive: 24

Percentage of women who said they've shopped in pursuit of retail therapy: 31

Percentage of men who said the same: 16

Source: CouponCabin.

Percentage of leading privately held businesses that have made innovation a priority -- 33 percent of them to a great extent and 42 percent to some extent -- according to chief executives surveyed for PricewaterhouseCooper's Private Company Trendsetter Barometer: 75

Percentage of innovation-focused private companies that expect their innovations (ranging from incremental to breakthrough) will have a significant impact on the way they do business over the next one to three years: 47

Source: PwC Private Company Services.

Ranks of Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem," Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and Eric Church's "Smoke a Little Smoke" on the list of the top played songs of 2011, according to TouchTunes Interactive Networks: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of Kid Rock, AC/DC and Jason Aldean on the list of the top artists 2011: 1, 2, 3

Source: TouchTunes Interactive Networks.

Increase (to 64.8 points) in the Country Financial Security Index in December, showing Americans' confidence in both their ability to pay debts and their overall financial state: 1.6

Percentage of respondents who say 2012 will be better than 2011: 30

Ranks of reducing debt (27 percent) and boosting savings (19 percent) on the list of the top 2012 personal priorities for Americans: 1, 2

Source: Country Financial.

Idle Thought

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials." -- Lin Yutang, writer and translator

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

Ranks of "getting caught up in the holiday spirit," "love" and "simply not thinking about how much is being spent" on the list of primary reasons for exceeding a personal holiday spending limit, according to a TD Bank poll: 1, 2, 3

Percentage of shoppers who said they used credit cards to pay for gifts this year: 38

Percentage who will use debit cards: 31

Source: TD Bank.

Percentage of people who say relatives overstay their welcome after a day or less, with some saying their family members wear out their welcome as soon as they arrive, according to a special edition of the HomeAway Vacation Rental Marketplace Report: 22

Percentage who say relatives overstay their welcome after just a few days: 29

Percentage who say their relatives never wear out their welcome: 37

Source: HomeAway.

Percentage of people who selected "dog or other pet" as the most normal member of their family, according to a poll conducted by the Social Beat Research Group: 76

Percentage who picked "me" -- a distant second place, and likely the response of someone without pets: 12

Source: TMarkTees.com.

Day that the U.S. Postal Service says is traditionally the heaviest mailing day of the year, about a 40 percent rise from the normal daily volume, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: Dec. 14

While the holiday season easily produces the heaviest volume, estimated number of pieces of mail the Postal Sevice delivers annually: 170.5 billion

Number of employees it takes to handle this astounding volume: 672,000

Number of postal facilities around the country: 27,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of American children who reach the age of 17 with both their biological parents married (since before or around the time of their birth), according to Family Research Council's Marriage and Religion Research Institute in its second annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection: 45.8

Source: Family Research Council.

Percentage of women who say the economy has helped them focus on what's important during the holidays, according to an American Red Cross poll: 66

Percentage of men who say the same: 49

Percentage of women who say they feel badly they can't give more to charity this year, compared to 51 percent of men: 71

Source: American Red Cross.

Ranks of spend more time with family and friends, fitness, tame the bulge, quit smoking, enjoy life more, quit drinking, get out of debt, learn something new, help others, get organized on the top 10 list of New Year's resolutions, according to Albrecht Powell, About.com Guide: 1 to 10

Source: About.com.

Ranks of Sophia, Emma, Isabella, Olivia and Ava on the list of the most popular girls names of 2011, according to BabyCenter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Aiden, Jackson, Mason, Liam and Jacob on the list of the most popular boys names of 2011: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: BabyCenter.

Number of paid vacation days the average American employee has left unused at the end of each year, according to results of the American Travel Behavior Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive: 6.2

During the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2010, the average percentage drop in hotel prices on Hotwire.com vs. the peak summer months: 10

When compared to the peak season, percentage drop in airfares during the first weeks of December 2010: 9

When compared to the peak season, percentage drop in car rental prices during the first weeks of December 2010: 23

Source: Hotwire.com.

Year that Christmas Seals first appeared in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1907

Amount of money expected to be raised at the time by selling special stamps designed by Emily Bissell to put on Christmas mailings, with the profits helping in the fight against tuberculosis, then the nation's No. 1 killer: $300

Estimated amount actually raised: $3,000

Amount raised the following year, 1908: $135,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Idle Thought

"The path of least resistance makes all rivers, and some men, crooked." -- Napoleon Hill

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