Percentage of Americans who say that the lack of any non-white actors in this year's nominations for the Academy Awards is because the best performances happened to be by white actors, according to research from YouGov: 51

Percentage of white Americans who say that it was simply because the best performances were by white actors: 62

Percentage of black Americans who say that it was because of a lack of diversity: 75

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of men and women who say that lying is sometimes justified, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs poll: 64

Percentage of Americans who say it's OK to lie in order to avoid hurting someone's feelings: 56

Percentage who say it's OK for a parent to lie to his or her child about the parent's own past misbehavior: 54

Percentage who say it's OK to exaggerate the facts to make a story more interesting: 52

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Year that female representation in the global professional and managerial ranks will reach 40 percent of that workforce, according to Mercer's second-annual "When Women Thrive" global report: 2025

Percentage of organizations that offer women-focused health and financial wellness programs: 9

Rank of the U.S. globally for having the largest number of organizations that offer women-focused wellness programs: 1

Source: Mercer.

Ranks of North Korea (16 percent), Russia (15 percent), Iran (14 percent) and China (12 percent) on the list of countries Americans perceive to be the greatest enemies of the United States, according to a Gallup poll: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Gallup Organization.

Year that the idea of insuring cars against accidents began, when the Traveler's Insurance Co. issued a policy to Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, New York, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1898

Cost of Dr. Martin's policy, giving him $5,000 in coverage: $12.25

Estimated number of cars in the country at that time: 4,000

Estimated number of farm horses at the time, a main cause of concern for Martin regarding accidents: 18 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of computer repair calls attributed to Windows App and Windows O.S. trouble, according to a report by RESCUECOM: 61.5

Ranks of poor computer performance/slowness, printer issues and viruses/spyware/malware/pop-ups on the list of problems requiring computer repair calls: 2, 3, 4

Source: RESCUECOM.

Percentage of Americans who think black cats are actually good luck, according to a survey by Skout: 59

Percentage of people who have owned a black cat who say they have won a contest or the lottery (vs. 40 percent of people who have never owned a black cat): 46

Percentage of respondents who have owned a black cat who have had a near-death experience and lived to tell about it (vs. 54 percent of people who have never owned a black cat): 64

Source: Skout.

Percentage of professionals who have increased their commitment to their personal life over the last year, according to research from staffing firm Robert Half: 54

Percentage of those polled who said they are more committed to their career: 38

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of American adults who report that they have used online dating sites and/or mobile dating apps, up from the 11 percent who reported doing so in early 2013, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 15

Percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds who report having used online dating, up from just 10 percent in early 2013: 27

Percentage of 55- to 64-year-olds who use online dating over the same time period, up from 6 percent in 2013: 12

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

Percentage of Americans who expect to pay a little or a lot more for health insurance in 2016, according to a survey by GOBankingRates.com: 43

Percentage of respondents who expect to pay less than last year: 20

Source: GoBankingRates.com.

Idle Thought

"A fellow of mediocre talent will remain a mediocrity, whether he travels or not; but one of superior talent will go to seed if he always remains in the same place." -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer

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

According to research by the U.S. Census Bureau, the world's population in 1967: 3.5 billion

World population in 2016: 7.3 billion

U.S. population 1967: 197.5 million

U.S. population 2016: 322.8 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Rank of Concord, California, on the list of U.S. cities with the greatest growth rate, according to an annual migration trends report compiled from more than 1.7 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions in 2015: 1

Rank of North Carolina on the list of U.S. states with the greatest growth rate in 2015: 1

Ranks of Roseville-Sacramento, California; Austin, Texas; Madison, Wisconsin; and Chicago on the list of the top U.S. growth cities: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: U-Haul.

Percentage of Netflix subscribers who prefer staying in to watch Netflix rather than go out to see a movie, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Netflix: 58

Percentage of subscribers who report that they "find someone more attractive based on the shows that they like": 56

Percentage who report that "they have agreed to go out with someone solely on show compatibility": 42

Source: Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.

Percentage of American adults who say they always try to eat healthy foods and maintain a balanced diet, according to research publisher Packaged Facts: 54

Percentage who say they eat foods they like regardless of calories: 60

Percentage of adults over the age of 18 (155 million people) who agree that they often snack between meals: 66

Source: Packaged Facts.

Percentage of Americans who have at least one tattoo, up from roughly two in 10 just four years ago, according to the results of a Harris Poll: 29

Percentage of Americans with any tattoos who have two or more: 69

Percentage of those with tattoos who say they ever regret getting one -- up from 14 percent in 2012: 23

Source: The Harris Poll.

Rank of Paris as the city that Americans rate as the world's "most romantic" city, according to the results of a study commissioned by Expedia to look at romance and travel: 1

Percentage of respondents who felt beach travel is the "most romantic": 32

Percentage who preferred international and exotic destinations: 27

Percentage of respondents who tabbed the countryside: 22

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of Americans who say they have a friend they met online but have never met in person, according to Skout's online friendship survey: 76

Percentage who say they would like to meet their online friends in real life someday: 83

Percentage of Americans who say they have at least five online friends: 62

Percentage who say they communicate with their online friends daily: 59

Source: Skout.

Percentage of Americans who have visited a bank or credit union branch to conduct personal financial business within in the past 30 days, excluding ATMs, according to a new Bankrate.com report: 45

Percentage who have not visited a bank or credit union branch in at least six months: 39

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of CFOs who increased starting salaries of new employees over their salaries at previous jobs, according to a Robert Half survey: 54

Percentage increase in the starting salaries for new hires compared to previous employers: 10

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of U.S. adults who say that intrusive ads were the largest motivator for installing ad blockers, according to a survey by Teads and conducted by Research Now: 74

Percentage of respondents who would reconsider installing ad blockers if the ad experience provided them with the choice to skip or close the ad: 80

Source: Teads.

Idle Thought

"All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography." -- Federico Fellini, film director and writer

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

Percentage of adults who see entrepreneurship as a good career choice, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2015 Global Report, released with sponsors Babson College, Universidad del Desarrollo, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, and Tecnologico de Monterrey: 66

Percentage of adults who hold entrepreneurs to a "high status" in their respective societies: 70

Source: Babson College.

Percentage at which global unemployment stands, according to Gallup's 2015 World Poll: 32

Of the estimated 3.2 billion adults worldwide in the workforce, percentage who are employed full time for an employer and engaged at work -- what Gallup considers a great job: 5

Estimated number of people who want a great job but don't have one: 3 billion

Percentage of the total adult population who work at least 30 hours per week for an employer: 26

Source: Gallup Organization.

Percentage of regular users of social media in the United States who agreed that life today is busier than it was a generation ago, according to a research from Ipsos: 80

Percentage who said it is more demanding: 77

Percentage who say it causes more information overload: 79

Percentage who say that life is better: 40

Source: Ipsos Insight.

Combined fortune of the top 50 wealthiest people in the world, nearly equal to the GDP of Australia, according to a new list by Wealth-X in collaboration with Business Insider: $1.45 trillion

Number of billionaires on the list who are from the United States -- more than any other country: 29

Number of billionaires from China who made the top 50: 4

Number of billionaires from the technology sector on the list -- more than any other sector, including finance: 12

Ranks of Bill Gates (U.S., $87.4 billion), Amancio Ortega Gaona (Spain, $66.8 billion), Warren Buffett (U.S., $60.7 billion), Jeffrey Bezos (U.S., $56.6 billion) and David Koch (U.S., $47.4 billion) on the list of the wealthiest people in the world: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of American adults who agree that relationships can't last long term without romance, according to a Harris Poll: 74

Percentage who believe romance is overrated: 35

Percentage of men who say romance is overrated -- compared to 32 percent of women: 39

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of employees who say that working in an office that is too warm has a negative impact on their productivity, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 71

Percentage of employees who say that working in a cool environment has a negative impact on their productivity: 53

Percentage of employees who are dressing in layers: 44

Percentage who are drinking hot beverages: 36

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Ranks of texting and checking or sending email on the list of the most common cellphone activities completed in a public washroom stall, according to the 2016 Healthy Hand Washing Survey conducted by Bradley Corporation: 1, 2

Percentage of all Americans who say they've taken a photo in the stall: 6

Percentage of men who've confessed they skipped the suds at the sink because they didn't feel the need to wash after using a public restroom: 18

Source: Bradley Corp.

Percentage of adult Americans who use the Internet at work out of boredom or to avoid work, according to a survey by FindLaw.com: 28

Percentage who didn't want to wait until after work: 21

Percentage with better connectivity at work: 13

Source: FindLaw.com.

Value of the U.S. manufacturing sector in 2014, according to annual survey by the U.S. Census Bureau: $5.9 trillion

Value of the manufacturing sector's annual payroll in 2014: $618.9 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of professionals who say they volunteer outside of work, according to a survey by Robert Half: 41

Percentage who say their volunteer work helps improve their effectiveness at the office: 61

Percentage who say their volunteer work helps them expand their network: 57

Percentage who say it helps them to develop new skills: 49

Source: Accountemps.

Idle Thought

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. -- E.M. Forster, novelist (1879-1970)

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