-Caveat Lector- -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Sobering Reminder Amid The Partying Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 09:16:34 -0600 (CST) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rick Rozoff) Reply-To: "Activist Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Activist Mailing List - http://get.to/activist The Irish Times December 31, 1999 OUR WORLD, THEIR WORLD The world's population today: 6,034,867,134; Just over four babies are born every second; That's 250 babies a minute, 360,000 a day, 131 million a year; Republic of Ireland's population: 3,632,944 (July, 1999, est.); The world's richest 200 people are worth more than $1 trillion; The world's top three billionaires are richer than all least developed countries and their 600 million people 1 per cent of the richest 200's wealth would pay for access to primary education for all; Ireland's billionaires: John Dorrance (Campbell soups) £1.52 billion; Tony O'Reilly (Heinz/Independent newspapers)/Chryss Goulandris £1.1 billion; The top one-fifth of the world's people control 86 per cent of world GDP, 82 per cent of export markets, 74 per cent of phone lines. The bottom fifth control just one per cent; The richest one-fifth is 74 times wealthier than the poorest fifth; Americans spend $8 billion a year on cosmetics; Europeans spend $11 billion a year on ice cream; Annual spending on pet foods in Europe and the US: $17 billion; Europeans spend $50 billion a year on cigarettes; The five most developed countries: Canada, Norway, the US, Japan, Belgium. Ireland ranks 20th; The five least corrupt countries: Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada. Ireland ranks 15th; In 1900, a house on Dublin's Merrion Square cost £500. In 1999, one fetched £1.77m; There are 300 million mobile phone users; by 2003 there will be one billion; The Internet: 140 million users in mid-1998, 700 million forecast by 2001; Three words for those not on the Net: Internot, the Digital Homeless, Offliners; Military spending in the world: $780 billion a year; Organised crime grosses $1.5 trillion a year; The illegal drugs trade accounts for eight per cent of world trade, or $400 billion a year; THEIR WORLD 1.3 billion people live on less than $1 dollar a day; About 840 million people are malnourished; One in five of the world's children of primary school age is out of school; 100 million people are homeless; 12 per cent of people in the richest countries live in poverty; 2.6 billion people have no access to sanitation; Two billion people have no electricity; In New York City, 52 per cent of children are born into poverty; Sweden and the US have over 600 phone-lines per 1,000; Afghanistan has one; The average Bangladeshi would have to work more than eight years to pay for a computer, the average American needs only one month's wage; 20 million Chinese will buy mobile phones next year; 11 people are infected with AIDS/HIV every minute; 95 per cent of cases occur in developing countries; AIDS causes 2.3 million deaths a year; Nearly 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS There are 31 million refugees and displaced persons in the world; The total debt of developing countries stands at $2.2 trillion; 8,000 to 10,000 children are maimed or killed by landmines every year; Malaria and measles each kill one million people a year; Four diseases nearly eradicated: polio, guinea worm, neonatal tetanus, leprosy; Four diseases identified since 1995: nipah virus, avian flu, new variant CJD, Kaposi sarcoma virus; The 5 least developed countries: Burundi, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Niger, Sierra Leone; The 5 most corrupt countries: Cameroon, Nigeria, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan; Since 1970 40 per cent of the forests on the earth have disappeared; The availability of water today is 60 per cent of 1970 levels; 3,000 of the world's 6,000 languages are endangered; Compiled by Paul Cullen. Sources include: UNDP, WHO, UNICEF, Dataquest, Forbes, the Economist and Transparency International. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
