50 Facts That Should Change the USA

50 Facts That Should Change the USA, Stephen Fender, The Disinformation Company Ltd., 2008

Here is a compendium of little-known facts about America.

America has some of the world's best universities, and some of the worst high schools. More than 37 million Americans live below the official poverty line (today, in late 2012, no doubt that number is much higher). The inventor of recorded sound, Thomas Edison, thought that jazz sounded better played backwards. American conservatives hate political actors, but they had no problem backing Ronald Reagan as President, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California.

Despite assertions that America is in the middle of a crime epidemic, violent crime has dropped by more than half since 1993, while it is rising in Europe. American workers have the shortest vacations in the developed world; over 40 percent take no summer vacation. There is a huge volcano under Yellowstone Park. When it erupts, it will make the loudest noise heard by man in 75,000 years, along with killing thousands of people. More than twice as many US residents claim to attend church as actually do. Americans spend more on civil litigation than any other industrialized country.

America has always been considered an immigration "magnet." Throughout history, about one-third of all immigrants have returned home. Few Americans can name all fifty state capitals. More than 18,000 American adults die each year due to lack of health insurance (again, in late 2012, no doubt that number is much higher). The American national holiday is . . . Thanksgiving.

This is a fascinating bunch of facts, wih references included. It will certainly get the reader thinking, and its' recommended.