Lippard.Multics 1985-03-20 15:57:33 mst Wed Subject: From Zephyr BBS Date: Tuesday, 12 March 1985 10:59 mst From: Charlie Spitzer To: {mbx >udd>m>jjl>misc>misc} According to the Nielson Company poll, the 3 television programs most often video taped in 1984 were; "All My Children," "General Hospital," and, "Days of Our Lives." Three soapies. The top 3 best selling video cassettes in 1984 were, "Terms of Endearment," "Jane Fonda's Workout," and, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." (The best selling of all time were "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "The Making of Michael Jackson's `Thriller'," and "Jane Fonda's Workout.") Columbia Pictures (the movie company) is owned by Coca Cola (as is Hi-C). Doritos and Frito-Lay (chips) are owned by Pepsi. (So are Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and all sporting goods with the name 'Wilson' on them. North American Van Lines is also owned by Pepsi, which means you can work up a sweat in moving and quench your thirst doing it at the same time.) Fisher Price (toys for kids) is owned by Quaker Oats (who also make the Ken-L Ration brands of pet foods). Jack-in-the-Box is owned by Ralston-Purina (makers of Purina Dog Chow and Cat Chow and etc.). Many people think that our country was born in 1776. Actually, this was the year that the Declaration of Independence was drawn up. It wasn't until 1789 that we were actually a country. In the first 11 years (from 1789 to 1800) the net income of our country was $5,717,000 (not quite 6 million). Expenditures were $5,776,000, which immediately put us in debt ($59,000 worth). Since 1962, when Kennedy took office, there has been just one year in which our country showed a surplus. This was 1969 under President Johnson, with a surplus showing at the end of the fiscal year of 3.2 billion dollars. (Sounds good until you realize that the year before - 1968 - and under the same guy, we suffered a net loss of 25.2 billion.) The single largest fiscal deficit since World War II occurred in 1983 (under President Reagan). In that year, America went another 195.4 billion dollars into debt. (Other deficits under Reagan have been: 1981 - 57.9 billion; (his first year in office) 1982 - 110.6 billion (the first triple digit deficit in history); 1983 - 195.4 billion 1984 - 183.7 billion (estimated) 1985 - 180.4 billion (predicted) As far as presidential performance is concerned since the end of World War II: (all numbers are billions of dollars) President Net Loss Average Loss Per Year of Term Truman 4.4 .55 Eisenhower 15.8 1.975 Kennedy 5.95 11.9 Johnson 42.0 7.0 Nixon 68.7 13.74 Ford 124.6 62.3 Carter 181.0 45.25 Reagan 547.6 136.9 (1st 4 years in office) (including the predicted deficits of 1985, Reagan's total net loss comes to 728 billion for his first 5 years, or an average yearly loss of 145.6 billion) In 1972 Hans Grosse of West Germany set the world's record for distance flown in a glider. He flew 907.7 miles - without using a drop of fuel (except, of course, the fuel needed to get the glider into the air). That's about the same distance as it is between Chicago and Dallas. In 1981 another aerial record was set. Ben Abruzzo, in a Raven Experimental balloon (hmmm, that name sounds familiar), went from Nagashima, Japan to Covello, California. The flight took 3 days (between November 9 and 12). By the end of it, Abruzzo had gone 5,208.67 miles. Richmond High School in Indiana decided that too many students were cutting classes. Their solution was to offer $100 to any student with a perfect attendance record. It seemed a fine idea, since only 37 students had such a record in the previous year. But, when the 1983-1984 school year ended, the school found itself in debt to 200 students ($20,000). As of May, 1984, the toilets on 10 of the 11 shuttle missions failed to work properly. A woman in Richmond (California, this time) must have been a real nut for having a green lawn. She watered it 24 hours a day, using up some 21,433 gallons per day on the average. A city judge finally made a court order for her to cease and desist. All that water was not only costing the lady nearly $500 a month, it was drenching the entire neighborhood with overflow, ruining the basements and foundations of surrounding houses, and literally turning the neighborhood into a swamp. Now here's something you've probably been curious about for years and years! In 1825 Oersted discovered aluminum. That should help you sleep easier tonight.