WOTE's (2nd) (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

If 48 million votes were "perfectly" distributed, theoretically the presidency could be won with just 22% (48 out of 213 million) of the electorate's support. Twenty-two percent!


(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact Courtesy of:

"How Much Is Your Vote Worth?" in yesterday's Times.


[When I was looking at the electoral map a few weeks ago, it occurred to me that there is no way California has "only" twenty times as many people as Wyoming or Alaska. I was going to write a quick entry about that particular flaw in the electoral college system (the others have been well-documented), but it looks like the Times beat me to it. They should really hire me, those guys.]


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.

WOTE's (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

Back in the good old days -- i.e., before 1824 -- presidential candidates did not campaign for the job. As Jill Lepore writes, in a recent piece in The New Yorker, "In keeping with the tradition of the first five American Presidents, [John Quincy] Adams considered currying favor with voters to be beneath the dignity of the office, and believed that any man who craved the Presidency ought not to have it. Adams called this his Macbeth policy:

If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,
Without my stir.

Jackson's supporters leaned more toward Lady Macbeth's point of view. They had no choice but to stir: their candidate was, otherwise, unelectable. How they stirred has shaped American politics ever since."

No shit. In other words, we have Andrew Jackson to thank for all this crap we've endured the past 20+ months.


(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact Courtesy of:

"Bound for Glory," by Jill Lepore, from the Oct. 20th New Yorker.


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.

WOTE’s (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

Back in the day, the audience sometimes participated in classical concerts. Once, when Franz Liszt was beginning a performance of the "Kreutzer" Sonata, listeners began calling out "Robert le Diable!" -- meaning that they wished to hear instead Liszt's fantasy on themes from the Meyerbeer opera. Liszt acceded to the demand and launched into his "Robert" fantasy.

Then he did "Freebird."


(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact courtesy of:

"Why So Serious?" by Alex Ross, from The New Yorker


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.

WOTE’s (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

The stem of a single Saguaro cactus plant can retain up to five tons (5 tons!) of water.



(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact Courtesy of:

Planet Earth.


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.

WOTE’s (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

Though they are not talked about much, humans had prehistoric ancestors called the Boskops. Their brains were much bigger than ours, and they may well have been smarter than we are. And it may have been their very intelligence that did them in. One hypothesis is that they were so thoughtful and peaceable that when we came along -- with our smaller brains, inconveniently wired through the limbic system, making us warlike and aggressive -- we simply wiped them out.

(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact Courtesy of:

Big Brain: The Origins and Future of Human Intelligence, by Gary Lynch & Richard Granger (by way of the Times)


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.

WOTE’s (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

One out of every four species on earth is a form of beetle.

(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact Courtesy of:

The Audubon Insectarium, New Orleans's newest museum


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.

WOTE’s (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

Breaking stride to pick up a penny, if it takes more than 6.15 seconds, pays less than the federal minimum wage.


(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact Courtesy of:

"Penny Dreadful," from The New Yorker, 3/31/08


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.

WOTE’s (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

The Finnish equivalent of "Freebird" is "Paranoid," by Black Sabbath. At concerts in Finland, the audience is often heard shouting "Soittakaa 'Paranoid'!" ("Play 'Paranoid!'").



(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact courtesy of:

Rock Band. Which rocks.


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.

WOTE’s (as-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact of the Day*

By weight, the most abundant creatures on earth are krill. A single swarm can weigh up to 2 million tons. One species, the Antarctic Krill, makes up an estimated biomass of over 500 million tons, roughly twice that of humans. Crazy.


(As-Fun-as-a-Fact-Can-Be) Fact Courtesy of:

The 2006 BBC series Planet Earth, which is required viewing for anyone who lives on earth.


* Sort of like Harper’s Index, but even more funner.