Current Facts 23

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Back in October Ad Age reported that Grey's Anatomy is this TV season's most expensive show for advertisers to buy into, commanding on average $419,000 per 30-second spot. NBC's Sunday Night Football ($358,000), The Simpsons ($315,000), Heroes ($296,000), Desperate Housewives ($270,000), CSI ($248,000), Two & a Half Men ($231,000), Survivor and Private Practice (tied at $208,000 each), and Prison Break ($200,000). American Idol was asking for anywhere from $500,000 to $700,000 per :30, depending on when during the season the commercial gets slotted. The next round of 24, was said to be looking at $300K. However, due to the writers' strike, American Idol aired on 1/15/08 with :30 second slots selling for more than $1 million.
TV Guide, TV Squad & MSN TV Filter.

Wealth
The richest 2% of adults in the world now own more than half the world's wealth (up from 5% just three years ago).
Censored 2008 - Project Censored, pg 181.

Coach Travel
...is the safest form of road transport in the country.
BBC News, "100 things we didn't know last year," 1/1/08. More details.

Milk & Tea
Adding milk to tea negates the health-giving effects of a hot brew.
BBC News, "100 things we didn't know last year," 1/1/08. More details.

Apple Juice
Cloudy apple juice is healthier than clear, containing almost double the antioxidants which protect against heart disease and cancer.
BBC News, "100 things we didn't know last year," 1/1/08. More details.

National Language of Mandarin
Only about half of China's population can speak the national language, Mandarin.
BBC News, "100 things we didn't know last year," 1/1/08. More details.

University Plagerism in UK
10% of university work from across the UK is plagiarised.
BBC News, "100 things we didn't know last year," 1/1/08. More details.

Kryptonite Exists
But it is not green.
BBC News, "100 things we didn't know last year," 1/1/08. More details.

IP Addresses
IP addresses will run out in 2010.
BBC News, "100 things we didn't know last year," 1/1/08. More details.

Math & Literacy Skills
Adults use math skills 14 times daily on average and literacy skills 23 times a day.
BBC News, "100 things we didn't know last year," 1/1/08. More details.

Secret Ingredients
McDonald's Chicken McNugget: made of 38 ingredients, mostly chemicals and 56% is corn derivatives. .02 percent is teritary butylhydroquinone, a petroleum byproduct used as a preservative. TBHQ is actually butane, also known as lighter fluid.
Cool Whip: contains no cream or milk, the only dairy is a milk protein called sodium caseinate. Cool whip is a combination of water, corn syrup, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil.
Red Bull: like most energy drinks, an 8.5 oz can has about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. The energy comes from taurine, a stimulant much more potent than caffeine.
Velveeta: as milk hardens into cheese it leaves behind a liquid byproduct called whey. With an added stabilizig agent called carrageenin ( a derivative of Irish moss) the whey can be processed into a soft, spongy cheese brick.
Twinkies: contain polysorbate 60, an ethylene oxide, which is highly flammable material that's toxic if consumed in extremely high amounts. It was used in grenades during the Vietnam War.
Magic Shell: The hardening effect comes from a mixture of soybean oil and paraffin wax, a petroleum product commonly used in candles and skin cream.
Uncle John's Triumphant 20th Anniversary Bathroom Reader, p. 283-4.

Marriage
80% of American husbands, and 50% of wives say they would marry the same partner again.
Uncle John's Triumphant 20th Anniversary Bathroom Reader, p. 465.