Do You Wanna Know?

Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.

On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.

In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world’s nuclear weapons combined.

Every time you pump gas, think about your money going straight to Saudi Arabia. It’s a great picker upper lifter. To add insult to injury, let me give you some very cool facts about Saudi Arabia:

Cool Fact #1: The Saudi G.D.P. (Gross Domestic Product) has doubled in the last five years – thanks to the high price of oil.

Cool Fact #2: If you exclude oil, economic growth has been 4 to 6% a year since 2002 – thanks to the high price of oil.

Cool Fact #3: Oil hasn’t been the only engine of growth. Saudi Arabia’s private sector now accounts for 45 percent of the economy – up from 20 percent about 20 years ago – thanks to the high price of oil.

Cool Fact #4: In 1999, the Saudi government’s debt was 120% of G.D.P. It’s dropped to below 20% – thanks to the high price of oil.

Cool Fact #5: In 2007, Saudi Arabia had a budget surplus of $48 billion, five times the surplus of 2003 – thanks to the high price of oil. They expect an even bigger surplus at the end of 2008 – thanks to the high price of oil.

Cool Fact #6: The Saudi Arabian government expects these new industrial cities to add $150 billion to the country’s G.D.P. by 2020, create one million new jobs, and house five million people – thanks to the high price of oil.

Cool Fact #7: Bloomberg News estimates that overseas investments by Persian Gulf countries (a good percentage of the investments is from Saudi Arabia) reached a record $75 billion in 2007 – thanks to the high price of oil.

When a coffee seed is planted, it takes five years to yield it’s first consumable fruit.