Incoherent Scribblings

Yesterday, I read an article that mentioned that Asia’s largest slum will be getting some renovations. The slum happens to be in Bombay, India, and in this city of 12 million people (Bombay is the third largest city in the world) about 600,000 of them live in this slum.

This made me wonder how many people live in India anyway, how much money do they make, and exactly how big is the Indian sub-continent in relation to China, the US, and Germany? I knew that India was the second heaviliest populated country in the world, but the rest I wasn’t sure. So here are the facts:

India:
1 billion people (2003 est.)
3.3 million square kilometers
$480/year (2002 average est. income)

China:
1.3 billion people (2003 est.)
9.5 million square kilometers
$940/year (2002 average est. income)

USA:
291 million people (2003 est.)
9.6 million square kilometers
$35,060/(2002 average est. income)

Germany
83 million people (2003 est.)
357,000 square kilometers
$22,670/year (2002 average est. income)

From a world perspective it boils down to this:

The most populous countries in the world are China, India, and the USA respectively. Germany is the 13th most populous country in the world. This means that on average in India there are 303 people per square kilometer, in Germany there are 232 people per square kilometer, in China there are 137 people per square kilometer, and in the USA there are 30 people per square kilometer.

The USA is third, China is fourth, India is seventh, and Germany is 62nd in terms of land mass.

The average income in the USA is the highest of the four countries and India is the lowest. World-wide, the USA ranks sixth, Germany 22nd, China 135th, and India 159th.

No wonder so many things are out-sourced to China and India, huh?

UPDATE 7/8/04:

A comment to this post suggested that I double check my stats and what do you know… Where the hell did I ever get those statistics anyway? I thought I got them from The World Almanac 2002, but when I doubled checked they aren’t even close to what I have here.

It is true, I am mistaken: According to the 2002 World Almanac the information is as follows:

1. Russia; 17,075,400 sq km
2. China; 9,326,411 sq km
3. Canada; 9,220, 970 sq km
4. USA; 9,166,601 sq km
5. Brazil; 8,456,511 sq km
6. Australia; 7,617,931 sq km
7. India; 2,973,190 mil sq km
8. Argentina; 2,736,690 sq km
9. Kazakhstan; 2,717,300 sq km
10. Algeria; 2,381,741 sq km

Germany; 349,907 sq km

Boy, do I ever have egg on my face…

With all the hype over Valentine’s Day this week, I completely forgot today was Friday the 13th!

Actually, I have never really had too much fear about Friday the 13th. I guess once you have watched all 7 or 8 Friday the 13th films more than once and on an actual Friday the 13th, Jason doesn’t jump out of your closet, you really have nothing to fear. Honestly, I am a bit more concerned on any month where the 13th falls on a Monday…

But why is Friday the 13th considered unlucky? A while back A. asked me the same question. So, I got to thinking about it this morning and did a little research (you know, that is what we librarians do… research) and this is what I found out…

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Praskevidekatriaphobia, or Fear of Friday the 13th, is probably the most widespread superstition in America: over 20 million Americans admit that they are at least a little apprehensive on Friday the 13th.

Nobody really knows the origins of Friday the 13th. In fact, no one has been able to document the existence of such beliefs prior to the 19th century. However two separate strands of folklore concerning the unluckiness of the number thirteen (13) and the unluckiness of Fridays may have converged to make Friday the 13th the unluckiest day of all.

The Number Thirteen (13)

No one understands why human beings first associated the number 13 with misfortune, but the belief is assumed to be ancient and there are many theories claiming that its origins extend beyond antiquity. However, all ancient civilizations weren’t unanimous in their dread of 13. The Chinese and ancient Egyptians regarded the number as lucky.

Some sources propose that 13 was intentionally vilified by the founders of patriarchal religions because it symbolized femininity. In many goddess-worshipping cultures, 13 was honored since it corresponded to the number of lunar cycles in a year.

Friday and the Christians

For some, Friday’s bad reputation originates in the Bible. Supposedly, when Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit it was Friday. Tradition also indicates that the Great Flood began and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday. And of course, Friday was the day of the week on which Christ was crucified.

Friday was execution day in pagan Rome, but in other pre-Christian cultures it was the Sabbath and the pre-Christian Teutonics considered Friday to be quite lucky. Of course, these pagan associations were not lost on the early Church, which went to great lengths to suppress them and eventually Fridays were associated with the Witches’ Sabbath.

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So there you have it, the some background information about the number thirteen and Fridays. However, as you may have guessed, the complex folklore of Friday the 13th doesn’t have much to do with people’s fears today.

“The fear has much more to do with personal experience. People learn at a young age that Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky, for whatever reason, and then they look for evidence that the legend is true. The evidence isn’t hard to come by, of course. If you get in a car wreck on one Friday the 13th, lose your wallet, or even spill your coffee, that day will probably stay with you. But if you think about it, bad things, big and small, happen all the time. If you’re looking for bad luck on Friday the 13th, you’ll probably find it.”
– click here for the site from which I lifted this quote.

A couple of years ago I did something I had always wanted to do. I printed out a blank map of the United States (from National Geographic) and colored in all of the states where I had lived and/or visited. I did this after I made my cross-country move from Mississippi to Oregon and after my honeymoon to the American Southwest. Needless to say, I have been in about half of the United States. Some days ago, I discovered that you can do it online and so now I can share my travels with the whole world! (You too can do it! Just click here.)

The United States

The Rest of the World

Sometime last week (Thursday or Friday, I think) 18 cockle pickers were killed by rising tides in Lancashire’s Morecambe Bay. (In case you wonder, Morecambe Bay is in England.)

When I first came across this news I was just browsing the BBC’s headlines and didn’t click through to read the news. However, I asked my self, “What the hell is a cockle picker?” Honestly, the first thing I thought of was that it must be some porn term that I was unfamiliar with and then I went on about my daily business.

But I just couldn’t get the word “cockle” out of my head, for some reason I felt I should know it (aside from the porn connotation). Later that day I happened to watching CNN International when they did a report on the “cockle pickers.” It turns out that cockles are shellfish! And from what I understand a mighty lucrative business…

Then I remembered! The nursery rhyme…

“Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.”

AH HA! Mystery solved…

I just went downstairs to do a load of laundry and found that my laundry detergent is MIA. How odd!

Here in our apartment building we have a laundry room, but I must mention that it is different than any laundry room in any apartment building or complex in the US. Here you install your own washer and dryer in the laundry room and in order to make sure the creepy guy next door doesn’t use your machine, the outlet is equipped with a lock. However, this doesn’t preclude someone from stealing your machines, but I guess since everyone in the building has their own machines anyway, it isn’t an issue.

Honestly, I must admit I was a little nervous with this system at first. If such a system existed in any apartment building in the US where I have lived, my washer and dryer would have been stolen, so I guess I should be happy that only my detergent has gone missing.

Anyway, every time you do laundry you unlock your outlet, plug in your machine, turn on your water, and you are good to go. And almost everyone leaves their laundry detergent on top of their machines. I have done so for almost two years with no problems… until today.

The odd thing is that I just did a load of laundry yesterday afternoon and my detergent was there then. I guess sometime in the night either a.) the detergent was unhappy in the cold basement and grew legs and walked away or b.) someone stole it. Hmmm…