Here is a variety of information, gleaned from a variety of sources:

Hemp rules: Eleven U.S. 10th graders smoked marijuana last year for each 10 who smoked tobacco. A 2,700-year-old stash of marijuana found in the Gobi desert was judged to be of high quality.

The new Ma Bell: An average of 1,946 text messages are sent or received each month by the average teenager.

Stimulus suggestion: Last year New York city raised $623,979, 233 from traffic fines.

Recognition: Last year, dairy cows with names produced 3.4 percent more milk than those without names.

Of current interest: The Persians (Iranians) used poison gas on Roman troops in 249 A.D.

Does Rush Limbaugh know? Rankings for internet hits on pornography reveal that eight of the top 10 “hitting” states voted Republican in the last election. Utah was No. 1.

Wall street pain: Despite losing over 70 percent of its stock price last year, Merrill Lynch set aside 6.7 billion bucks for year end bonuses for employees.

Apple Jack: 75 percent of all U.S. purchased apple juice is imported – half of it from China.

Joe Six Pack: There are now 9 million more women voters than men in the U.S.

Lower standings: This past year the U..S. fell further behind in world wide ratings for infant mortality – we are now 29th – in a tie with Slovakia.

I like Ike: When Eisenhower was president, an income equivalent to today’s $10 million paid tax of 91 percent. Today it pays only 29 percent. If the present top tax rate was doubled on incomes above $10 million, those taxpayers would still be paying less tax than they were under Ike.

Advertising pays: In response to criticism for food sickness outbreaks this past year, the FDA spent $300,000 for public relations – “yo create a lasting, positive image” for the agency.

Equal treatment: A Wisconsin prison inmate was awarded $295,000 by a jury because his jailers forced him to sleep on a moldy mattress for two months following his participation in a prison riot.

Christianity redux: More than 100 Christian book stores hid an issue of Gospel Today because it had a picture of female pastors on its cover.

Alaska bennies: Alaska received federal “pork” per capita 30 times more than the national rate.

Le Grande Mac: Last year McDonald’s in the U.S. earned $7.9 billion. McDonald’s in Europe earned $8.9 billion

Doobie, anyone? 42 percent of Americans say they have ignored the law and tried pot at least once. In the Netherlands, where it is legal, only 16 percent of the Dutch say they have used it.

Memorial: 9,000 people signed a petition in San Francisco to name the municipal treatment plant the George Bush Sewer in memory of the “mess he has left us.”

Oil shock: During the gasoline price rise last summer, a brothel in Nevada offered a fifty dollar gas voucher for customers who purchased $300 in services. The vouchers sold out in a week.

Secret weapon? Most exports to Iran are restricted. Cigarettes however, have risen to $168 million yearly.

Spanish fly: Because “an active sexuality improves the quality of life,” the town of La Prado, Chile, issues free Viagra to elderly men who are poor. Brazil’s government gave away just over 1 million condoms during carnival this year.

Allah is great: Kotabaru, a city in Indonesia, paid for 1,050 circumcisions this year to celebrate the city’s anniversary.

Use it or lose it: Researchers report that men who don’t have sex at least once a week in their middle years are four times as more likely to fail on command in later years.

The mortgage crisis: A quarter of all American homeowners who reported buying a car last year used a home equity loan for financing.

Gas factory: A single cow produces 350 liters of methane and 1,500 liters of carbon dioxide per day – somewhat above the average politician.

What’s up Doc? Many major medical insurers will now pay for procedures outside the U.S. For example: A liver transplant in India costs $58,000 versus $450,000 here.

Prestige: A businessman in the United Arab Emirates paid $14 million for license plate No. 1.

There’s Hope: 20 percent of U.S. doctors are said to believe that God has the power to heal a fatally injured patient.

Rodney Quinn, who lives in Gorham, is a former Maine secretary of state. He can be reached at [email protected].