Cut and pasted from various sources are these factoids:

Efficiency rewarded: Since 1972 the productivity of U.S. workers has increased 114 percent. During that same period wages have declined by 6 percent.

Where the money goes: CEOs in 299 U.S. companies earned $3.4 billion in 2010 – an increase of 23 percent from 2009 – an amount enough to support 102,345 workers earning a median wage.

Where the jobs are: U.S. multinational companies employ 20 million in the U.S. and 10 million abroad. Since 2000 they have increased foreign employment by 2.4 million, while cutting U.S. workers by 2.9 million.

The benefits’ of regular exercise: The likelihood of having a heart attack after sex is 2.7 times higher for couch potatoes than it is for active people.

Those thinking voters: 38 percent of Americans believe that earthquakes and floods are “a sign from God.”

Diagnostic skills: In Victoria, Texas, women were 7 times more likely to undergo a mastectomy for breast cancer than women in Muncie, Ind.; heart patients in Elmira, Ohio, were 10 times more likely to under angioplasty than those in Honolulu; men over 65 in San Luis Obispo, Cal., were 12 times more likely to have surgery for prostate cancer than those in Albany, Ga.

Comparative death rates: Last year terrorist attacks killed eight Americans. Lightning killed 29.

Stand tall: At West Point last year, 1 in 10 of the female cadets were victims of “unwanted sexual contact.” Only 14 percent of them reported it.

Comparison: There are 48,096 companies in which U.S. Senate staffers are prohibited from owning stock. There are no companies in which U.S. senators are prohibited from owning stock.

Who owes what: In June of 2010, student loans in the U.S. passed credit cards as the No. 1 source of private debt.

Doobies or cigs: In one recent month, 19 percent of U.S. high school seniors smoked a cigarette, while 21 percent smoked marijuana.

Trust fund for all: One quarter of all single or widowed Americans over 65 receive all of their income from Social Security.

Where the money is: One out of 2 U.S. $100 bills in existence is held outside the U.S.

Wear red: Sharks are color blind.

Whaddaya know! Only 34 percent of Americans feel the war in Afghanistan is worth fighting.

TV influence: Exposure to American TV was found to cause eating disorders among Fijian girls.

Why Noah brought lice on the Ark: The genetic diversion between body and head lice indicates that humans began wearing clothes 170,000 years ago.

Taking the oath: Young American couples who pledged to be monogamous proved to be less so than those who didn’t pledge.

Peace in the house: Between 1985 and 2005 in India, 1.8 million female children are estimated to have died as a result of domestic violence.

Motivation/inducement: Subjects who identified androgynous faces as either male or female tended to class faces as male while squeezing a hardball – or feminine when squeezing a softball.

Congress take note: The Malawi parliament recently considered outlawing breaking wind in public. The bill failed because of problems of culprit identification in elevators and taxis.

Salary comparison: In 1950 Joe DiMaggio’s salary was 26 times greater than the average American family income. In 2010 Derek Jeter’s salary was 288 times greater.

Hoover versus Bush: In the four years between 1929 and 1933, home values declined 25.9 percent. Between 2006 and 2010 the figure was 25 percent.

Class differences: Since 2004, the net worth of congressional households has increased 22 percent. Over two-thirds of congressional men and women are millionaires.

Rodney Quinn, a former Maine secretary of state, lives in Gorham. He can be reached at rquinn@maine.rr.com.