By The Numbers

The statistics behind those Oscar acceptance speeches

Tobin Low Feb 23, 2015
1.68 million black men

During his Oscar acceptance speech, John Legend stated, “We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today than there were under slavery in 1850.” Vox looked into the numbers behind the statement, finding that 1.68 million black men are currently under correctional control, not including those who are in jail serving short sentences or are awaiting trial. That’s more than the 872,924 black men who were enslaved in 1850. While the growth in overall population in the U.S. makes the statistic slightly misleading, Vox points to other equally alarming studies on how incarceration affects the lives of black men.

80 cents

Speaking of the Oscars, Best Actress in a Supporting Role winner Patricia Arquette used her acceptance speech to call for equal rights and pay for women. As Fusion reports, she has a point. Women still only made 80 cents to a man’s dollar in 2014  a slight improvement over previous years that’s credited to the recession hitting men harder.

$14.5 billion

That’s the value of the deal in which Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. will pay $10.1 billion for Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. As reported by Bloomberg, Salix is soon expected to get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea.

$19,483,430

That’s how much Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has raised for his re-election campaign thus far. That’s four times the amount raised by his opponents (see chart below). Like any election, it helps to know rich people. And as some are pointing out, this new electing funding structure may be no better than the old, infamously-corrupt Chicago political machine.

 

179 apps

That’s how many Android apps ask for only access to users’ network connectivity and access to the power data, meaning no GPS information is provided. But that doesn’t mean these apps can’t figure out where you are. New research shows that location can be determined by how your phone is using power  the further away a signal, the harder the phone has to work. As reported by the BBC, even though activities like listening to music and using social media also contribute to battery loss, the researchers were able to create an algorithm that discounted these factors.

 

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