Blast from the past: Santa's here with excerpts from the January 2025 Harper's Index!

This image was put together by former DK Director of Community Neeta Lind.

Given that gawdawful 2024 has just about come to an end, I thought perhaps a bit of nostalgia for days past at Daily Kos might be in order.

Starting 20 years ago, the first Open Thread for Night Owls appeared here. It frequently included an excerpt from something written at a news outlet, blog, or magazine to spur end-of-the-day conversations. Sometimes something heavy, sometimes not. Night Owls continued until I retired three years ago.

One of my favorites was to excerpt items from the unique, monthly Harper’s Index. In February, the Index celebrated its 40th year of publication. 

Whether Christmas, Xmas, Season’s Greetings, or some other tradition is yours, here’s a few samples to ponder from the January 2025 edition of the Index, together with links to the source material. If you go to that link, you can see the entire Index. Cheers!

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Portion of Americans who say that the election was one of the most stressful events of 2024: 3/5. YouGov (NYC)

Who say that they didn’t care who won and “just wanted it to be over”: 3/10
Talker Research (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Percentage change since 1982 in the portion of profits that U.S. corporations spend on philanthropy: −37 Giving USA (McLean, Va.)

Estimated percentage change since 2022 in preorders of new iPhones: −27 Similarweb (Givatayim, Israel)

In sales of flip phones: +76 International Data Corporation (Needham, Mass.)

Portion of Americans aged 18–30 on social media who describe themselves as influencers: 1/4 IZEA (Orlando, Fla.)

Portion of self-described influencers who have never been paid for this work: 1/2 Source: IZEA (Orlando, Fla.)

Percentage of Israelis who say that social-media posts criticizing their government should be censored: 50 Pew Research Center (Washington)

Who say that expressions of sympathy for civilians in Gaza should be: 59 Stanford University (Calif.)

Percentage of FEMA’s 2025 disaster-relief budget that was spent in the first eight days of the fiscal year: 48 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Washington)

Portion of American men who are interested in taking birth control: 4/5 DesireLine (Istanbul) 

Who would be willing to try birth control this year if it went on the market today: 1/2 DesireLine (Istanbul) 

Who would be willing to try it if it involved an invasive procedure: 1/10
DesireLine (Istanbul)