Word: number
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...President Obama crossed the Pacific to begin his first trip to Asia, the Census Bureau released its monthly trade tally. The headline was that the U.S. trade deficit grew to $36.5 billion in September, more than forecasters expected and the biggest such figure since January. But the really dramatic number was that 60.5% of the deficit, or $22.1 billion, was with just one country: China...
...only 6% of spouses said they would cut back on gifts for each other, so in just two years the number of spendthrift spouses has increased almost nine-fold. "This holiday season, parents are telling us that they still worry about job security, and they are desperately trying to cut down on debts," says Beemer. Even the pooch may be getting better treatment than Pops. In a separate Consumer Reports survey, 22% of women who expected to reduce their holiday spending said they would be cutting back on gifts for their spouse. Only 14% said they would cut back...
...Never mind that the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Moody's Investor Service, and various research houses and investment banks take the number at face value. Chang says "Beijing's statisticians have gone back to their old tactic of making up figures to support the Politburo's predictions." He points to inconsistencies in other statistical indicators: car sales jumped 94.7% in August, for example, yet gasoline sales rose just 6.4%. "There are reports that central government officials have ordered state enterprises to buy fleets of vehicles and that these businesses are storing them in parking lots across the country...
...Switzerland's law dates back to 1942. But the government now says it is too lax and that it's sometimes misused - for example, by allowing those who suffer from a chronic or mental illness to die. A Zurich University study released last year found that a number of people with non-fatal illnesses opted for assisted suicide, an abuse the authorities say they are determined to stop. Among the proposed measures, still to be fine-tuned and debated in parliament, is the requirement that two different doctors attest to the candidate's suitability for assisted suicide and confirm...
...Vincent Minelli, director of the Zurich-based assisted-suicide group Dignitas, says that "if a new law is passed, the only thing it would accomplish is an increase in clandestine deaths and in the number of suicides in general." Unlike EXIT, whose membership is restricted to Swiss residents, at an annual fee of $27, Dignitas has sparked repeated controversy by helping people from abroad die in its clinic, including non-terminal cases like that of Dan James, a 23-year-old British rugby player who was paralyzed from the neck down and who ended his life in Zurich last year...