Ubiguitous U.S. Special Operations Forces and Other Subjects of Note

U.S. Special Forces by the Numbers
149 - The number of countries in which U.S. Special Operations forces were deployed in 2017.

70K - Total number of U.S. Special Operations troops.

71.5K - Total number of active-duty officers in the Canadian Armed Forces.

44K - Number of U.S. military personnel that Pentagon has lost track of. (Source: "DC By the Numbers," The Nation, January 15/22, 2018.)

Costs of Extreme Weather
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a report in January that calculated the staggering costs of extreme weather in the United States.

$306B - Amount spent by the federal government in the aftermath of natural disasters in 2017 -- a new record.

16 - Current number of years between extreme-weather events like Hurricane Harvey, which were previously described as "once in a century."

50% - Portion of land flooded by Harvey in Harris County, Texas, that was outside the official flood zone. FEMA doesn't require people in these areas to buy flood insurance.

1 - Ranking of "extreme weather events" on a list of prominent and likely risks for 2018 released by the World Economic Forum in January. (Source: "DC By the Numbers." The Nation, February 12/19, 2018.)

Mortgage Interest Deduction
By 2027, the mortgage interest deduction will provide the wealthiest 0.1 percent of the country with  a quarter of the benefits,which translates into an extra $278,370 in their pockets. Meanwhile, the poorest fifth gets just 0.3 percent, or a mere $10 extra. Other analyses have found that many low-to-moderate-income families would wind up with a tax increase. (Source: Bryce Covert + Mike Konczal, "Deductive Reasoning," The Nation, December 18/25, 2017.)

Treating Poorer Nations With Contempt
"America has a consistent history of treating smaller, weaker, poorer nations with contempt." "Liberals and progressives need to come to come to terms with the fact that not only was it possible for such an openly racist candidate to get elected, but that this could never have happened if the country weren't more racist than they had previously believed." "America, like most of the West, has not only referred to but treated much of Africa, the Caribbean, and the other nonwhite portions of the planet as shitholes." (Source: Gary Younge, "Trump's Appalling Clarity," The Nation, February 12/19, 2018.)

Shaking Fist Crime
Ahed Tarrini was arrested for shaking her fist in the face of an Israeli soldier. Due to the "gravity of offenses of which she is accused" -- military prosecuters came up with a  dozen charges -- Ahed will spend her 17th birthday in a cell. "More than 99 percent of Palestinians tried in Israel's courts are convicted." (Source: Ben Ehrenreich, "Occupation Child," " The Nation, February 12/19, 2018.)

Beware the Gerrymander
In North Carolina in the 2016 elections, Republican congressional candidates won 10 of the state's 13 available seats, despite winning just over half of the statewide vote. One key finding cited by the panel of federal judges showed that out of 24,518 randomly generated congressional maps, over 99 percent would have resulted in Democrats winning more than the three U.S. House seats they currently hold. (Source: Andrew Tan and Delli Cicchi, "Beware the Gerrymander," The Nation, February 12/19, 2018.)