Mailbag By The Numbers
It’s been another active week for my email in box, including a number of items about numbers.
A recent study shows singles looking for love online for Valentine’s Day next week should be on alert…Americans lost a record $1.3 billion to romance scams in 2022, up from only $547 million the year before. But we’re a smart bunch here in Iowa…we rank 44th in the nation with only 154 victims losing $1.5 million to romance scams. The state with folks most-at-risk is California, with more than 10 times the amount of money lost annually due to romance scams.
Maybe that has to do with the fact that we’re not very sinful here in Iowa. The personal finance website WalletHub released its report yesterday on the most sinful states in the country…they base this on seven sinful behaviors: anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity, and laziness. Iowa was the 9th least sinful state…flat out dead last in terms of jealousy, in fact.
That might tie in with Iowa having the fourth lowest number of drug-related fatal vehicle incidents in the country. This is a study by the Jackman Law First, and it found that Vermont is the state that registered the highest number of people involved in drug-related fatal vehicle incidents in the country. In fatal vehicle incidents in Iowa, the percentage of people testing positive for drugs is just under 10 percent. In Vermont, it’s nearly 63 percent.
And in a sure sign that today’s segment has gone to the dogs…Golden Retrievers are the most-searched-for-dog-breed in the U.S., with 38 states favoring the breed over all others. Iowa is part of that group. Others in the national list are the French Bulldog, the Bernese Mountain Dog, and the Newfoundland…frankly, of that quartet, the only one I could pick out of a lineup is the Golden Retriever.
Who knows what will fill the email in box today…but if it’s mildly interesting, I’ll let you know.
