75 Optimistic Facts About The Land of Opportunity: USA

62% of bankruptcies in the USA are due to medical bills. Almost 4/5th of these people had health insurance but went bankrupted anyway because of co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services. Others got so sick that they lost their job and then lost their insurance.

2. People in the USA used to drink 48 gallons of coffee per person per year in 1948, but today they only drink 23 gallons, partly due to soft drink companies marketing sugary sodas as healthy, and coffee as a poison that caused heart disease and birth defects in the 1970s. Soda is now a leading cause of diabetes and obesity.

3. Charlie Chaplin openly pleaded against fascism, war, capitalism, and WMDs in his movies. He was slandered by the FBI & banned from the USA in '52. Offered an Honorary Academy award in '72, he hesitantly returned & received a 12-minute standing ovation the longest in the Academy's history.

4. The budget for nuclear weapons in the USA is not included in the Department of Defense spending. It falls under the Department of Energy.

5. In 1966, USA lost a hydrogen bomb in the Mediterranean Sea and struggled to find it. Finally, a Spanish fisherman helped them find it. The U.S. secretary of defense said the bomb was worth $2 billion. The fisherman asked for $20 million, or 1 percent of the bomb's value in accordance with the custom of maritime law. The Air Force eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

The US Government still pays for medical compensation for those that returned to the Bikini Atoll after their atomic weapons testing there. The USA allowed the native population to relocate there in 1970

7. The Earth Liberation Front, Animal Liberation Front, and PETA are all considered by the USA to be "special interest terrorist" groups.

8. Human poop and farts get their foul smell from the chemical compounds Skatole and Indole (among others). At low concentrations, these compounds smell flowery and are used in perfumes. USA and Israel have used Skatole in crowd control sprays. The stench does not wash off skin for 3 days.

9. George Koval, the Soviet master spy infiltrated the Manhattan project, stole nearly all of USA’s nuclear secrets, single-handedly provided the key technology for Russia's nuclear arsenal, was only discovered to be a spy in 2002.

10. Kuwait pledged $500 million in humanitarian and petroleum supplies to the USA in response to Hurricane Katrina, which is the single largest donation given to help victims of the hurricane.

The Canadian Government sent 1000's of personnel, 3 warships, the Coast Guard, and divers to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, in locations the USA was reluctant to go to because of contamination.

12. The fastest road (Texas State Highway 130) in the USA is in Austin, Texas. It has a speed limit of 85 mph.

13. A live nuclear bomb was ejected over the coast of Georgia, USA. The B-47 plane carrying it was hit by another plane, and the bomb was ejected to prevent detonation during the crash. The bomb was never found and still lies somewhere near the coast.

14. The 4th largest state in the USA, Montana, only has one area code.

15. The current flag of the USA was designed by a 17-year-old named Robert G. Heft for a school project. He received a B-

The USA has no official language. English is only used on a de facto basis.

17. An invasion of Canada that would have likely handed control of the Niagara peninsula to the USA was thwarted when one woman (Laura Secord) overheard the plans, walked 20 miles through the wilderness, and warned a British Lieutenant. The invading Americans were ambushed and promptly surrendered.

18. The largest population of tigers in the world is in the USA. The number of tigers in captivity now exceeds that of wild tigers.

19. The Villages is the largest gated retirement community in the USA, also has one of the fastest growing STD rates in the country.

20. On February 24, 1942, US Military ordered total black out of Los Angeles and fired 1,400 anti-air artillery and thousands of .50 caliber shots at a hovering object for 1 hour.

The USA won the last ever Olympic gold medal for rugby in 1924 and are therefore technically still reigning champions.

22. There are many people who live in Hawaii that refuse to be US citizens. They believe that the USA is occupying their country and that Hawaii is actually the property of the Hawaiian Kingdom, not the USA.

23. Scientists in 1916 felt America was degenerating into a second rate nationality. They listed the Top 20 threats to the USA: #8 America leads all nations in murders, #12 Hearty eating without exercise, #18 Remarkable cancer mortality increase.

24. The USA has a law (Guano islands act) that allows citizens to occupy any unclaimed island in the world, as long as there is seabird or bat poop on it.

25. The cost of the International Space Station is funded by the USA 81%, Russia 8%, Europe 3%, Japan 3%, and Canada 1%.