The darkest day
Several people were injured on ‘Black Friday’, a day of retail discounting imported from the US, where the fourth Thursday of November is the Thanksgiving holiday and many shops hold one-day sales the following day. There are at least 23 historic events named ‘Black Friday’, from the imprisonment of seven bishops by James II on 8 June 1688 to the hanging of four anarchists in Chicago on 11 November 1887 and the seizure of online poker sites by US authorities on 15 April 2011. What is the blackest day of the week, according to entries on Wikipedia?
| Black Monday | 15 |
| Black Tuesday | 5 |
| Black Wednesday | 3 |
| Black Thursday | 16 |
| Black Friday | 23 |
| Black Saturday | 15* |
| Black Sunday | 10 |
*17 if you include Jewish Black Sabbaths
High life, low life
Nigella Lawson was alleged to have a cocaine habit. How does admitted drug use vary by income?
Admitted use in past year
| Household income | % used any cocaine |
| Less than £10,000 | 2.1% |
| £10,000–£20,000 | 1.5% |
| £20,000–£30,000 | 1.7% |
| £30,000–£40,000 | 1.5% |
| £40,000–£50,000 | 1.9% |
| Over £50,000 | 2.3% |
| Household income | % used Class A drug |
| Less than £10,000 | 3.6% |
| £10,000–£20,000 | 2.1% |
| £20,000–£30,000 | 2.1% |
| £30,000–£40,000 | 1.8% |
| £40,000–£50,000 | 2.8% |
| Over £50,000 | 2.8% |
Source: Home Office
Why here?
Net migration to the UK in the year to June was 182,000. Of the 503,000 immigrants, why did they come?
| Formal study | 176,000 |
| Definite job | 125,000 |
| Looking for work | 77,000 |
| To be with family | 60,000 |
| Other/no reason given | 64,000 |
Source: ONS
Class barriers
The Mayor of London asserted that we will always have economic inequality because some people are more able than others. According to research on average IQ by Bruce Charlton of the University of Newcastle, what percentage of people from the highest and lowest social classes are capable of getting into university?
| Professional (ave IQ 115) | |
| Oxbridge (IQ required 130) | 16% |
| Redbrick (IQ req. 115) | 50% |
| Ex-poly | 84% |
| Unskilled (ave IQ 90) | |
| Oxbridge (IQ required 130) | 0.5% |
| Redbrick (IQ req. 115) | 5% |
| Ex-poly | 25% |
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