Numbers: Dec. 19, 2005

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26% Expected increase in home heating bills in the U.S. this winter over last year

17 million Gallons of heating oil Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a self-styled champion of the poor, has started selling at a steep discount to poor U.S. neighborhoods

64% Voter-participation rate of the U.S. general public in 2004

80% Voter-participation rate of U.S. military members last year--a 10% increase from 2000 and an all-time high--due in part to streamlined absentee voting

2 Times this catlike critter has been photographed by camera traps on Borneo as scientists try to confirm it is a new species

110 Years since a new carnivore species was discovered on the island, home to some of the most diverse wildlife on the planet

$1,752 Total paid last week to buy and cover the back taxes on an inch-square plot of land in Indiana, deeded by the previous owner to ensure access to a lake

$5 Approximate annual property tax on the stamp-size parcel

Sources: USA Today; Washington Post (3); Reuters (2); AP (2)