The end of the year is a time when we put a lot of numbers together: Income tax figures, year-end statements, etc. Here are a few I found of interest - see if any of them resonate with you.

• The Rev. Bill Kirkemo reports the collections at the Red Kettle in front of Walmart were down $3,000 this year. The total was just over $13,600 for the Ministerial Alliance.

• The Veterans Home here has its full complement of 200 residents. The waiting list is 191. The average wait is nine to twelve months. The reported discharge rate is about five per month.

• Are you old enough to remember when 45 rpm records out-sold 78s? It was 1955.

• The average American spent $233 on Christmas

• The Jobless rate fell last month as the economy added 200,000 jobs. The burst in December hiring helped the unemployment rate fall to 8.5 percent, lowest level in nearly three years. Missouri's jobless rate has dropped to 8.2% from a high of 9.6% earlier in the year. It is down to 6.6% in St. Joseph ... 7.8% in Clinton County

• 179 journalists have been jailed worldwide this year.

• As many as 41% of young adults and adolescents in the U.S. have been arrested at least once before age 23 -- not including minor traffic violations. Up to 27% reported being arrested before age 18.

• Does it seem like there are a lot more twins? One in every 30 babies was a twin last year. That is up 76% since 1980.

• In 1976 the Ford-Carter presidential campaigns spent a total of $66 million. This year it is anticipated that $3 billion will be spent. TV stations must love it.

• According to the Washington Post, US House of Representatives net worth raised 250% since 1989 ... $280,000 to $725,000. The median wealth for other Americans dropped to $20,500. And you wonder why they protect millionaires?

• 32,885 died in traffic accidents in 2010. That is down 2.8% and is the lowest in decades. The total was 52,627 in 1970. More seat belt usage, tougher DWI enforcement, rumble strips and cable guards on the highway and better-designed cars are credited. Overall there are 1.1 fatalities for every 100 million vehicle miles driven.

• For the first time since 1949, fewer than 800 Missourians lost their lives on the state's roads and highways in 2011. As of midnight January 1, 773 Missouri residents lost their lives in traffic crashes. That's down 5 percent from 2010 when there were 821 traffic deaths.

• American baseball players now average over $3 million per year in salary.

• Cancer rates continue to go down. Between 2004 and 2008, men's rates went down 1.8% a year and women were down 1.6% The death rate for cancer is down 23% in the past two decades for men and 16% for women.

• 7.3% is the percentage of salary the average worker added to their 401(k) last year.

• On January 1, the U.S. population was 312,780,968 - an increase of over two million in the past year. A baby is born every eight seconds and somebody dies every 12 seconds.

• 1.5 billion holiday greetings were sent this year. 17% via email. The post office delivered 60 million packages this year.

• Only 51% of U.S. adults are married -- an all-time low number. The median age for first-time marriages is 26.5 years for females and 28.7 for males.

• The oldest dog in the world died last month in Japan. Pusuke was a fluffy tan Shiba mix. She was 26 years and eight months. The oldest dog ever was a 29-year-old Australian cattle dog.

• 60% of NFL players end their career bankrupt, divorced or homeless.

• Our weight keeps going up according to the Gallup Poll: The average man weighs 196 pounds while the average woman weights 160.

• Our federal deficit was $1.299 trillion in FY 2011. That brings the total to over $15 trillion. Your share is $124,749 per household and $48,302 per individual.

• Hopefully Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan disappeared with him. The tax policy center figures it would cut millionaire-plus earners federal taxes an average of $455,000 and raise the average bill in the lower brackets more than $4,000.

• $266,500 was paid for Trigger, Roy Rogers' stuffed and preserved horse.

• Las Vegas now has the 5th worst economy in the world - down from 14th best in 2007.

• The average NFL football game has only about 12 minutes of actual playing time.

• To enjoy the lifestyle you can afford in Chicago on a salary of $59,798, you'd have to make $100,000 in New York City.

• The average family spends nearly $7,000 per year on energy costs: Over $1,900 in utility bills and $5,000 at the gas pump.

• Walmart is the third largest employer in the world. First is the Chinese Army and second is the U.S. Defense Department.

• The sale of Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry is astounding. There are 270 pieces on the auction block and the first 80 brought in $115.9 million.

• 68% of us are overweight.

• Missouri was incarcerating 30,777 people at the end of November at a cost of about $600 million.

• 354,520 children in Missouri live in homes where there often isn't enough food.

• People and businesses underpaid their taxes by an estimated 17 percent in the most recent year studied, meaning they failed to send the government $450 billion it was owed, according to the Internal Revenue Service .The study covered 2006, the most recent for which the IRS said it had data available. The amount of underpaid taxes far exceeded the size of the entire federal budget deficit at the time. After IRS audits and other enforcement efforts, non-compliance shrank to 14 percent, leaving the final amount of unpaid taxes at $385 billion. That is still larger than the budget deficit for fiscal 2006, which was $248 billion.

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Hugh Hefner and his ex-fiancé are still sparing over ownership of their pet spaniel. He apparently misunderstood when, during their final fight, she told him, "You'll never see these puppies again."