World Economic Forum (thing)

Perhaps the numbers say it best in regards to the currently-ongoing New York City meeting of this illustrious organization (with enthusiastic thanks to http://nyc.indymedia.org, grudging thanks to http://www.cnn.com, and apologies to Harper's Magazine):

• Member breakdown by continent:
  • Europe: 43 percent
  • North America: 26 percent
  • Asia: 13 percent
  • Central/South America: 7.5 percent
  • Middle East: 4.5 percent
  • Africa: 4.3 percent
  • Australasia: 2.2 percent
• Who's coming:
  • 2,700 participants from 106 countries
  • 300 public figures, including 30 heads of government or state, nearly 100 Cabinet ministers, 74 Ambassadors, 29 heads or senior officials of international organizations
  • 350 media and opinion leaders
  • 120 heads of non-governmental organizations
  • 40 union leaders
  • 40 religious leaders of different faiths
  • 200 from academic institutions and think tanks
• What it takes to feed them:
  • 5,000-6,000 meals consumed per day
  • 7,000 small bottles of water
  • 15,000 Pepsi products
  • 8,500 Coca-Cola products
  • 5,000 lbs. of tenderloin beef
  • 5,500 lbs. of chicken
  • $35,000 worth of produce
  • $40,000 worth of dry goods
  • $60,000 worth of alcoholic beverages
• Number of countries where public protest to the WEF has been effectively banned due to number of protestors at previous meetings: 1
  • Number of countries where, according to police spokesmen, officials considered firing "liquid animal dung" at WEF protestors: 1
  • Number of attendees (including Yasser Arafat, Madeline Albright, and Bill Gates) whose credit card numbers, travel information and private cell phone numbers were obtained by "hacktivists" at 2000's WEF meeting in said country: over 1,000
• Number of protestors at the last meeting of the WEF in Melbourne, Australia: over 10,000
  • Approximate fraction of delegates who could not enter the meeting center as a result: 1 in 3
• Population of Davos, Switzerland: 13,000
  • Amount spent on security forces for 2000's WEF conference there: $5.4 million
• Population of New York City, USA: 7,322,564
  • Number of police officers employed by the city: 40,000
  • Projected city budget for security forces during this year's meeting: undisclosed
• Number of offsite links on http://www.cnn.com related to the current WEF protests: 1
  • Percentage of those links that lead directly to the WEF's own webpage: 100 percent
• Estimated number of attendees at last year's counter-summit World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, designed to discuss alternatives to WEF neoliberalism: near 10,000
  • Projected number of attendees at this year's World Social Forum: over 60,000