Congratulations on making it to Thursday!  If we can dodge pieces of the satellite falling to earth on Friday, then we’ll cruise into another weekend!  Good luck!

Almost every Thursday I take a look at some of the “numbers” in the news and post them in this column for all to see.  Of course, I offer some commentary about some of them.

This week we look at fundraising, unemployment, donkeys, a couple birthdays, a band, poor states, muffins, football, and campaigns ads – plus a lot more! Here we go…

8,200,000

The Republican National Committee raised $8.2 million in August.

Somebody has some money to give, huh?

5,400,000

Don’t despair; the Democrats did well, too.  They raised $5.4 million in August.

We should all be happy that someone has money to give away…

423,000

That’s how many people filed first time unemployment claims last week.

Meanwhile, the economy is not getting better…

120

That’s how many donkeys flew on a plane from Hawaii to Los Angeles that was chartered by the Humane Society of the United States.

Note to readers:  These were real donkeys, not Democrats…

100

That’s how much money the Montana GOP said they would pay as a “reward for proof of [Sen. Jon] Tester’s for or against position” on the latest Obama stimulus plan, the American Jobs Act.  They wrote, “Any person who can get Senator Tester to commit to voting yes or no on Obama’s new stimulus is eligible for the reward.”

The three e-mails sent regarding Tester’s stand on the stimulus received a lot of attention – even the Capitol Hill Newspaper Roll Call thought they had won the dough.  See that story HERE.   Politico picked up on the story HERE.

Tester’s spokesman gave the answer and said to send the $100 to the Billings Fire Department to help defray the cost of the Rehberg lawsuit. Ba da bing ba da boom…

So, it looks like fun was had by all.  

84

That’s the age of Hall of Fame baseball manager Tommy Lasorda.  Happy Birthday Tommy!

73

That was the age of LeRoy Schweitzer, the convicted freeman and the cousin of Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, who died on Tuesday at a federal Supermax prison in southern Colorado.  He was serving a 22 year sentence.

Some folks feel Montana received an eight-year sentence with cousin Brian elected as Montana’s governor for two terms…

53

That’s the age of rock singer Joan Jett today.  Happy birthday and keep on rocking…

34

That’s the number of people who, according to the Associated Press, “are suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena over sexual abuse they say they suffered as children at the hands of clergy members in western Montana.”

This is sad…

31

That’s how many years the American rock band R.E.M. lasted.  They recently announced that they were calling it quits.  They are releasing a greatest hits CD later this year.  I enjoyed R.E.M.’s music, but was irritated when folks mixed them up with the greatest rock band of all time, REO Speedwagon…

Nonetheless, here’s one of REM’s videos to get you through the day!

“That’s me in the corner…That’s me in the spotlight, I’m Losing my religion.

Trying to keep up with you…And I don’t know if I can do it…Oh no, I’ve said too much…”

26

That’s the estimated pieces of a satellite that are supposed to fall to earth on Friday afternoon (Eastern Time).  Keep your head up!

Since it is Friday afternoon, everyone should take the afternoon off and enjoy the show…

16

You know I could not miss talking about this number…That’s the cost of the muffins at a U.S. Department of Justice Department (USDOJ) conference.  A Justice Department inspector general (IG) audit recently discovered the $16 muffins.

Great googly moogly…

For your viewing pleasure, here is the link to the IG Report (148 Pages PDF).

I wonder if Montana’s USDOJ folks attended any of these expensive conferences…maybe they can send me a note and tell me how a $16 muffin tasted…

Meanwhile, the Justice folks are trying to nail Roger Clemens for possibly lying about getting a shot in the butt and spent millions prosecuting him and Barry Bonds…

12

That’s the number of teams that are in the PAC-12 Conference, which once was called the PAC-10. They recently decided not to expand.

College football is a mess…

10

That’s the number of teams in the Big-12 Conference, for now.  It was once called the Big 8 Conference and, ironically, had eight members (that was back when people could count).

Then they invited four Texas universities to the conference and ruined a good thing.

6

According to this report, Montana is the 6th poorest state.  Mississippi is number one.  A friend told me that at least Montanans wear shoes…

Wow. Not good.

H/T to @jhwygirl

2

That’s the number of Americans who were freed from a prison in Iran on Wednesday after serving over two years for being spies. $500,000 each was posted for their release.

I am glad they are home…

0

The Rick Perry for President Campaign put out a new ad calling President Obama President Zero.  Watch it HERE.

We’ll be seeing ads from now until November 2012.

Note:

You can follow Jack on Twitter @TheWesternWord for Independent Commentary about Politics, Sports, the Media, and Current Events.