Here we go – another Thursday!  Just one more day and we’ve made it to another weekend – it’s downhill from here!

For the new folks stopping by for the first time, “Thursday Numbers” is the column where I take a look at some of the numbers in the news and put them in one place for all to see – and offer some commentary about each.

This week I take a look at campaign fundraising, unemployment, “Likes” on Facebook, football, baseball, pitchers of beer, and much, much more!

17,000,000

That’s how much money GOP Presidential candidate Rick Perry raised in the third quarter of 2011.

Great googly moogly!  That’s a lot of money…

8,000,000

That’s how much money GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul raised in the third quarter of 2011.

That’s a lot of money, too!

401,000

That’s how many people filed new claims for unemployment compensation last week.  That’s an increase of 6000 from last week.

This is not good.  The monthly unemployment numbers come out on Friday – I highly doubt they have fallen below nine percent.

328,000

That’s how much money Steve Bullock, a Democratic candidate for Governor, has in the bank as of September 30.

260,000

That’s how much money Rick Hill, a Republican candidate for Governor, has in the bank as of September 30.

35,835

According to this STORY, “This $4.212-trillion increase in the national debt means that during Obama’s term the federal government has already borrowed about an additional $35,835 for every American household–or $44,980 for every full-time private-sector worker.”

Great…like I need to owe more…

1987

On this date in 1987, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-5 against the nomination of Robert H. Bork to the Supreme Court.  According to Wikipedia, “In March 2002, the Oxford English Dictionary added an entry for the verb Bork as U.S. political slang, with this definition: “To defame or vilify (a person) systematically, esp. in the mass media, usually with the aim of preventing his or her appointment to public office; to obstruct or thwart (a person) in this way.”

I’ve been “borked” over the last few years…

555

That’s how many people “Like” the Steve Bullock for Governor Facebook page (as of this morning).

501

That’s how many people “Like” the Rick Hill for Governor Facebook page (as of this morning).

61

Congratulations to Alan Moore, who at 61 years old is the oldest college football player on record.

Many of us remember the glory days…Alan Moore is still living them….

60

Happy 60th birthday to Kevin Cronin, the lead singer of the greatest rock band ever –REO Speedwagon!

Keep on rollin’ Kevin – see you next time…

56

That’s how old Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and ex-CEO, was at the time of his death on Wednesday.  RIP.

I first owned a Commodore 64 (with a datasette, which was a cassette-like tape drive for data storage).  I then moved up to an Apple IIGS, which when I purchased it I was told it would be the last computer I would ever need…

48.5

That’s the percentage of the population who lived in a household that received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of 2010, according to Census data.

10

A plan unveiled by Montana’s U.S. Senator Max Baucus, “Prevents the Postal Service from closing any Post Office where another office is not available within 10 miles.”

A classic “not in my back yard” (NIMBY) move…

8

According to this article in the Great Falls Tribune, Loren Spottedeagle consumed EIGHT pitchers of beer before driving.  He drank whiskey, too.  He killed one person and injured three others on the night of June 3.  His blood alcohol was “…about .30, more than three times the legal driving limit of .08.”

It was also reported “Spottedeagle had been previously convicted of four DUI offenses before the crash” and the local county attorney’s office “will recommend a 30-year sentence with 10 years suspended in exchange for Spottedeagle’s guilty plea to vehicular homicide while under the influence.”

Surely the prosecutors in the Cascade County Attorney’s office are not all lazy morons.  How about a life sentence for each pitcher of beer?  Maybe that would be adequate for the family of the man he killed?  This is his freaking fifth DUI, folks.  No plea agreements!  We’ll be watching how the judge handles this…

5

The Yankees and the Tigers, the Diamondbacks and the Brewers, and the Cardinals and the Phillies all will play a game 5 in Major League Baseball’s divisional round (best of five) series.

1

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