The good news is that the weekend is coming, but it just seems to be taking forever to arrive!  So please hang in there, and we’ll slide into the three-day weekend before you know it – and Thursday Numbers will take your mind off the waiting!

If this is your first time visiting The Western Word (TWW), this is my weekly column where I take a look at the numbers mentioned in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary (often laced with sarcasm).

PLEASE NOTE:  By reading “Thursday Numbers” you will probably gain a great deal of knowledge not found on other websites!  You can use this information to impress your family, friends and co-workers, and it might even be life changing – so consider yourself warned…

This week I write about the lottery, SPAM e-mail, unemployment, sludge, YouTube Views, boating safety, Bob Dylan, Priscilla Presley, TWW poll results, the Unabomber, Alan Simpson, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and the happiest countries!  There’s a lot more!

128,000,000 

Saturday night’s Powerball Lottery jackpot will be an estimated $128 million.

I think I might enjoy the problems that would go along with winning that much money…

9,600,000

From my SPAM folder:  “I’m Herman Sanou, from Burkina Faso West Africa, Im the foreign operation manager of the African development bank. I have the opportunity of transferring the left over funds what of ($9,6.Million Dollars) from the account of our bank’s customer who died along with his entire family in a plane crash.”

Maybe Herman Sanou will just send me the cash in the mail (small bills in an unmarked envelope)…

370,000

That’s the number of new claims for unemployment filed last week.

These are just the people who are counted – thousands are not counted…

27,000

That’s how many jobs Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to eliminate between now and 2014.

I have an All-In-One HP Officejet 5610 printer.  It does not make sandwiches or pour drinks…

13,500

The Great Falls (Montana) Tribune reports, “Spurred by last spring’s flooding, the state will excavate 13,500 tons of coal sludge from 6.5 miles of streambed and ditch in the Stockett-Sand Coulee-Tracy area this summer at a cost of $700,000, the Department of Environmental Quality announced Wednesday.”

That is a beautiful area, and I am sure glad they are cleaning it up… 

923

That’s how many views on YouTube U.S. Senator Jon Tester Campaign’s “Fighting for Veterans: Jon & Tomy” video has received as of this morning.  It was posted May 20.

We must always take care of our veterans.  Always.

514

That’s how many views on YouTube the “Rick Hill’s Baggage” campaign video from Cory Stapleton has received as of this morning.  It was posted May 21.

It’s a good chuckle…

264

That’s how many people “Like” the story (as of this morning) on The Huffington Post website titled, “Denny Rehberg Accident Photo Featured On Boating Safety Poster.”  A link to the story was Tweeted 26 times and 181 people commented.

With the summer season quickly approaching, the poster is a good reminder that operating a boat (or any vehicle) while intoxicated is dangerous (riding with an intoxicated driver is not a good idea, either).

71

Happy 71st birthday to Bob Dylan – My favorite song by Dylan “Positively 4th Street.”

I sing this line a lot, “You got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend, when I was down you just stood there grinning.”

67

Priscilla Presley is 67 today.  Wow.

66

According to Gallup, Hillary Clinton’s “favorable rating remains at 66%, within one percentage point of her record-high rating in late 1998.  Her unfavorable rating of 29% ties her record low since 1993.”

I have a favorable opinion of Hillary…

64

According to Rasmussen Reports, “64% of Likely U.S. Voters prefer a government with fewer services and lower taxes over one with more services and higher taxes.”

The Republicans are jumping with joy…

60

The results are in from a recent poll in The Western Word.  The question:  “Who are you voting for in the Montana Republican Primary for Governor and Lt. Governor?”

The results:

Jim Lynch & Al Olszewski – 60%

Rick Hill & Jon Sonju – 21%

Ken Miller & Bill Gallagher – 7%

Corey Stapleton & Bob Keenan – 3%

Neil C. Livingstone & Ryan Zinke – 2%

Jim O’Hara & Scott Swingley – 2%

Bob Fanning & Joel Boniek – 1%

Thanks to all who participated!  This was not a scientific poll.  I am not a scientist and I don’t play one on TV…

50

According to the Associated Press, “Harvard University alumni attending their 50th class reunion this week are getting updates on classmates – including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.  He lists his occupation as “prisoner” and says his awards are “Eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998.”

It’s nice of him to keep in touch…

42

Gallup reports, “Americans are about equally likely to have a favorable (42%) as an unfavorable (45%) view of Joe Biden, which has been the case for most of his tenure as U.S. vice president.”

I like Biden although he ticked me off a few times when he was on the Senate Judiciary Committee…

10

24/7 Wall St. has named the 10 happiest countries in the world.  Hint:  The USA is not one of them.  Check them out HERE.

9

Politico has published the “9 best Alan Simpson quotes” which you can read HERE.

My favorite, “I watch Republicans, they give each other the saliva test of purity, and then they lose and they bitch for four years.”

3

According to an e-mail from Montana Governor Candidate Ken Miller, former “Nevada State Legislator” and “Tea Party Favorite” Sharron Angle will be visiting three cities in Montana next week.  Angle is scheduled to be in Billings, Bozeman, and Kalispell May 29-31 for “Foundation of Freedom Rallies.”

Maybe this is the final push for the Miller campaign before the June 5 Primary…

2

In an e-mail from Barack Obama titled, “Wow” he writes, “Please donate $3 or whatever you can to be automatically entered to win.”  The two winners will get to meet with President Obama and former President Bill Clinton in New York.

That would be kind of cool…

If you are not following Jack on Twitter @TheWesternWord, what on earth is wrong with you?