Hang in there – a three-day weekend will soon be here!  Welcome to Thursday and my weekly column where I take a look at the numbers mentioned in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary (sometimes tainted with just a little sarcasm).

NOTICE:  By reading this column you will probably gain some knowledge not found on other websites!  You can use this information to impress your family, friends, and co-workers.  The information might even be life changing – so consider yourself warned…

This week I write about debt, convention costs, unemployment, Paul Ryan’s speech, oldest and youngest convention delegates, Biden, Romney, Obama, Condi, Cameron Diaz, Bobcat football, NFL, cities with the worst drivers, bad gas, and much more!

617,000,000,000

According to State Budget Solutions, California has $617 billion in debt.  They also report that “Vermont has the least amount of debt of all fifty states with a $5.8 billion” and they show Montana ranking sixth lowest in the nation with $9.5 billion in debt.   Check out the report HERE.

136,000,000

The Republican and Democratic Conventions are reportedly costing taxpayers $136 million (altogether).

I think this is one area where we could cut the funding to zero…

374,000

That’s the number of new claims for unemployment from last week, which is up 4000 from the week before.

Each week the numbers are still high and we’ve become so used to it that it is hardly noticed anymore… 

3,228

That’s the approximate number of words in Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s speech last night.

Ryan’s speech was fact-checked by the Associated Press.  You can read “FACT CHECK: Ryan takes factual shortcuts in speech” HERE.

By the way, there were several comparisons on Twitter of Paul Ryan resembling Eddie Munster…

76

The Associated Press reports “Seventy-six years may separate them, but the youngest and oldest delegates are finding common ground at the Republican National Convention.  At 93, former Montana Gov. Tim Babcock has attended every GOP presidential nominating convention over the past 60 years.  And at 17, Evan Draim of northern Virginia is attending his first this week in Tampa, Fla.”

69

The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, is 69 years old.

68

According to this story, “A 68-year-old bank employee fired for ‘stealing’ ten cents from a laundromat when he was a teenager.”

The things we do as teenagers….

65

The Republican Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, is 65 years old.

Mitt Romney will try to make himself seem like he’s just a regular guy tonight when giving his speech at the Republican National Convention.  We might call his speech, “Mission Impossible” because most folks just don’t seem to like Romney…  

57

That’s the age of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who in my humble opinion gave the best speech (so far) of the Republican National Convention last night.

Rice’s speech made Paul Ryan’s speech a letdown…

51

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, is 51 years old.

48

According to a new poll from Gallup, “Mitt Romney is about as well-liked as he has been during the presidential campaign, with 48% of Americans holding a favorable view of him and 46% an unfavorable view.”

President Obama currently has a favorable rating of 53%.

42

The Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, is 42 years old.

40

Actress Cameron Diaz turns 40 years old today.  Enjoy these PHOTOS.

You can thank me later…

13

Tonight is the last night of the NFL Preseason with 13 games scheduled. The regular season kicks off Wednesday, September 5, with the Cowboys at the Giants.  It will be televised on NBC.

11

The Montana State Bobcats kick off their 11 game regular season schedule tonight in Bozeman hosting Chadron State.

10

Allstate has released a report about the 10 U.S. cities with the worst drivers and Washington, D.C., ranks first (again).  The report says that, “Washington drivers get into a wreck once every 4.7 years on average.”

There are a lot of jokes that can come from this report…like they are wrecking the country, too…

3.75

Bloomberg reports, “Retail prices for regular grade (gasoline) increased 0.6 cent to $3.756 a gallon yesterday, the highest level since May 7.”

With all these problems, this election should be easy for challengers.  If you are challenging an incumbent in the upcoming election and the polls show you virtually tied or behind, there’s something wrong with you…