Thanks for stopping by for your weekly dose of valuable knowledge!

PLEASE NOTE: I’ve tried to find a source for everything used in this column just in case a New York Times reporter reviews it seven years from now…

“Thursday Numbers” is the weekly column where I take a look at the numbers that are in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary (sometimes spiked with sarcasm) just to make you smile, shake your head, or make you send me nasty e-mails or Tweets.

This week I write about the New York Times & John Walsh, Social Security Administration, Hot Lotto, unemployment, a big bottle of catsup, executions, a big flagpole, Obama fundraisers, Vietnam memorial, my book, cattle & lightning, football, the drinking age, and National Tequila Day.

300,000,000

That’s about how much ($300 million) the Social Security Administration has spent to replace outdated computer systems, so far. (Source)

Maybe they should just buy a new Dell every five years…

9,680,000

That’s the Hot Lotto prize as of this morning. (Source)

Nobody has won the grand prize since Moby Dick was a minnow (or since October 2013).

284,000

The Department of Labor reports this morning “In the week ending July 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 284,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level.”

That is one of the better reports and one of the few with new claims below 300k.

200,000

If you’re interested, the “World’s Largest Bottle of Catsup” is for sale for $200,000. (Source)

I guess there’s something else to add to my bucket list…

600

One hour and fifty-seven minutes after his execution started, Joseph Rudolph Wood was pronounced dead. “An Associated Press reporter who witnessed the execution saw Wood start gasping shortly after a sedative and a pain killer were injected into his veins. He gasped more than 600 times over the next hour and 40 minutes.” (Source)

If executions can’t be conducted properly, they should be stopped until they can.

400

That’s how tall (400 feet) the Acuity Insurance Flagpole is in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The American flag is 60-foot-wide by 120-foot-long. (Source)

`Merica!

398

That’s how many fundraisers President Obama has attended since he has been in office. President Bush at the same time in his presidency attended 218. (Source)

Maybe it should be illegal for all elected officials to attend political fundraisers…

267

A traveling version of the Vietnam memorial is in Great Falls this week. Among the over 58,000 names on the wall who died in the war are the names of 267 Montanans. (Source)

God bless our veterans.

50

Now would be a great time to put in a plug for my book, “Preparing for the Race: 50+ Questions for the Potential Candidate.”

It has a chapter with questions about military service and education – just sayin… Check it out HERE.

45

That’s how many Angus cattle were killed in a lightning strike on a Darby (MT) ranch this week. (Source)

41

That’s the percentage (41%) of drinkers in the United States who drink beer according to a new poll from Gallup. 31% name wine as their drink of choice and 23% name liquor. (Source)

Is the weekend here yet?

35.3

Last season, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles accounted for “a league-high 35.3 percent of the team’s yards from scrimmage, leading the Chiefs in rushing and receiving.” (Source)

Although he had two years left on his current contract, the Chiefs signed him to a new contract that pays him more.

28

I hope during training camp the Kansas City Chiefs coaches and players have to watch last year’s Chiefs/Colts playoff game where the Chiefs blew a 28-point lead in the second half.

18

A new Gallup poll found that 74% are against lowering the drinking age to 18. (Source)

By the way, today (July 24) is National Tequila Day…

14

I guess out of curiosity, reporters for the New York Times (NYT) did a review of U.S. Senator John Walsh’s 14-page paper from seven years ago titled “The Case for Democracy as a Long Term National Strategy” that was written for his master’s degree from the United States Army War College. The NYT reporters contend that Walsh’s six recommendations in the paper were “taken nearly word-for-word without attribution from a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace document on the same topic.” (Source)

Politics is a contact sport. Advantage Daines.

The Great Falls Tribune is asking if this accusation will change the way you will vote in November. You can vote in the Tribune poll HERE.

 

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