I remember being able to get up without making sound effects. Good times. – Unknown

Welcome to “Thursday Numbers!” In case you’re a first-time visitor, this is the weekly column where I take a look at the numbers that are in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary sometimes sprinkled with sarcasm, humor, and bluntness.

This week’s topics include the Kansas City Royals, unemployment, Attorney General William P. Barr’s party, Labor Day, losing weight, labor unions, vanity license plate, Democratic debate, Quinnipiac University Poll, the biggest grapefruit, and much more!

1,000,000,000

Kansas City Royals owner David Glass is negotiating to sell the team to local businessman John Sherman for more than $1 billion, sources familiar with the discussions told ESPN. (ESPN)

The Royals need to clean house.

215,000

That’s how many people filed new claims for unemployment last week. (USDOL)

30,000

Attorney General William P. Barr is planning a holiday treat for his boss. Last month, Barr booked President Trump’s D.C. hotel for a 200-person holiday party in December that is likely to deliver Trump’s business more than $30,000 in revenue. (WaPo)

Let me know if you are going…

125

On September 2, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor celebrates and honors the greatest worker in the world – the American worker. Labor Day 2019 is the 125th anniversary of Labor Day being celebrated as a national holiday. (USDOL.gov)

Thanks to all who do their part to make America run!

113

Luis Enrique Pinto Jr., 18, lost 113 pounds since the beginning of the year to gain entry into the Army. (Fox News)

Good for Luis – Merica!

64

Sixty-four percent of Americans approve of labor unions, surpassing 60% for the third consecutive year and up 16 percentage points from its 2009 low point. (Gallup)

Union Yes!

15

A New Hampshire woman is fighting the state Department of Motor Vehicles over her 15-year-old vanity license plate showing a common parental phrase. (AP)

The phrase is “PB4WEGO.”

10

Ten Democrats running for president are likely to have qualified for the primary debate next month after the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) deadline to meet its criteria passed on Wednesday night.

The candidates who have met those requirements: Former Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.); South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.); Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas); former tech executive Andrew Yang; and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro. (The Hill)

Look for more candidates to quit in the coming days.

10

As Americans prepare to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Labor Day on Monday, Gallup’s latest measurement on labor union membership finds that 10% of full- and part-time U.S. workers belong to a union. (Gallup)

9

A new Quinnipiac University Poll finds that all the top Democrats running for President (Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, and Buttigieg) all beat President Trump by at least nine points. (Quinnipiac)

I think I can beat Trump…

7.14

A basketball-sized grapefruit has brought two world records to a Louisiana couple. The giant citrus grew in the yard of Mary Beth and Doug Meyer of Slidell. The Guinness Book of World Records says it’s the world’s heaviest and largest in circumference. It weighed 7 pounds, 14.6 ounces (3.6 kilograms) and measured 28¾ inches (73 centimeters) around. That’s almost as big around as an NBA basketball. (AP)

That would make a lot of juice!

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