The best Christmas gift is to realize how much you already have. – Pinterest

Welcome to “Thursday Numbers!” In case you are 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 and humor.

This week’s topics include Mega Millions, unemployment, USA deaths from coronavirus, pages in the spending bill, the new NBA season, international visitors, Trump pardons, Kansas City Chiefs, balloon boy, and much more!

352,000,000

That’s the jackpot for the next Mega Millions Lottery drawing on Friday night. (Mega Millions)

That would make a decent Christmas gift…

803,000

In the week ending December 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 803,000, a decrease of 89,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 7,000 from 885,000 to
892,000. The 4-week moving average was 818,250, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,750 from 812,500 to 814,250. (DOL)

*Note: On Thursdays, my column is not published until right after 6:30 a.m. (Montana time), so I can post the latest unemployment numbers.

326,242

That is how many people have died in the United States from coronavirus, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There are at least 326,242 deaths and 18,466,908 cases across the country so far. The first death in the USA was reported on February 29. (Johns Hopkins)

Last week, there were 307,512 deaths. Please pray for those who have lost loved ones this year.

5,593

That’s how many pages are in the massive spending bill that passed Congress Monday night. Nobody had a chance to read the bill before voting on it. (NY Times)

72

The NBA season started Tuesday and the teams will play 72 games this season. They normally play 82 games. The playoffs start May 22. (NBA.com)

The Los Angeles Lakers are favored to win it all again…

64

While going through my end of the year stuff on this blog that is run through WordPress, I found that people from 64 countries visited TheWesternWord.com in 2020. That’s pretty cool.

The USA was first, followed by China, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, and Australia. Thank you to all my readers!

50

A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll asked how history would judge Trump’s presidency. 16% predict he will be seen as a great president, 13% as a good president, 16% as a fair president, and 50% as a failed president. Five percent are undecided. (USA Today)

I think he is a big failure.

26

President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening announced 26 new pardons, including for longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s father, Charles. (CNN)

Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift… -Godfather

13-1

My Kansas City Chiefs have the best record in the NFL at 13-1. The Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Jets are at the bottom with 1-13 records. (ESPN)

Although the Chiefs are 13-1, they seem to let their opponents stick around and make the games closer than they need to be.

11

Eleven years ago “Balloon Boy” captivated the country when Richard and Mayumi Heene reported their 6-year-old son had floated away in a homemade UFO-shaped silver helium balloon in 2009. It was a hoax and they both received sentences. (AP)

The couple was pardoned by the governor of Colorado this week.

## MERRY CHRISTMAS ##