To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world. ― Dr. Seuss
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 and humor.
This week’s topics include Mega Millions jackpot, “Go Fund Me” for the wall update, Montana Millionaire lottery, unemployment, Christmas and social media, Donald Trump’s 2018 in numbers, most admired man and woman for 2018, the partial federal government shutdown, pay increases for our troops fact check, and much more!
348,000,000
That’s the Mega Millions jackpot for Friday night. (MegaMillions.com)
17,445,948
That’s how much (as of 6:00 a.m. this morning) has been raised through a “Go Fund Me” page to build the border wall. That amount has been raised by 287,086 people in 10 days. The goal is $1 billion.
I thought Mexico was paying for the wall…
1,000,000
The Montana Millionaire lottery drawing will be held on Friday, December 28 (tomorrow). Along with the million dollar prize, there will be three $100,000 prizes and five $10,000 prizes awarded that day. (@MontanaLottery)
No more tickets are available…
216,000
That’s how many people filed new claims for unemployment last week. (USDOL)
24
I spent the 24 hours of Christmas not posting anything political on Facebook and Twitter. I was a good boy.
It’s too bad others did not participate…
#Peace
18
Politico explains President Donald Trump’s 2018 in 18 numbers, like the 67 times he visited one of his golf clubs or the 65% of his executive staff that has turned over in first two years.
Check out more numbers HERE.
17
For the first time in 17 years, a woman other than Hillary Clinton has been named by Americans as the woman they admire most. Former first lady Michelle Obama, who finished second to Clinton won by a significant margin this year. Oprah Winfrey was second, with Clinton and Melania Trump next.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama was the winner among men for the 11th consecutive year, including one year as president-elect, eight as president, and two as former president. President Donald Trump ranks second for the fourth year in a row. (Gallup Polling)
This poll should send the Trump supporters over the deep end…
6
We’re headed into the 6th day of partial federal government shutdown. This is the third government shutdown of 2018. It started on December 22.
The shutdown clocks are not being displayed all the time on the cable news stations. Most people don’t care.
3.7
Montana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent in November. The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged from October, also at 3.7 percent. (AP)
2.6
President Donald Trump visited troops in Iraq over the holidays, and that is a good thing. Unfortunately, he lied to them about a pay raise saying he was proud to secure them a much-needed pay bump of “more than 10 percent” after years of stagnant wages. (Huff Post)
This chart from the Department of Defense shows from 2007 until 2018 there have been annual pay increases for our troops. Next year’s pay increase (2019) will be 2.6%.