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The Week by the Numbers: June 16-22, 2013

By Matt Phifer

Sometimes the real story is in the numbers.

0 – Men on George Zimmerman’s Jury

Last week the six person jury was assembled for George Zimmerman’s trial in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.  All six jurors are women and none of them are black.  Zimmerman is accused of second-degree murder.  He claims he was acting in self defense when he killed the Florida teenager.  Martin’s murder set off a firestorm concerning race and Florida’s stand-your-ground law.

3 – Charges against NSA leaker Edward Snowden

Late Friday afternoon it was revealed that the Justice Department was charging NSA leaker Edward Snowden with one count of theft of government property as well as two counts under the Espionage Act, including “unauthorized communication of national defense information” and “willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.”  Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.  Over the weekend the United States unsuccessfully tried to extradite Snowden from Hong Kong.  According to the latest reports Snowden is currently in Moscow seeking asylum in Ecuador.

+13 – Tiger Woods’ U.S. Open Score, his worst 72-hole score in a major as a pro

Tiger Woods ended the U.S. Open with a final round score of 74 en route to a final score of 293, 13-over-par.  Woods’ 13-over-par finish is his worst in 72 holes at a major tournament in his professional career.

14 Years – Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s New Sentence

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s was re-sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday as part of a court-ordered reduction of his original sentence.  Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2006 for his part in the collapse of energy company Enron, but a federal appeals court vacated the original prison term in 2009, stating that the sentence was improperly applied.  The re-sentencing was delayed as Skilling appealed the charges against him.  In addition to his prison time, $40 million of Skilling’s earnings will be distributed to the victims of Enron’s collapse.  Skilling was originally found guilty of 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors in trying to make Enron look like a success while the business crumbled.

Over 50 – Terrorist Attacks Thwarted by the NSA

On Tuesday, General Keith Alexander, the director of the National Security Administration, told the House Intelligence Committee that over 50 terrorist attacks had been thwarted by the two now controversial programs that monitored cell phone and internet data.  Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce revealed that one of these plots was to blow up the New York Stock Exchange.

June 24, 2013 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Week by the Numbers: June 16-22, 2013

The Week by the Numbers: June 9-15, 2013

By Matt Phifer

Sometimes the real story is in the numbers.  This week is a short post, but these numbers pack a punch.

.161 – Ike Davis’ Batting Average When Demoted to the Minor Leagues

New York Met Ike Davis was demoted to the team’s Triple-A affiliate on June 9 after a dismal first portion of the season.  Davis’ batting average was just .161, the worst of any player in the Major Leagues with enough at bats to qualify for a batting title.  His slugging percentage against balls in the strike zone was just .333, which is down from .634 in 2012.

9,000-10,000 – The number of U.S. government requests for information from Facebook in the second half of 2012.

In the wake of the revelations that the NSA has allegedly been requesting information such as phone records, Facebook revealed in a blog post on June 14 that they received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for information from U.S. government entities in the second half of 2012.  The blog post said this ran the gamut from “things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a police department investigating an assault, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat.”  Facebook said the data requests applied to between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts.  Comparatively, there are 1.1 billion active Facebook users around the globe.

June 19, 2013 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Week by the Numbers: June 9-15, 2013

The Week by the Numbers: June 2-8 , 2013

By Matt Phifer

Sometimes the real story is in the numbers and this past week had some pretty fascinating and big numbers.

2 – The Number of Countries That Coca-Cola Does Not Do Business In

On June 4 Coca-Cola opened a new bottling plant in Myanmar.  The move comes after the United States lifted economic sanctions on the country, which was ruled by a military junta from 1962-2011.  Now Coca-Cola does business in every country in the world except North Korea and Cuba.

2:55 PM– The Least Productive Time of Day

A survey by LondonOffices.com revealed that 2:55 PM is the least productive time of day.  Many of the workers surveyed said they go on Facebook and Twitter at this time, while others begin planning their evening.  In contrast, 10:26 AM was revealed as the most productive time of the day.

2.6 Miles – The Widest Tornado on Record

On June 4 the National Weather Service reported that the EF-5 tornado that struck El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31 was 2.6 miles wide, which makes it the widest twister on record.  Its winds reached a staggering 295 MPH.  As of June 3 the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office reported that the tornado and subsequent flooding killed 18 people, including six children, and sent another 115 people to area hospitals.

$12.5 Million – The Price Tag of Napster Co-Founder Sean Parker’s Wedding

Napster co-founder and former Facebook president Sean Parker agreed to pay $2.5 million to the California Coastal Commission on June 3 for his lavish wedding held over the weekend.  According to the AP, Parker built a rustic cottage, fake ruins, waterfalls, staircases and a dance floor near the redwood forest and a stream with threatened steelhead trout, an area in which the California Coastal Commission must approve construction.  The commission learned of the construction through a complaint.  The total cost Parker’s wedding to Alexandra Lenas was already $10 million before the June 3 settlement.  The additional $2.5 million will reportedly go to coastal conservation programs.

$33,765,000 – The World Record Price of a Persian Rug

A 17th-Century Persian rug sold for $33,765,000 to an anonymous bidder at a Sotheby’s auction on June 5.  The bid shattered the previous record of $9.6 million for a 17th-century rug from Iran that was sold in London in 2010.  The roughly 8-by-6 foot rug sold Wednesday features swirling vines and vibrant colors.  The auction company estimated that the rug would sell for between $5 million and $7 million.

June 11, 2013 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Week by the Numbers: June 2-8 , 2013

The Week by the Numbers: May 26-June 1, 2013

Sometimes the real story is in the numbers.

By Matt Phifer

This is the first in a weekly column I will write that looks at the week in terms of numbers.  Sometimes the real story is in the numbers, whether it be money spent, hours passed or some other fact.  Face it; numbers can be fascinating so without further adieu let’s look at the past week in numbers.

3.8: The Overnight Rating of this year’s Indianapolis 500

Last Sunday’s Indy 500 was hailed as one of the best in recent memory with a record number of lead changes and fan favorite Tony Kanaan finally reaching victory lane in his twelfth start at the speedway.  Yet, the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” did not fare well on television.  This year’s 3.8 rating is the lowest the Indy 500 has received since it started airing live on ABC in 1986 according to sportsmediawatch.com.  Last year the race drew a 4.1 overnight rating.

5 Hours 40 Minutes: The Fastest Trip to the International Space Station

On Tuesday Russian Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency made the fastest trip in history to the International Space Station.  The crew lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:31 EDT and arrived at the ISS around 10:10 EDT.  The crew will be aboard the station for the next several months as part of Expedition 36.

10.8%: Percentage of Roll Call Votes Michele Bachmann has missed while in Congress

This week Minnesota Representative and former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann announced she would not run for re-election in 2014, meaning her tenure in Congress will end in January 2015.  Since joining Congress in 2007, Bachmann has missed 10.8% or 577 of 5,320 roll call votes according to www.govtrack.us.  The median for missed roll call votes of current members of Congress is 2.3%.

68: The Record Number of Lead Changes in this year’s Indianapolis 500

The previously mentioned Indianapolis 500 was an exciting race despite its dismal television ratings.  The race’s 68 lead changes doubled the previous record of 34 set in last year’s race.  This year’s Indy 500 also saw a record number of different lap leaders with 14 drivers leading at least one lap throughout the afternoon, breaking the previous record of 12 set in 1993.

96: The Age John F. Kennedy would have turned this past Wednesday

Wednesday May 29 would have been President John F. Kennedy’s 96th birthday.  This November will mark the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas.  A 2010 Gallup survey showed that Kennedy held the highest approval rating (85%) of the nine most recent presidents, a spot he has consistently held since the retrospective poll started in 1990.

$5,000: The Flopping Fines for Lebron James, David West and Lance Stephenson

Flopping can have a high price now in the NBA.  Miami Heat superstar Lebron James and Indiana Pacers players David West and Lance Stephenson were each slapped with $5,000 fines for flopping in Game 4 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals.  The fines will go up if they flop again in the playoffs.  A second flop will lead to a $10,000 fine.  A third flop would cost $15,000 and a fourth flop would cost $30,000.  A fifth could lead to disciplinary action from the league.

15,409.39: The Dow Jones’s Record High at the Closing Bell on Tuesday

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high upon closing on Tuesday.  The high rating was credited to everything from high consumer confidence to the U.S. economy’s resilience in the wake of this year’s federal spending cuts.  Still, Wall Street got a tough dose of reality on Wednesday with the Dow dropping 137.08 points, closing at 15,272.31.

33,000: The number of American flags planted on Boston Common for Memorial Day

Boston city officials and members of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund placed one flag on Boston Common for every military service member from Massachusetts who died in defense of the United States since the Civil War.  The final 170 flags were planted on the Thursday before Memorial Day.  Each of those flags represented a military service member from Massachusetts who died since September 11.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 2, 2013 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Week by the Numbers: May 26-June 1, 2013

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