Numbers

Some numbers to pay attention to this week –

11.4% is the percentage of American workers in labor unions. This is compared to 18.4% in Germany, 27.5% in Canada, and 32.0% in Poland. Labor Day was first an official holiday in 1887 in the State of Oregon.

8.3% is the current unemployment rate, 0.5% higher than in 2009 when President  Obama took office.

314,226,714 United States citizens and an estimated 270,000,000 privately owned guns held by those citizens.

90% of 294 billion emails sent per day are spam.

Vin Scully has called 3 perfect games, 25 World Series, 12 All Star Games, and 25 no-hitters.

$2.2 trillion cash now been held by U.S. corporations, this amount of cash held has never been higher.

10% world food prices have risen in July alone due to drought parched crop lands in the United States and Eastern Europe.

U.S. Domestic Beer sales (last 52 weeks): 1. Bud Light $5.4B, 2. Bud $2.06B, 3. Coors Light $2.0B, 4. Miller Lite $1.7B.

Fastest growing import beers in U.S. (last 52 weeks): 1. Stella Artois +38.1%, 2. Dos Equis XX +36.3%, 3. Modelo +26.3%.

MITT ROMNEY has finally amassed 1 million Twitter followers. Obama has 19.2 million.

U.S. CITIES STAT: Only three of the 20 largest U.S. cities have Republican mayors. Democrats lead eight of the top 10.

Top 3 Network news ratings: 1. NBC (7.8M), 2. ABC (7.0M), 3. CBS (5.5M).

BAD BEHAVIOR - WHAT HAPPENS IN CHARLOTTE WILL NOT STAY IN CHARLOTTE: "A California delegate to the Democratic National Convention was hospitalized early this morning, after apparently falling unconscious in a hotel lobby following a night of drinking, while another delegate became confrontational with hotel staff and has since left the delegation," the Sacramento Bee's David Siders reports. "The hospitalized man has since been released from the hospital, California Democratic Party spokesman Tenoch Flores said. Flores said two men were involved in an incident early this morning in the lobby of the Blake Hotel, where the California delegation is staying. He declined to identify either man or to say where they are from. 'Oftentimes at conventions, people who have not seen each other for a long time gather and sometimes people have too much to drink,' Flores said. 'That appears to have been the case here, and we're gathering more information.”

HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED: "The first woman who ever spoke at a convention in 1940, Eleanor Roosevelt, never talked about Franklin's polio [and] never talked about him as her husband or as a father," historian Doris Kearns Goodwin said on NBC's "Meet the Press" during a discussion of Ann Romney's Tuesday speech. "She simply said, 'The president cannot be here because there's too much happening in the world at large right now.' They were restless. They wanted him there. And she saved that convention. But it's a whole different change. And it wasn't just Ann Romney. We've changed the whole idea...that we have to present them as human beings."

LET'S BE FRIENDS - Two Presidents find a mutual advantage": "The reconciliation began in earnest late last summer. Patrick Gaspard, the former White House political director, who has moved to the Democratic National Committee, approached Douglas Band, Clinton's closest political adviser and longtime gatekeeper, with some suggestions about how the former President might help with Obama's 2012 reëlection campaign. Band, who, by reputation, has an acute sense for moments of political advantage, tried to explain that you don't just call up Bill Clinton and tell him to raise money and campaign for you. Band recommended that the two Presidents begin by playing golf.

"The next day, Obama phone Clinton and invited him out for a round. Several Clinton associates say that this was the moment they realized that Obama truly wanted to win in 2012. Why else would he spend hours on a golf course being lectured by Clinton?

"The Presidential round was played at Andrews Air Force Base on September 24, 2011, and since then Clinton has become a visible and vigorous champion of Obama's reëlection. ... Now that Obama has turned the campaign into something of a referendum on Clinton's sterling record on the economy, Clinton can hardly complain. That may be part of Obama's strategy, too. Flattered by the attention, Clinton now has an incentive to work hard for Obama, who seems to have learned how to tame the former president."

BEHIND THE CURTAIN - "Mitt Romney privately invited Mr. Eastwood ... to speak after the actor had given him a gravelly, full-throated endorsement at a star-studded fund-raiser at the Sun Valley Resort Lodge in Idaho this summer. ... Thus began an effort by Mr. Romney's campaign over several weeks to inject a Hollywood-style surprise into the highly scripted, tightly controlled convention ... Eastwood's convention cameo was cleared by Mr. Romney's top message mavens, Russ Schriefer and Stuart Stevens, who drew up talking points that Mr. Eastwood included, in his own way. They gave him a time limit and flashed a blinking red light that told him his time was up. He ignored both. The actor's decision to use a chair as a prop was last-minute, and his own. ...

"Eastwood's rambling and off-color appearance just moments before the biggest speech of Mr. Romney's life instantly became a Twitter and cable-news sensation, which drowned out much of the usual postconvention analysis that his campaign had hoped to bask in. It also startled and unsettled Mr. Romney's top advisers and prompted a blame game among them. 'Not me,' an exasperated-looking senior adviser said when asked who was responsible for Mr. Eastwood's speech. ... Ann Romney, who made the rounds of the three network morning shows, hardly pretended that she was happy as she was repeatedly asked about the speech. ... Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin said on MSNBC that he 'cringed' as he sat in the hall during Mr. Eastwood's performance. ...

"Romney advisers so trusted Mr. Eastwood, 82, that unlike with other speakers, they said they did not conduct rehearsals or insist on a script or communicate guidelines for the style or format of his remarks. ... He was scheduled to speak for about five minutes but stayed onstage for more than twice as long, throwing off the schedule for Mr. Romney."

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Corbin Bernsen (58), Sid Caesar (90), Chris Christie (50), Jane Curtin (65), Carly Fiorina (58), Al Jardine (70), Paul Volcker (85), Raquel Welch (72).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday 9/8, 10:30 PM ET, Pac12 Network; #17 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-0) at UCLA Bruins (1-0). Quarterback Taylor Martinez of Nebraska will be too much for Jim Mora’s new Bruins. Nebraska 35 UCLA 32. Season to date (1-0).

SMALL COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday 9/8, 8:00 PM ET, HGTV; West meets Midwest in this inter-conference matchup, #18 Redlands Bulldogs (0-0) visit #13 ranked North Central Illinois Cardinals (0-1). The Cardinals will be too much for the SCIAC challenger, North Central 28 Redlands 10. Season to date (1-0).

RINK RATS NFL PRESEASON PICKS –

NFC East – New York Giants

NFC North – Green Bay Packers

NFC South – Atlanta Falcons

NFC West – San Francisco 49ers

Wild Cards – Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions

AFC East – New England Patriots

AFC North – Baltimore Ravens

AFC South – Houston Texans

AFC West – Denver Broncos

Wild Cards – Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers

Super Bowl – New York Giants 32 Baltimore Ravens 20

NFL FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – Sunday 9/9, 8:00 PM ET, NBC; Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos. Pittsburgh is old, Denver is psyched – Denver 24 Piitsburgh 10. Season to Date (0-0).

THE SWAMI’S TOP PICKS – Nebraska 35 UCLA 32, North Central Illinois 28 Redlands 10, Denver 24 Pittsburgh 10, Roger Federer (SUI) to win Men’s U.S. Tennis Open, Serena Williams (USA) to win Women’s U.S. Tennis Open. Season to Date (2-0).

BASEBALL POWER RANKINGS – heading into the final month here are the top teams in Major League Baseball:

American League – Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays

National League – Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers.

Next week, movie of the month and Dear Rink Rats.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Tucson, AZ
September 3, 2012

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