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2
7 percent
9
11
The number of Republican presidential hopefuls who addressed potential supporters at the Iowa GOP’s Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines on Saturday. In roughly 258 days, fully grown Iowans will crowd elementary school gymnasia across the state in a bizarre local ritual known as a “caucus.” [The New York Times]
15 years
The average time that an inmate executed in 2013 had spent on death row. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death on Friday for his role in the Boston Marathon bombing, but he’s unlikely to be executed any time soon, according to my colleague Ben Casselman’s analysis. Tsarnaev’s sentence came in federal court. Between 1988 and 2013, 71 federal defendants were sentenced to death, but only three have been executed. [FiveThirtyEight]
1971
$2,800 a month
4,296
1 million air miles
The top prize offered by United Airlines to any “ethical hacker” who uncovers a major flaw in its security system. The bounty comes after a not-so-ethical hacker claimed to be able to control an airliner via the inflight entertainment system. No word yet on the prize for developing edible airline food, however. [NBC News]
$200 million
The potential payout to victims that Amtrak may face after last week’s derailment in Philadelphia. It’s the upper limit — the most Amtrak would possibly pay — set by Congress in 1997, in an effort to “rescue Amtrak from financial ruin.” The amount may not, however, be enough to cover the costs of the eight deaths and over 200 injuries suffered. [AP]
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The inimitable, vacationing Walter Hickey has handed me the keys to this column, so if you see a significant digit in the wild, tweet it to me @WaltHickey @Ollie. I’ll be here all week.