You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
Another $1 trillion company
Amazon has joined Apple in the rarefied financial air of the four-comma club, becoming the second company in history to be worth $1,000,000,000,000. These companies are both larger than the economies of Turkey or Switzerland. That reminds me: Please buy our book, from the retailer of your choice. [The Guardian]
At least 22 arrests
The Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Brett Kavanaugh got off to a chaotic start yesterday. Democratic senators bucked regular order and moved to adjourn and reschedule the hearing (to no avail), and civilian protestors peppered the day with their own screaming appeals. At least 22 people were arrested soon after the hearing began, and the outbursts continued for the rest of the day. Kavanaugh is scheduled to begin answering senators’ questions today. [NBC News]
30-minute rant
Bob Woodward, the journalist of Watergate and portrayed-by-Robert-Redford fame, has a new book out about Trump and his White House, called “Fear.” Among many other atypical occurrences, the book describes a Trump “practice session” for a potential interview with special counsel Robert Mueller. It did not go well. It ended with a 30-minute rant by Trump, according to the book, during which he said, “This thing’s a goddamn hoax,” and “I don’t really want to testify.” [The Washington Post]
715,000 site visits and video views
Alex Jones, of Infowars and noxious conspiracy theories, claimed that his recent banishment from internet platforms like Facebook and YouTube would backfire and cause him to gain strength. That has not happened. According to a Times analysis, Infowars averaged 1.4 million visits and views in weeks before the bans. It averaged 715,000 in the weeks after. [The New York Times]
13 years
A pair of the ruby slippers — sequined pumps worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” — disappeared 13 years ago from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota after a smash-and-grab job and few clues. Yesterday, the FBI announced that the ruby slippers had been found. An insurance company had paid $800,000 for the loss of the slippers, and now legally owns them. [The New York Times]
1 in 5 chance of holding onto the House
Labor Day is behind us. Time to put the white wardrobe into storage, head back to school, and start paying close attention to the midterm elections. According to FiveThirtyEight’s Classic model, Republican congressmen headed back to work this week facing their worst chances to date of holding onto the House. Those chances are 1 in 5, or 19.9 percent, as I write this. [FiveThirtyEight]
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