GENERAL MOTORS STRIKE
73,000
Number of employees who participated in a national two-day United Auto Workers strike against GM, the first since 1970
$50 billion
Estimated cost of future health-care liabilities that GM could take off its books in a proposed four-year deal, which would let the company use its overflowing pension fund to help retirees cover increased health-care costs
IRAQ
$500,000
Amount the Iraq war costs per minute, according to a joint analysis by a Nobel-prizewinning economist and a Harvard scholar, who noted that the amount spent on the war each day could pay for health care for 423,529 children
$50 billion
Amount the Bush Administration plans to increase its 2008 budget for military operations abroad
STEROIDS
124
Number of people arrested in 27 U.S. states for illegally distributing human-growth hormone and other bodybuilding drugs in the largest steroid raid in U.S. history
242
Number of kilograms of raw steroid powder seized since 2006 that was made in China, which U.S. authorities say is the main supplier of illicit performance-enhancing substances
RICHES
$1.3 billion
Minimum net worth of the 400 richest Americans, listed by Forbes, up from $1 billion in 2005
82
Number of U.S. billionaires who did not make the list. Of the 45 newbies, almost half made their fortune in hedge funds or private-equity investments
Sources: Bloomberg (2); Think Progress; New York Times; Washington Post (2); AP (2)
More Must-Reads from TIME
- How the Electoral College Actually Works
- Your Vote Is Safe
- Mel Robbins Will Make You Do It
- Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
- The Surprising Health Benefits of Pain
- You Don’t Have to Dread the End of Daylight Saving
- The 20 Best Halloween TV Episodes of All Time
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Contact us at letters@time.com