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By The Numbers

The numbers for November 11, 2014

Tony Wagner Nov 11, 2014

It’s Veterans Day in the U.S., Armistice Day and Remembrance Day abroad. We have at least one veteran on staff at Marketplace: Kai Ryssdal, who served as a Navy pilot during the Cold War.

Kai flew fighter jets from the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt along the coast of Norway in search of Russian nuclear bombers. He wrote about the experience for our series, “The New Cold War?” 

A Pew study found nearly half of post-9/11 veterans served with someone who was killed in the line of duty. Two-thirds of veterans said they had been exposed to casualties, either because they were injured themselves, or served with someone who was hurt or killed. That exposure meant vets were far more likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder.

Poppy Field is a comprehensive and interactive visualization of all war deaths since the start of the 20th century, and Vox has a good breakdown looking at American fatalities in major wars.  

Here are some other numbers we’re watching and stories we’re reading Tuesday:

$100,000

Tension in Ferguson, Missouri is mounting ahead of a grand jury decision on the death of teenager Michael Brown, and the evidence is in the numbers. According to the AP, local police have spent $65,500 on batons, shields and other gear, plus another $35,500 on pepper spray and the like since August.  Meanwhile, residents are preparing, too. CNN reported a spike in weapons sales and spoke with business owners who are boarding up their windows

$972.7 million

A different side of the oil boom  that’s how much Continental Resources chief executive Harold Hamm will pay his ex-wife Sue Ann Hamm to settle their divorce. Continental is the largest oil producer in North Dakota. Hamm might have gotten off easy  the Wall Street Journal reported Mrs. Hamm originally sought several billion, and analysts predicted the split would cost him twice as much.

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