‘Those who travel the high road of humility in Washington, D.C., are not bothered by heavy traffic.’

Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson speaking during the funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush.

Blocked

40

The number of U.S. House seats Democrats gained in the midterm elections, following the Dec. 6 concession of Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., in a tight race in the state’s 21st District.

85,000

The approximate number of children below the age of 5 who have died from starvation or disease in the Yemeni civil war, according to Save the Children.

0

The number of Pearl Harbor survivors from the USS Arizona in attendance at a Dec. 7 commemoration in Honolulu, the first time that no survivor from the ship was well enough to attend.

A House divided

[ Oct. 27 ] I am always amazed (but shouldn’t be) that the cornerstone of the Democratic platform is the slaughter of children. Equally surprising is how the party of unbridled sex suddenly becomes prudish if it helps destroy a Republican. —Rick Flanders on wng.org

Accused

$32 million

The hammer price at a Nov. 14 Sotheby’s auction for a drop-shaped pearl pendant that once belonged to French Queen Marie Antoinette.

$1,139

The average cost of obtaining a permit to operate a food truck in Austin, Texas.

$252,692,000,000

Federal revenues collected in October, a tax-collection record for that month. The government still ran a $100 billion deficit.

29.8

The average age of an American man getting married for the first time in 2018. For American women, the average age is 27.8 years.