I have a different theory. He's a 15-year-old moron whose hands froze to the wing of the plane. By the end of the flight he was half-dead and couldn't let go if he wanted to.
Damnit, I'm going to be gone at that time, too, ans while I'm pretty sure it would be possible to record this using the power of Linux, I don't think I'll have the time to figure out how before this airs.
YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) A woman donated ¥1 billion in cash Friday to her hometown of Minamiashigara, Kanagawa Prefecture, population 44,000, on her 88th birthday to promote education and sports.
News photo
Chizuko Yokomizo offers ¥1 billion Friday to Mayor Chosei Sawa Minamiashigara, Kanagawa Prefecture, at City Hall. KYODO PHOTO
One-time teacher Chizuko Yokomizo, a resident of the seaside resort town of Oiso in the same prefecture, said she decided more than 40 years ago to donate ¥1 billion to the city when she turned 88 and continued to save to achieve that goal.
The pyramid of cash — 100 bundles of bank notes each containing ¥10 million — at City Hall weighed about 100 kg.
The amount, which accounts for 6.7 percent of the city's general account budget for fiscal 2006, is equivalent to about 53 percent of its education expenses.
"It is the greatest happiness in my life to be able to do this favor for my hometown," Yokomizo said. "I'd like to continue my efforts for children's education as long as I live."
The town plans to establish a Yokomizo memorial fund aimed at promoting children's sports and cultural activities, helping child-raising and assisting in educational studies, officials said.
Yokomizo was born in 1919 to a family of teachers. After the war, she and her late husband established a highly successful kitchen equipment venture.
In 1999, Yokomizo donated ¥500 million to Oiso, which used the money to build a welfare facility for disabled people.
I'm glad she's being a good person and helping to balance out all the badness in the world. These kind of stories make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
It's value in the world market is irrelevant. 100 yen will buy you the same thing in Japan that you could get in the US for $1. So it's actually like $10,000,000. Unless they plan on spending it in the US, then it's value will diminish.
I think I must've gotten her age and the amount mixed up and converted 8 billion yen. 1 billion is worth $8,765,415.43 according to XE.com, which is fairly close to Hamelin's number.
Actually, neither of those statements about the value of a dollar. You have to look at the Purchasing Power Parity of each currency respective to its own country. Comparing exchange rates doesn't work, and you can't just allocate a value of 100 yen to the dollar, because 100 yen doesn't always purchase the exact same thing that $1 can in each respective country.
The Economist measures PPP quite comically through The Big Mac Index. It researches how much a Big Mac costs in various countries, translates that to US dollars, then configures the implied PPP of the dollar by that price. Compare to the actual exchange rate, and you have an approximation of under or overvaluation against the dollar.
According to the 2007 Big Mac Index, a Japanese Big Mac costs 280 yen, or $2.31 cents as of the exchange rate on Jan. 31st of 121 yen to the dollar. The currency was undervalued by 28%. The US Big Mac costs $3.22 by comparison.
...in other words, the 10 million yen can buy more Big Macs than it can in the US. It has more purchasing power parity.
According to the 2007 Big Mac Index, a Japanese Big Mac costs 280 yen, or $2.31 cents as of the exchange rate on Jan. 31st of 121 yen to the dollar. The currency was undervalued by 28%. The US Big Mac costs $3.22 by comparison.
...in other words, the 10 million yen can buy more Big Macs than it can in the US. It has more purchasing power parity.
But the MacDonalds near me is offering Big Macs for 99 cents on wednesdays. Does this mean that the value of the US dollar dramatically goes up on wedenesdays?
I was thinking of the purchasing power of the yen at a QQ compared to any random dollar store in the US. I'd say it's about even, or that the yen is a little better. I can't get any of those giant cake rolls in the US. And I doubt it'd only be a dollar if I could. But, yeah. That index won't work across Long Island, even. Even McDonald's prices are about 15-20% higher on the east end.
Could we maybe value a country's currency by seeing what's the least amount of money required for a person to live on? By ignoring things like GNP and mean gross family income, and going straight to the question, "What's the least amount of money required to sustain basic bodily functions for an individual, or maybe even a family of - oh, let's say - four?" then we won't have things like decadence and sloth getting in the way of SCIENCE!
From Digg.com: An American concerned about the countries future is running a full page advertisement in USA Today on November 21st to share his concern with the American people. The ad issues a reminder of the warnings the Founding Fathers gave about a government that disregards the will of the people and supports a candidate.
No, you're not supposed to look at the advertisement, you're supposed to look at the fact that the Ron Paul virus is spreading. Honestly, if nobody's going to be academic about this I just don't know how I feel about this forum anymore.
Comments
How did I not hear about this until now?
Edit: Are you sure?
That's all that matters really.
The Economist measures PPP quite comically through The Big Mac Index. It researches how much a Big Mac costs in various countries, translates that to US dollars, then configures the implied PPP of the dollar by that price. Compare to the actual exchange rate, and you have an approximation of under or overvaluation against the dollar.
According to the 2007 Big Mac Index, a Japanese Big Mac costs 280 yen, or $2.31 cents as of the exchange rate on Jan. 31st of 121 yen to the dollar. The currency was undervalued by 28%. The US Big Mac costs $3.22 by comparison.
...in other words, the 10 million yen can buy more Big Macs than it can in the US. It has more purchasing power parity.
But the MacDonalds near me is offering Big Macs for 99 cents on wednesdays. Does this mean that the value of the US dollar dramatically goes up on wedenesdays?
Burn it to the ground.
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Concerned_citizen_to_run_full_page_political_ad_in_USA_Today