The unimportant news thread

[Spineur]

and extremism of a sort was involved in the Dortmund Borussia bus bombing
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/borussia-dortmund-bus-bomb-was-no-terrorist-just-a-greedy-investor-investigators-say-2017-04-21

Investor  
Or is it a language problem at the WSJ ?  Another one for Cato grumble....

[Turner]

and extremism of a sort was involved in the Dortmund Borussia bus bombing
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/borussia-dortmund-bus-bomb-was-no-terrorist-just-a-greedy-investor-investigators-say-2017-04-21

"I demand the capitalist community take to the streets to condemn the actions of one of their own."

https://twitter.com/Henry_Langston/status/855338495912628225

[Spineur]

An artist dream house made of stained glass is for sale in NJ

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2017/04/a-stained-glass-cabin-hidden-in-the-woods-by-neile-cooper/

Pretty cool !

[Turner]

Nice, and well done.

[zamyrabyrd]

Wealth under one's fingertips:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4428868/Haul-gold-coins-stashed-piano-worth-500-000.html

The largest collection of gold sovereign coins ever found has been officially declared  as treasure meaning the piano owner and the unwitting finder are due a share of the bounty. But in a cruel twist of fate, the couple who donated the piano in 2016 are not entitled to a penny. The haul  of 913 gold sovereigns and half sovereigns date between 1847 and 1915, have a face value of £773 - the equivalent of roughly £500,000 today.

[Turner]

Sunday, 19:59:
France just now
https://twitter.com/spignal/status/856204389077221376

[Spineur]

Sunday, 19:59:
France just now
https://twitter.com/spignal/status/856204389077221376

Not any more !! 
Euro/USD +1%.  Dax30 which as a sunday quotation +0.55
All is quiet in Euroland.

[Karl Henning]

Strikes me as a curious choice of image for a Women's Empowerment Panel

[bwv 1080]

The haul  of 913 gold sovereigns and half sovereigns date between 1847 and 1915, have a face value of £773 - the equivalent of roughly £500,000 today.

Think the Daily Mail has some bad math there -  £773 in 1850 is the equivalent of about £88K today (http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/).  A gold sovereign is about 8 grams of gold so the melt value would be about £235 for a full sovereign making  the bullion value, if all 913 were full sovereigns,  about £168K.  Collector values are all over the place due to condition, age, etc so that might get up to £500K if there were some rare coins in the mix.

[North Star]

Think the Daily Mail has some bad math there -  £773 in 1850 is the equivalent of about £88K today (http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/).  A gold sovereign is about 8 grams of gold so the melt value would be about £235 for a full sovereign making  the bullion value, if all 913 were full sovereigns,  about £168K.  Collector values are all over the place due to condition, age, etc so that might get up to £500K if there were some rare coins in the mix.

Not really a case of bad math - just different math

If you want to compare the value of a £773 0s 0d Commodity in 1850 there are three choices. In 2015 the relative:
real price of that commodity is £74,550.00
labour value of that commodity is £582,600.00
income value of that commodity is £1,085,000.00

https://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php

[bwv 1080]

Not really a case of bad math - just different mathhttps://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php

I suppose, but these values are so far apart it becomes meaningless.  it is a difficult question as the overall level of wealth is so much higher today but best to keep things simple.

From http://www.victorianlondon.org/finance/money.htm , a furnished house in the West End of London would rent for 5-25 guineas a week, so 260-1,300 per year.  So your £773 could get you a year in London's best Victorian real estate.  Today you could rent this: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-65241611.html for 70k per week (£3.6M per year), so is £773 worth £3.6M in today's money?

However the same site lists a budget for a Victorian middle class income of £500 / year and wages for senior white collar post office workers in that range. Tacking on 40% to the annual salary of a post office manager does not get you to £3.6M

Or you could hire 10 teachers for a year on that amount but with starting teacher salaries today at £20k it would translate to about £200k in current purchasing power. 

So you can make the number pretty much anything you like.

[Parsifal]

The currency conversion is to me the least interesting part of the story.  Im interested in the legal aspect. When England withdrew the sovereigns everyone was legally required to return them. They were the property of the government, even though they were passéd around as currency. After the grace period was over they could not be used as currency and could not be redeemed for valid currency. To melt them down for their gold, or even to posses them was a crime, as I understand it. It seems that the laws have been liberalized, based on the press article posted, allowing the possessors of these coins to receive compensation at their true value

[bwv 1080]

The currency conversion is to me the least interesting part of the story.  Im interested in the legal aspect. When England withdrew the sovereigns everyone was legally required to return them. They were the property of the government, even though they were passéd around as currency. After the grace period was over they could not be used as currency and could not be redeemed for valid currency. To melt them down for their gold, or even to posses them was a crime, as I understand it. It seems that the laws have been liberalized, based on the press article posted, allowing the possessors of these coins to receive compensation at their true value

FDR implemented a similar policy in the 30s, prohibiting private citizens from owning gold bullion or coins

[greg]

Strikes me as a curious choice of image for a Women's Empowerment Panel

It makes sense. She's just teaching women Explosion Magic.

That lady is actually one of Megumin's sources of inspiration.

[Todd]

Portland Eastside Parade (the 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade) cancelled due to threats of violence.  Who, whom?  Lefties threatened to physically remove members of the Multnomah County Republican Party, who have marched in the parade for years.  It even made it into a national news outlet.  Little Beirut is making a comeback!

[kishnevi]

Portland Eastside Parade (the 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade) cancelled due to threats of violence.  Who, whom?  Lefties threatened to physically remove members of the Multnomah County Republican Party, who have marched in the parade for years.  It even made it into a national news outlet.  Little Beirut is making a comeback!

If they keep it up, I may turn into a Trumpkin....

(By the by,. Latinx? Is Latino too sexist?)

[Todd]

(By the by,. Latinx? Is Latino too sexist?)

Latino is gender binary, you oppressive monster. 

[greg]

Wondering if "gender ternary" is a term that is being used yet...

[Todd]

Obama gets paid!  Bloomberg Businessweek - which in no way reflects the views of its owner; Michael Bloomberg owns media outlets that by their nature oppose him - offers this heartfelt defense in response to the mighty Tucker Carlson:

"Obama should be praised, for two reasons: first, for refusing to buy the notion that there is something inherently corrupt about delivering a paid speech; and second, for recognizing that channels of communication between finance and centrist politics continue to be important, even in this age of angry populism."

[Karl Henning]

About those brain-eating amœbæ.