Micheal Bloomberg has a soul mate in North Dakota in his fight to rid the world of fat kids.

I see NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a soul mate to help him rid the world of rotund people.

A woman in Fargo, North Dakota, said in a radio interview Tuesday morning that she plans on handing out fat letters to kids she considers “moderately obese” instead of candy this Halloween 

“I just want to send a message to the parents of kids that are really overweight,” she told Y-94. “I think it’s just really irresponsible of parents to send them out looking for free candy just ‘cause all the other kids are doing it.” 

In the letter, the woman, identified only as Cheryl, tells parents that it takes a village to raise a child. 

“I’m contributing to their health problems and really, their kids are everybody’s kids. It’s a whole village,” she told Y-94.

From The Washington Times. 

If you like old pictures and ones that tell an economic story, then check this out!

I love old pictures like this one (found HERE with others of early American time periods) for a lot of reasons, but since I am an economics teacher I found the prices of Lemonade (10 cents), Peanuts and Oranges (5 cents) the most interesting.  (Photo is of Las Vegas, Nevada in 1905)

I wondered what those prices would be in current dollars (or cents).  While not a perfect measurement, I used  inflation calculator from HERE and  determined that peanuts and oranges that cost $.05 in 1905 would cost $1.26 in 2012 and a cup of $.10 lemonade would cost $2.54 as measured in current dollars!  Seems kind of expensive and I believe would be considered "luxury goods" in 1905.  

The average wage in 1905 was $.22 per hour.  It would take 23% of hourly income to buy and orange ($.05/$.22 X 100).  Today the average wage is about $20.00 per hour. An orange costs about $.20. A worker today would spend 1% of hourly income to buy an orange ($.20/$2.00 X 100).  Perspective.  Not a perfect measure of standard of living but a reference point.

Interesting to note these items look like they are being sold by the bank itself. Makes sense. That is where the money is, literally and figuratively.