Tuesday 9 June 2015

Videos and Belgians

First, the videos.

This is a sort of animated infographic illustrating the numbers of people who died in the Second World War. It's well worth watching.

This is a video which you do not need to watch, but you might want to know exists. Here's the description: "Kinder Surprise Eggs are extremely popular around the world, but illegal to sell in the US due to small toy parts which the FDA says could be a choking hazard. ... We got a case and unwrapped each one to see what fun surprises were inside!" Seriously. A video of the toys from Kinder Eggs being revealed, to provide an illicit (but frankly very minor) thrill.

And then this: "This woman took a photo of herself every single day for a week, and the results will blow you away!"That's ClickHole's "moving testament to life’s impermanence".

So what about the Belgians? Well, the Low Countries seem to have got the most fun out of the Euro. I brought you the chap in the Netherlands who built the imaginary bridges on the notes, and here is Belgium's contribution to the party.

"Belgium on Monday began minting €2.50 coins marking the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's defeat of at the Battle of Waterloo, after France forced it to scrap a two-euro coin made for the same purpose.

Paris objected to the new Belgian coin, commemorating the French emperor's defeat by British and Prussian forces, earlier this year, saying it would create tensions at a time when Europe's unity is under threat.

Belgium was forced to get scrap about 180,000 two-euro coins that had already been minted after Paris sent a letter saying they could cause an "unfavourable reaction in France".

But Belgium has managed to skirt the French protests using a rule that allows eurozone countries to unilaterally issue coins if they are in an irregular denomination - in this case, €2.50.
"

The bit that puzzled me was this: "Sold in special plastic bags priced at six euros... " How many coins in one of those bags? Is it great value for 3 or pretty poor for 2? Or are the bags €6 each and the coins extra? 

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