In these difficult times there are a lot of people deciding to call in old debts to raise some cash. Well, a German town is trying to call in a 450-year-old debt, which could be worth trillions of euros.
The town of Mittenwalde recently discovered an IOU (debt certificate) dating back to 1562, which clearly states that the town loaned Berlin money, and if repaid, it could make this little town one of the richest in the world.
The certificated proves that Mittenwalde loaned Berlin 400 guilders, to be paid back with six percent interest per year.
The certificate has been seen before, according to historian Vera Schmidt, who says the paper has been in the town’s archives since 1962 and she firmly believes the paperwork is still valid.
The last time the document was presented was in 1893, and all parties agreed that it was genuine, however, nothing was paid at that time. The current finance senator in Berlin, Ulrich Nussbaum, who actually met with the Mayor of Mittenwalde and the above mentioned historian said: “It just goes to show that debts always catch up with you, no matter how old they are.”
With the current Euro-Zone crisis looming over the continent, it is not expected that the debt will be honoured by Berlin, as the interest etc. would leave the country destitute… much like the Ed. (Roughshod’s situation is similar sounding but starts with pro… – Shortshank)
Pigeon Pie Pupils
Off to Argentina now and a story that has been zooming around the Internet like a virus. It’s concerning a provincial official in Argentina, who has been suspended due to his proposal that low-income children should be fed pigeon meat to not only assist the poorer children in Cordoba’s population, but also counteract the huge increase in the pigeon population.
However, Cordoba Governor, Jose Manuel de la Sota, strongly denied that there were any such plans and he added that the official in question had been suspended over, “controversial statements on pigeon consumption.”
The official in question, Mr. De Allende, had said that as there are an estimated 600 million pigeons in Cordoba, that the government was putting together a program for the distribution of food and clothing to poor students in public schools and part of that program would be to serve pigeon meat in schools.
“Let’s consider that pigeons are an abundant resource, not a pest,” explained Mr. De Allende. Meanwhile the governing body in Cordoba has simply called the idea “nonsense.”
Just as a footnote… is this really a bad idea? It was a long time ago, but I can remember eating pigeon as a youngster, prepared by my grandmother and it was bloody lovely. Oh well, perhaps my ‘crisis thinking’ is just as mad as poor old Mr. De Allende’s.