Ask western policymakers how they intend to squeeze growth from their sluggish economies and most pin their hopes on higher exports. That makes exchange rates an especially sensitive topic. A weaker currency improves the competitiveness of a country by making exports cheaper. It also encourages domestic consumers to switch from expensive imports to domestic goods. The Economist’s exchange-rate scorecard, the Big Mac index, shows that currencies continue to be cheap in the developing world but overvalued in Europe.

The index is a lighthearted attempt to gauge how far currencies are from their fair value. It is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP), which argues that in the long run exchange rates should move to equalise the price of an identical basket of goods between two countries. Our basket consists of a single item, a Big Mac hamburger, produced in nearly 120 countries. The fair-value benchmark is the exchange rate that leaves burgers costing the same in America as elsewhere.

Asia remains the cheapest place to enjoy a burger. China’s recent decision to increase the “flexibility” of the yuan has not made much difference yet. A Big Mac costs $1.95 in China at current exchange rates, against $3.73 in America. Our index suggests that a fair-value rate would be 3.54 yuan to the dollar, compared with the current rate of 6.78. In other words the yuan is undervalued by 48%.

Other Asian currencies such as the Thai baht and the South Korean won are also undervalued. The Brazilian real is one of the few emerging-market currencies that is trading well above its Big Mac benchmark. With interest rates high—the policy rate now stands at 10.75%—Brazil has attracted lots of attention from yield-hungry investors. Burgernomics suggests that the real is overvalued by 31%.

The Big Mac numbers should be taken with a generous pinch of salt. They are not a precise predictor of currency movements. The bulk of a burger’s cost depends on local inputs such as rent and wages, which tend to be lower in poor countries. Consequently PPP comparisons are more reliable between countries with similar levels of income.

So it is particularly interesting to see that on a burger basis the euro is still overvalued when compared with many other rich-world currencies. Sovereign-debt worries and soggy growth rates have helped shift the currency towards its fair value over the past 12 months. A year ago the euro was overvalued by 29% on the burger benchmark; that figure is now down to 16%. (Britain’s currency has gone from being mildly overvalued this time last year to slightly undervalued now.) And the single currency has been moving back up again in recent weeks, on hopes that stress-test results, which were due out on July 23rd, will shore up confidence in Europe’s banking system.

Other currencies are dearer still. Investors looking for a safe place to put their money have sought refuge in the Swiss franc. Despite attempts by the Swiss central bank to stem the appreciation, the Swiss franc is overvalued by 68%. Those on the hunt for a value meal should also steer clear of Scandinavia. In Norway a Big Mac would set you back by 45 kroner or $7.20, nearly twice the cost in America.

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A couple watching whales from a sailboat got a close-up view when a southern white whale soared out of the water off Cape Town and landed on their boat, snapping the mast.

This species of whale navigates by sound and has poor eyesight meaning it may have simply not heard the sailboat, which had its motor off, The New York Post reported.

Paloma Werner said “Our boat’s engine was off and so the whale just didn’t know we were there, we were just the wrong boat, in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Ms Werner and her partner, Ralph first saw the whale in the distance and spent an hour watching it. “It appeared about 120m away from our boat and then it went under the water again. Suddenly I heard my partner shout and when I looked around, I saw the huge thing breaching on to the deck. Instinctively, I took cover as the mast came crashing down. I saw my partner, Ralph, dive for cover behind the yacht’s wheel. Then the whale slid down the side of the boat and back into the water. As soon as I realised that we were unhurt, we checked to see how much damage had been done. Luckily, we weren’t taking on water so we started the engine and headed for shore. I saw the whale reappear further away. When we got back to land, I realised how lucky we were to have survived.”

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Maybe it does not matter how we organize our health care system. Our daily lives work aggressively against anything resembling wellness. We don’t take time to manage our health, and in our pursuit of “more” we get fatter, slower, and unhealthier by the day.

Much of what the Administration calls “health reform” is actually an attempt to get our arms around this. The idea is that if you see someone concerned with your wellness regularly you might get the message and do something about it.

After dinner last night I asked myself what are the 10 biggest killers in our daily lives. Feel free to add your own, or attack any I have listed. Health reform does not need to be a government concern if we just treat ourselves a little better:

1. Restaurant portions: The secret is portion size. People eat what is put in front of them and if you buy big you eat big and you get big.
2. Long commutes: Take a 9 hour workday, add a 2-hour commute each way, and 13 hours of your day is gone. No wonder people don’t have time for exercise.
3. Stress: Stress sets up the fight-or-flight response. This is a good thing. But you can overdose on it. People do, all the time.
4. Distracted Driving: It’s not just alcohol. Phones can be just as bad. If you’re car-pooling add chatting with your fellow passengers. Your tin can is going up to 70 mph and you’re putting on lipstick?
5. Cul de Sacs: They make you drive two miles to see the people behind your fence. They force traffic into a small number of roads choked with pollution. Small wonder people don’t walk.
6. Smoke: Not just cigarettes. All kinds of smoke are deadly. The blue smoke of engine exhaust.
7. Petrol Stations: Can you find anything in a petrol station food store that’s not loaded down with rubish and/or salt? OK, beer and lottery tickets. Some sell individual bananas, but that’s about it. And in some poor areas these are the only places to buy packaged food.
8. Rageahol: TV news shows push anger like a drug. So do some other shows. We all become junkies to our anger. Even sports and religion aren’t immune.
9. Drinking alone: Man is a social animal. My old mother used to say that when your old friends die it’s God’s way of saying make new friends.
10. Denial: It’s not just a river in Egypt. Many of us deny the risks above, or will call my mention of them “nannying.” When authority figures harp on them it’s called a “nanny state.” That doesn’t make these risks any less real.

How many of these do you suffer from? Do you even know you’re suffering? Are you doing anything about them? Any you think are not real? Sure, you can say, mind your own business, but when these causes drop you and you’re uninsured my policy pays. And I can’t afford that any more.

So what are you going to do about it? Well you will be looking for the word ‘improvement’ to describe the answer and the definition of improvement is ’A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER! Then the rest is up to you.

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