It used to be that the dollar would hold its own against ANY currency. Now, in India, even the most desperate bazaar hawkers are turning up their noses at the dollar -- and the rupee has gained 7 whole points just since Christmas.

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I'm off at a writing seminar/tourist adventure this week but my scriptorial skills have DEFINITELY gone down hill. Today's assignment was to write an essay entitled, "Compare the value of the dollar with the value of the rupee". What? Everyone knows that the dollar WAY out-performs the rupee. Give me a break! So I started googling around. And guess what I found out? In the last week alone, the exchange rate between dollars and rupees has fluctuated a lot -- and it isn't the dollar that is holding strong! On Christmas Day, the exchange rate was 49 rupees on the dollar. By January 3, 2007, however, the almight dollar was only worth 42 rupees. It is the lowly rupee that is performing the best! Am I living in the Twilight Zone or what? PS: Six years ago, before the neo-cons started messing around with our economic system, you could go anywhere in the world and people would be overjoyed to take dollars. Now even the most desperate bazaar hawker will pause and say, "You got anything else besides dollars?" PPS: I am typing this on dial-up in the middle of a Tiger Sanctuary in Rajastan. We saw a tiger yesterday! Supendous! About 15 safari vehicles pulled up as he strutted out onto the "catwalk" just like America's Next Top Model. Then he sauntered off into the bush as 153 tourists applauded like crazy. But the dial-up has no spell-check so sorry for the errors. I'm typing as fast as I can!

Authors Bio:
Stillwater is a freelance writer who hates injustice and corruption in any form but especially injustice and corruption paid for by American taxpayers. She has recently published a book entitled, "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips For Touring Today's Middle East". According to Ms. Stillwater, "It's a fabulous and entertaining book. I loved writing it. And I hope that you will love reading it too." It's available at http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719 or you can special order it at any independent bookstore.