STERLING | Pounded Below $1.23

Disclaimer

British PoundUS DollarAfghan Afghani (1927–2002)Albanian LekAlgerian DinarAngolan KwanzaArgentine PesoArmenian DramAruban FlorinAustralian DollarAzerbaijani ManatBahamian DollarBahraini DinarBangladeshi TakaBarbadian DollarBelarusian Ruble (2000-2016)Belgian FrancBelize DollarBermudan DollarBhutanese NgultrumBitcoinBolivian BolivianoBosnia-Herzegovina Convertible MarkBotswanan PulaBrazilian RealBrunei DollarBulgarian LevBurundian FrancCambodian RielCanadian DollarCape Verdean EscudoCayman Islands DollarCentral African CFA FrancCFP FrancChilean PesoChinese YuanColombian PesoComorian FrancCongolese FrancCosta Rican ColónCroatian KunaCuban Convertible PesoCzech Republic KorunaDanish KroneDjiboutian FrancDominican PesoEast Caribbean DollarEgyptian PoundEritrean NakfaEstonian KroonEthiopian BirrEuroFalkland Islands PoundFijian DollarGambian DalasiGeorgian LariGerman MarkGhanaian CediGibraltar PoundGreek DrachmaGuatemalan QuetzalGuinean FrancGuyanaese DollarHaitian GourdeHonduran LempiraHong Kong DollarHungarian ForintIcelandic KrónaIndian RupeeIndonesian RupiahIranian RialIraqi DinarIsraeli New SheqelItalian LiraJamaican DollarJapanese YenJordanian DinarKazakhstani TengeKenyan ShillingKuwaiti DinarKyrgystani SomLaotian KipLatvian LatsLebanese PoundLesotho LotiLiberian DollarLibyan DinarLithuanian LitasMacanese PatacaMacedonian DenarMalagasy AriaryMalawian KwachaMalaysian RinggitMaldivian RufiyaaMauritanian OuguiyaMauritian RupeeMexican PesoMoldovan LeuMongolian TugrikMoroccan DirhamMozambican Metical (1980–2006)Myanmar KyatNamibian DollarNepalese RupeeNetherlands Antillean GuilderNew Taiwan DollarNew Zealand DollarNicaraguan CórdobaNigerian NairaNorth Korean WonNorwegian KroneOmani RialPakistani RupeePanamanian BalboaPapua New Guinean KinaParaguayan GuaraniPeruvian Nuevo SolPhilippine PesoPolish ZlotyQatari RialRomanian LeuRussian RubleRwandan FrancSalvadoran ColónSamoan TalaSaudi RiyalSerbian DinarSeychellois RupeeSierra Leonean LeoneSingapore DollarSlovak KorunaSolomon Islands DollarSomali ShillingSouth African RandSouth Korean WonSpecial Drawing RightsSri Lankan RupeeSt. Helena PoundSudanese PoundSurinamese DollarSwazi LilangeniSwedish KronaSwiss FrancSyrian PoundSão Tomé & Príncipe DobraTajikistani SomoniTanzanian ShillingThai BahtTongan PaʻangaTrinidad & Tobago DollarTunisian DinarTurkish LiraTurkmenistani ManatUgandan ShillingUkrainian HryvniaUnited Arab Emirates DirhamUruguayan PesoUzbekistani SomVanuatu VatuVenezuelan BolívarVietnamese DongWest African CFA FrancYemeni RialZambian Kwacha (1968–2012) US DollarAfghan Afghani (1927–2002)Albanian LekAlgerian DinarAngolan KwanzaArgentine PesoArmenian DramAruban FlorinAustralian DollarAzerbaijani ManatBahamian DollarBahraini DinarBangladeshi TakaBarbadian DollarBelarusian Ruble (2000-2016)Belgian FrancBelize DollarBermudan DollarBhutanese NgultrumBitcoinBolivian BolivianoBosnia-Herzegovina Convertible MarkBotswanan PulaBrazilian RealBrunei DollarBulgarian LevBurundian FrancCambodian RielCanadian DollarCape Verdean EscudoCayman Islands DollarCentral African CFA FrancCFP FrancChilean PesoChinese YuanColombian PesoComorian FrancCongolese FrancCosta Rican ColónCroatian KunaCuban Convertible PesoCzech Republic KorunaDanish KroneDjiboutian FrancDominican PesoEast Caribbean DollarEgyptian PoundEritrean NakfaEstonian KroonEthiopian BirrEuroFalkland Islands PoundFijian DollarGambian DalasiGeorgian LariGerman MarkGhanaian CediGibraltar PoundGreek DrachmaGuatemalan QuetzalGuinean FrancGuyanaese DollarHaitian GourdeHonduran LempiraHong Kong DollarHungarian ForintIcelandic KrónaIndian RupeeIndonesian RupiahIranian RialIraqi DinarIsraeli New SheqelItalian LiraJamaican DollarJapanese YenJordanian DinarKazakhstani TengeKenyan ShillingKuwaiti DinarKyrgystani SomLaotian KipLatvian LatsLebanese PoundLesotho LotiLiberian DollarLibyan DinarLithuanian LitasMacanese PatacaMacedonian DenarMalagasy AriaryMalawian KwachaMalaysian RinggitMaldivian RufiyaaMauritanian OuguiyaMauritian RupeeMexican PesoMoldovan LeuMongolian TugrikMoroccan DirhamMozambican Metical (1980–2006)Myanmar KyatNamibian DollarNepalese RupeeNetherlands Antillean GuilderNew Taiwan DollarNew Zealand DollarNicaraguan CórdobaNigerian NairaNorth Korean WonNorwegian KroneOmani RialPakistani RupeePanamanian BalboaPapua New Guinean KinaParaguayan GuaraniPeruvian Nuevo SolPhilippine PesoPolish ZlotyQatari RialRomanian LeuRussian RubleRwandan FrancSalvadoran ColónSamoan TalaSaudi RiyalSerbian DinarSeychellois RupeeSierra Leonean LeoneSingapore DollarSlovak KorunaSolomon Islands DollarSomali ShillingSouth African RandSouth Korean WonSpecial Drawing RightsSri Lankan RupeeSt. Helena PoundSudanese PoundSurinamese DollarSwazi LilangeniSwedish KronaSwiss FrancSyrian PoundSão Tomé & Príncipe DobraTajikistani SomoniTanzanian ShillingThai BahtTongan PaʻangaTrinidad & Tobago DollarTunisian DinarTurkish LiraTurkmenistani ManatUgandan ShillingUkrainian HryvniaUnited Arab Emirates DirhamUruguayan PesoUzbekistani SomVanuatu VatuVenezuelan BolívarVietnamese DongWest African CFA FrancYemeni RialZambian Kwacha (1968–2012)

Predictions of a hard Brexit and an uptick in the US outlook have brought the pound down to $1.23 from its high near $1.70 two years ago.

This exchange-rate news is good for those in Britain being paid in dollars, like a few people I know... and bad for those in USA being paid in pounds. 

U.S. Membership in the Chemical Weapons Convention

At our brunch in support of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney yesterday, there was many questions about Syria. One question was whether and when the United States signed the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The United States signed the Convention on January 13, 1993, seven days before the end of President George H. W. Bush's term.

It came into force the first year of President Clinton's second term. The UK and USA memberships in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons came into effect the same day, April 29, 1997. They are listed by number on the OPCW website; these numbers do not reflect the order of signature.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is NOT a United Nations Agency, but operates as an independent organization in the Hague, the Netherlands. It has 189 member countries, at last count on the OPCW website. Syria is NOT one of the members.

Marriages in America – How Many Have a Foreign-Born Spouse?

There is a new report on marriage by the American Community Survey, which does interesting studies of Census data. The report focuses on native nationality of spouses. Highlights:

• Of 115 million U.S.  households in 2011, 55.5 million (48 percent) are married couples.
• Couples with at least one foreign-born spouse - one out of five.
• Couples that have one foreign-born spouse - 7 percent.
• Likelihood that the foreign-born spouse is the wife - 55 percent.

My parents were in that 7 percent category. One was foreign-born - my mother, in Holland,