I hate it when my brain does this, so please help me out.
In a cartoon in a local weekly one of the characters said “G. Bush Jr. Is going to release 10,000 balloons (something like that) at the republican convention. That’s 25% more than the democrats, and 100% more than Ralph Nader.”
Ok, does this mean that the demos are going to release 7,500? And how many is Nader going to release?
Twenty-five percent more than 7,500 is 9,375. Twenty-five percent more than zero is zero.
Damn, I thought I finally had this down. 
Too much coffee, that’s it.
Peace,
mangeorge
100% more then Ralph Nader is easy, that’s twice as many, so Ralph Nader is releasing 5000.
1.25x=10000
therefore
x=10000/1.25 = 10000*4/5
8000
Get a lot of practice with this after explaining U.S./Canadian currency conversion to people who seem to think that you always divide/multiply by the same 2/3 or 3/4 or whatever the current value is…
Condsidering its a cartoon, I would imagine that Nader is releasing none and they didn’t bother getting the math right.
Kyberneticist got the math right, but I think Nanook of the North Shore has the correct answer. The joke works better if you don’tdo the math right. Another example where the humor works better if you don’t do the math right: “I saw a book that tells how to get your work done in half the time. I’m gonna read it twice!”
Yep. If Nader were releasing 100% fewer, Nader would be releasing no balloons. If Bush were releasing 100% more than Nader, Nader would be releasing 5 000.
picmr