Flash! From the Fjord Newsdesk! ! !...

Can someone...anyone explain this to me??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4333379.stm

Kyujiro Kaneoka was believed to have been alive, aged 107, and was named as Itami's oldest man six years ago.

The mayor visited his house every year but his family refused to let the him in, saying the man was bedridden.

Riiiight. You've got the Mayor to visit for the last 6 to 10 years, and you stall him with the 'ole, "He's to weak to get out of bed" routine. I think I know of a Mayor who probably shouldn't be dispensing gifts...if you get my drift.

Well, here's the kicker...

"The body was wearing a clean kimono. He is believed to be dead for five to 10 years. We are talking to his family members why they kept him like this," an official told the AFP news agency.


Well, either the family was made up entirely of completely stupid idiot morons...or, they realized they had a good thing going...

An official with the Itami city hall told the AFP news agency that the city was considering asking Kaneoka's family to return gifts it had received since 1999 as a token of the man's longevity.

"Every year we gave the family 30,000 yen ($288; £150) and a cashmere blanket worth 20,000 yen ($192; £100)," the official said.

I don't know what kind of standard of living they have in the Itami province, but there are plenty of places in the world you could live off off $480 bucks a year. I mean, thru UNICEF or some other agency, they can feed a child for like 32 cents! Over the course of the last six years, these guys just got a free $2080 dollars! If it's 10 years the guy's actually been dead, that's near 5-grand! Get yerself some Microsoft stock at 1999 prices, you're one rich undertaker who never quite got around to doing the job.