The next time you hear someone in government rather casually use a number that includes the word "billion", think about it. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend.
One advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
A billion days ago no creature walked the earth on two feet.
And a billion dollars lasts 8 hours and 20 minutes at the rate our government spends it.
~ Kaye