A man deposited a bank draft which 48 hours later turned out to be a fake. The teller accepted the deposit and allowed the customer to withdraw some of the $1.5 million face value of the draft. [Montreal Gazette}
A court case by the National Bank of Canada to recover the monies paid out on behalf of the customer was dismissed by the judge who said the bank's employee should have been more diligent.
The bank's lawyer is horrified and plans to appeal. Claiming it's a matter of principle he says if the ruling prevails the bank "would have the burden of verifying bank drafts against the issuer."
Wow. Guess this means you can cheerfully deposit fake bank drafts in the National Bank, withdraw the money,
and walk off with the cash. At least until the appeal is heard. Wonder if anyone's told the Nigerian scammers about this potential goldmine?
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Our Tax Dollars At Work
Federal tax collectors in British Columbia downloaded over 800 pirated MP3 files of music and stored them on Canada Revenue's computers so they could listen and share the songs. [Canadian Press; Canwest News Service]
The digital music took up more than five gigabytes of space.
Gives a whole new meaning to "whistle while you work".
The digital music took up more than five gigabytes of space.
Gives a whole new meaning to "whistle while you work".
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Pissing contest?
A new, unintentional tourist attraction in Edmonton will invite men (and eventually women) to urinate in public.
Downtown businesses on Whyte Avenue, evidently a popular area for drinking, are tired of drunks relieving themselves in alleys and doorways. So they are installing open-air plastic urinals.[Montreal Gazette]
Four men can use the urinals at one time. A plastic divider will provide a semblance of privacy for the urinaters. Since they are drunk one wonders if they'd care.
No details yet on the proposed outhouses for women.
Gives a whole new meaning to the concept of being judged by one's pee-rs.
Downtown businesses on Whyte Avenue, evidently a popular area for drinking, are tired of drunks relieving themselves in alleys and doorways. So they are installing open-air plastic urinals.[Montreal Gazette]
Four men can use the urinals at one time. A plastic divider will provide a semblance of privacy for the urinaters. Since they are drunk one wonders if they'd care.
No details yet on the proposed outhouses for women.
Gives a whole new meaning to the concept of being judged by one's pee-rs.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Ethics of a Car Salesman
No Saturday shopping for a new car in Quebec. Nor Sunday for that matter. Most new car dealers in the province are closed on weekends.
When the PIE IX Dodge Chrysler dealership decided to defy the local dealers' Association and open on weekends many of the other new car dealers were outraged. They expelled the dealership that dared to put customers' convenience first.
So outraged were the dealers that they staged demonstrations to make it difficult for would-be customers to enter the premises of the open-on-weekends Dodge dealer. The protesters also jammed phone lines to the open dealership so potential buyers couldn't get through. [Montreal Gazette]
One disgruntled car salesman went too far. He called in a bomb threat. But he had to leave a message because of the phone blockage. The message carried caller ID. So the manager called that number, pretended to be someone else and got the man's name and the name of the GM dealership where he worked.
Police were notified and charges laid.
The man's boss said the guy was on sick leave.
Dah.
When the PIE IX Dodge Chrysler dealership decided to defy the local dealers' Association and open on weekends many of the other new car dealers were outraged. They expelled the dealership that dared to put customers' convenience first.
So outraged were the dealers that they staged demonstrations to make it difficult for would-be customers to enter the premises of the open-on-weekends Dodge dealer. The protesters also jammed phone lines to the open dealership so potential buyers couldn't get through. [Montreal Gazette]
One disgruntled car salesman went too far. He called in a bomb threat. But he had to leave a message because of the phone blockage. The message carried caller ID. So the manager called that number, pretended to be someone else and got the man's name and the name of the GM dealership where he worked.
Police were notified and charges laid.
The man's boss said the guy was on sick leave.
Dah.
Monday, April 30, 2007
West Coast Wackies
If you've ever wondered why our west coast people are considered somewhat wacky, here are two stories from Vancouver [courtesy the Montreal Gazette]:
A driver charged with impaired driving after his car was stopped for weaving on a freeway claimed his attention was not compromised by the 10 beers and double cocktail he'd consumed but rather because his wife was enjoying a new vibrator.
In a hopefully unrelated story, the RCMP have new orders to check inside cars that appear to have been abandoned. This followed the revelation that a dead man sat in his car on the Trans-Canada Highway (presumably on the shoulder) for 3 days despite the car being noticed and flagged by local police and the Mounties. Seems no-one looked inside the vehicle.
Just goes to show that on the West Coast cars can be hazardous to your health.
A driver charged with impaired driving after his car was stopped for weaving on a freeway claimed his attention was not compromised by the 10 beers and double cocktail he'd consumed but rather because his wife was enjoying a new vibrator.
In a hopefully unrelated story, the RCMP have new orders to check inside cars that appear to have been abandoned. This followed the revelation that a dead man sat in his car on the Trans-Canada Highway (presumably on the shoulder) for 3 days despite the car being noticed and flagged by local police and the Mounties. Seems no-one looked inside the vehicle.
Just goes to show that on the West Coast cars can be hazardous to your health.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Centenarian Won't Be Caught Napping
Saskatchewan centenarian Phyllis Perkins was excused from jury duty because serving as a juror would likely "interrupt her nap time." [Montreal Gazette]
The Saskatoon resident (born in 1903) meets the only legal requirements in that province for jury duty: being an adult and living in the judicial district.
Pity she's excused from serving. Ms Perkins might have set a whole new trend: Regular snooze time for judges and juries. Imagine what that could do for our moribund justice system.
The Saskatoon resident (born in 1903) meets the only legal requirements in that province for jury duty: being an adult and living in the judicial district.
Pity she's excused from serving. Ms Perkins might have set a whole new trend: Regular snooze time for judges and juries. Imagine what that could do for our moribund justice system.
Forget Radar Traps -- Just Use Goats
No goats on the 401 (Canada's busiest highway linking Montreal with Toronto) provided a Swiss visitor with an excuse for driving 61 km/hr over the speed limit. [Montreal Gazette]
He told police that he figured it was okay to speed because he was unlikely to hit a goat.
Hmm. Guess that driver has never seen Canada's main weapon in the fight to slow speeders: the Moose.
He told police that he figured it was okay to speed because he was unlikely to hit a goat.
Hmm. Guess that driver has never seen Canada's main weapon in the fight to slow speeders: the Moose.
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