This And That

First, a little housework from yesterday's post. Ha'aretz finally published a new report in which they acknowledge that they were the outlet of the erroneous report about Israelis having been evacuated from an Amman hotel prior to the suicide bombings. While the new story shed no light on who the sources of the bad information might have been, at least the author is claiming a degree of responsibility and acknowledging the previous false report, rather than covering it up. I can respect that, but the initial report is bound to cause a lot of damage. I've seen the wingnuts on all sides in the blogosphere, and they just eat this stuff up. Another day at the office, I suppose.

And now for something completely different. Here is a quintessential Canadian crime story. Ladies and gentlemen, there's a bankrobber on the loose, and he's...unarmed and polite. He's clean shaven, waits his turn in line, and presents his demands to the teller on a recipe card. I swear, even the creators of Dudley Do-Right couldn't come up with this stuff. It should be a source of pride that Canada produces a kinder, gentler type of criminal. We help little old ladies across the street before stealing their purses. We ladle out soup at the mission while embezzling its money. We advertise in Quebec for national unity before...well, you know the rest. Al Capone once said, "You can get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than a kind word alone." The Recipe Card Bandit has proven him wrong.

UPDATE: I got an e-mail from my sister that seems to fit right in with the theme of this post, so I'll include it here:

GOOD: An Alberta policeman had a perfect spot to watch for speeders, but wasn't getting many. Then he discovered the problem - a 12-year-old boy was standing up the road with a hand painted sign, which read "RADAR TRAP AHEAD". The officer then found a young accomplice down the road with a sign reading "TIPS" and a bucket full of money. (And we used to just sell lemonade!)

BETTER: A motorist was mailed a picture of his car speeding through an automated radar post in Edmonton, AB. A $40 speeding ticket was included. Being cute, he sent the police department a picture of $40. The police responded with another mailed photo of handcuffs.

BEST: A young woman was pulled over for speeding. As the Saskatchewan R.C.M.P.Officer walked to her car window, flipping open his ticket book, she said, "I bet you are going to sell me a ticket to the R.C.M.P. Ball." "He replied, "Ma'am, Saskatchewan R.C.M.P. don't have balls."There was a moment of silence while she smiled, and he realized what he'd just said. He then closed his book, got back in his patrol car and drove off. She was laughing too hard to start her car.