XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Dog 'drives tractor' onto highway... -

Dog 'drives tractor' onto highway...  - 



Delays were caused on a busy stretch of the M74 motorway after reports of a dog "taking control of a tractor".
The incident - highlighted on Twitter by Traffic Scotland - took place at J13 at Abington, South Lanarkshire.
It later emerged that a sheepdog called Don, owned by farmer Tom Hamilton, had leaned on the controls of his utility vehicle, taking it on to the road.
Police and Mr Hamilton later recovered Don, who was unhurt, and the vehicle, from the central reservation.
Mr Hamilton told BBC Scotland that he was out on his off road pick up checking lambs in a field above the M74 near Abington.
Farmer relieved
As always he was accompanied by his Collie sheepdog Don, who was sitting beside him in the passenger seat.
Don the sheepdog
Don escaped with little more than a fright
While Mr Hamilton was examining a lamb he turned round to see the Gator utility vehicle crashing through the fence and heading down an embankment on to the northbound lane of the M74 with Don still sitting in it.
The vehicle stopped after hitting the central barrier, smashing the windscreen.
Mr Hamilton said he feared that he had not pulled the handbrake properly and was extremely relieved that no drivers were hurt.
The farmer was also relieved that Don escaped with little more than a fright.
The episode caused a stir on social media when it was reported by Traffic Scotland at about 08:45 on Wednesday.
Dog puns
The transport body tweeted: "M74 (N) J13-RTC due to dog taking control of tractor... nope, not joking. Farmer and police at scene, vehicle in central res."
Shortly afterwards Traffic Scotland provided the update: "M74 (N) at J13 - Route is clear from earlier incident and dog is fine. Has to be the weirdest thing we have ever reported! No delays in area."
Police said the vehicle had gone through a fence near the motorway at about 08:15.
The incident led to plenty of dog puns as people responded to Traffic Scotland's tweets.
Tony T wrote: "Police investigating, so far no leads," while Beverley Friend added: "This is barking."
Michelle Muirhead asked: "Will the dog have points on his licence? Was he breathalysed? Did police arrest him?"

Read more - 
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-32411621

JPMorgan Chase Bans Storage of Cash in its Safety Deposit Boxes -

JPMorgan Chase Bans Storage of Cash in its Safety Deposit Boxes -



Some JPMorgan Chase customers are receiving letters informing them that the bank will no longer allow cash to be stored in safety deposit boxes.

The content of a post over on the Collectors Universe message board suggests that we may be about to see a resurgence of the old fashioned method of stuffing bank notes under the mattress.

My mother has a SDB at a Chase branch with one of my siblings as co-signers. Last week they got a letter outlining a number of changes to the lease agreement, including this:

“Contents of the box: You agree not to store any cash or coins other than those found to have a collectible value.”

Another change is that signatures will no longer be accepted to access the box. The next time they go in they have to bring two forms of ID and they will be issued a four-digit pin number that will be used to access the box then and in the future.
The letter, entitled “Updated Safe Deposit Box Lease Agreement,” was sent out to customers at the beginning of the month.

“Hide your wallets, the banksters are on the move,” warns the Economic Policy Journal.

As of last month, Chase has also instituted a new policy which, “restricts borrowers from using cash to make payments on credit cards, mortgages, equity lines, and auto loans,” writes Professor Joseph Salerno of the Mises Institute.

The news arrives on the back of comments by Citi’s Willem Buiter, who recently advocated abolishing cash altogether in order to “solve the world’s central banks’ problem with negative interest rates”.

Last month we also reported on how the Justice Department is ordering bank employees to consider calling the cops on customers who withdraw $5,000 dollars or more.

Efforts to impose restrictions on the use of cash by banks are seen by many as an attack on anonymity and an example of how financial institutions are positioning themselves to handle the fallout of the next economic crash – at the expense of customers.

According to reports which emerged last year, HSBC is now interrogating its account holders in the UK on how they earn and spend their money as well as restricting large cash withdrawals for customers from £5000 upwards.

Banks in the U.S. are also making it harder for customers to withdraw and deposit cash, with Chase imposing new capital controls that mandate identification for cash deposits and ban cash being deposited into another person’s account.

In October 2013, we also covered policy changes instituted by Chase which banned international wire transfers while restricting cash activity for business customers (both deposits and withdrawals) to a $50,000 limit per statement cycle.

Last month, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin hailed the introduction of measures set to come into force in September which will restrict French citizens from making cash payments over €1,000 euros.

Read more -
http://www.infowars.com/report-jpmorganchase-bans-storage-of-cash-in-its-safety-deposit-boxes/