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Wet behind the years : Is White van man going international?
My fellow Roamans. Apologies for what Caligula posted earlier about the Canadian van driver intentionally swerving to splashing the pedestrians in Ottawa. Caligula is rather special and I see why he only lasted four years in the purple before the Praetorian’s dispatched him. The video has been seen by over 800,000 people now and majority of comments are negative to the driver.
While it is technically not a traffic offence in Ontario, the Police public posted that they could face a mischief charge.
Faced with public embarrassment of their company van being the offending splasher, the company fired the driver.
We apologize to everyone impacted by the recent incident in Ottawa of unacceptable driving by one of our van drivers….
Posted by Black & McDonald Limited on Sunday, July 29, 2018
Ottawa’s police later tweeted that firing was good enough for them and they wouldn’t take any further action
Update on the Van Splashing Incident. I would like to thank Black & MacDonald Ottawa Div. for their quick and decisive action in this matter. The driver of this van has been terminated from the company. I would also like to thank a patrol Officer who assisted in this outcome.
— Sgt Mark Gatien (@gatienmc) July 29, 2018
So what is the law for this? In Ottawa, we mentioned that there does not seem to be one. I looked for ones in the US and didn’t see any either. However, in Britain they do appear to have such a law. According the the Daily Express article “Drivers BEWARE – Splashing a pedestrian with your car can cost you £5,000” and claims it could potentially get you 9 penalty points as well. While Express can be a bit of drama queen in it’s stories, the offence would fall under the category of driving without reasonable consideration.
One thing that struck me when I watched the video: the color of the van. Did you notice it. It was White.
In Britainnia, “White van man” is a stereotype typically perceived as a selfish, inconsiderate driver who is often aggressive. Cambridge dictionary defines it as “a man who is thought to be typical of drivers of white vans by being rude, not well educated, and having very strong, often unpleasant opinions”. So it perhaps no surprise to see White man van is going international.
On a darker side of this, there is a potential problem to drivers swerving into water like this: loosing control of a vehicle. In 2007, Terri Perdew of Denison ,Texas killed a child by intentionally driving her car though water to splash local kids. From KTEN who covered the story:
There are new developments in the death of a 14-month-old boy, who was killed when he was hit by a car in Denison. KTEN’s Kristi Branam has the update.
14 Month-old Zachary Duncan was sitting on the street curb just before seven o’clock last night, when he was hit by a car. But, it was the car’s second trip up the street that caused the accident.
Denison Police Lt. Mike Eppler said, “Evidently, when the car went by, the car turned around, driver came back with the intention of splashing the children again.”
Except this time, the car hydroplaned and struck 14 month-old Zachary Duncan and his mother.
In 2008, Perdew was sentenced to 1 year with no parole.
Trajan.
Splash and Dash
If you’ve not seen this you got to watch this video. What a boss ! I counted 4 people he splashed while driving.Hilarious.
Unfortunately, he was driving his company van and some snitch, contacted the boss’ proper boss and he got fired.
Oi Mate. If you need a job, I could always do with a driver like this. We could have hours of schadenfreude entertainment. Hours.
Cali.
When an Apple fine is rotten to the core
Go on. What harm could one apple do?
There’s the law and then there’s the law.
Some of you may have followed the headline of Crystal Tadlock who was busted by United States Customs and Border Protection for the incorrigible crime of bringing in illegal agricultural produce. You could assume that since she was coming from Paris, it was secret stash of some French onions but nope, it was an apple given to her by Delta still wrapped in the plastic with the Delta logo on it.
From ABC News:
Tadlock said she was going through Customs when she said her bag was randomly searched by an agent who found the apple inside the plastic bag it was originally handed out in that included the Delta log.
According to Tadlock, the agent asked if her trip to France was expensive, and she replied yes.
“It’s about to get a whole lot more expensive after I charge you $500,” the agent then allegedly said to Tadlock, she told KDVR.
She said she was then fined $500 and lost her global entry status.
In a statement to ABC News, Delta said, “We encourage our customers to follow U.S. Customs and Border Protection protocols.”
Furthermore:
In a statement to ABC News, CBP said “Privacy policy prohibits CBP from discussing the details of any individuals specific inspection, however all agriculture items must be declared. Prohibited items that are not declared by a passenger are confiscated and disposed of by CBP. More importantly, civil penalties may be assessed for failure to declare prohibited agricultural products and may range up to $1,000 per first-time offense for noncommercial quantities. If the items are determined to be for commercial use, violations will be assessed at a much higher rate.”
According to the CBP website, travelers must declare fruits, vegetables, plants and animal products.
At the time, Ms Tadlock said she would fight it in court.
Fast forward two months and the headline in SF Gate ” Delta passenger wins battle over a $500 apple” suggests she did indeed win in court. Except that the subline gives it away that it was her state Colorado Congressman, Ed Perlmutter, who intervened with Customs and the Department of Agriculture to get them to revoke the fine and reinstate her global entry status. It’s nice to have friend in low places.
So does this this merit a “Feed them to the lions” judgement? If this was a pattern, then I’d say yes but this sounds like an individual being overzealous. The officer should have had better judgement.
Shell shock: Woman jailed for 15 days for Conch poaching in Key West
Officer John Martino with the great Queen Conch Heist (Copyright : Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
She sells seashells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I’m sure she sells seashore shells go
I’m sure she picks seashells by the seashore that are actually live Queen Conch AND that seashore is Key West, Florida, you are in big trouble. Which is exactly what happened to Dianna Fiscal-Gonzalez, 30, a Dallas mother who got 15 days in Jail for being busted in possession of 40 Queen Conches hiding away in their seashells.
TV stations WFFA of Dallas has a bit more to the story where it interviews the brother of mollusk moll. According to the bro, Diana didn’t actually take any of the shells but took the hit for her kids.
So what is this law then? From the US fish and wildlife website:
“Queen conch was once found in high numbers in the Florida Keys but, due to a collapse in conch fisheries in the 1970s, it is now illegal to commercially or recreationally harvest queen conch in that state. The United States is responsible for the consumption of 80% of the world’s internationally traded queen conch.”
If just shells, it is ok to pick but not if they contain live Queen Conches as this makes it poaching. Got it plebs?
Back when I wore the purple in the original Rome, I once declared war on Poseidon, god of the sea, instead of invading Britain. Being the brilliant general that I am, I ordered my Legions to throw their spears into the sea. After a glorious victory, my brave soldiers collected seashells as war booty.
And what happened to me for this event? Did I get 15 days in Jail? No. I got assassinated. Blood e’ll. She got off lightly.
Cali.
Papa don’t preach : “Immature” Senior exec daughter of KAL fired by Dad
Korean Air Lines workers show their love of the Cho family [Lee Jin-Man/Associated Press]
This time her younger sister Cho Hyun-min (Emily), has caused a stink by throwing a glass of water in a man’s face at a business meeting. The Chairman of the company, Cho Yang-ho, who just happens to be her dad had to fire her. [Guardian “‘Nut rage’: Korean Air boss apologises as daughters resign]
“As chairman of Korean Air, as well as a father, I feel terrible about the immature actions of my daughters,” Cho said in a statement. “Everything is my fault and my wrongdoing. I apologise to the people.”
Cho said his two daughters would immediately step down from all positions in the company.
Seoul police said last week that they were launching a formal investigation into the younger Cho, based on the testimonies of people at the meeting.
Following the incident, the 34-year-old issued an email apology to everyone she had worked with for her behaviour, although she has denied throwing water in anyone’s face.
Dad is back in the limelight again with prosecutors seeking an arrest warrant for tax fraud [Straighttimes]. It is interesting to read that mom Lee Myung Hee, was interviewed by the police over allegations of assaulting household staff and construction workers renovating her home.
“I am sorry for causing trouble,” a bespectacled Lee said with her head lowered as she walked past throngs of journalists before entering a Seoul police office.
Lee is accused of assaulting drivers and housekeepers from her personal staff as well as construction workers renovating her home and building a Korean Air-affiliated hotel.
The alleged abuses range from cursing and screaming at employees to kicking, slapping and even throwing a pair of scissors at them.
A video that emerged last month showed a woman, reportedly Lee, shoving a female construction worker and throwing a pile of documents on the ground.
Oh dear. With all these apologies, I think I need now to apologize when I accused Emily of being the white sheep of the family by having no scandal [SEOUL AND FIRE (D) : KOREAN AIRLINE FIRES SENIOR VP OVER NUTRAGE ABUSE ]. Way to go Emily, glad to see you are living down to the bad behavior standards of your family!
Ciao (or I say Cho) for now,
Cleo.