KEY POINTS:
A reader is intrigued: "Surely this ad in Canvas is not suggesting that the car is aimed at those who practise the solitary vice?"
* * *
Fed up with the present financial crisis? A man claiming to be a Spanish Robin Hood reckons he tricked banks into lending him nearly ¬500,000. Enric Duran, 32, said he gave most of the money to social activists opposed to the financial system, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported. He circulated 200,000 copies of a single-issue free newspaper called Crisis showing how he had spent the past two years fooling the banks into lending him the money, which he is refusing to pay back. He said: "What could be better than robbing the ones who rob us and distributing the money among the groups which are denouncing this situation and building alternatives?"
* * *
A reader can't believe there's no system for reversing operator error at supermarkets. "Just got some shopping (less than $40) at Countdown Cambridge. Paid with bankcard. Due to checkout 'operator error', my account was charged $140 - the $100 extra as 'cashback' for cash I hadn't asked for and didn't want. The manager insisted this could not be reversed and I was made to take the cash regardless of my protests (and the unwanted increase to my overdraft)."
* * *
Quality investigative reporting in China: Just a week before the milk scandal came to light, a popular investigative reporting programme lavished praise on San Lu Group and recommended its milk powder to consumers. Weekly Quality Report hailed San Lu as an example of high quality and safe products. The series was made to dispel worries over substandard Chinese products. (Source: South China Morning Post)
* * *
What next, thunder? Surfers who steal waves from swimmers could be issued with anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) at Sennen Beach, Cornwall. Lifeguards asked police for help when surfers refused to abide by the rules. Asbos have been widely used in Britain to crack down on all sorts of "anti-social behaviour", from drinking in public to excessive noise. (Source: ananova.com)
* * *
The front yard of a house in Vancouver is a little less welcoming for pirates now. Architect Andrew Dewberry and a crew of friends spent Saturday dismantling the pirate-ship tree house he's had in his yard for two years. He said he had no choice after a court ordered it be removed for not complying with city bylaws. Dewberry had to explain the situation to his sons Jack, 9, and Sam, 7, before the tree house came down. He said, "They've had a lot of joy with the tree fort."
* * *
Today's Webpick: What's going on in the background of this sombre CNN report, outside American investment bank Lehman Brothers? Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
