Would-be robber asks bank how to do it

TOKYO (Reuters) – A would-be Japanese bank robber asked staff how he should carry out the crime before meekly obeying a request to leave and then accidentally stabbing himself in the leg with a knife he was carrying.

The 58-year-old unemployed man went into a branch of the Saitama Resona Bank in the town of Kumagaya, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday, intending to rob it, a police spokesman said.

According to local media reports the man first asked a bank teller, "Any idea how you rob a bank?" The teller alerted another member of staff, who asked the man to leave.

"He left quietly when asked to," the police spokesman said.

Man accused of trying to rob bank with fake bomb

MESA,AR – Police said they arrested a 46-year-old Apache Junction man Monday after he used a simulated explosive device to rob a Bank of America branch at Southern and Power roads.

The suspect, whose name was not released, entered the bank about 3:20 p.m., told an employee and manager that he had a bomb and demanded cash, said Holly Hosac, a Mesa police spokeswoman.

There were about 30 people inside the bank when the suspect went behind the teller counter and shoved cash into a duffel bag. Meanwhile, a silent alarm and calls from people inside the bank alerted police.

And finally, someone has the right(?) approach to it! Read on..

Polite robber has recipe for success?

TORONTO (Reuters) – A Canadian bank robber, who politely presents a hold-up note on a recipe card, has hit 29 banks in four months, police said on Thursday.

The unidentified man is the main suspect behind two bank heists in Toronto on Wednesday and 27 other robberies in the region since August.

The suspect waits his turn in line and, once at the teller, quietly makes his intentions known on a recipe card. He has never shown a gun.

The clean-shaven robber, who looks around 30 years old, usually wears a baseball cap and sometimes sunglasses.

On the local front, a bank guard thought up of a novel idea to rob the bank he guarded. At nite, he called up his buddies, and they sat inside the bank after disabling the camera's. They waited till morning, where the guard let in the staff one by one till they were all there, all the while keeping the shutters down, and turned away customer's saying they were having an inspection or something.. the manager steps in, they take make him open the locker, and get away with all the cash in the bank. Now that's using their brains.

Im quoting some passages below, for the complete post visit his blog here.

Einstein’s great insight was assuming reality was not fixed, and
that everything was relative to the observer. If the observer moves at
nearly the speed of light, not only does reality appear different, it
actually IS different. You would literally age at a different rate than
your twin that stayed in place relative to you. We don’t notice the
differences in our tiny, slow-moving life. But it’s there. The universe
simply doesn’t exist as a single objective reality. It’s smeared all
over the place.

I have extended that thinking to people. Let’s imagine for the sake
of my new theory that people are always rational within their own
reality. It only seems as if they are not because we all live in our
own bubble of reality, with our own rules of what makes sense. Within
any given bubble, everything is perfectly rational and logical and all
the dots connect. It’s only when you try to send an argument from one
bubble to another that the logic breaks down.

In my theory, it could be completely true for a Muslim that Allah
exists in that individual’s bubble of reality, and completely true for
the infidel skeptic that Allah doesn’t exist in his bubble. This is an
extension of the old argument about whether people perceive the color
red the same. For all practical purposes it doesn’t matter for
questions of color because we’re all happy with our own perceptions and
we can’t see what other people see. But for questions of God, it
matters, because when you describe the reasons for your belief, and
those reasons leave your bubble, they arrive as complete nonsense when
they enter my bubble. And if I feel the need to point that out, you
might feel the need to bore me or kill me.

Now you know what a bubble of thought is.. think about it, and let me know how different (or similar) the views expressed in this post are from your own bubble.

The Prophetess (another pakistani blogger) posted this on her blog A Lust For Life sometime earlier titled "Kulsoom & CPLC: Beating Harrasment Together!" which i'd like to share with everyone. She describes how, together with the Citizen Police Liason Committee (CPLC), she thwarted a very incessant and irritating caller from harassing her by calling her at all times of day / night.

I'll quote some passages from her post here, for the entire thing, please visit her blog.

I called up Rescue 115. The dispatcher on the other side was ready for
gun & smoke action. He was disappointed at the report; but I
persisted for help. He asked me to get to CPLC – Citizen Police Liaison
Committee. I called 17 and got CPLC’s contact. Then I called CPLC –
never getting tired of the trail.

The CPLC told me they indeed deal with matters of harassment, and the process was to make a written complaint. I got their web address,
and got on to beat crime together. Using the contact form, I sent an
email with accurate details (misreporting is serious, and just below
ethics). Within about ten minutes, I got a call from a gentleman who
surveyed the situation. He has told me to send in a written application
which will be used to send a verified complaint to the cellular network
of the harasser. We briefly discussed the harassment situation in
general. He told me that in cases similar to mine, they would normally
give a warning call from CPLC to the guilty party. Failing heed, the
party’s phone would be blocked. If there was actual threat (i.e. the
caller made a threat to life, honor, money, etc.) it would be dealt
with accordingly. I didn’t press for details on this one.

Shortly
afterwards, I got an apology on SMS [from the harrasser]: suddenly I was Dear Sister, and
not Kulsoom. I replied that he must explain to the police who’d be very
interested in the details. He called, and it was a near whimper that he
pleaded in. It was not him, but his friend, he explained

There are two things i've been meaning to blog about, which i havent been able to get pictures of so they've been delayed. I still dont have pictures, but what the hell.. i'll just write the thousand words instead! haha.

They both concern ad wars here in karachi, the first being between chips manufacturers. After the success of the Lay's marketting campaign (didnt Zee TV and Star Network have a hand in that?) many new chips manufacturers have entered the market with their definately foriegn-sounding products trying to capture the appetites of the junk-food generation. The competiting products are Kurliez (from Snackcity), Veezo (dont know who owns this brand, but they've been sponsoring Traffic police signs too) and Kryzo. Havent tried any of them (im a biscuit person. lol) but lets see if they'll have any success. Karachi is literally littered (pun intended) with billboards of these three chips.

The second concerns ad's for tv stations, in which without a doubt TV One is going far far ahead (since their parent company owns half the billboards in karachi i think) with ARY Digital network in tow, and being followed up by Indus and Geo. There was this wonderful board about this new drama, i forget the name of which, by Geo, made really artistically.

Just when you think things cant get any worse… they DO! (stupid murphy!) I almost had a bashing at work today… i blogged about that two posts ago… needed to get it out of my system…. then about an hour ago.. my brother calls up and says “im in trouble! the car wont start! What sort of a mess heap do you have here” (aargghh!) so i tell him ways to troubleshoot the problem, and he goes on his way… then my mother calls up and says “thank you very much! you didnt put water in the car radiator again and my car overheated!! what sort of a idiot person are you! why cant you remember even such a little thing!!!!” there! that has officially sent my week down to hell! now i welcome more tensions at home since my mom would refuse to talk to me and just fall short of disowning me because i forgot! She doesnt give her car to me to go get fixed… and then complains that its not fixed!! what the hell am i supposed to do!!!!! P.S. i know it was said in a fit of anger, but u dont know my mom…

Today.. the devil really is on a roll (6/6/6) !!! I just cant wait to get it over with! wonder what’ll happen next? Honestly.. i’ll be looking out for an anvil or a piano to fall over me ~!

First 300 persons will be accommodated on “first come first served basis”

That was a sigh of relief! The relief which comes when something you know is going to happen finally happens.. and your done with it. For many, its an upcoming deadline or upcoming exams… for me, it was being berated by my boss! LoL! funny thing to anticipate no? He’s a nice guy and generally gives me a lot of leeway.

My problem is i cant get to office on time… and am typically 1 hour late everyday… my boss on the other hand, gets in 15 minutes early. (how!!!???). Anyhew’s… i was waiting everyday to have an earful about my coming to office habits, and everyday i used to setup a whole list of excuses that i would give him… only to take the excuses back home with me (did i mention my boss is a nice guy?).

My excuses are as follows

• My brother, who typically takes an hour to get ready in the morning (i.e. just to wash up and put on clothes!) So im usually ready to head on to the office at 8:45… and then have to wait around for my brother till 9:45 cuz we go together (if i dont take him, he doesnt go2 uni.. its weird i know, but that kid would rather sleep than go2 class by bus!), i get dropped to office while he goes onto his university.. and it takes about half an hour to get to the office.
• Then the other excuse, which is true somedays, is that i have to do certain things around the house before i leave… since my dad’s not in the city, and im the ‘man of the house’.
• Another one (which is not really an excuse as it a reason), i get late due to having breakfast!
• And last but not the least excuse, i woke up late because of <enter suitable reason here, out partying, taken medicine, attending a shadi etc.>.

So today, i walk in at 10:30, since i had to wait for my brother to get ready, and here’s what my boss had to say

• Boss:”Did you sit here late last night?
• Me: “No, i left at 7″
• Boss:”Then? Why are you late? I dont understand what your taking liberty off!”
• Me: <Head down in shame> “…..”
• Boss: “You come late on mondays and you will never come on time then.. okay fine.. but why the rest of the week”
• Me: <Head still down> “……”
• Boss: “You have to do something about this! and i mean SOON!”
• Me: <Slightly raise head to gauge boss’s mood, he’s not fuming….> “yes, sir”
• Boss: “Now lets get down to business…”
• Day starts….

So now that i’ve gotten that over with, i feel a lot better, i was waiting for this to happen for atleast two weeks….. Im thinking of making my brother take the bus a couple of times (muhahaha), maybe then he’ll get ready on time(?) As for waking up late……. i need a MEAN alarm clock!!

So what are you gonna do to remember it? Me? Absolutely nothing! HaHa. I’ll maybe do something different tomorrow.. who know’s.. one of those spur of the moment things..

Funny story though, i rem the date of 8th August (8th month) 88. Because thats the day the doorbell of my grandfather’s house went bezerk and started ringing on its own. Such an ordinary thing to happen.. two wires fused together cuz of over heating.. but what was so funny was… that it happened on 8 / 8 / 88 at 8 PM ! LoL