Normally I try to stay away from politics because it tends to bring out the protectionism in usually rational, "normal" people. However, an issue has arisen whereby U.S. authorities issued a warning about our Canadian quarter. Oh it's an evil plot to take over our neighbors to the south for sure!
Perhaps we should start at the beginning. See...back in 2004 the Canadian Mint minted nearly 30 million quarters with a pink inlaid center commemorating 117,000 of our war dead. Locally, it was known as the "poppy coin" and visually it was attractive and for we Canadians, harmless. In fact many Canadians acquired their special commemorative quarters at the revered, Tim Hortons, a well-known coffee chain with branches accross Canada. The chain is known for its extensive variety of donuts and maybe - just maybe - there could be a surversive connection between donuts and the poppy coin.
Donuts + poppy coin = Canadian spying!
It's so obvious that it's amazing that the various branches dealing with spying and subversive activities never made that connection before! When American visitors stop off for coffee at Tim Hortons, they and only they receive the infamous poppy coins PLUS a donut. Donut is consumed and ergo, unsuspecting Americans become spies for Canada.
Gimme a break!
Since the U.S. had never seen quarters of this type before, U.S. Army contractors travelling in Canada even went so far as to file confidential espionage accounts regarding this...this...spy coin. Their description included "filled with something man=made that looked like nano-technology," according to once-classified U.S. government reports and e-mails acquired by the AP.
As I wrote: gimme a break!
The so-called nano-technology was in fact a conventional protective coating applied by the Royal Canadian Mint to prevent the poppy's red color from rubbing off. According to an article in the Canadia Globe and Mail newspaper, a warning was issued by the Defence Security Service, which is an agency of the Defence Deparptment about mysterious coins with radio frequency transmitters were fund planted on U.S. contrators on at least three separate occasions between Oct. 2005 and Jan. 2006 as the contrators travelled through Canada.
It makes one wonder the intrepretation of the slogan used by the Tim Horton chain in its "roll up the rim to win" contest.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070507.wspycoins0507/BNStory/National/home
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=132748
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2007/05/07/4160366.html
Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum
No comments:
Post a Comment