does the act make breasts grow?
how could i survive when you sleep with my mothers, sisters and girlfriends?
is this the way to europe?
not behind but before me.
Ronald Page seemingly had it made when Bank of America unintentionally changed his account status, allowing the 55-year-old man to make unlimited ATM cash overdraft withdrawals.
But ABC News reports that Page, who in reality had only $300 in his checking account, used the accidental loophole to withdraw more than $1.5 million—losing it all on gambling.
And even worse for Page, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit says he is now facing 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of theft of bank funds, $1,543,104 in total between December 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009.
The glitch reportedly occurred because Page originally had a banking account with LaSalle Bank. When Bank of America acquired LaSalle, the glitch somehow occurred while the two banking institutions were transferring account information.
Page, who does not have a prior record, could have faced a steeper sentence but prosecutors said his crime was a “lapse of judgment” and placed blame with Bank of America for allowing the withdrawals to take place.
In addition to the recommended 15-month sentence and order to repay the funds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has suggested that Page be prohibited from gambling in any capacity.
“If his gambling addiction is not addressed, he is very likely to cause further financial hardship to himself and his family,” the memorandum reads.
The day the Bank of America glitch went into effect, Page reportedly withdrew $312,000 from ATMs at the Greektown Casino in Detroit and an additional $51,727 from the MGM Grand Casino. Bank of America placed a hold on his account 17 days later, but he had already withdrawn $1.5 million by that point.
It seems that all the people got off this flight safely. That’s sort of shocking, isn’t it?
I write in The Survivors Club about the “myth of hopelessness.” People think that all plane crashes are fatal. That’s because of TWA 800 and Egypt Air and ValuJet and Pan Am 103 and all these other flight names and numbers that are emblazoned in our mind because everybody died. But in fact, if you look at the last two major incidents involving passenger jets in the United States, in Denver and now this one — I’m assuming from the CNN reporting that they think everyone is safe — but in both of the major incidents, the plane that went off the runway in Denver and this incident, you’ve got very, very high survival rates: 100% in Denver — with some injuries, obviously — and what looks like 100% here. People generally believe that no one survives a plane crash. But according to government data, 95.7% of the passengers involved in airplane crashes categorized as accidents actually survive. Then, if you look at the most serious plane crashes, that’s a smaller number; the survival rate in the most serious kinds of accidents is 76.6%. So the point there is, when the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] analyzed all the airplane accidents between 1983 and 2000, 53,000 people were involved in those accidents, and 51,000 survived. That’s an incredibly high survival rate.
Are you surprised that all the passengers seem to have gotten off the plane so quickly?
You write in your book about attending an FAA workshop on surviving plane crashes. What were some of the most important tips that you can recall from that session?
I also pay careful attention to the safety card and the safety briefing, because every plane is different. That information is part of developing a plan, and because I know that plane crashes are survivable, I want to know what the exits are, what the equipment is. I want to know what’s under my seat. I actually reach under the seat with my hands and touch to make sure that my life jacket is actually there. So the safety briefings are very important. The FAA has done research on safety briefings, and they find that the least informed people, those that don’t pay attention to the safety briefings, are frequent fliers. They think they know all about flying and all about planes, so they get on a flight and pick up their Wall Street Journal and start e-mailing on their BlackBerrys.
The violence – some of which was sparked by church bombings over the last three Sundays – has heightened sectarian tensions in Africa‘s most populous country, which is evenly split between Christians and Muslims.
Boko Haram insurgents waged gun battles with security forces in the remote northeastern city of Damaturu, near the radical sect’s heartland, throughout Tuesday, police chief for the surrounding Yobe state Patrick Egbuniwe told Reuters.
He said 40 people were killed, 34 insurgents and six security personnel.
In separate clashes between Muslim and Christian residents of the northern city of Kaduna on Tuesday, at least 40 people were killed and 62 wounded, according to local Red Cross official Awwal Sani.
His organisation was helping collect bodies and treat the wounded, following riots in which Muslim youths fired AK-47 rifles, burned tyres and destroyed a church in Kaduna.
The riots came two days after after Christian youths went on the rampage, killing 52 people in the city, itself retaliation for the bombing of three churches by suspected Islamists on Sundat that killed 19 people.
Residents said the violence in both cities, hundreds of kilometres (miles) apart, had died down on Wednesday.
Pope Benedict repeated his concerns about the sectarian killings, using his weekly general audience on Wednesday to appeal for an immediate end to “terrorist attacks” against Christians and urging all sides to avoid reprisals.
Boko Haram says it is fighting to reinstate an ancient Islamic caliphate in the north of Africa’s top oil producer that would impose strict sharia or Islamic law. The insurgents have killed hundreds since they launched an uprising in 2009.
They mostly target security forces or authority figures but in the past year have turned their sites on Christian worshippers, attacking churches in an apparent attempt to stoke a wider sectarian conflict.
In November, 65 people were killed in attacks claimed by Boko Haram on churches, mosques and police stations in Damaturu, where security forces often clash with Islamists in gun battles.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for church attacks on the first two Sundays of this month but has yet to do so for the most recent.
Muslims and Christians that make up most of Nigeria’s 160-million population mostly live side by side in peace, but there have been occasional bouts of sectarian violence since independence from Britain in 1960.
The white jet grew closer, buzzing the top of a building and chopping a coconut tree as it descended, before finally smashing into a compound and causing the neighbourhood to erupt with a violent shake.
“We saw the plane just coming toward us like this,” said Emeka Okafor, a 41-year-old father of two who lived on the middle floor of a two-storey residential building badly damaged in the crash.
The crash on Sunday afternoon of a Dana Air MD83 passenger plane on the northern outskirts of Nigeria’s largest city of Lagos killed at least 159 people, making it one of the worst air disasters in a country that has had more than its share.
Nigeria has grounded domestic airline Dana while an investigation continues, with questions swirling over what caused the crash of the 22-year-old plane.
The country’s civil aviation chief has said the flight reported both of its engines having failed before crashing.
Residents of the neighbourhood where it plunged described a surreal set of events in the city of around 15 million, with some saying they had no idea what had hit, but knew they had to run, seeing flames, smoke and destruction as they did.
The plane with 153 people on board ploughed into a church, a house, a textbook warehouse and a two-storey apartment block that was home to 40 people, including Okafor, who made it out with his family.
Six people from the now demolished apartment block – four residents and two visitors – have so far been confirmed dead.
Some in the neighbourhood speculated that the pilot may have been aiming for a small, overgrown lot just beyond the chopped coconut tree and across from where he crashed. They wondered if he hoped crash-landing there would save lives.
The crash happened as Nigeria’s national football team was set to play a World Cup qualifying match against Namibia in the southeastern city of Calabar, and many residents were readying to watch it on television.
Chinyere Peace Eweh, a 37-year-old mother of three, lived on the top floor of the building, but was at Bible study with her children and husband at the time of the crash. A friend called her to say that her flat was on fire.
“This is the only thing I have – and my Bible,” she said, pointing to her clothes.
As residents were still trying to piece together what happened, chaos broke out at the crash site as thousands rushed into the area.
Some helped by directing fire hoses into the site, with masses of arms holding the lines above their heads, but others simply added to the confusion, while some even looted.
Authorities responded with whips to clear the crowd and rocks flew through the air. A helicopter tried to land and provoked pandemonium, while rescue workers faced difficulties accessing the scene.
By Tuesday, at least 150 bodies had been recovered, including a woman clutching her daughter.
Many of the human remains were unrecognisable, and rescue officials say DNA testing will be used with the help of international partners.