New Ways to Watch You - Scrutiny of Your Banking Activity

Except for the timing, the recent developments by governments to monitor your banking transactions were entirely predictable. Now (March 2011) a new milestone has been passed. Financial institutions and other commercial ventures which handle money have been pressed into getting and implementing sophisticated computer programs to identify anomalous (out of the ordinary) events, and suspicious transactions. You may be surprised to learn what triggers these programs to spit out an alert. More surprising is what happens to your personal banking information when an alert is generated by the computer analysis.

It is the aim of this piece to give a crude synopsis of the systems that are being used these days. In turn, by informing, a discussion may be promoted about the public policy issues surrounding the new measures.

The legislation at the heart of this program is the federal government's Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. The full text of the consolidated version is online here: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-24.501/index.html

The government agency that administers the  rules in Canada is called FINTRAC.
A brief history of this agency, from their 2010 Annual report is online here:
http://www.fintrac.gc.ca/publications/ar/2010/1-eng.asp?a=4

Here's how it works.
The law requires those that handle money ( banks, credit unions, credit card companies, law firms, etc.) to  report to FINTRAC any suspicious transactions or events. If the money handler fails to report as required then it is open to sanctions - charges, prosecutions, fines, and other penalties not least of which is revocation of any license needed to stay in business.

In order to comply with these onerous reporting obligations, the financial institutions and others required to report have been snookered into buying and implementing fancy computer programs to analyze every individual & organization they deal with, and virtually every transaction made with a view to deciding if a specific report to FINTRAC is required. Understandably such reporters will want to err on the side of caution rather than be exposed to the penalties.

 

 

Jim,

Interesting piece, thx for passing on.

This reminds me of a rabbit hole I went down, pretty deep, a few years back.

My focus was the Canadian scene.

The catalyst for this descent was my role on the Board of a local Credit Union ( a 10 year run).

Every quarter we had to review and approve a report that was being sent to the regulator, disclosing individual transactions and account holders (identities hidden) for any transaction that was considered suspicious. We averaged a half dozen or more each quarter.

My original concern was that it was deemed essential to handle the administrative tasks by using a comprehensive, expensive, complex software package. The package did virtually all of the identifying of evil transactions. It over-classified. Routinely. Shamelessly. Without meaningful oversight (yrs truly excepted).

Worse, I later learned was what happened to this Expensive Invasive very personal data, or worse what didn't happen. Fewer than one percent of one percent of transactions (1 in 10,000) 

were passed on to a (ir)relevant agency (RCMP, RevCan, being the two most frequent.)

BTW - It is an offense under the Cdn federal legislation for any person to disclose the contents, in whole or part, of any report to FinTrac. As in: your friendly credit union is forbidden from telling the customer that her transaction has been caught in the Web. She may never know.

Presently this scandal has precious little impact on your regular Mike.

But I'll bet (need some odds) that next year FinTrac Canada will announce they have just started an AI project working with Open AI. And then, well let your imagination run wild.

otherwise,

Carry On

M

​Tagline:          These are the good old days.

 

A Sad Walk, Downtown

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November 30, 2024, a Saturday. 
A little snow on ground, more due this week. No question, winter is here for the next while.

Yesterday was Black Friday, the shopping spectacular around the continent, anticipating Christmas '24 by a month .

So, at 2pm I got out for a walk, as I try to do daily. The problem is generally, Where To? 

Downtown on a Saturday afternoon seemed like a good bet, especially since Christmas shopping should be on the agenda. Plus, I had a small list of items that would be welcome in the house. Some Cheesies snacks, a slim 3 ring binder, that sort of thing.

Just back now, and on reflection it was a sad experience.
It's not to early to say Downtown is Dead. I'd say it's probably at 20 percent functionality.
Very few pedestrians on the streets, sidewalks, or store aisles. Not much car traffic for that matter. Easy to jaywalk.

I'm a slow walker, and no one passed me in an hour of walking.

As for stores and shops, the scene was just as dismal. Some examples:
Muirheads Stationers - tho' that's no longer their name - for many decades the pre-eminent stationary and office supply sore in the region was along the path, on the main drag (Elm). Closed. Not open Sat. or Sun.

Grocery Store - subleased 1/2 space to national franchise coffee shop - for starters, though there remained an internal connection and the thought that they might share staff. The shelves were not, repeat not, empty. That's cuz each item had it's own face fronting presentation, e.g.   12 bottles of cleaning fluid took up about 6 linear feet of shelf. Contents were probably 10 percent of what one might ordinarily expect in a functioning shop like this. Might have been 2 other customers in the 400 sq.m. of floor area.

Optometrist had given up his space and had moved in with the mall Optician.

Hart Department store have given over half their space, inclusive of storefront, to some pop up like discount mess, where the goods are thrown into various waist height bins.

Pharmacy - General store with the primary entrance on the main street closed, probably contrary to their site plan. Pedestrian access is inconveniently around back, near to the parking area.

Clinic - might close early...

First School

I first went to school with my twin Maureen in the rec room of a modern house in a neighbourhood near by Marymount School when we were about 4 years old - maybe even 3.

If memory serves we were age 4 for most of Grade 1, at the original St. Thomas school, and this home based experience was obviously before that.

What surprises me is that I can have a memory of this early age.
For sure, my present memory has been influenced by recalling and even re-telling this story over the years. Still, some of the recollection seems genuine - however foggy.

Of interest to me is that the school was primarily a French language place. There was some English, but we were schooled to learn French.

There might have been 15 students or a few more. Not a big gang.

The Genius of Trump

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Well, here we are a week plus since the 2024 US federal and state elections, and to the surprise (or shock to some, mostly Democrats) Donald J.T.  prevailed over K. Harris.

I think DJT is a goof. A loud, brash, narcisistic, inconsiderate pig.
Holding these thoughts too prominently messed up a rational analysis. Could it be Trump Derangement Syndrome?

Anyways, on reflection, admittedly sometimes 'buzzed', I know figure it is best to openly acknowledge the Genius of Trump.
The guy has succeeded. He won the election. 

Trump excels at getting attention from the people. He is an Attentioneer par excellence, seemingly in command most of the time over the popular communications channels, to the dismay of his political opponents.

It is this facility at grabbing and holding Attention of the populace that is DJT's greatest attribute.
He does it like no one else before in my experience. He does it against the odds - as imagined by the political cognoscenti.

This past few days there have been a spate of announcements of DJT's new cabinet. Many appointments were not unexpected. The Home team was content, the Visitors chagrined. And while the Visitors were publicly grousing, the next move to grab attention was unfolding. 

And then the Announcement. For the ultra sensitive position of Attorney General, the prime legal adviser to the federal Government of the USA, and all its departments and agencies, DJT named nut bar Matt Goetz. Now that was attention gaining. It immediately shot up the news rotations. It was the topic of water coolers wherever one or more politically tuned-in folks gathered.

The necessary result is that Attention on all other topics diminished. The war in the Middle East. etc etc.

And then while tongues were still wagging on Goetz, DJT announces that RJKennedy Jr. would indeed be in the Cabinent as Secretary of Health ++.
Talk on Goetz diminished.
Say what you want about Attention, all must acknowledge that it is necessarily scarce (limited). Each of us only has so much Attention to give. 

to be ccontinued...

Paris 2024 - Lighting Innovations & Dressage

 Last few days I've been watching the Paris Olympics on TV.

And I have this urge to comment on the 'lighting' at special events, and various venues and facilities. 

Consider the Seine River, which was the boulevard for the Opening Day parade of athletes. Individual boats were lit up, as were artificial islands with activities (eg acrobats). And also individual performers, sitting

As for all public spectactles, the lighting (radiating or shining specific kinds of light at the intended subjects to affect the images that the viewer sees) is really relevant to the viewers subjective experience.

Anyways, I have never see such an initiative, that is as broad and intense.
Lighting innovations are visible near everywhere.

Dressage:

Jill Gougeon Irving, a 61 yr old Sudbury native who married into a billionaire family, was set to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics - Equestrian - Dressage.
Sadly for her, she had to pull out just a few days before the event.- after already arriving in Paris - with a contingent, including family and her horse Delacroix ( and perhaps a spare horse Genesis).

These human athletes must supply their own horses. And those humans also pick up the cost of the animals - training, vet bills, boarding, etc.

I was curious: How much does it cost to participate at the level of a Canadian in Olympic Dressage.
The information on Google was not clear about these costs.

While there were news items available, for instance, about the sale to Jill of her first choice horse, Delacroix 11, no price was mentioned or even hinted at. It seems these things are best kept secret.
The scuttlebutt tho' is that for an Olympic quality horse that has been well trained would sell for upwards of $100k. It has been reported that some horses are valued at over a million buckaroos.

Apart from the big money to buy the horse, training and boarding and vet bills could easily cost $20k - $50k per year.
Transporting horses and team members (of that one rider) are extras - and flying horses to Paris from New Brunswick ain't cheap.

Jill pulled her horse from the competition because she had concerns about its health. This cost her spot on the Canadian team. It was reported however that she would remain an 'Alternate' on the Canadian Paris 2024 team, with another horse of hers - Genesis. 

Takeaway: it takes real serious money to play the Dressage game at an international level.
I wouldn't recommend entering the arena without a couple million dollars in hand for the experience.
Of course, it takes much more than the money - like the time to train with the horse year round, on an almost daily basis, and importantly to maintain one's own fitness for the journey. Tis a big big commitment. But, apparently, fun.

-30-

Losing My Mind

 There. I said it. In the title. Not such an easy thing to say.
Its commonly heard, but not usually with seriosity.

Me, I'm sort of serious when I say it now.

And it occurs to me that I should record some of the thoughts and perhaps feelings, that I have on the topic.

As an aide memoire perhaps. Or an aid to others who might have similar or related experiences.

First, a little context.
I'm 72 years old, and generally in good (age appropriate) health.
I've been retired from my day job for some 18 months now.
I live solo, but have decent social connections most days.
I have kept a modest number of small projects going since retirement - that are work like, one or two of which are pro bono exercises. Increasingly I find these projects a struggle, but they do come with benefits to be sure.

Fitness and nutrition are daily preoccupations - and I find comfort in attending to these pursuits.
But I digress...

This 'losing my mind' stuff has some history to it. Well before retirement I often thought I might be experiencing some diminution in my cognitive processes.
Often this was related to calendar issues - such as thinking this day was going to involve some event, when it was actually the following day, or week. My sense of time had slightly been disordered, as in not all the necessary brain networks involving 'time' were in sync.

Happily throughout my working career, I had a backup system to help me out. Secretaries. Or clerical assistants if you will. It wasn't fail-safe by any means, but it did rescue me from numerous embarrassments almost certainly. Since retirement however, this safety net is gone. Largely I'm now my own calendar control board.

It bears noting that my 'time appreciation' neural networks  have seemed to falter more these last couple of decades than with other similarly situated folks I knew. While I could remember events like others, or almost as good, I was pretty dismal, relatively speaking, at confidently keeping events in the proper sequence.
Example: I was at a gathering. I see & say plenty. Most of which I can remember. But don't ask me if that gathering was before or after some other event (say someone's birthday celebration).

And now to the catalyst for this recording.
Wednesday was a  big day for me in some respects.
It held a recently scheduled Golf game with bro Bruce and his son Charlie, and Bruce would pick me up at 6:50 am. With my morning routine, even in the shortened format, I'd need at least an hour and a half between awaking and pickup. And that meant a wake-up that was earlier than usual.

All went well for the next few hours.
Good weather, a good outing, good company and enough successful golf shots (say one out of 5) to keep a smile on my face.
A full lunch at Overtime Grill followed - with a Ceasar.
I was beat. My back was aching - in no small part due to the bumpy cart ride that aggravated my lower vertebrae - the site of previous traumas. And my knees were hurting, due partly no doubt to the 7,000 steps I'd taken on the 18 hole course.

I got home by 2:30. Unpack and a quick tok and it was time, overdue, for a nap.
I'd been up for almost 10 hours - very unusual for my post retirement routines. These days a nap is usually in line after not more than 8 hours of standup/sit down activity.

I crashed good. Man, I 'was out cold', as they say. Total lack of consciousness, at least no memory of anything.
Obviously my body and brain were in recovery mode as was to be expected.

And in due course, consciousness returns. Not instantly of course. But it was not a prolonged exercise either.
And with the light from outside, I didn't need to turn on the bathroom light for my pee.
At about this time, the automatic morning routine kicked into gear.
Get my four meds. Prepare for a throne visit. Laptop, table, coffee, bagel and peanut butter, smokes, lighter, iPhone, and do my business including the morning online papers.

Then to the kitchen, which serves as my office - papers, and writing tools, and binders, and print calendars.
Make an entry for the day, which I note is on a new full page.
And also finish up the entry for the golf day, on which my normal routine for record keeping had been altered.

It was then that I learned that I'd messed up with the Garbage. It has to go out Wed. for an early morning pickup on Thursday. How embarrassing. To be clear my monthly calendar clearly shows Thurs as garbage day. And then I thought to myself, 'Silly goose, why do you mark the calendar on the Thursdays, when the garbage has to go out Wednesday night.' Oh well... live and learn.

As I was mentally digesting this I was sensing, osmotically perhaps, that something was amiss.
That was followed by the realization that it was quite dark outside. I could hardly see clearly across the street.
Perhaps there was some ugly storm brewing - not that I had remembered hearing of one coming.

And in the midst of this Darkness, comes the revealing Light.
It ain't morning. It's still Wednesday night.   Argggghhhh.

Those entries I had just made in my Journal. All fouled up. Situation normal. AFU SN. or as WWll vets would say SNAFU.

To me this is what 'losing my mind' conjures up.

epilogue: I wonder if I could consider this post as the first of a series entitled "Losing My Mind".
Seems like a contemporary theme. Arguably under-reported.
Lord knows I have plenty of other facets of the issue to report on. And the trend lines are obvious. And the wrong time to attend to this endeavour is after I have lost it....

The Genius Hour

 

D'you like the title of this piece?

I do.   Not so much as a title, but as a signpost of a phenomena - see 'context'.

Here's how I came to hear the phrase, its context and perhaps some examples, or better yet a plan for recording some Genius pronouncements.

 

Source: G. Kechnie during a golf round recently. G is turns out is a pot head. For which there is some external evidence in his appearance. 

Context: The Genius Hour was a reference to that period of time, familiar to all true pot heads, that the first hour after smoking up may well lead to insights / pronouncements / realizations - which at first glance are pure genius.

Its sort of a self-referential slogan - in that it is obviously a silly, exaggerated notion, that makes fun of pot heads for thinking that these first hour thoughts are somehow generally 'genius' quality. Could this be what is meant by 'irony' ?

Anywayyyys, the current genius idea I have is to try and record some of these genius notions, and the circumstances whence they arose, sort of to prove / disprove the hypothesis, and see where that leads.

I'm curious - Is there any connection between this Genius Hour stuff, and the rather well worn notion of Happy Hour at drinking places?