View from a Rhino House: cashing-in

In spite of the US government going for a nap this week a man who pieced together the remnants of five $100 bills eaten last winter by his one-eyed dog, has received a $500 cheque from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Wayne Klinkel, a graphic designer from Helena, Montana, who works for a local newspaper, said he found Sundance (presumably the dog) had eaten the notes, left in his car while he & his wife were away having lunch, leaving one intact dollar bill & a small piece of a single $100 note.

For the next few days Klinkel followed the dog around in the snow, collecting his droppings in a plastic bag, keeping it frozen in the cold outside his house, & after a couple of weeks he thawed the dog shit in a bucket of soapy water (everyone needs a hobby).

He separated the $100 bill pieces then washed & began to assemble the tiny paper fragments.

He took the taped-together bills to a local bank & the Federal Reserve in Helena where he was directed to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Mutilated Currency Division, where he mailed the digested bills with a notarized letter on 15th April.

The Treasury Department offers reimbursement in some proven cases of damaged currency, & a standard claim takes up to 2 years to be resolved, according to the department’s (currently furloughed) website.

“When mutilated currency is submitted, a letter should be included stating the estimated value of the currency & an explanation of how the currency became mutilated,” the website says.

On Monday he received a $500 cheque in the post from the Mutilated Currency Division to replace Sundance’s dinner.

A telephone operator with the U.S. Department of Treasury on Thursday said department representatives were furloughed & unavailable for comment on Klinkel’s reimbursement.

It’s a dog’s life (if you’re lucky).

After it’s been through the guts of a dog, it still looks better than after a couple of days hanging around in Congress.

View from a Rhino House: China syndrome

As the world’s most important political beauty contest reaches a climax, a few extra security measures have been put in place to ensure there are no problems & that the wrong image is not projected either internally or overseas.

Taxi drivers have been instructed recently by their companies to remove handles from rear windows. A driver surnamed Xu said a text message from his company also advised him to keep the windows closed when his taxi passes by Tiananmen Square.

Citizens with complaints have also been the subject of “advice” to taxi drivers, “We were asked not to take petitioners to government buildings, but we should take them straight to the police office instead,” said a driver, surnamed Han, adding he was told to avoid taking passengers with bags for “safety” reasons.

More than 1.5 million additional security, police & “advisory” staff have been temporarily assigned to the capital.

Censors are trawling though web sites to remove subversive content, this appears, for the moment, to have reduced broadband connection speeds to around the same as for  dial-up services.

Beijing police have banned residents from flying remote control model aircraft or launching balloons during the period of the congress, & following plenary session.

Windows of buses heading toward “political centers” must be closed to prevent the “throwing of leaflets & other issues”, according to the influential Caixin magazine, although what an “issue” is in this context is not clear.

Authorities have for the next month banned the words “death”, “die” or “down” from songs on television. Music composer Gao Xiaosong wrote on his blog the words were deemed “unlucky”.

The Beijing Homing Pigeon Association said in an online notice that two annual races, originally scheduled for the period of the congress, would be postponed until December. It did not say why.

I feel safer already.

Banged-up for the duration….