[Am-info] The Linus spoof is nothing.....this one was expensive!

[Fred A. Miller]

Canuck Buck Struck By Ducks

World currency markets hiccupped and the Canadian dollar dropped
in value Monday when news broke on the Web that longtime Canadian
finance minister and Parliament member Paul Martin planned to
retire. Martin "will retire to a quieter life outside of the
limelight to devote greater time to his wife and to a burgeoning
hobby interest in the breeding of prize Charolais cattle and
handsome fawn runner ducks," read a report on political gossip
site Bourque.org. "It is expected that his sudden exit will rock
Official Ottawa. ... The Bank of Canada is said ready to
intervene with the Canadian dollar to stabilize it on world
markets if necessary."

The fact that the report was a rather obvious joke, complete with
hyperlinks to pictures of ducks and a page proclaiming "Happy
April Fool's Day!" didn't keep the Canadian dollar from sinking
to a one-month low, though it recovered all of that value later
in the day. "I find it kind of hard to believe that an April
Fools' joke on a Web site can affect a currency like that," says
Pierre Bourque, the author of the spoof. "I don't know if it was
a slow news day, or what." Martin's representatives did not
return calls for comment. - David M. Ewalt

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-- 
Fred A. Miller
Systems Administrator
Cornell Univ. Press Services
fm@cupserv.org, www.cupserv.org
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