Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2018 February 14

= February 14 =

The late Mr Baxter's prophecies
In Lloyd George's War Memoirs we read "In his forecasts Mr Keynes made the same mistake which had brought the late Mr Baxter's prophecies into disrepute. He had been too definite in the dates for the end of the world". (Chapter XXI). Who was the late Mr Baxter? DuncanHill (talk) 01:04, 14 February 2018 (UTC)


 * This book doesn't seem to drop a first name, but suggests that the book was Louis Napoleon the Destined Monarch of the World. Searching that title provides the name Michael Paget Baxter - and a copy of the book here. Matt Deres (talk) 02:20, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Hmm, there's some info on Michael Paget Baxter here. DuncanHill (talk) 02:42, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
 * And some more here. Thanks, I'm sure that must be him. DuncanHill (talk) 02:43, 14 February 2018 (UTC) It includes the delightful line "An enthusiastic foreteller of Armageddon he unsuccessfully predicted the end of the world for no less than seven different times between 1867 and 1908. However, commentators at the time remarked that his prophetic writings were more of a hobby alongside the more serious business of social action and spreading the Gospel." DuncanHill (talk) 02:55, 14 February 2018 (UTC)


 * We have a "List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events", but there's no Baxter there... AnonMoos (talk) 02:30, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
 * There is now, I just added him. I used his 23 April 1908 prediction (which seems to be his last) from Future Wonders of Prophecy (1894). Only an Englishman would predict the end of the world on St George's Day. Alansplodge (talk) 21:32, 15 February 2018 (UTC)
 * BTW, we don't have an article on the Christian Herald which he founded in 1876 and is still going strong. Our Christian Herald article is about its now-defunct American imitator. A job for someone. Alansplodge (talk) 21:39, 15 February 2018 (UTC)

Any exemptions to the Canadian Special Economic Measures Act?
Hello. AFAIK any contravention of any international sanctions imposed under the Special Economic Measures Act in Canada is considered a hybrid criminal offence. 3½ years ago, i. e. in the summer 2014, regulations # SOR/2014-171, SOR/2014-184 & SOR/2014-195 added 5 large Russian banks, including the nationally omnipresent Sberbank & VTB Bank to the list of sanctioned entities.

1) Am I right to believe that if a Canadian citizen or permanent resident paid money to procure the services of a sanctioned bank in Russia, he or she would be considered financing new debt or securities (sections 3.1 & 3.2 respectively), technically commiting a criminal offence (which IMHO would be undoubtedly true if they received a credit card)?

2) If I'm at least partially right, are there any judicial decisions establishing any kind of exemptions for Canadian non-businesspeople, e. g. for personal or touristic consumer activity, or for transactions between Canadians and their close relatives lawfully resident in Russia? No matter if yes or no, are there any reliable sources describing the Act's flaw that I've just described?

P. S. I know that any aforementioned criminal proceedings require prior authorisation by the Attorney General and would result in a massive public outcry if initiated with respect to the said consumer activity. I'm just curious about the law's unintended overbreadth. --185.147.82.207 (talk) 20:30, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Most of this seems to be a request for legal advice. The last part of question 2 is the only thing which seems to avoid that line. There have been discussion of the problems SEMA can cause for ordinary citizens of countries targeted living in Canada before, in particular this news article [//www.pressreader.com/canada/ottawa-citizen/20120815/281835755854437] about those imposed Iran (there were some specific amendments to try and help reduce the problems ). From what I can tell it's fairly common SEMA affects major banks in a country and often has fairly similar restrictions so I wouldn't be surprised if besides Iran you can find discussions for other countries like Myanmar and Russia. Nil Einne (talk) 23:49, 14 February 2018 (UTC)