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british%20is%20better.gif From a BBC article, here are some crazy British laws that were never repealed:

It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament

It could be regarded an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen’s image upside-down.

Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned.

In the UK, a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants.

The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen.

It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing.

It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour.

Absobloodylootely barmy! To read the rest of the article, click here.

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What’s the latest vanity plate to be retroactively deemed offensive? Hailing from the great state of New York, the newly banned plate is “GETOSAMA.” The plate was issued to retired NYPD sergeant Arno Herwerth, and he is pissed! Said Mr. Herwerth:

This is unbelievable… It’s unpatriotic and absolutely disgusts me that anyone would consider that in any way offensive other than if you’re a member of al Qaeda… You look back at Pearl Harbor and WWII and you wonder, would they be offended by, ‘Get Hitler’?

Hitler and Pearl Harbor? That must make anyone of a certain age think of this truly classic clip from “Animal House” during which Bluto asks “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
You can read more (a fair amount) about the plates and Mr. Herwerth here.

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At an “Arrive Alive” road safety briefing, before an audience, in an apparent attempt to really drive the point home, Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom included two pictures he really shouldn’t have: one of a headless body, the other of the head. The family of the victim (a 40-year-old father of three) was horrified, and filed a complaint. So what do you think the Police Complaints Commission concluded? The report was 84 pages! They concluded that no rules were broken. To his credit, the Chief said:

I bitterly regret the distress my actions have caused.

I think I was stupid – a single bad decision, taken in haste, with wholly unintended consequences.

It was an error of judgment and one I will not repeat.

But, to his discredit [?], the Chief also said:

I placed too much trust in the behaviour and integrity of journalists.

So much for fully accepting responsibility. You can read more (a little) here.

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golfer.gif Irish dockworker Denis McKenna must really love his sister. He was always making the ultimate sacrifice of missing work to take her to the doctor. Only one problem – he was seen wearing a “golf jumper” when he was supposed to be taking his sister to the doctor. So a private investigator was hired. A few months later, McKenna told his supervisor he had to take his sister to the doctor. The next morning, another boss was waiting outside McKenna’s home when he saw him … put his golf clubs in the trunk and take off.

This fellow followed McKenna to the club, approached him on the second tee, and told hm to enjoy his game. Now, having been caught, McKenna must have gone back to work, right? Nope. His car was still in the club’s parking lot at 3:00! So the next day, he was fired. (This wasn’t the first time McKenna missed work to “look after his sister,” and his boss and co-workers were tired of it.)

So McKenna was canned the next day. And he fought it. And he … won! Why? Because he said his sister had indeed been set to go to the doctor’s, but changed her mind! [Okay, so he couldn’t have gone to work in the morning, once his sister “changed her mind?”] And the tribunal said the company failed to provide McKenna with an appeal against his dismissal. For his troubles, McKenna was awarded €1,000 ($2,100 US)!

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death_by_cyberbully.gifMegan, a 13-year-old St. Louis girl, was being harassed online. Turns out the 16-year-old harasser, “Josh Evans,” who initiated things by contacting Megan on MySpace, was the creation of the parents of Megan’s former best friend. Over the course of 6 weeks, “Josh” said some nasty things, including that Megan was “fat” and a “slut.” The last posting was too much for Megan, who suffered from depression. It said: The world would be a better place without you. Soon thereafter, Megan hung herself.

So is it a crime, what these wicked folks did to a young girl? Apparently not. Investigators are still looking for a crime a year later. Seems that the federal law enacted to prevent cyberharassing punishes direct messages, not postings. And in case you weren’t outraged enough, The Chicago Tribune reported “another neighbor as saying the parents encouraged their daughter ‘to join in the joke’ of the Josh Evans ruse. These 2 were meant for each others. On the bright side, though the paper hasn’t identified them, everyone in town knows who they are. So they will pay some price, even if not at the hands of the law.

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english%20Judge.jpg You are Sheikh Khalid Ben Abdfullah Rashid Alfawaz, you’re rich, and you’re getting a divorce in an English court. During a Hearing, here are some of the judge’s comments:

That the sheikh could choose “to depart on his flying carpet” to escape paying costs.

That the sheikh should be available to attend hearings “at this relatively fast-free time of the year.”

That he should be in court so that “every grain of sand is sifted.”

And the sheikh’s evidence was “a bit gelatinous . . . like Turkish Delight.”

What a card! The Sheikh was not amused. He asked the judge to recuse himself due to bias. When the judge refused, the Sheikh appealed and … won. He was booted from the case, and had to apologize. Not to worry, though. Lord Justice Ward threw him a bone.

No little part of my embarrassment comes from my belief that the injection of a little humour lightens the load of high emotion that so often attends litigation and I am the very last judge to criticise laughter in court. For my part I am totally convinced that [the judge’s] jokes were not meant to be racist and I unreservedly acquit the judge of any suggestion they were so intended.

Shazam! Next time I do something stupid, I want Lord Ward speaking on my behalf! To read more (a little bit) click here.

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Japanese law forbids the importing of photographs showing male genitals. Why would I know this? No, not because of a recent trip to Japan. Because, returning home from a trip abroad, Japanese publisher Takashi Asai was carrying a book of Mapplethorpe photos that he published in Japan in 1994. Under Japanese law, imported genital photos are illegal. So how did he make the book in the first place? When he brought the negatives in years ago, customs did not check them.

Mr. Asai is challenging the ban. Although he lost in the lower court, he is confident that the Supreme Court will rule in his favor. To see some of Maplethorpe’s work, click here.

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old%20man%20streaker.gifCall Guinness Book. At least I’ve not read about an older streaker. As reported in the Irish Independent:

Police in Duisburg, Germany are becoming rather irked with a serial streaker.

They hauled him into court after he streaked during a girls’ football match. But they were rather surprised when, during the adjournment the man removed his clothes again.

It appears he views himself as a living work of art. Given that he is 60, it’s presumably abstract art.

(My sources tell me that the man received funding from President Bush’s abstinence program.)

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…deal crack! A 79-year-old New York man was arrested and charged with possessing and selling crack cocaine out of his apartment. As reported at WNYT.com, Charles Ritchie “is part of a mid-level drug ring with clients spanning Southern Albany and Greene Counties. The operation has been going on, report police, for at least two years.” What does Ritchie say? “I don’t deal.” What do the neighbors say? “He’s such a nice, quiet man …” No, not this time. Said neighbor Stephen Pelletier:

People coming in and out at like 2:00, 3:00 o’clock in the morning. I get up and go to work at 4:00 in the morning. There was people in and out all the time at that time.

For more (just a bit), click here.

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