It's absurd!

gelfling · Unread post by **gelfling** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:00 am

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7081038.stm

UK chooses 'most ludicrous laws'

A little-known law which prohibits people dying while in the Houses of Parliament has been voted the UK's most ludicrous piece of legislation.
Another law which states it is treason to use a postage stamp upside down was placed in second place by those polled by UKTV Gold.

The most absurd international law was judged to be in the US state of Ohio, where it is illegal to get fish drunk.

The 3,931 people asked selected the laws from a shortlist of bizarre rules.

A total of 27% of those questioned thought the law against dying in the Houses of Parliament was the most absurd, while 7% voted for the legislation banning placing postage stamps upside down.

In third place, with 6%, came a law stating that only a clerk in a tropical fish store has permission to be topless in public in Liverpool.

Driving blindfolded

Other lesser-known laws making the top 10 included one banning eating mince pies on Christmas Day and another stating it is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour.

Almost half of those asked confessed to breaking the mince pie law, which was brought in by Oliver Cromwell in the 17th Century.

The unusual international laws on the list included legislation against naming a pig Napoleon in France, driving while wearing a blindfold in Alabama and unmarried women parachuting on a Sunday.

The Law Society last year revealed other bizarre UK laws still in existence on the statute book.

They included a ban on firing a cannon close to a dwelling house (Met Police Act 1839); a ban on the use of any slide upon ice or snow (Town Police Clauses Act 1847); and the prohibition of driving cattle through the streets of London (Metropolitan Streets Act 1867).

Dead whales

The UK's top 10 most ridiculous British laws were listed as:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27%)

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down (7%)

3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (6%)

4. Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned(5%)

5. If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter (4%)

6. In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (4%)

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen (3.5%)

8. 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 (3%)

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

10. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (2%)

False teeth

The top 10 bizarre foreign laws as voted by those polled:

1. In Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk (9%)

2. In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation (8%)

3. A male doctor in Bahrain can only examine the genitals of a woman in the reflection of a mirror (7%)

4. In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm (6%)

5. It is illegal to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle in Alabama (6%)

6. In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on a Sunday could be jailed (6%)

7. Women in Vermont must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth (6%)

8. In Milan, it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits (5%)

9. There is no age of consent in Japan (5%)

10. In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon (4%)

Toucan · Unread post by **Toucan** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:09 am

10. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (2%)

if memory server you have to shoot him through the throat for it to be legal, an di think it has to be by bow and arrow, not if he is carrying one

i really need to go to york tooled up one day and see if anyone's go the guts

Dekklen · Unread post by **Dekklen** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 9:30 am

3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (6%)

This one made me crack up and laugh so hard I made the people at my work look at me funny!

8. 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 (3%)

This one is hilarious too! How does the tax man know you really don't want him to know something or not? Couldn't you just pretend you don't mind him knowing something you really do mind him knowing? LOL!!

swalmy · Unread post by **swalmy** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:41 am

I just have two things to say:
I'm glad I don't live in indonesa and whats the address of the nearest leverpool pet store?

Aurora · Unread post by **Aurora** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 1:21 am

dang it!! I was about to post an article about the same thing, you beat me!!{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}} you win

Anach · Unread post by **Anach** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 1:53 am

I wonder how many of these are accurate

Aurora · Unread post by **Aurora** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:04 am

some Georgia laws

~It is illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body which lies in a funeral home or in a coroners office.
~Members of the state assembly cannot be ticketed for speeding while the state assembly is in session.
~Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs.
~Signs are required to be written in English.
~No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday

and in the city I live in:
~No one may tease an idiot
~Crosses may be burned on someone elseâ€™s property, so long as you have their permission
~Picnics are prohibited in graveyards
~All Indians must return to their shore of the Chattohoochee River by nightfall
~It is illegal for stores to sell corn flakes on Sunday
~It is illegal to carry a chicken by it's feet down Broadway on Sunday

Molten Prominence · Unread post by **Molten Prominence** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:06 pm

Anach wrote:I wonder how many of these are accurate

Second thing to cross my mind after "lol"

Molten Prominence · Unread post by **Molten Prominence** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:16 pm

Aurora wrote:some Georgia laws

~It is illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body which lies in a funeral home or in a coroners office.
~Members of the state assembly cannot be ticketed for speeding while the state assembly is in session.
~Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs.
~Signs are required to be written in English.
~No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday

and in the city I live in:
~No one may tease an idiot
~Crosses may be burned on someone elseâ€™s property, so long as you have their permission
~Picnics are prohibited in graveyards
~All Indians must return to their shore of the Chattohoochee River by nightfall
~It is illegal for stores to sell corn flakes on Sunday
~It is illegal to carry a chicken by it's feet down Broadway on Sunday

I hope this doesnt start some fanatic religious debate but this kind of thing always bugged the hell out of me. In a lot of these quotes there are references of "not allowed on sunday." This of course is because its a religious day. But in a country that has freedom of religion and seperation of church and state, how can they make such laws?

What if my religion was that I dont believe in religion and now I cant buy beer on sunday because its against the law? This used to really annoy me when I was a teenager and on a saturday night binge and couldnt buy more beer at 4am sunday morning.

Seems awfully hypocritcal

Anach · Unread post by **Anach** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 5:10 pm

Well almost assuming everyone in the country is religious.

Iakimo · Unread post by **Iakimo** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 5:11 pm

Molten Prominence wrote:I hope this doesnt start some fanatic religious debate but this kind of thing always bugged the hell out of me. In a lot of these quotes there are references of "not allowed on sunday." This of course is because its a religious day. But in a country that has freedom of religion and seperation of church and state, how can they make such laws?

What if my religion was that I dont believe in religion and now I cant buy beer on sunday because its against the law? This used to really annoy me when I was a teenager and on a saturday night binge and couldnt buy more beer at 4am sunday morning.

Seems awfully hypocritcal

It was because religion used to be recognized as the bedrock of a civilized society, and that absent said bedrock, people would be more inclined to do things like, oh, stroll through their high school or college campus and shoot everyone they saw.

gelfling · Unread post by **gelfling** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 5:44 pm

Koresh and others like him have consistently demonstrated otherwise. Belief in a Deity whether a single Supreme Deity or a myriad of Deity does not equate with compassion, kindness, refraining from violence nor common sense.

As for the Sunday laws, afaik these laws were made in a time when religion dominated law. In the UK certain laws are essentially retained in order to protect workers and to allow people at least one guaranteed day of relative quiet. Unfortunately that does not extend to all those folks who insist on doing DIY and noisy things around the garden on Sunday mornings. I'm all for throwing them in the stocks for a bit

Aurora · Unread post by **Aurora** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 2:28 am

I didn't mean to start a whole new subject by listing some of the dumb laws of my state and city,lol. I just thought it was funny you weren't allowed to tease an idiot and put ice cream in your back pocket, goodness.
And I don't think religion should be relied upon to make people behave, that is a just a convienant scape goat, you know, "The devil made me do it" and what not. Many people have killed because, "God told me to" I think people breaking laws or misbehaving can be attributed to mental illness, not enough hugs as a child or the wrong kind of attention when they were growing up (basically not being parented in a postitive way or having any positive role models).
Certain types of religion seem to breed fanatics or are a good hiding place for deviants because you can either blame a religion OR if you act like a good god fearing whatever, noone will ever suspect you.

eirykhi · Unread post by **eirykhi** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:30 am

Aurora
PostPosted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 1:28 am Post subject:
I didn't mean to start a whole new subject by listing some of the dumb laws of my state and city,lol. I just thought it was funny you weren't allowed to tease an idiot and put ice cream in your back pocket, goodness.
And I don't think religion should be relied upon to make people behave, that is a just a convienant scape goat, you know, "The devil made me do it" and what not. Many people have killed because, "God told me to" I think people breaking laws or misbehaving can be attributed to mental illness, not enough hugs as a child or the wrong kind of attention when they were growing up (basically not being parented in a postitive way or having any positive role models).
Certain types of religion seem to breed fanatics or are a good hiding place for deviants because you can either blame a religion OR if you act like a good god fearing whatever, noone will ever suspect you.

I agree