In one of history's most absurd acts of totalitarianism, China banned
Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government
permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration
for Religious Affairs in 2007, the law, which strictly stipulates the
procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to
institutionalize management of reincarnation."
(Link)
Yellow margarine is illegal in Missouri, US.
Did you know that if you buy yellow margarine in Missouri you're
committing a crime? A 19th century state law banned the sale of yellow
margarine, though "it's been years since any violator was ordered to
spread them." Most of Missouri's restrictions on imitation butter date
to 1895, and they were last amended in 1939. Although the state no
longer enforces them, the penalties could still make dealers in
contraband dairy product toast: up to a month in jail and a $100 fine
for first-time offenders and six months in jail and a $500 fine for
repeat offenders.
Enforcement of the law falls to the state
Agriculture Department, and officials there didn't know when someone was
last prosecuted under it. Case records from the late 19th and early
20th century show that Missouri courts upheld the constitutionality of
the restrictions in several appeals. Agriculture Department spokeswoman
Misti Preston said it's likely that the Legislature restricted margarine
and other imitation butter products to protect Missouri's dairy
industry, which was a key business for the state in the early 20th
century.
(Link | Photo)
It's illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament in England
The reason people are banned from dying in parliament is that it is a
Royal palace. Anyone who dies there is technically entitled to a state
funeral. So if they see you looking a bit sick they carry you out
quickly. However, a spokesman for the House of Commons said: "The people
who know about these things here say there is no basis for such a law,
not to say it does not exist somewhere in writing."
(Link)
Brazilian men allowed to return non-virgin brides
You could expect it in a Muslim country, but actually in Brazil, the
country famous for its hot carnivals, from 1916 until 2002, men were
able to obtain an annulment up to ten days after the wedding if they
discovered that their wife was not a virgin before marriage. I bet
Brazillian men probably expected that these fine ladies stamped in Rio's
postcard were all virgins. (By the way, a recently law in Brazil has
forbidden Brazilian postcards featuring women in bikini, shame on them) .
(Link)
It's illegal to sell sex toys in the state of Alabama
In Alabama, the justice is not only blind but sexually frustrated.
Alabama's anti-obscenity law, enacted in 1998, bans the distribution of
"any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation
of human genital organs for anything of pecuniary value." The law does
not ban the possession of sex toys; residents may legally purchase sex
toys out of state for use in Alabama. Be aware, five minutes of pleasure
can cost you a lot, since the law has strong penalties: Up to a year in
jail and a $10,000 fine for a first offense. A second offense carries a
prison sentence of one to 10 years.
(Link)
In the Netherlands, you are allowed to smoke cannabis but not tobacco (in public places)
The bizarre Dutch policy of allowing smokers to puff away on pure
cannabis but not tobacco has perplexed police in the Netherlands, who
have fined a man for mixing the two substances. Zero tolerance to
tobacco smoking in Dutch cafes and restaurants is being exercised since a
ban came into force in 2008. The man was not fined for smoking a
cannabis joint but for smoking. You can smoke cannabis but not tobacco
in coffee shops. The unnamed 27-year-old man was caught lighting a hand
rolled cannabis joint during a routine police check, and fined because
officers found tobacco mixed with the soft drug.
(Link)
Carpooling is not allowed if you live in Canada
PickupPal is a Google Maps-based networking site, with about 15,000
registered users in Ontario, that helps people find carpool buddies.
Sounds pretty useful, right? Only problem is… most of the carpooling
going on at PickupPal is illegal. You see, in Ontario it is illegal to
carpool or rideshare with someone unless you meet ALL of the following
criteria:
- You can only travel from home to work (no rides to schools, hospitals, daycare, etc.)
- You cannot cross municipal boundaries (nor driving to the adjacent municipality for a GO station, TTC subway, airport, etc.)
- You must ride with the same driver each day (no exceptions, sorry).
- You must pay the driver weekly only (bring a calculator).
Ergo,
if you arrange to have your boyfriend pick up your cousin Louis at the
airport — you have broken the law. If you travel with a friend and give
her $5 for gas money — you have broken the law.
Here's an excerpt
of the current law, off the “Save PickupPal” blog: “No person shall
arrange or offer to arrange transportation of passengers by means of a
public vehicle operated by another person unless that other person is
the holder of an operating licence authorizing that other person to
perform the transportation.”
NOTE: some readers wrote to us to
tell that this is not accuratte. u are totally allowed to carpool,
those criteria must be met ONLY when you want to drive in the Carpool
Lane on major highways, such as the Don Valley Parkway in southern
Ontario. If you do not meet the criteria you mentioned, you cannot drive
in the designated carpooling lanes. You are allowed to carpool anywhere
anytime. (thanks Officer Ryan and Katie!)
(Link)
The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen
The Royal Prerogative 1324 decrees that any whale or sturgeon found on
the British coast belongs to the monarch. The law is very much still in
place, as fisherman Robert Davies found out in 2004 when he was
investigated by police in Plymouth. He had faxed the Royal Household to
tell them he had caught a sturgeon, and was told to keep it, but did not
realize it was still illegal to try and sell it.
(Link 1 | Link 2)
In Finland, traffic fines are calculated as a percentage of the offender's income
In Finland, traffic fines are calculated as a percentage of the
offender's most-recently-reported income. In January 2002, Anssi
Vanjoki, 44, a director of the Finnish telecommunications giant, Nokia,
received what is believed to be the most expensive speeding ticket ever—
$12.5 million — for driving his Harley at 75 km/h (47 mph) in a 50km/h
(31 mph) zone. Mr Vanjoki appealed the fine because his reported income
dropped significantly about five days after the incident; because of the
new data, the fine was dropped to $103,600, still the most expensive
speeding fine in history.
(Link 1 | Link 2)
In Swaziland, teenage girls were forbidden to have sex for 5 years to prevent AIDS
On June 28, 2002, King Mswati III of Swaziland, in an attempt to protect
his people from the spread of AIDS and return them to more traditional
values, passed a number of edicts. Young women were to put off sex for 5
years and to wear traditional chastity tassels as an outward display of
their sexual status. According to Swazi tradition girls under 18 should
wear blue and yellow tassels to discourage sexual advances, while older
women who are still virgins should wear red and black tassels. Also,
women were warned that any woman wearing pants could face the possible
punishment of having the pants publicly torn off by soldiers and torn to
pieces.
In 2001, the king fined himself a cow for breaking the ban by marrying again (a 17 year-old girl).
(Link 1 | Link 2 | Photo)
Tibetan monks need permission to reincarnate
