Today I learned...
- Thread starter Louanne Learning
- Start date
But some of the Italian restaurants are good.
Oh. I meant the "sources, please" internet language. But fair enough in context.
Also some strange laws left on the books in Rhode Island.
I think every state has some of those. Plenty of websites out there listing some of them.
Sure, I've read some of them. Not only American states but also the UK has some strange laws. They're mostly out-of-date and hardly ever enforced, or even enforceable. The police has enough to do without having to charge people with obscure and outdated laws.
Every country has strange laws. The older the country, the weirder and improbable they are. Even Australia has some. For instance, in my home state of Victoria, Australia, it is illegal to:
- engage in "fortune telling" or "palmistry" in order to defraud people;
- mow the lawn or use a vacuum cleaner before 7am or after 11pm (noise and environment laws);
- do business with pirates; and
- wear pink hot pants after midday on Sundays. ;-P
And now I have a weird mental picture of a person in pink hot pants trading with pirates, telling their fortunes, and then mowing the lawn ... at 11:01pm. You nefarious scalawag, you.
Last edited:
GoldMoon
Member
That only ~100 drones (male honey bees) are allowed in a hive with upwards of 60k worker bees (females).
And that they don't do ANYTHING the worker bees do. Their sole purpose in life is to fertilize Her Majesty, the Queen.
And come winter the worker bees kick them out because they just hang around eating and there's not enough food to go around for slackers.
And that they don't do ANYTHING the worker bees do. Their sole purpose in life is to fertilize Her Majesty, the Queen.
And come winter the worker bees kick them out because they just hang around eating and there's not enough food to go around for slackers.
Are you getting cause and effect the wrong way round?
That's still illegal in a lot of places, and can, and does result in jail time. The definition of pirate has just changed.
Good point! But I thought you were referring to the Roger Williams story, not the state itself.
Honestly? It looks like he's looking at the city and going "Meh. Is that it?"
Could be. His dumb ass founded it, so it's on him. He's up on the East Side near Brown where all the rich people live. Us downtown dirtbags have to fend for ourselves.
Fair enough. That law (about trading with pirates) was written in 1958, and makes "knowingly trading, supplying munitions, or corresponding with pirates" a serious criminal offence.
I'm just surprised that it took the Victorian Government that long to write that law. Victoria (as a state) was established as a colony in 1851, and had its own government in 1855. Its coastline is about 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles) long.
So I'm surprised that it took them almost 100 years to make a law about dealing with pirates, bootleggers, and smugglers. What took them so long?
Speaking of weird laws, the Vagrancy Act of 1966 made it illegal to pretend to tell fortunes, or practice witchcraft, sorcery or enchantment. And they kept that as law until 2005. (It's still illegal to engage in fraudulent activities while claiming to practice witchcraft or fortune-telling, of course. That comes under "fraud").
Flying a kite "to the annoyance of another person" is a crime punishable by a fine of $777. (Summary Offences Act 1966, section 4(d)).
Singing an "obscene song in a public space" is also punishable by a fine of $1,550 or two months' imprisonment. (Summary Offences Act 1966, section 17(1)(a)).
And there are others, I'm sure ...
Well ... I did some research about this story, including looking up webpages from our legal eagles, and I'm sad to say that the "hot pant" claim is fiction. There is no validity to the claim that Victorian law prohibits people from wearing hot pink hot pants on a Sunday after midday.
There is also no mandate stipulating that swimmers must wear a neck to knee swimsuit at Melbourne’s Brighton Beach ... (and I never even heard of that one before looking it up!)
However, some actual laws (according to the Hugo Law Group):
- Much to the horror of local kebab shops across the state of WA (Western Australia), it is still an offence to possess 50 kilograms of potatoes in WA. This law can be found in Section 22 of the Marketing of Potatoes Act 1946 (WA) and carries a hefty fine of $2000 for first time offenders, and $5000 for the most hardened repeat potato traffickers. Even more strange is the fact that Police have the right to stop people and/or search their vehicles if they suspect them to be in possession of 50 kilograms of potatoes.
- I brought up the pirate law before, but staying on the topic of strange coastal laws, in Western Australia people are prohibited from cleaning or collecting seabird droppings without a licence. Under Section 387 of the Criminal Code Act 1913 (WA), you may be jailed for up to a year for engaging in such heinous offences. We were unable to discover how exactly to obtain a licence to collect seabird droppings.
(The only rational explanation I can imagine for this is that seabird droppings are rich in guano, which is useful for making fertilizer, but also for making gunpowder and explosives).
Other Absurd Laws:
- In Victoria, Section 9 of the Rain-making Control Act 1967 (Vic) makes it an offence to undertake any rainmaking activities, unless you have the sufficient authority to do so.
- Pursuant to Section 48A of the Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA) it is against the law to post a lost property notice promising a reward with a ‘no questions asked’ policy.
- Similarly, it is unlawful in South Australia to intentionally obstruct or disturb a wedding ceremony or funeral – whether it is secular or religious. Accordingly, Section 7A of the Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA) specifies a punishment of $10,000 or two years in prison
- In Queensland, Section 21 of the Summary Offences Act 2005 (Qld) prohibits the false reporting, whether explicitly or implicitly, that a child has been born, a person has died, or a couple have become engaged. Punishments include upwards of $1,129 in fines or 6 months imprisonment.
- Finally, in Western Australia, Section 370 of the Criminal Code makes it illegal to steal a pigeon, but only if the pigeon is tame and located in a pigeon house or on the rightful owners land.
Now, please excuse me: it's time for my group's weekly rain-dance and guano-collection activities.
There is also no mandate stipulating that swimmers must wear a neck to knee swimsuit at Melbourne’s Brighton Beach ... (and I never even heard of that one before looking it up!)
However, some actual laws (according to the Hugo Law Group):
- Much to the horror of local kebab shops across the state of WA (Western Australia), it is still an offence to possess 50 kilograms of potatoes in WA. This law can be found in Section 22 of the Marketing of Potatoes Act 1946 (WA) and carries a hefty fine of $2000 for first time offenders, and $5000 for the most hardened repeat potato traffickers. Even more strange is the fact that Police have the right to stop people and/or search their vehicles if they suspect them to be in possession of 50 kilograms of potatoes.
- I brought up the pirate law before, but staying on the topic of strange coastal laws, in Western Australia people are prohibited from cleaning or collecting seabird droppings without a licence. Under Section 387 of the Criminal Code Act 1913 (WA), you may be jailed for up to a year for engaging in such heinous offences. We were unable to discover how exactly to obtain a licence to collect seabird droppings.
(The only rational explanation I can imagine for this is that seabird droppings are rich in guano, which is useful for making fertilizer, but also for making gunpowder and explosives).
Other Absurd Laws:
- In Victoria, Section 9 of the Rain-making Control Act 1967 (Vic) makes it an offence to undertake any rainmaking activities, unless you have the sufficient authority to do so.
- Pursuant to Section 48A of the Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA) it is against the law to post a lost property notice promising a reward with a ‘no questions asked’ policy.
- Similarly, it is unlawful in South Australia to intentionally obstruct or disturb a wedding ceremony or funeral – whether it is secular or religious. Accordingly, Section 7A of the Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA) specifies a punishment of $10,000 or two years in prison
- In Queensland, Section 21 of the Summary Offences Act 2005 (Qld) prohibits the false reporting, whether explicitly or implicitly, that a child has been born, a person has died, or a couple have become engaged. Punishments include upwards of $1,129 in fines or 6 months imprisonment.
- Finally, in Western Australia, Section 370 of the Criminal Code makes it illegal to steal a pigeon, but only if the pigeon is tame and located in a pigeon house or on the rightful owners land.
Now, please excuse me: it's time for my group's weekly rain-dance and guano-collection activities.
So I take that the line "Speak now or forever hold your peace" is deleted from the ceremony, for fear of disruption?
