Read the following text and choose:
- three laws that are surprising
- three laws that shouldn't exist anywhere in the world
- three laws that should exist everywhere in the world
RIDICULOUS LAWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
1. Interracial marriage was still illegal in Alabama in 2000.
2. Since 1986, US
authorities have had the legal right to access any 180-day old email, without a
warrant.
3. In Mobile,
Alabama, it is against the law to throw confetti or spray silly string.
4. In Saudi Arabia,
it is illegal for any woman to drive a car. Right now, it’s illegal for them to
vote too. Apparently it will become legal in 2015 (how sweet).
5. In Dubai,
extramarital sex is against the law and could result in jail sentences for over
a year. Which means that in rape cases, both the victim and the perpetrator
could end up being charged with the same crime.
6. In Saudi Arabia,
there is no minimum age for marriage. In 2008, a Saudi court refused an
8-year-old girl, who asked for a divorce from her 58-year-old husband.
7. In 29 states in the US it is legal to fire someone for being gay.
8. The only two states where divorce is illegal are the Philippines and The Vatican.
9. In Thailand
it is illegal to step on money.
10. In Singapore,
selling non-medical chewing gum or chewing normal gum is a fine of $1000. A
second offense costs $2000 and being forced to clean a public area of the city
for a day. If a person litters three times, they must clean the streets wearing
a bib that reads “I’m a litterer.” Even pharmacists who sell the medical gum
and forget to ID get two years in jail. Spitting is also illegal and can result
in arrest.
11. In July 2013 a law was passed in China that states it is illegal for adult children to not visit their
parents “often” in China. They are also required to attend to their parent’s
spiritual needs.
12. There is a law in South
Carolina called the no “mock proposal” law, which states that anybody above
the age of 16-years-old is not allowed to perform a proposal if they do not
mean it.
13. In Montana, “proxy weddings” are allowed for those serving in
the military, which means a friend can pretend to be the groom or the bride and
the union will still be considered valid. In some cases both the bride and the
groom are absent.
14. In Iowa, it is illegal for a man with a mustache to kiss a
woman in public.
15. In Britain
it is illegal to handle a salmon in suspicious circumstances.
16. In Vermont,
a wife needs the husband’s permission to wear false teeth.
17. In Britain,
it is illegal to import potatoes into England or Wales if you have reasonable
cause to believe that they are Polish.
18. In Utah you
can marry your cousin, but only if you are both over the age of 65. Because,
you know, when you turn 65 you’re known to have impeccable judgment.
19. In Britain
you are not allowed to let your pet mate with any pet form the royal house.
20. In Kentucky,
a woman cannot remarry the same man more than three times.
21. In France,
it is stated as illegal to marry a dead person.
22. In Britain,
it is illegal to carry a plank along the pavement.
23. In Britain
it is illegal to operate a cow while intoxicated.
24.In Pennsylvania,
it is illegal to tie a dollar bill to a string on the ground and pull it away
when someone tries to pick it up.
25. In Florida,
it’s illegal to fart in a public place after 6pm on a Thursday.
26.In England
it is illegal to die in the House Of Parliament, but something tells me that if
someone did do this, they wouldn’t face many repercussions?
27. By law, any whale or great Sturgeon caught in the UK is the property of the Queen.
28.In Samoa it
is illegal to forget your wife’s birthday.
29.In Britain,
oddly enough it is illegal to be drunk in the pub.
30. In Missouri
it is illegal to drive with an uncaged bear
31. In Turin,
Italy, dog owners must take their dogs on a walk at least three times a day.
32. In Honolulu,
Hawaii it is illegal to sing loudly after sunset.
33. In Victoria,
Australia, it is illegal to change a light bulb unless you’re a licensed
electrician.
34.In the UK,
a law still exists from the Middle Ages that requires all males over the age of
14 to be trained in shooting a long bow.
35. Bangladeshi children of 15 and older can be sent to jail for
cheating on their final exams.
36.In Florida
it is illegal for a divorced or a widowed woman to skydive on a Sunday
afternoon.
37. In Switzerland,
it is illegal to flush a toilet after 10pm. This one confounds me.
38.In Canada,
any comic book that portrays illegal activity is banned.
39.In Argentina,
there is a law that states that Argentine nightclubs must play the same amount
of tango music as all other forms of music combined.
40. In China,
it is a law that a person must be intelligent to go to college.
41. Married New
Yorkers cannot get divorced on grounds of irreconcilable differences unless
both marriage partners agree on those grounds.
42.In Tennessee
it is legal to carry a loaded firearm into a bar. Seems safe.
43.In France,
it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon. Apparently this is a slight to the great
French general and emperor.
44. In Britain
it is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the monarch’s head
upside down on an envelope.
45.In Russia,
Vladimir Putin just recently made it illegal to tell kids that gay people
exist.
46. In Colorado
it is illegal to collect rainwater. Apparently farmers and landowners are being
punished for this.
