BBC News had a poll recently to find what people thought was the most riduculous law. This covered laws in multiple countries, not just the UK.
I have to admit they came up with some doozies.
It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament
That was the winner, with 27% of the vote. Definitely pretty silly, but my personal favorite was:
It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store
just because I have to wonder how the exemption came about.
There are plenty of absurd laws in many countries, but this was a really good list. It’s a good thing that most of these aren’t enforced.
Technorati Tags: laws, strange laws
No, sorry, they aren’t having an excess of fun with it. Instead, many schools have banned it because it “includes religious elements, the cult of death, the mockery of death.”
I can’t decide if it’s funny or sad that they take it so seriously. I mean I know some people in the United States would also love to see Halloween banned, due to various historical meanings, but I’ve never understood the arguements completely.
After all, if you don’t celebrate Halloween due to its Pagan origens, shouldn’t you do the same to Christmas? Lots of Pagan symbolism used there too.
I’ve had people get mad at me for asking that question.
The concerns in Russia also relate to moral and spiritual issues. I don’t know many people who are interested in the spiritual or moral side of Halloween. Most people want to dress up in ways they won’t the rest of the year and get candy. That goes double for kids. And since they’re talking about school parties, that’s relevant.
Even the more adult parties aren’t about the spiritual side. One might argue about moral issues, but that is more likely relevant to individual behaviors that may or may not be present the rest of the year.
I hope my kids have lots of Halloween fun tonight.
Technorati Tags: Russia, halloween
Men and women do laundry differently. That’s just a given. So of course some of his habits drive me nuts.
On the plus side, at least he’s willing to do a bit of laundry here and there.
- Laundry is sorted by white versus any color at all, and parents’ versus kids’ clothing. I don’t really care about the first, but why sort the kids’ clothes separate?
- What starts inside out, stays inside out, if it’s not his. This includes when folding laundry.
- It makes sense to him to lay out the clothes that need to be on hangers, then leave them out for days until he or I get tired of seeing them, and puts the hangers in. He insists this doesn’t add any work. I prefer to hang them right away, so they get put away.
- All loads must be washed with baking soda. This includes when I buy detergent that has baking soda in it already. More needs to go in.
- If I’m lucky, he’ll put his clothes away after folding. Very rarely anyone else’s.
- I’ve finally got him folding the kid’s clothes, rather than just stacking them for me to do later.
- Dirty clothes go on the nightstand as often as the laundry basket. I guess that’s better than the middle of the floor.
- The lint trap rarely needs cleaning. Once again, he’s gotten better, but still needs improvement in this area.
- I finally have him turning the water to the washing machine off after we’re done with it. This isn’t necessary with most machines, but is with ours, as the water line leaks into the machine otherwise. This habit probably saved us from a flooded garage the day the line burst.
- Children’s clothing needs to only be laid flat, not folded. Actually this one has improved tremendously of late.
- The clothing sizes of a 5 year old and a 2-1/2 year look almost identical. I finally have him checking the tags, but before I would regularly find the kids’ clothes mixed up.
- All loads must be washed on the Cotton/Sturdy cycle, regardless of the materials.
- What the heck. He does laundry occasionally. It could be worse, right?
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Bandaids aren’t just about covering scrapes and scratches. At least, they don’t have to be. Just take a look:
Pirate Bandaids
Arr! How could yer little pirates not love these? For that matter, what about yer bigger pirates? Black with white skulls, perfect to go with yer finest pirate apparel. Not that pirates worry about fashion, arr!
Crayon Bandaids
Perfect for your little artist. Now if they could just figure out how to make it look like your child just drew the bandaid on, that would be pretty much perfect.
Bacon Bandaids
These just sizzle! Have a sense of humor while you cover those owies.
Tattoo Bandages
When you heart Mom just so much you have to have a bandaid declare it for you!
I just love that bandaids don’t have to be the basic ones in a single color anymore, or just favored characters from children’s show. You can have far more fun than that in your selection.
Technorati Tags: bandaids, bandages
I spotted this old trick algebraic proof over at wikiHow. The challenge is to figure out how this works, or rather, why it isn’t a valid proof. It took me a minute, but it’s been a number of years since I took any math class. Not to mention dealing with a rather nasty virus right now. The kind that gives you a cold, not the computer type, thank goodness.
Assume a=b. The do the following mathematical operations:
| 3a = 3b |
(multiplying both sides by the real number) |
| 11a = 11b |
(multiplying both sides by the “real” number) |
| 3a2 = 3ab |
(multiplying by a on both sides) |
| 11ab = 11b2 |
(multiplying by b on both sides) |
| 3a2 - 11ab = 3ab - 11b2 |
(subtracting the above two equations to make one) |
| 3a2 - 3ab = 11ab - 11b2 |
(subtracting 3ab and adding 11ab to both sides) |
| 3a2 - 3ab + ab - b2 = 12ab - 12b2 |
(adding ab and subtracting b2 from both sides) |
| 3a(a-b) + b(a-b) = 12b(a-b) |
(factoring out common terms ) |
| 3a + b = 12b |
(removing common terms) |
| 3a = 11b |
(subtracting b from both sides) |
| 3b = 11b |
(substituting a for b, remembering that they are equal) |
| 3 = 11 |
(removing common terms) |
Think about it. Where’s the mistake?
.
.
.
.
.
If a=b, then dividing by a-b means you divided by zero, which is against the rules of arithmetic.
Technorati Tags: arithmetic, deceptive numbers
But could you cope with being funny on stage?
I have a pretty wild sense of humor at times, but I doubt I’d be the stand up comic sort. The people who do that do impress me. It’s not an easy thing.
How to be Funny helps you learn how to be funny in front of a crowd. Not just as a stand up comic, but in group situations. The goal of this ebook is to give you the techniques rather than filler. After all, you don’t want to sound like everyone else when you tell a joke. You want to sound like you. Read the rest of this entry »
