16 strange laws from around the world

You’d be surprised to know what has been and what is currently against the law in some countries around the globe. Have a look at these rather odd laws:
USA
In Connecticut, it’s illegal to let someone copy your homework. The statutes explicitly prohibit selling essays, dissertations, etc. at any education facility supervised by the state. So, I guess it’s okay at private schools then?
In Florida, bar owners (or anyone who owns a commercial establishment where alcohol is sold, for that matter) could be fined $1 000 (over R11 000) if they permit or participate in dwarf-tossing contests. (We don't think that it's crazy that dwarf-tossing is illegal. It's crazy that it was prevalent enough so that a law had to be made against it. Seriously people. Dwarf tossing? No.)
In Minnesota, any game in which participants attempt to capture a greased-up or oiled-up pig is illegal. We’re not sure why this is a thing.
I’m not going to Mississippi any time soon. Apparently, swearing in front of two or more people in public could get you sent to the chookie for up to a month - or you could pay a fine.
Thailand
No one is permitted to step on any form of the national currency as all bills and coins display a picture of the king’s face.
Singapore
Here, it’s illegal to walk around your own home naked, as it’s considered pornographic (yes, porn is also illegal). If you break this law, you could be fined or 3 months in prison. Oh, and if “a person who is clad in such a manner as to offend against public decency or order” is around, they will also be thrown in jail.
The sale of gum is also prohibited in Singapore. While it’s not illegal to chew gum, disposing of it improperly will get you a massive fine.
Cambodia
You can’t use a water gun when celebrating the New Year, as some participants used to fill it with sewage. The funniest part? If you’re found with a water gun, it will be confiscated, but that’s it. No jail time. No fine.
United Kingdom
In England, it’s legal for a male to urinate in public, as long as it’s on the rear wheel of his vehicle and his right hand is placed somewhere on his vehicle.
By law, all cab drivers still need to check with their passengers if they have smallpox or the plague.
A boy under the age of 10 is legally not supposed to ever see a naked mannequin. Oh the horror!
Throughout the whole of England it is illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas Day. At Christmas of all days?!
Canada
In Petrolia, Ontario, "yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing is prohibited at all times." Shame.
All business signs in Quebec must be written in French, according to the law. If you want it in English, that’s cool, as long as the English sign is twice as small as the French one.
In Halifax, taxi drivers “absolutely cannot wear a t-shirt” according to this law.
Philippines
This is my favourite one so far. In the Philippines, an ‘annoying’ person can actually be fined for being annoying. The second paragraph of Article 287 states that “any other coercions or unjust vexations shall be punished by arresto menor (imprisonment for from one day to thirty days) or a fine ranging from 5 pesos to 200 pesos, or both.”

Man goes to cheat abroad, wife sells house before he comes back

A man who travelled to the United States to cheat on his wife was shocked to return home to find strangers living in what used to be their house.
The 44-year-old man, Craig Arnolds from the United Kingdom told his wife he was travelling to the United States for a business trip and accidentally left his iPhone at home.
Moments after he left, his mistress abroad sent a text message describing the “warm welcome” she would give him soon as he arrives the US.
His 42-year-old wife, Laura read the message and decided in that very moment to sell their house.

Laura who is from Warwickshire, told reporters that she was able to sell the house as it was in her parents’ name because they were paying the mortgage since she and her husband encountered financial difficulties.
She successfully sold the house to students from the University of Warwick within 2 weeks and then packed only her belongings out of the house.
Craig returned home to find all the lights on and the television blaring. He knocked and a young man opened the door. He was greeted with the shocking news.

He did not find any of his wife’s belongings. He found only chairs and tables that he had inherited from his late father along with his golf clubs and a vintage radio that his wife, Laura always hated.
A repentant Craig told reporters: “I made a mistake and paid for it dearly.”
He is still struggling to stay on good terms with his estranged wife for the sake of their children.

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MOTHER TERESA CANONIZED A SAINT IN SEPTEMBER

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

According to news agency AGI, she may be canonised next year, the most likely date being 4 September. But the miracle attributed to her – confirmed by doctors from the medical council of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints – still needs to be approved by the dicastery’s cardinals and bishops

andrea tornielli vatican city Mother Teresa will be proclaimed a saint next September: this is according to Italian news agency AGI, which also mentioned 5 September – the feast day of the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta – as a possible date for the celebration. The date, which will fall on a Monday, marks the 106^th anniversary of the birth of Mother Teresa, born Anjëzë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu. The nun was born in Skopje, Albania and became a symbol of love for the poor, living among them in the streets of Calcutta. It is far more likely, however, that the canonisation will take place a day earlier, on Sunday 4 December that is.

But some further steps are needed before the canonisation can become official. Vatican insider has learnt that the miracle attributed to Mother Teresa’s intercession, will be examined by cardinals and bishops from the Congregation of the Causes of Saints next month.  Although cardinals do not carry out an examination as such – this is done by the dicastery’s medical council and the outcome in this case was positive –, they could ask for further evidence, which could prolong the whole process. Once the Congregation’s bishops and cardinals have deliberated, the Prefect presents the decision to the Pope, who approves the miracle and announces the date of the canonisation ceremony at the Consistory of cardinals.

The miracle which could lead to Mother Teresa being raised to the altars, is the scientifically inexplicable healing of a Brazilian man who was in the final stages of a malignant brain tumour. The Catholic man from the diocese of Santos, experienced a full recovery after praying intensely to Mother Teresa: the cancer, which had spread extensively in the brain, suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared from the patient’s TACs.

During his trip to Tirana in September 2014, Francis described his encounter with Mother Teresa of Calcutta at the 1994 Synod. The Blessed woman was never fazed by anything, not even the Synod assembly and “always said what she wanted to say”, Francis confided to the priest who had acted as his interpreter during his visit to Albania. This comment was later revealed at the press conference in Tirana, by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Lombardi.

Remembering the circumstances of his meeting with the Blessed woman known for her work among the poorest of the poor, Francis said: “She sat right behind me during the sessions. I admired her strength, the determinedness with which she spoke, never letting herself be fazed by the assembly of bishops. She said what she wanted to say…” Francis said before adding with a smile on his face: “If she had been my superior I would have been scared!”

Pope Francis at the Angelus (15-11-2015)

11/21/2015 

Five indicted over Vatileaks scandal

Chaouqui and Vallejo Balda

The inquiry into the theft and publication of confidential documents belonging to the Holy See has come to an end: the new name is Nicola Maio, who had formerly worked for COSEA. He faces trial alongside Vallejo Balda and Chaouqui, as well as Nuzzi and Fittipaldi, who "put pressure on" Vallejo Balda

Domenico Agasso jr Vatican City
The Vatican judiciary has indicted five people after the inquiry into the theft and publication of confidential documents belonging to the Holy See was concluded, ANSA news agency has learnt.  Mgr. Lucio Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui were arrested as part of the investigations. The two Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi have also been committed for trial. They “requested and pushed for confidential documents and news to be passed onto them and then used some of this content to put together two books published in Italy” (“Merchants on the Temple” and "Avarice"). The fifth indicted party is Nicola Maio, former collaborator of the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organisation of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See (COSEA). Lucio Vallejo Balda and Chaouqui were also members of the Commission, the former holding the role of secretary. Maio was Vallejo Balda’s personal secretary.The trial will begin on Tuesday 24 November  at the Tribunal of the Vatican City State.

Vallejo Balda, Chaouqui and Maio are also charged with criminal conspiracy.

The individuals were indicted - in a document signed by the Promoter of Justice  Gian Pietro Milano and the Adjunct Promoter of Justice, Roberto Zannotti - for violating article 116 bis of the Vatican Criminal Code, in other words, the disclosure of confidential news and documents.

In a statement, the Holy See says that Vallejo Balda, Chaouqui and Maio will be asked to explain “why within the Prefecture for Economic Affairs and in COSEA, they grouped together forming an organised criminal partnership of an autonomous composition and structure, whose promoters were Ángel Lucio Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, with the aim of committing a series of crimes involving the publication of new news and documents relating to fundamental interests of the Holy See and the State.”
 
Furthermore, all the accused will need to be tried “because, acting in concert, Vallejo Balda, as  secretary general of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs, Chaouqui as a member of COSEA, Maio as Vallejo Balda’s collaborator on questions relating to COSEA, Fittipaldi and Nuzzi as journalists, illegitimately obtained and later revealed news and documents concerning fundamental interests of the Holy See and the State”; to be precise, Vallejo Balda, Chaouqui and Maio “obtained said pieces of news and documents within their own roles in the Prefecture for Economic Affairs and in COSEA, while Fittipaldi and Nuzzi requested and put pressure on Vallejo Balda in particular, to obtain confidential documents and news. They then used some of this content to put together two books published in Italy in November 2015.”


The offences were “committed in the Vatican City between March 2013 and 5 November 2015.”

Following the request for indiction issued by the Promoter of Justice, the President of the Tribunal and the Vatican City State, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, “issued a Decree establishing that on 24 November 2015, at 10:30, the first hearing in the trial faced by the indicted parties, warning them that if they fail to appear in court, they will be held guilty of contumacy. At the same time, he established that the judging college will be composed as such: Giuseppe Dalla Torre, President; Piero Antonio Bonner, Judge; Paolo Papanti-Pelletier, Judge; Venerando Marano, Substitute Judge. The Decree sets the deadline for submission of evidence in defence for 28 November 2015 at 12:30.”

The accused face between four to eight years in prison. At the moment, one of the alleged “moles”, Vallejo Balda, is still being detained in a cell in the Vatican Gendarmerie, while Francesca Chaouqui was immediately released following her arrest at the start of November, because she collaborated in the investigations.


Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Holy See spokesman, clarified: “Whether the accusations are proportionate, still needs to be evaluated, so for now all we have is a request, not a sentence.”

CLEAR YOUR SORROWFUL MOOD

Ace comedian Ali Baba has advised that one must always upgrade one’s self to improve their relevance.

The controversial stand up comic who habitually dishes advise via his instagram page also advised that fans should increase their worth and embrace technology.

He wrote: “A comedian is as good as his last joke. Staying on top of your game is the best way to keep your career in shape. If you joined a bank in 2008, with a BSc in Economics, and you are yet to add value to your curriculum vitae, you have not accelerated, nor added value, neither have you advanced your value propositions.

“Met an AGM of a bank in 2010, who wanted me to introduce a guest at his bank’s dinner, but did not get the guest’s details, just his last name. I was surprised I wowed him when I googled it. He asked how I got so much info on the man when I didn’t know who he was. So I showed him on my iPad 1. I saw him recently and I said hope he has caught on with the google thing, his reply was no surprise. ‘My brother no be google be my problem now. I have been out of work since 2012. I need to get back into banking’.

“Ironically, what a lot of people count as irrelevant turns out to be one very reason they can remain relevant. After the reggae play the blues. Life is always changing. You can’t use your 3310 for Whatsapp. Most device makers make sure they make allowance for upgrade of their software, for improved performance, reduce battery consumption, allow for apps to work better and increase value of their products. Same thing applies for every human being. Most times, people stop growing and that is when frustrating realities hit home. While you were sitting tight, the person you joined an organization with, has an MBA, a certificate of proficiency in different relevant and core sectors of your industry. Even if you had a first class, the person becomes more indispensable by their increasing value. You become a liability.

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Activate your skills. Increase your worth. Embrace technology. How many people still take pictures, develop the negatives and prints? When I started engaging social media, someone told my wife I was jobless. Some months back, same person, tails between her legs, asked if I could help promote something she was doing on my platforms. I smiled. Joseph was relevant to Pharaoh. David was invited to play the harp. If the water isn’t constantly flowing, Pharaoh’s daughter won’t swim there. Stagnancy is not growth. Growing makes you relevant. QED!”

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A comedian is a good as his last joke. Staying on top of your game is the best way to keep your career in shape. If you joined a bank in 2008, with a BSc in Economics, and you are yet to add value to your curriculum vitae, you have not accelerated, nor added value, neither have you advanced your value propositions. Met an AGM of a bank in 2010, who wanted me to introduce a guest at his bank’s dinner, but did not get the guest’s details, just his last name. I was surprised I wowed him when I googled it. He asked how I got so much info on the man when I didn’t know who he was. So I showed him on my Ipad1. I saw him recently and I said hope he has caught on with the google thing, his reply was no surprise. “My brother no be google be my problem now. I have been out of work since 2012. I need to get back into banking”. Ironically, what a lot of people count as irrelevant turns out to be one very reason they can remain relevant. After the reggae play the blues. Life is always changing. You can’t use your 3310 for WHatsapp. Most device makers make sure they make allowance for upgrade of their software, for improved performance, reduce battery consumption, allow for apps to work better and increase value of their products. Same thing applies for every human being. Most times, people stop growing and that is when frustrating realities hit home. While you were sitting tight, the person you joined an organization with, has an MBA, a certificate of proficiency in different relevant and core sectors of your industry. Even if you had a first class, the person becomes more indispensable by their increasing value. You become a liability. Activate your skills. Increase your worth. Embrace technology. How many people still take pictures, develop the negatives and prints? When I started engaging social media, someone told my wife I was jobless. Some months back, same person, tails between her legs, asked if I could help promote something she was doing on my platforms. I smiled. Joseph was relevant to Pharaoh. David was invited to play the harp. If the water isn’t constantly flowing, Pharaoh’s daughter won’t swim there. Stagnancy is not growth. Growing makes you relevant. QED!

A photo posted by Ali Baba (@alibabagcfr) on Nov 19, 2015 at 12:48am PST