"The law is a ass, a idiot"

That's a quote from some Charles Dickens character. I was reminded of it when I read this tidbit on the BBC website. It lists some of the stupidest laws on the books in both the UK and other countries. Highlights of British legal silliness include:

• It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament
• It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store
• In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet [I kind of want to take Meltem back to London to test this one out!]
• It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow

Similarly weird laws in foreign countries include:

• In Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk
• In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation
• In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on a Sunday could be jailed
• In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon

I never thought I'd view Turkey as legally progressive, but in the light of these inanities it's even nicer to note that the government here plans to change the idiotic law making it a punishable offense to "insult Turkishness."

(Important disclaimer: The BBC is a cesspool of [taxpayer-funded!] left-wing bias which more often than not makes me either roll my eyes or want to puke. Nevertheless, it does occasionally offer some value.)