Law

Labelled the Great Flood of 2016 which washed its way through the southern parts of Louisiana, USA, in August, now carries something else strange with it in the aftermath. As the historic rains displaced people, threatening lives and livelihoods, a group of good Samaritans banded together to rescue those caught in the floodwaters. Known as the Cajun Navy, these people took it upon themselves to help their fellow men and women in their time of need. Using their own boats, and without thought of reward, they ferried often complete strangers to safety simply because it was the right thing to do and there was little time to waste. Cajun Navy member Dustin Clouatre of St. Amant, Louisiana, recounts: “At one time in my boat, I had a guy I dropped off at a Buddhist temple. I had a black guy, and I had a Mexican guy. And when we dropped ...

As of 1 March 2016 adult bicycle riders in the state of New South Wales, Australia, will be required by law to carry photo identification with them. It will not be a requirement that minors, those under the age of 18 years, will also have to carry photo ID with them if riding a bike. For bicyclists’ not carrying photo identification, it’s anticipated that warnings will be in place initially for one year, with $106 fines expected to be imposed from 1 March 2017. Within the NSW legislation of the Road Rules 2014 (which are subject to be changed), the following definition within the Dictionary is given: “bicycle means a vehicle with 2 or more wheels that is built to be propelled by human power through a belt, chain or gears (whether or not it has an auxiliary motor)”. Which rules out arguing the legality of an adult not carrying ...

In the interests of equality and respect, the Dadeville City Council in Alabama, USA, is proposing to ban wearing mini-skirts and short shorts in public because it has already proposed a ban on wearing saggy trousers in public. Let it be known the equality movement continues in America. Dubbed the “Saggy Pants Ordinance” Dadeville City Council first had the concept of banning men wearing their trousers below their waistlines brought up back in August. Councillor Frank Goodman proposed the idea at a council meeting to prevent what he views as “slacking” and to promote “respect” in the community. As the Alex City Outlook reports, Goodman said: “We have people walking down the street with their hand in front of them holding up their pants. Then they have the nerve to walk into a place of business and ask for a job. If you come to my house you are going ...

Richard A. Luthmann, a Staten Island attorney accused of aiding a client to commit a fraudulent transfer, wants to settle it legally with trial by combat. Luthmann has requested that the New York State Supreme Court let him settle the case with a fight to the death, with his court filing stating: “Defendant invokes the common law writ of right and demands his common law right to Trial By Combat as against plaintiffs and their counsel, whom plaintiff wishes to implead into the Trial By Combat by writ of right.” Apart from Luthmann being a more than minor fan of the Game of Thrones television series, where trials by combat aren’t uncommon, the US lawyer also claims that trial by combat has never officially been outlawed in America. Reported by The Wrap, Luthmann wrote: “Since [1776], no American court in post-independence United States to the undersigned’s knowledge has addressed the ...

Until recently there was an easy way to suspend a Facebook account. The catch was, to do so required being in a US prison. Even that has now changed, the ease of suspending a Facebook account for incarcerated Americans that is. Going to prison is still basically the same, and perhaps easier to get into than it is to get out of Facebook. Official members of law enforcement agencies may submit a direct request to Facebook via the Report An Inmate’s Account form submission webpage to restrict or control access. This has reportedly been in place since 2011. Although, as Dave Maass reported in Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), suspensions and deletion of content from prison inmates’ Facebook accounts could occur via prison officials emailing Facebook, with little-to-no questions asked. Until now that is. Facebook has revised its policy. Believing it is not Facebook’s role to censor content; and that suspension ...

Sydney, Australia, a child seen carrying a realistic looking toy gun in Martin Place has renewed debate about toy guns in general. Plus raised questions of how safe, or unsafe, it is to make toy guns look realistic; and to what degree realism should be pursued – if at all. It follows in the unease of recent siege of the Lindt Café in Martin Place in December last year. That people would be on edge, with a heightened sensitivity to anything resembling a gun, especially within Martin Place, is understandable. It tends to be a combination of several things. One of which is known as the recency effect, where recent events are remembered easily and feature more prominently within the memory (likely related to the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve). This is also often related to various acts of committing base rate fallacies, and where people overweight the recent evidence as representing ...

Following the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia on Wednesday, 29 April 2015, Australia has recalled its ambassador Paul Grigson from Indonesia. While some commentary has suggested such a political move is unprecedented, this is not wholly true. Talking to the 7.30 Report, former Australian ambassador Philip Flood noted that such a move has occurred twice before: “It’s unprecedented for us to recall an ambassador from Indonesia. We’ve done it twice, recalling an ambassador. We did it in the case of French nuclear tests in the Pacific and it was hardly noticed at all. We did it in the case of Fiji and that really did more damage to us than it did to Fiji. I hope that the ambassador’s only recalled for a short time.” Whether this has any real political clout or diplomatic impact remains to be seen. It is, however, a rather thorny issue overall. ...

Paddle Your Own Kayak A 43-year-old Japanese artist, Megumi Igarashi, has recently faced trial, in part for making a kayak. Wait for it, modelled on her vagina. It’s a bizarre case of not knowing which is weirder: getting charged or making the kayak itself. Megumi Igarashi, who also uses the artistic moniker Rokudenashiko, was initially arrested in July last year, and arrested again in December 2014. The arrests related to her offering digital details to people to 3D print her vagina in exchange for donations to help fund her vagina kayak artwork. Though there was public outcry following the initial arrest about her right to the freedom of expression; the second arrest pertained to the Japanese penal code and public obscenity laws. Her defence counsel is quoted as saying: “Even if it were constitutional, the defendant’s work is not a precise reproduction of the vulva and does not cause sexual ...

420 and the Culture of Marijuana The 20th April is a meaningful date to many. Of course given the history of the world, it won’t take much to pull out something apparently significant, purely by chance, and link it to such a date.  For example, Adolf Hitler was born on 20th April, 1889.  Delving into confirmation biases and relatively prime numbers for mistaken numerology, is a topic for another time. Rather the 20th April here, will first be morphed into April 20, then converted into 420, and maybe 4/20 if need be.  And yes, guilty of using numerology as charged.  Although the whole idea of the 420 here is linked to not being charged. At 4:20pm on 4/20, stoners across North America, meaning the US and Canada, lit up their joints to advocate for the legalisation of marijuana.  Presumably with smoking this weed, some did actually inhale as well. The origins of 420 are ...