Probably just stay home then

WATCH OUT FOR THESE LAWS BEFORE YOU SET FOOT IN THIS LAND

Well I was reading this article, and I thought I should share... well considering I am a great offender of 50% of the said crimes, I think I should be a little bit more researchful the next time I decide to fly out.
1. Be careful what you wearLaws governing clothing are common and should always be checked before traveling abroad. Qatar forbids indecent or revealing clothes, defined as “not covering shoulders and knees, tight or transparent clothes.” The Vatican City requires shoulder coverings and skirts or shorts to the knee in order to enter museums and churches. And, Castellammare di Stabia, south of Naples, has outlawed mini-skirts, low-cut jeans and too much cleavage, with violators risking a 300-euro fine.

Thailand has a law demanding that you wear underwear at all times – also a good idea in general.

In Italy, where foreign beach-goers can offend the local sensibility, laws often require cover-ups over swimsuits. In Lerici, on the Italian Riviera, you’re not allowed to walk the streets in just a swimsuit. That’s also true on the island of Capri, which has gone further to protect the serenity of the vacation spot by banning noisy shoes, such as clogs or wooden-soled sandals.

2. The shoes on your feet

Carmel, Ca., where Clint Eastwood was mayor, has a famous historic ban on woman wearing high heels. Though the law isn’t enforced, tourists can purchase a commemorative permit allowing them to wear the shoes.

But, you won’t get away with that in the historic sites around Greece. After many of the country’s landmarks, like the Acropolis, were damaged in recent years by visitors, the government banned people from wearing high heels at the ancient locations.

Urban legend also has it that the city of Blythe, Calif., bans people from wearing cowboy boots unless they own at least two cows. However, even the city manager of Blythe has never heard of that rule being enforced, so you’re probably safe in those boots.


3. Pull up your pants

While fashions change, one thing hasn’t. People wearing their pants sagged below the top of their boxers has had public officials up in arms for years. Five metro cities around Atlanta have banned saggy pants, skirts and shorts – specifically those more than three inches below the wearer’s hips. In Forest Park, Ga., violators can even face a $1,000 fine.

Montgomery County in Alabama levies a $100 fine against juveniles and $150 fine against adults with the slogan: “Raise your pants, raise your image.”

Delcambre, La., was the first town to make it a crime to “show your underwear in public.” There you can face six months in jail for a violation.

4. No confetti or Silly String or BarbiesGum isn’t the only thing you can get in trouble for owning. It is illegal to possess or use confetti in Mobile, Ala. The party fun has been found to be damaging to the environment and hard to clean up.

Mobile and our original law-happy Middlebourough, Mass., have also joined Ridgewood, N.J., Southington, Conn., and Huntington, N.Y., in banning Silly String. In Los Angeles, Silly String is banned – with a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail – but just on Halloween.

5. Watch your language

Virginia Beach, known as a family vacation destination, banned profanity in the early 1990s. Swearing can earn you a $250 fine and up to ten days community service.

The Australian states of Queensland and Victoria passed similar bans last year, which impose fines of $100AUD and $240AUD, respectively. Guess you’ll have to learn some Australian swear words just to make sure you don’t say them.

In Long Beach, Calif., public officials limited the swearing ban to a location known to cause more than a few curses: mini-golf courses. So, throw that golf club in silence.

6. Don’t spit

It’s more than just common courtesy not to spit in public, it’s illegal in many places. Face a fine and possible jail time if you spit on the public streets in Barcelona, Singapore, Vancouver, or Dodge City, Kan.

The best compromise, however, comes from Burlingame, Calif. In that West Coast town spitting is illegal, except, understandably, in its natural habitat: on the baseball diamond.

7. Or chew gum, or litter, or forget to flush the toilet

Singapore has a lot of laws. It’s known for its orderly, clean city, but that’s no accident. Littering will cost you $1,000 and not flushing a public toilet could cost $500. Don’t smoke in public. In fact, selling gum is illegal as well. Caning is still a form of punishment, so be careful to follow all local laws.

Thailand and the UK followed Singapore’s orderly example when it comes to gum. In these two countries, you can be fined for littering gum, but not for chewing it. Still, $600 is a steep price for bubble gum.

8. Seriously, don’t shoot the cactusWhen visiting Arizona, resist the temptation to shoot or manhandle the cactus. The Saguaro cactus has become so endangered by people shooting holes in the plants, that damaging or cutting down a cactus can earn you up to 25 years in jail.

Of course, there are other reasons not to shoot the cactus. In 1982, a man in southern Arizona shot so many holes in the trunk of a giant 28-foot cactus that it fell on him and killed him.

9. No playing pranks

Many towns and states have no patience for your foolery, so before you start prank-calling people, know that you could face steep fines.

In Louisiana, ordering a good or service for someone else without them knowing can earn you a $500 fine or six months in jail. So, no ordering pizza to a friend’s house without their consent.

However, in Canada, as long as you don’t threaten anyone (which you shouldn’t be doing anyway!), there are no laws against prank calls.

10. Don’t hunt Bigfoot

If you’re planning a trip to find Bigfoot, also called Sasquatch, know that you won’t be able to hunt the elusive creature in some of its alleged natural habitat.

Skamania County in Washington enacted the Sasquatch Protection Ordinance in 1969, while nearby Whatcom County declared itself a Sasquatch Refuge and Protection Area in 1992. The law is primarily aimed at preventing eager Bigfoot hunters from accidentally shooting other people, who can be mistaken for the ape-like creature. However, if you did shoot a Sasquatch, you could face $1,000 fine or five years in prison.

That’s not true in Texas. The Lone Star state found itself in the news in May after decreeing that, because Bigfoot was not explicitly on the list of protected animals, it is legal to hunt a Sasquatch. Keep that in mind as you plan your next Finding Bigfoot trip.

Original article on yahoo travel (http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/weird-laws-to-know-before-you-travel.html?page=3)

FACEBOOK FOR DUMMIES

The Picture is really worth a thousand words on here

Modern relationships: Facebook is the validation of people's relationships. If you have not confirmed that you are in a relationship with me on facebook then you do not love me. But funny story proved quite the opposite about last year. A woman found out that her husband of 20 years was having an affair and actually planning to start a life with another through facebook. She said that her husband had been spending a lot of time on the computer, something that she was unfamiliar with a he grew very secretive about it as time went back. One day she found his computer unlocked, and right there his facebook was opened. There she found his page, his relationship status saying married, which she breathed in but alas! not to her, to some other woman and there was a photo of them at their wedding! Talk about Facebook learning!

DEPP SINGLE AGAIN... n to be single again!

I started this morning, rather gray and angry. A couple of things had gone wrong and a couple of people were plainly insensitive. I looked at my phone, and there on google news was the news that Johnny Depp is on the single market again!!! After 14 years and two kids, he is finally single and hopefully ready to mingle (that last part was of course left out by his publicist). I think it is insensitive of me to smile while really I should be sad that it is an end to a loooong relationship, and that no matter what a piece of paper would have said, these two are in all intent and purporse, divorced. Which means, those two angels of theirs are going through what countless kids have had to go through when the D- deed happens.
Anyways, now that I have acknowledged my faulty judgement I will continue with my self profession. I did smile, and its at the thought of a sexy man like him being single again. Not that we hate Vannessa Pardis, but its just not allowed for one woman to own him. I guess secretly (well not so now thats It's on the internet), its the rejoicing to know that celebrities are as miserable as the rest of us. They make mistakes and they do not have perfect marriages, just like the rest of us. I guess this ultimately led me to think of marriages and the reason why people get to it. Because for all Johnny Depp's colourful love life, he has only walked once down the aisle. Given yes, he has been engaged numerous times, but that institution, I feel has remained sacred to him. It also made me think why people want to get married if they could have it easy as these two.
Recently I had a proposal, of some sort really. The gentleman said I shoud marry him. Simple as that. Now do not get me wrong, I am not a romantic and the guy, given better speech, I would be inclined to accept but I did not think marriage proposals just appeared like that. I asked this gentleman friend of mine why he would want to get married. He replied "Am of age, my mom expects me to be married". That really scared me. The was not a single intent in that sentence that actually said that he had considered marriage to ME, and neither did it even indicate that it was his own personal choice.  It was simply, he is getting a piece of paper in the CHURCH of all things.
I actually live in a country that would be enough, for I feel we live in England 17th century where a girl's job was to find a suitable husband, and that's where her happiness lies. But even then, much as I have heard of the period, the gentleman still had to profess some regard (yes that what love was defined before the ballads were set forth on us) or the lady show some inclination to have it. There must be some attraction- apart from the fortunes, to get into the arrangements. But we now have people reverting to worse arrangements than that. If I wanted such a proposal, I would gladly make my father the happiest man on earth by letting me arrange a husband for me.
why go through women emancipation at all! I fear people enter into marriages with the wrong reasons, and they take it as a refuge for the wrong reasons. I have stopped counting the number of times that I heard on the radio a woman saying how her husband had changed after they got engaged but before they got married. Yet she still went aheard and married him!!! Often they would be heard saying "Nilivumilia nikijua hii ndio ndoa" ("I was patient, saying this is marriage"), but it is not marriage yet! How could a piece of paper change anything? If he is not kind to you now, why would you see him as your better half? I do not think a half of you is suppose to make you miserable, infact, my limited knowledge in human anatomy has taught me that every organ has a part to play to keep you alive, if not happy then comfortable.
I would say, take it from Mr. Depp. If your right leg causes you to sin CUT IT OFF.

FREE MUBARAK

FREE MUBARAK

Unless you have been living in a cave or in the U.S.A, then you would by now be familiar with the Egypt and generally the Arab's uprising. So we are on the same page and to get some context, I will recap it for you.

The uprising began on the 25th of January 2011 with a largely peaceful protest. Different sectors of the country all rose against the Mubarak's regime demanding, free and fair elections, abolition of the emergency law, employment, end of police brutality and corruption, but most of all, an end to the regime itself. Mubarak reacted like a true soldier, squashing the protests by violence but the people did not rise up to the bait, they did not take arms but instead used the effectiveness of strikes. Eventually, on 11th of February 2011 Mubarak gave in and announced his resignation. This was his last resort, after failing to compromise with the people by barely breaking up his government. Three months after that,  however, he was ordered to stand trial for numerous counts of illegal activities, the most serious being the premediated murders on peaceful protestors. He was convicted of this on 2nd June 2012 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

This is the part that I think Egypt went wrong. Not because I think that Mubarak is innocent or does not deserve to rot (forgive my strong language) in jail, but its because I think the gesture would do more common goods towards ending wars in the Arab world. It should be remembered that the Egyptian uprising was influenced by the Tunisian protests, and in turn it encouraged the uprisings in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan and Syria.

Imprisoning Mubarak, or yet still as the people want, killing Mubarak would only send the wrong message to the remaining dictators. Here was a man that heed the call of the people, albeit two weeks later, and stepped down relatively peaceful. On the other hand, we have the down right civil wars that happened in Libya and are happening in Syria. In Libya, till the death of Colonel Gaddaffi, it is estimated that the death toll was 30,000. The Syrian death toll on the other hand, has reached about 42,000, with about 100,000 refugees with no place to call home.

I feel that, hanging Mubarak only sends panic to the likes of Assad that are convinced of that fate. Yes Assad might not just be fearing of a death penalty, and is really that power hungry and a monster, but sending Mubarak to prison that fast, and call for his head would not reassure him either. At the moment he is acting like a very panicked man. He is killing people left right and center, and yet still clinging on to his story of terrorists. Only a madman would assume that still holds. Worst still he does feel assured of his position by Russia and China's backing , or else he wouldn't hold on to such a feeble tale. If they won't help us, then maybe freeing Mubarak as a gesture of amnesty would do the trick. I am not naive enough to think that this would be the answer to all the dictatorship problems, but I am submitting an alternative... A more logical one than Annan's 'cease fire agreement'. I am inviting more radical ideas into ending the tyranny and at best suggesting that not all monsters are the same, certainly, Mubarak (no matter how unrelenting he looks) shouldn't share the same fate with Charles Taylor, seasoned masochist.

The Illogical Thinker

Most must wonder on the title, but it all makes when I do explain. 

I recently read the most amazing and insightful book on earth, for me that is, and realised I was wasting my life just drifting by. The book was called the art of creative thinking, and just to surmise, the author talked about how logical thinking trapped us from becoming exceptional. He talked of the brain as a pattern recognisition software and how that connected the dots and limited what we thought we could do.

There were a lot of examples written on there about exceptional, illogical (my word not his) people that became great men. The two that caught my attention and forever imprinted themselves to memory was Richard Branson and Mahtma Gandhi.

He told of a story of a young Richard Branson on his first start up business. Richard aspired to start a school magazine. He did not have a large capital or a network to begin with but that didnt stop him. What he did was use his school's call box to call up potential investors, after the head master rightfully declined having to install a private one for him. The most amazing parts was the strategies he used. This was a 19 year old who had not attended a business school but could come up with the best business strategies that could shame AIG. The first one was how to maximise on his capital, that is on the coins used for the calls. What he discovered was that, if he called the operator and said that the machine ate his money and he still did not make that call, the operator would then punch him through. Not only does he get a free phone call but the operator also acts as a secretary for him. That tone that says "I have Mr. Branson on the line for you...." Second, was piting competitors against each other. A good example he said was how he could call Pepsi and say "Would you like to advertise before or after Coca-cola?" Anyways, you do get the jist.

The second amazing story was that of Mahtma Gandhi. Yes, everyone does know how exceptional he was, but this I saw as way and beyond wisdom. It is said that one day Mr. Gandhi was getting on a train when his shoe fell on to the platform. When he tried to retrieve it and failed, he took off the second one and threw it where the other one fell. His fellow commuters were puzzled,  he turned and said "The poor person that would find the first one would have no use for one shoe, better he finds two"

It is simple reasoning that would be difficult for a logical mind to arrive to, for reasons you have already deduced by now. But that inspired me to have a vent of feelings, to think of all current news that come in with a critical eye and a way that I can improve on them. So here I am, willing to be the illogical thinker, for what use is there to live if you just pass on by?