Law: Understanding the difference between what the law is and what it should be

[The Minsky Moment]

Indeed, you could take that same list, and Saudi Arabia would pass as part of that "western consensus."

Don't think it would be that hard to come up with a list of criminal laws in Saudi Arabia that 99% of the West would consider beyond the pale.

Death penalty for apostasy, death penalty for (female) adultery, punishment by the lash for minor vice offenses like not wearing proper clothing, etc.

Raising SA it seems to me supports grumblers point that the differences within the West, while real, are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.

[Caliga]

I think we ought to go back to the Code of Hammurabi, personally.

If you build a building and it collapses.... DEATH PENALTY. 

If you punch a pregnant woman in the stomach and she miscarries.... TEN CENT FINE.

[Ed Anger]

I think we ought to go back to the Code of Hammurabi, personally.

If you build a building and it collapses.... DEATH PENALTY. 

If you punch a pregnant woman in the stomach and she miscarries.... TEN CENT FINE.

10 cents? harsh. Himmler could take lessons from you.

[Caliga]

10 cents? harsh. Himmler could take lessons from you.

Well, to be fair, if the pregnant chick dies, the assailant's daughter is put to death.

[saskganesh]

Honestly it's all very convoluted and other than "solicitation for the purposes of prostitution" which is used to crack down on street walkers, I've never seen a charge under any of these sections.

Are hookers allowed to advertise/market in other ways, like the phone book or internet?

yes. the free urban weeklies have pages of their full colour ads. it's called "adult entertainment."

[BuddhaRhubarb]

I'd say what the real issue is, is, that no one on Languish has ever been wrong (in their own minds) ... I personally think this stems from the ineffectiveness of text communication. There is very little subtlety in text discussions. You can't get body language, and many posters are writing in their 2nd or 3rd languages. 

I thik that this is interesting, and telling, for two reasons:  (1) you project your inability to admit that you are wrong to all of Languish, and (2) you attribute to the group your own shortcomings in perceiving meaning.

I admitted I was wrong on an issue as recently as yesterday, and generally I have little trouble understanding coherent arguments.  Incoherent arguments would not be more coherent with body language, IMO.

I'm a much better conversationalist in real life, and that has a lot to do with being able to see, and sense who I'm talking to in real life. On the internet, I have only a person's writing style to go on.

I agree that this makes it harder to tell when someone is serious or not, but I don't think it has anything to do with recognizing and admitting when one is wrong.

Also often you are being trolled Marti, you should know by now that certain posters don't take you seriously, on purpose.

This is true, to the extent that my trolls of Marti are direct responses to his trolls of the board.  There are times when i am not trolling, though, because Marti says things so staggeringly emo or absurd that it really does make me question whether or not he is a lawyer (not having met him, like BB has, I don't know from direct knowledge).  I recognize that getting a law degree does not take exceptional amounts of emotional stability or intelligence, but surely it requires minimum amounts!

how do you get that? I never admit being wrong? I'm pretty sure I do. Um as part of the whole of Languish am I (and you) not representative of Languish to at least some degree?

{edit}
hmm thinking about it actually I can see a bit of your point. I do pretty much always offer some sort of excuse when I'm being stupid or emotional or have bad information. But I'm pretty sure when it's actually demonstrated to me that I'm wrong and what the right information is, I like to think I can be humble. I'll try harder to backtrack less.{/edit}

....the part that you quote about conversational ability... how am I saying anything there about being right or wrong? I'm not. I'm simply saying what I wrote... all I have to go on in terms of tone is the words themselves. right or wrong only goes to how much I believe or already know what I read.

I should really just stop replying to your posts. I never quite get what you are wound up over.  But that won't happen.

[crazy canuck]

If I go to any Western country I know generally what I can and cannot do without reading their criminal code.  How do I know this?  Because all Western countries generally make the same acts punishable by criminal sanction.  Some of the detail is different but there is general agreement.

[Ed Anger]

If I go to any Western country I know generally what I can and cannot do without reading their criminal code.  How do I know this?  Because all Western countries generally make the same acts punishable by criminal sanction.  Some of the detail is different but there is general agreement.

When I went to Denmark I streaked down the street, as I knew Europeans approve of that shit.

[Caliga]

I've recently learned that the Danes approve of, and indeed encourage, unprotected sex with random American strangers as well.

[Ed Anger]

I've recently learned that the Danes approve of, and indeed encourage, unprotected sex with random American strangers as well.

[DontSayBanana]

When I went to Denmark I streaked down the street, as I knew Europeans approve of that shit.

And you left some very unhappy Danes- when they said "streaking," they didn't mean "leave a brown strip on the street".

[grumbler]

When I went to Denmark I streaked down the street, as I knew Europeans approve of that shit.

And you left some very unhappy Danes- when they said "streaking," they didn't mean "leave a brown strip on the street".

[Alatriste]

If I go to any Western country I know generally what I can and cannot do without reading their criminal code.  How do I know this?  Because all Western countries generally make the same acts punishable by criminal sanction.  Some of the detail is different but there is general agreement.

Don't be so sure... For example, last year a pair of brainless teenagers (redundant, I know) vacationing somewhere in the Baltic, let's say Riga but I don't remember the place, decided it would be a great idea to climb a street lamp, tear down the small national flag hanging, and get a souvenir on the cheap. In the Day of Independence...

Result? Swiftly arrested and jailed on charges of robbery, public scandal and much worse, defiling the national symbols. They were shocked to learn some countries don't think burning the national flag is a right, and even less if you are a foreigner.

Let's just say the Spanish ambassador wasn't pleased, but he managed to secure a minimum sentence, rescue their sorry asses and pack them home after spending two or three weeks in a Lithuanian jail... and they were quite lucky to escape so lightly.

[dps]

If I go to any Western country I know generally what I can and cannot do without reading their criminal code.  How do I know this?  Because all Western countries generally make the same acts punishable by criminal sanction.  Some of the detail is different but there is general agreement.

Don't be so sure... For example, last year a pair of brainless teenagers (redundant, I know) vacationing somewhere in the Baltic, let's say Riga but I don't remember the place, decided it would be a great idea to climb a street lamp, tear down the small national flag hanging, and get a souvenir on the cheap. In the Day of Independence...

Result? Swiftly arrested and jailed on charges of robbery, public scandal and much worse, defiling the national symbols. They were shocked to learn some countries don't think burning the national flag is a right, and even less if you are a foreigner.

Let's just say the Spanish ambassador wasn't pleased, but he managed to secure a minimum sentence, rescue their sorry asses and pack them home after spending two or three weeks in a Lithuanian jail... and they were quite lucky to escape so lightly.

Not sure that most of us would really consider Lithuania to be part of the West.  At any rate, I'd expect what they did to be a crime just about anywhere, though I would expect it to be a misdemeanor in most places in the West.

Also, if they burned the flag, how exactly was that getting a souvenir?  Did they intend to keep the ashes or something?

[Martinus]

Not sure that most of us would really consider Lithuania to be part of the West.

Maybe you guys should then define how you understand "West" in your statements. If you do not consider an European Union country to be a part of the West, your definition seems to vary wildly from a common understanding of the word, and perhaps that's where our misunderstanding comes from.