Britons are forbidden from disturbing packs of eggs and from selling game killed on a Sunday, it was revealed by a lawmaker who condemned ministers for introducing weird, off the wall laws.
The day after Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government laid out its agenda for the coming year, Liberal Democrat lawmaker Chris Huhne noted the stream of sometimes "completely bizarre" new offences it had created.
Since the Labour party took power in 1997 under then prime minister Tony Blair, it has created 3,600 new criminal offences, Huhne said, adding this was "massively complicating" the job of police and the criminal justice system.
PHOTO: AP
"Some of these offences are completely bizarre - for example, the offence of causing a nuclear explosion," he told members of parliament (MPs)."
He said that if somebody causes a nuclear explosion, there would certainly be casualties. The culprit would be subject to a murder charge, so the new law is redundant.
Other new offences include "wilfully pretending to be a barrister," "disturbing a pack of eggs when instructed not to by an authorized officer" and "offering for sale a game bird killed on a Sunday or Christmas day," he said.
Huhne accused the government of doing nothing to repeal these laws. Justice minister Jack Straw asked for a full list of the ones the MP wanted removed from the statute books so that he could review them.(AFP)
英國人被禁止翻動盒裝的蛋,以及販售星期日宰殺的野味。英國一名國會議員揭露這些古怪荒謬的法規,並譴責制定這些法令的內閣官員。
首相高登.布朗政府提出明年議程的隔天,自由民主黨議員克里斯.胡尼就特別提到政府之前制定的多項「荒誕至極」的新罪罰。
胡尼表示,自一九九七年以首相湯尼.布萊爾為首的工黨執政以來,政府共制定了三千六百條新的刑事法令。他說這讓警方和刑事司法體系的工作大大複雜化。
他告訴國會議員說:「其中部份法令實在讓人匪夷所思,例如:導致核子爆炸罪。」
他表示,如果某人引發核子爆炸,鐵定會造成傷亡,犯案者也會被控謀殺,因此這條新法根本是多餘的。
他說,其他新罪罰還包括「刻意假扮律師」、「違反授權人員指示翻動盒裝雞蛋」,以及「販賣星期日或耶誕節當天宰殺的野禽」。
胡尼控訴政府對於撤銷這些法令毫無動作。司法大臣傑克.史卓要求胡尼列出所有他想從法令全書中撤銷的法令,以便重新評估。(法新社/翻譯:袁星塵)
A: Guess what’s included in Google Taiwan’s 2024 most searched words. B: Let me guess: Taiwan’s victory in the WBSC Premier 12 championship must be on the list. A: Wow, good guess. “Premier 12” is at No. 10. B: What are the other most popular searches? A: No. 9 to 6 are: Ticketing platform “Tixcraft,” Taiwanese film “The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon,” Olympic gold boxer “Lin Yu-ting,” and the “Yuanta ETF coded 00940.” A: 猜猜看,Google 2024台灣搜尋排行榜,有哪些關鍵詞? B: 我猜「棒球12強賽」一定超熱門吧。 A: 你好強,12強真的排在第10名! B: 其他熱門搜尋有哪些?! A: 第9至6名是︰「拓元」售票、電影「周處除三害」、奧運拳擊金牌「林郁婷」、元大ETF「00940」。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
A: Which words ranked highest for Google Taiwan’s most searched words of 2024? B: No. 5 to 1 are: “US presidential election,” “Olympics,” “Ko Wen-je,” “typhoon” and “earthquake.” A: I heard that Google also released a list of most searched word meanings. B: Yeah, the most popular searches included “M3,” “APT” and “release without bail.” A: Let me google their meanings now. A: Google 2024 台灣搜尋排行榜,前幾名是什麼? B: 第5至1名是︰「美國總統大選」、「奧運」、「柯文哲」、「颱風」、「地震」! A: 我聽說Google還有一個搜尋字義的排行榜。 B: 對啊前幾名是︰「M3」、「APT」、「無保請回」。 A: 讓我搜尋一下他們是什麼意思。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Stonefish may not be the most impressive-looking animal in the sea. In fact, this fish is so skilled at camouflage that most people wouldn’t notice it if they swam past it. Despite their unremarkable appearance, stonefish are the most venomous fish in the ocean. Stonefish come in various shades of brown, red, yellow, and orange. Their rough skin texture and blotchy color pattern give them a remarkable resemblance to stones, which is where their name comes from. This feature helps them blend in with their surroundings exceptionally well. Stonefish are notable for their 13 highly venomous spines which protrude
「雙手合十/合掌禮」(namaste) or 「碰肘/擊肘」 (elbow bump): 新冠肺炎流行逐漸改變現代社會的某些社交禮儀,歐美許多名人政要開始以「雙手合十/合掌禮」(namaste) 或「碰肘/擊肘」(elbow bump) 替代握手。 《今日商業》報導英國王儲查爾斯以「雙手合十」代替握手。 Coronavirus update: Prince Charles spotted greeting people with namaste (Business Today , March 12, 2020) 另外,《商業內幕》報導:疫情期間美國總統川普在白宮舉行新冠肺炎記者會,想和居家照護公司LHC集團執行副總葛林斯坦 (Bruce Greenstein) 握手,葛林斯坦婉拒,示意改用擊肘。 President Donald Trump attempted to shake hands with a home health care company executive . . . but the man turned the president down and offered him an elbow bump instead. (Eliza Relman, Business Insider , March 14, 2020) 「雙手合十/合掌禮」源自印度,也流行於泰、緬等國家。「碰肘/擊肘」則是 2006 禽流感、2009 豬流感後逐漸流行。疫情逐漸改變我們的生活方式,包括打招呼等社交禮儀,也出現了微妙的變化。 「拱手禮」(fist-and-palm salute) 至於華人社會傳統上也有雙手互握合於胸前「拱手禮」(fist-and-palm salute)。公益網站 Just Quarantine 提到: Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen demonstrating social distancing through use of a traditional Chinese greeting (fist & palm) instead of shaking hands in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 因應新冠肺炎疫情,2020 當年總統蔡英文與來訪賓客保持安全距離,拱手 (fist &