CAUTION! READING AND UNDERSTANDING THESE FACTS MAY CAUSE YOU TO VOTE!

How about the Italian man who was sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $3,800 for sexual harassment? The conviction has been reversed by that country’s high court. The man, a manager of a public health agency, had patted a female employee on the derriere. In overturning the verdict, the court ruled that it was not “an act of libido.”

In November, 1995, Knight-Ridder News Service reported that the government in Nanking, China, was levying fines of about $1.50 for anyone ordering more food in restaurants than he or she can eat.

In October, 1998, Iraq requested from the U.N. as "essential medical supplies" a liposuction machine, $200,000 worth of teeth-whitening equipment, and silicone breast implants.

In April, 1998, three employees of Cartago, Colombia nailed themselves to wooden crosses to dramatize their need for a raise and other job benefits.

A British Air Officer on trial for stealing about $30,000 from his unit's meal fund is defending on the basis of a tea overdose. According to his court filing, Major David Senior has drunk as much as a gallon of tea per day for the last 20 years, which may have caused him to make an accounting error.

The Turkish national airline fired two of its pilots for getting into a cockpit fistfight after a disagreement about the plane's altitude.

In 1998, the Thai army fired for the 3rd time a captain awaiting trial on murder charges. Police said the captain had been fired in 1991 for insubordination and again in 1993 for a drug offense, but had got back into the army by using false names.

Duelling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

In 1995, a gang of bank robbers -- all of whom had AIDS -- was released from custody after being convicted, because Italian law forbids imprisoning people with AIDS.

In September, 1996, Italy's highest court ruled that "occasional episodes of wife-beating, ... interspersed with moments of [domestic] harmony," did not constitute unlawful domestic violence.

Canada Customs Notice N-198 prohibits visual depictions of ``submissive acts such as the licking of another person's boot in a sexual context'' from importation into Canada.

The leader of Shas -- a religious political party in Israel -- ruled during a worldwide satellite television broadcast that Talmudic law allows nose picking on the Sabbath day.

I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly underpolluted.
World Bank Chief Economist, explaining why African nations should open toxic waste dumps
German Culture Minister Helga Schuchard has ordered her male employees not to wear ties into the office because they are offensive phallic symbols.

Thai Airways Int'l designed to hire more attractive flight attendants by rejecting applicants with college diplomas. According to spokesman Kaset Rojananil, "Intelligent women tend not to be good looking."

Feminist scholar Catherine McKinnon helped prepare a 1992 legal case in which the Canadian Supreme Court held material "degrading" to women could be seized. As a result of the decision, numerous books were seized by police -- including two by Catherine McKinnon.

An advertisement for Coca-Cola featuring Australian aborigines drinking Coke and dancing was banned by the government of New Zealand on the grounds of cultural insensitivity. Too bad for the tribe, which proudly had created a special dance for the promotion.

There was a young lady of Kent
Who said that she knew what it meant
When men asked her to dine,
Gave her cocktails and wine.
She knew that it was harassment.
anonymous
The Lybian army is capable of destroying America and breaking its nose.
Lybia's Muammar Qaddafi
"China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese"
French President Charles De Gaulle
"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas."
Australian Cabinet Member Keppel Enderbery
In 1976 the European Economic Community pointed out to the Irish Government that it had not yet implemented the agreed sex equality legislation. The Dublin Government immediately advertised for an equal pay enforcement officer. The advertisement offered different salary scales for men and women.

Mr. Darren Cooper in York, England received a summons from city council to pay overdue taxes in 14 days or be prosecuted for tax evasion. He was nervous until he noticed that the total taxes owed by him was listed at 1 pence. Luckily, Mr. Cooper was able to raise enough cash to pay his debt to society.

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