Very young mothers - even at the age of 5 and 9

Society gets horrified when you see kids the age of 15 or 16 having children, since it is believed that children are not mature enough to handle the responsibility of having children, and, they deserve the chance to enjoy their own life to some degree before they take on the task of becoming parents. As a result, most societies have made it a crime for girls below the age of 16 or 18 to have children, and can result in a sentence of rape. What happens in these cases (link to article) ?

BEIJING: A nine-year-old girl has given birth to a healthy child in northeast China, making it possibly the first case of childbirth at such a Another report from Shanghai based hospital said 30% of young girls who had surgical abortions were school students. The hospital run by the People’s Liberation Army revealed that 50% of them were in vocational schools and the rest studied in colleges. The hospital reported that most cases of pregnancy took place immediately after school and college vacations. At least one-third of the cases were in the secondary or advanced stages of pregnancy by the time the girls came to the hospital, it said.

And Wikipedia (link) has a whole listing of such girls.
1939: Lina Medina of Paurange, Peru gave birth to a 2.7 kg (6.0 lb) son, named Gerardo, by caesarean section on May 14, 1939 in Lima at the age of 5 years, 7 months, and 21 days. Her parents, who assumed their daughter had a tumor, took her to a hospital, where she was determined to be seven months pregnant. Although Medina's father was arrested on suspicion of child sexual abuse, he was later released due to lack of evidence, and the identity of who impregnated Medina was never uncovered.
2006: A girl from Huanuco, Peru, gave birth to a baby weighing 2 kg (4.4 lb) by caesarean section at a hospital in Lima in December 2006. Her ninth birthday occurred a couple of days later. She became pregnant after being raped by two of her cousins.

Trying to get sleep and having a host of problems

If you are trying to get sleep, and are not easily able to get sleep (too much TV, too many memories, or other such problems), or need medication to get to sleep, then you are not alone. In today's world, there are a huge number of reasons why it is difficult to get sleep, and then the biggest worry is about what to do. Read this article (link to article) to learn more from this person's articulation of her problems:

When sleep won't come, the nights are lonely, long, and way too quiet. I have brewed my chamomile tea, taken my rightful place on the sofa (experts insist it's a bad idea to get into bed until you're really ready to doze off), and had three whispered phone chats with three fellow insomniacs.
I'm too tired for sex, too wired for rest, and too busy kicking myself for all those little things I did not manage to accomplish during the day, like mailing that thank-you note I wrote a week and a half ago, or buying Cascade, or giving birth to two more children and moving to the suburbs. I just can't seem to locate the switch that turns off my brain and closes my eyes.

Weird laws of Alaska - Read and enjoy

Each and every state has its collections of weird laws, so here are some from Alaska. As long as you not impacted, it is fine; but if you have ever been affected by any of these, please do reply.

Here goes:
A moose may not be viewed from an airplane. (not sure of what to do when you do see one)
It is considered an offense to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose. (why waste perfectly good booze)
It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane. (this should be a law against any animal, why specifically the moose)
No one may tie their pet dog to the roof of a car. (Animal cruelty, so a good law, but does that mean that you can tie your pet cat?)
Persons may not allow "attractive nuisances" to exist.
No child allowed to build a snowman taller than the child on school grounds
No Huskies allowed inside school buildings.
Stealing snow from a neighbours garden to make a snowman is against the law. Using it for an igloo is acceptable. (Igloo is a place of residence, so maybe that is why)
Persons may not live in a trailer as it is being hauled across the city. (you can crawl on top of the vehicle as long as the trailer is in the city)
It is illegal to throw a grenade on the street. (There goes my plan for getting the street made again)
Intentionally avoiding walking on the cracks in the pavement is illegal. (How do you prove such an act)
A person may only carry a concealed slingshot if that person has received the appropriate license. (ouch, there goes my collection of slingshots and paper knives)
Employers of bars may not let their bartenders serve while they are drunk themselves.
While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited. (Must be a part of the law that prevents suicide)
Juneau - Owners of flamingos may not let their pet into barber shops. (or any other pets)
Nome - One may not roam the city with a bow and arrows.
Fairbanks - Moose should not have sex on the sidewalks (good, else you would have to explain sex education to your children even when they are young)
Fairbanks - You cannot tie your horse to city streets, but dog sleds are fine (public pressure by the dog sled owners association ?)

Father criticized as being a pervert for photographing his own children on a slide

Sometimes paranoia can take a form that baffles people. Consider the normal scenario where a family goes out for a fun filled day where a loving father takes photographs of his children on a slide - 2 fun boys who are 5 and 7 years old. And when people see him taking these photos, they object, with some claiming that he is a pervert who is taking photos for selling on the internet, with the unstated claim being that he was involved in child pornography. Other parents objected, the person running the slide objected; this made the person so angry that he found policeman to back him on his right to take these photos - but this effectively ruined his day (link to article):

Yesterday he said: ‘What is the world coming to when anybody seen with a camera is assumed to be doing things that they should not? ‘This parental paranoia is getting completely out of hand. I was so shocked. One of the police officers told me that it was just the way society is these days. He agreed with me that it was madness.’
He said: ‘The children wanted to go on an inflatable slide and I started taking photos of them having a good time. Moments later the woman running the slide told me to stop.
‘When I asked why, she told me I could not take pictures of other people’s children. I explained I was only interested in taking photos of my own children and pointed out that this was taking place in a public park.

Getting inside the White House uninvited

Imagine what could be one of the most secure locations in the world ? The White House would be one of these locations, one would think of locations such as those housing huge sums of money, those housing the secret of Coke's formula, and also those housing nuclear weapons; but there should not be any comparison with the White House. The White Houses the most powerful man in the world, who commands a huge army and holds the key to the economic well being of the world. And in such a secure place, the thought that people could gate-crash and get inside may seem incredible, but it is the truth.
This has left the Secret Service totally red-faced, after all, they are responsible for the security of the American President, and the fact that somebody was able to get inside even though they were not invited is a horrible security breach (link to article):

A White House photograph taken Tuesday evening shows Michaele Salahi, wearing a gold-accented red sari, clasping her hands around Obama's right hand as her smiling husband, Tareq, looks on. The dinner was held for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is smiling next to the president in the photo. An investigation into Tareq and Michaele Salahi has found that Secret Service agents did not follow protocol at a security checkpoint, the Secret Service said.
The Secret Service's statement says that although the Salahis went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, "they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely." "That failing is ours," the statement said.

Weird laws in England / Great Britain (part 2)

It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament
Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned
In the UK, a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants
Picking up abandoned baggage is an act of terrorism.
It is still an offence to beat or shake any carpet rug or mat in any street in the Metropolitan Police District, although you are allowed to shake a doormat before 8am.
Londoners are not allowed to keep a pigsty in the front of their homes.
The Library Offences Act of 1898 makes it illegal to gamble in a library.
The Metropolitan Police Act of 1839 states that no one, “except persons acting in obedience to lawful authority, may discharge any cannon or other firearm of greater calibre than a common fowling-piece, within 300 yards of any dwelling house, to the annoyance of any inhabitant thereof”.
One may not drive a cow while drunk.
In Scotland it is illegal to be a drunk in possession of a cow.
Ban on firing a cannon close to a dwelling house (Met Police Act 1839)
Ban on the use of any slide upon ice or snow (Town Police Clauses Act 1847)
Prohibition of driving cattle through the streets of London (Metropolitan Streets Act 1867)
In London, it is illegal for a person with the Plague to flag down a taxi. No cab may carry corpses or rabid dogs.
It is illegal to sell most goods on a Sunday. It is however legal to sell a carrot. It is also legal to sell it at any price, and to give free gifts with it, such as anything else one might want to buy on a Sunday.

The following are legal though:
- a male may urinate in public, so long as it is on the rear wheel of his motor vehicle, and his right hand is on the vehicle.
- all English males over the age of 14 are to carry out approximately two hours of longbow practice a week, supervised by the local clergy.

Weird laws in England / Great Britain (part 1)

In Hereford, you may not shoot a Welsh person on Sunday with a longbow in the Cathedral Close.
However, in Chester you can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls and after midnight.
Also in York, excluding Sundays, it is apparently legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow.
In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless in public unless they are a clerk in a tropical fish store.
It is illegal for a Member of Parliament to enter the House of Commons wearing a full coat of armour.
Sleeping with a consort of the queen is classified as treason, and as such carries a maximum penalty of death (this was debated by the newspapers when there was the controversy about Lady Diana's lovers).
It is unlawful to impersonate an Chelsea pensioner.
The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen
It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing
It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour
No cows may be driven down the roadway between 10 AM and 7 PM unless there is prior approval from the Commissioner of Police.
Those wishing to purchase a television must also buy a license.
All English males over the age 14 are to carry out 2 or so hours of longbow practice a week supervised by the local clergy.
It is illegal for two adult men to have sex in the same house as a third person.
Any person found breaking a boiled egg at the sharp end will be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stocks (enacted by Edward VI).
It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance.
It could be regarded an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down