THON! Or not?

Ah, Thon, otherwise known as the dance marathon held every year at Penn State University to raise money to fund the Four Diamonds fund in its effort to eradicate pediatric cancer that has been ongoing since 1973. Where would we be without you? THON does so much good, not only aiding the development and furthering of cancer research but also providing for those affected and their families.

However, not every state enables such things to happen and some in fact have laws prohibiting dance marathons, more specifically competitive dance contests. But still, if those aren’t allowed would it really be a surprise for charity dancing events to be next?

In Alabama, just as in the town shown in the movie Footloose, you may not dance the night away. In fact it says that marathon dance contests are prohibited and adds even more stipulations to this law. The section of law says that, “it shall be unlawful for any person to participate in any marathon dance contest, walkathon contest, or similar physical endurance contest by walking, dancing, riding, or running continuing or intended to continue for a period of more than 8 consecutive hours, whether or not admission is charged or a prize awarded, and it shall be unlawful for any person to participate in more than  one such contest within any period of 48 hours.”

Aw, shucks. Now not only can a THON-like event never take place in Alabama, but I can’t, say…participate in a marathon dance competition and then do a 5k within a 48 hour time period?

I can only guess at the reasons for this law but I sure am happy it doesn’t include charity events and is only in effect in Alabama and not in Pennsylvania. THON had better watch out if this law becomes a trend for other states and spreads to other regions!

Emergencies, What Emergencies?

In light of all of the natural disasters and emergency situations occurring in the world right now, I thought that I would examine a law that attempts to regulate EMERGENCIES. That’s right, not only are emergencies neither expected nor encouraged, they are actually forbidden.

One state goes the extra mile to ensure that emergencies do not happen and has made it into a concrete law. Which state has done this and does it actually try to tell emergencies not to happen, you may ask?

Well it just so happens that the state with the audacity to tell emergencies of any kind to take a hike is Alaska. Although it is more well-known for Sarah Palin and cruises to see whales it does in fact have a law stipulating the likelihood of emergencies.

By Alaskan Law, the entire state rarely has emergencies. But that isn’t even the hardest part to ensure. The actual law exists under the heading of State Policy and says that, “It is state policy the emergencies are held to a minimum and are rarely found to exist.”

So, not only can Alaska not permit emergencies, in actuality they rarely exist. One would suppose that if the states that are more prone to emergencies, such as Louisiana and it’s flooding due to Hurricane Katrina or California and it’s annual fires, had heard about this part of Alaskan law that they could add it to their state policies as well and they could ensure that such things would never happen again.

After all, if it’s a law and it clearly states that emergencies are rarely even found to exist, then they don’t. This also seems like something that someone should have taken the time to try and mention to Japan. Oops! Too soon?

Well if you want your state to be free of emergencies then consider attempting to adopt the policies of Alaska, since after all, if it’s a law then it must be true and the entire United States could be on its way to zero emergencies ASAP!

Burping in Church-Not only rude but illegal!

Bad news for those of you out there that are more vocal than others with your bodily functions than others; it can land you in jail! I never knew that this law existed. Heaven help the person that breaks it, since it not only sounds and is a dumb thing to have count against you on your record. That’s right it is illegal to intentionally burp in church in Nevada.

This law is under the portion of the law codes addressing disturbing religious meetings and details other ways to get in trouble for violating this law also (and there are many, many ways).

The law as it is written says, “Every person who shall willfully disrupt, interrupt, or disquiet any assemblage or congregation of people met for religious worship:

1.      By noisy, rude, or indecent behavior, profane discourse, wither within the place where such meetings is held or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the meeting;

2.      By exhibiting shows or plays, or promoting any racing of animals, or gaming of any description, or engaging in any boisterous or noisy amusement;

3.      By disturbing in any manner, without authority of law within one mile thereof, free passage along a highway to the place of such meeting or maliciously cutting or otherwise injuring or disturbing a conveyance or other property belonging to any person in attendance upon such meeting; or

4.      By menacing, threatening, or assaulting any person therein, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.”

So basically if you got lost in the middle there somewhere: Don’t disrupt or interfere with in any way any religious meeting of any kind or the people or their belongings attending those meetings.

For me this just means that from now on I am just going to have to try and stay farther than 1 mile away from a church or meeting and not to touch anything or talk to people entering or exiting a meeting and to be far away and not doing anything exciting or annoying during any meetings that are going on whether I know about them or not.

If you’re like me this law is bad news. I see the original need(freedom to assemble and worship) but I will never move to Nevada and be subject to the possibility of getting in trouble for violating this law.