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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 12/19/2004 : 02:02:41
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I put this in Humor because, sadly, that's where it seems to belong.
quote:
I'm Not Touching It, YOU Touch It!
Fri Dec 17,10:22 AM ET Oddly Enough - Reuters
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombian police seized 292 voodoo dolls but were reluctant to inspect the black, hand-sized talismans for fear of witchcraft.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
 Posted - 12/19/2004 : 05:16:12 [Permalink]
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I guess that's a hint for me to hide my collection of voodoo dolls... maybe I'll burn them, so everyone DIES! Muahaha...
People are so silly they're almost cute. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2004 : 11:16:11 [Permalink]
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quote:
"Witches don't exist, but if they do, they do," Highway Police Capt. Gerson Fajardo explained in a local newspaper interview published on Thursday.
He's covered all the bases there. Criminals must quake in fear at the mere mention of this crime fighting genius' name! |
The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Wendy
SFN Regular
USA
614 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2004 : 17:43:30 [Permalink]
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Aw, man! I work for a divorce lawyer. If I could get my hands on these and sell 'em I could finance Christmas, and maybe pay off my car!  |
Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do on a rainy afternoon.
-- Susan Ertz
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Plyss
Skeptic Friend
Netherlands
231 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2004 : 02:26:57 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
I put this in Humor because, sadly, that's where it seems to belong.
Another voodoo-case in the Netherlands (link in dutch) which should not belong in Humor, but "sad" describes it rather well.
Briefly, a young girl (16, which is the age of consent here) goes home with a man (18) where they have consensual sex. Afterwards, the girl claims it was rape because she "was under a spell". No traces of drugs are found and no bruises or other indications of the use of force, not does the girls testimony state that she communicated to the man she had no desire to have sex with him. Her own testimony as well as that of the man involved state she went home with him willingly and she undressed herself voluntarily. At some point "the spell broke" and she asked the man to stop, which he did. The girl left the mans house and, after some unspecified time goes to the police.
The man is arrested and convicted to 9 months in prison for rape because even though the girl was fully concious and didn't resist because she was "incapacitated". The court does not specify how this incapacitation occured, but is apparently satisfied with the girls testimony involving voodoo and "magic stones".
The defence lawyer stated that "he could have accepted this verdict from a tribal chief in the middle of nowhere, but not from a court of law in The Hague". |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2004 : 03:22:40 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Plyss
quote:
Originally posted by filthy
I put this in Humor because, sadly, that's where it seems to belong.
Another voodoo-case in the Netherlands (link in dutch) which should not belong in Humor, but "sad" describes it rather well.
Briefly, a young girl (16, which is the age of consent here) goes home with a man (18) where they have consensual sex. Afterwards, the girl claims it was rape because she "was under a spell". No traces of drugs are found and no bruises or other indications of the use of force, not does the girls testimony state that she communicated to the man she had no desire to have sex with him. Her own testimony as well as that of the man involved state she went home with him willingly and she undressed herself voluntarily. At some point "the spell broke" and she asked the man to stop, which he did. The girl left the mans house and, after some unspecified time goes to the police.
The man is arrested and convicted to 9 months in prison for rape because even though the girl was fully concious and didn't resist because she was "incapacitated". The court does not specify how this incapacitation occured, but is apparently satisfied with the girls testimony involving voodoo and "magic stones".
The defence lawyer stated that "he could have accepted this verdict from a tribal chief in the middle of nowhere, but not from a court of law in The Hague".
Hell, it would not suprise me if it happened in the US, considering some of the judges we have. I am rather shocked to hear of it from the Netherlands. I'd thought y'all were far more enlightened.
Does the young man have any sort of an appeal?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Plyss
Skeptic Friend
Netherlands
231 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2004 : 03:39:57 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
Hell, it would not suprise me if it happened in the US, considering some of the judges we have. I am rather shocked to hear of it from the Netherlands. I'd thought y'all were far more enlightened.
Does the young man have any sort of an appeal?
The man deceided not to appeal as he was released after 6 months on good behaviour. A suggestion was made that he had lost faith in the judicial system, but this is unverified although it isn't hard to imagine. He subsequently emigrated to England.
As for the Netherlands being more enlightened, well, i could suggest a couple of improvements. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2004 : 04:11:03 [Permalink]
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quote:
The man deceided not to appeal as he was released after 6 months on good behaviour. A suggestion was made that he had lost faith in the judicial system, but this is unverified although it isn't hard to imagine. He subsequently emigrated to England.
As for the Netherlands being more enlightened, well, i could suggest a couple of improvements.
Six months in the can for carnal voo-doo. That's a damn' shame.
But I begin to suspect that there's more to the story than meets the eye. Could it be that the girl actually believed this sort of nonsense strongly enough that the guy could bullshit her out of her pants, whether she wanted to or not? And thus the judge accepted this outrageous testimony.
His deciding not to appeal bothers me. On the surface at least, I think he'd have a great case; virtually a slam dunk (I hate basketball except for that phrase. It's so useful). But now he has a record of rape that he'll keep forever.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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tomk80
SFN Regular
Netherlands
1278 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2004 : 06:07:17 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Plyss
The man deceided not to appeal as he was released after 6 months on good behaviour. A suggestion was made that he had lost faith in the judicial system, but this is unverified although it isn't hard to imagine. He subsequently emigrated to England.
As for the Netherlands being more enlightened, well, i could suggest a couple of improvements.
It is a very strange case indeed. Not only the verdict, but also the whole proceedings to the verdict are strange to say the least. And his refusal to appeal is even stranger.
I've got the idea that the court wanted to incorporate the cultural values of the victim and the suspect in the verdict, although it is questionable whether that is a good thing. |
Tom
`Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, `if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll- |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2004 : 20:39:55 [Permalink]
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| Going into customs in the Dominican Republic some med students in front of me had a skull for their studies. The customs inspectors wouldn't touch it. But I'm not sure how hard it is to smuggle things into that country anyway. |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2004 : 20:45:55 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
I put this in Humor because, sadly, that's where it seems to belong.
Personally, I'd put this story in religion, as it is clear that these men take the supposed power of these charms quite seriously.
Of course, you could make a very strong case that the entire religion folder itself should merely be a subset of the humor folder. 
Personally, I file all the wacko religious stories I find under religion, even burnt tortillas and defective balloons. To make light of their absurdity is to miss how truly disturbing such convictions are.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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