The Zetas are one of the biggest players in Mexico’s drug war, which has resulted in about 40,000 deaths since 2006. Earlier this month, a YouTube video showed a man in a Guy Fawkes mask who claimed to speak for Anonymous warning the Zetas that the collective would reveal the names of people who had aided the cartel, including taxi drivers, police officers and journalists, if a kidnapped member of Anonymous weren’t released.

Now that’s a cause we can all get behind.

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While the army in Avatar is undoubtedly American, the idea of people siding with an indigenous population against an imperialistic force is something that China was not comfortable with. That’s why shortly after the release of the movie in China, the authorities decided the movie could only be shown in 3D. Since there are very few 3D theaters in China, the move was effectively a ban on the film.

Read the reasoning behind the other bans at Oddee. Link

Link Via Geekosystem

Don’t Make Assumptions

There are a lot of situations where slang is a bad idea; and asking for “dough” at a pizza joint is certainly a good example. Funny enough though, the robbers who made off with a bagful of dough weren’t even victims of a bad pun, they were just stupid enough to point to a bag behind the counter without verifying that the bag held money instead of pizza ingredients. The moral of the story is that when holding someone up, you’re much better off asking them to hand over the cash than simply pointing to a random bag in the store.

Image via Jeff Kubina [Flickr]

Don’t Make Stupid Excuses

“That’s not mine” just might be one of the oldest excuses in the book when it comes to illicit substances. While plenty of suspects have tried to say their drug stash belonged to their friends, most of them weren’t stupid enough to say it about crack in their butt crack. Even if it was his friend’s crack, it certainly was under his “control” at the time of the arrest, and that’s all that really matters.

Image via HTB [Flickr]

Some Things Are Not A Police Matter

There’s a reason real drug dealers have such a vicious reputation to uphold. After all, if someone takes their supply, it’s not like they can just call the police. Amateur drug cultivators aren’t always hip to these rules, which is why it’s not entirely surprising that a small-time marijuana grower called the police when someone stole one of his prized plants. The police responded to the crime immediately –by confiscating his four remaining plants.

Don’t Complain

Robbing a store is a big gamble. Aside from the risk of getting caught, there’s also a risk that there won’t be much money in the register at the time. If you lose that gamble and end up only getting $586 in the hold up (which is actually pretty decent for a Wendy’s), you probably shouldn’t call the store to complain. One man learned this the hard way after police tracked him down when he called a second time to tell the workers they’d better have more money in the register the next time he robs them.

Image via alanwhitaker [Flickr]

Don’t Call Dad

If you’re going to pay someone for sex, at least make sure they aren’t 13. Also, don’t call the girl’s dad if she doesn’t show up to your pre-arranged sex romp. Chances are that her father will call the police, who will arrest you for trying to pay a minor for sex.

Image via lammersch [Flickr]

Don’t Cut

If you decide to cut in line to rob a Starbucks, you might want to look at the line as you walk up. If you notice two uniformed police officers, it’s a good sign that you probably shouldn’t go ahead with the robbery. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t too long before the perpetrator was arrested.

Image via SFview [Flickr]

Don’t Set The World Alight

Everyone loves to get off work early, but it’s one thing to want a half day and another to commit an act of arson just to get off work. Michelle Perrino caught the attention of coworkers when she later talked about how the fire started in a file cabinet before office workers had been informed of the origin of the blaze.

Image via shlala [Flickr]

Do Your Own Ironing

It may not be illegal to be sexist, but it is definitely against the law to hold your mother hostage when she refuses to do your ironing for you. When Robert Edward Tyrrell Jr.’s mother said she wouldn’t do his ironing, he yelled, “ironing is woman’s work,” pulled out a gun and held her hostage for six hours. When he let her go, she drove straight to the police station to report him.

Image via akeg [Flickr]

Don’t Drop the Gun

Carjacking is never a good idea, but if you do decide to do it, make sure you hold on to your gun tightly. Raymond Lewis Shepard made the mistake of letting his gun slip and it happened to fall right onto the victim’s lap. Naturally, she used the gun against her attackers, who were promptly arrested.

Image via Maya The Bee [Flickr]

Don’t Get Locked Out of The Getaway Car

The whole point of a getaway car is to make a quick, nonchalant escape from the scene of the crime. While you don’t want the car to be stolen while you are out committing the crime, if you can’t keep track of your keys, it might be better to just leave your car open. That’s what Jane Murray found out when she returned to her getaway car after a bank robbery. She ended up having to breakout her car window to get back in.

Image via Sara. Nel [Flickr]

Realize That Paperwork Is Not Your Friend

If you enter a bank claiming to have a bomb on you and demand $2000, don’t let the manager convince you to fill out a loan application. When the robber agreed, the manager went to the back “to get an application” and called 911. By the time the mock application was finished, the police had already arrived.

Image via cityyear [Flickr]

Don’t Brag

If you’re making a living by shoplifting from stores and then reselling them online, don’t go on a national TV program like Doctor Phil to brag about the scheme. Believe it or not, police and prosecutors do watch these programs and they will arrest you for breaking the law.

Image via apdk [Flickr]

Don’t Use Your Real Name

If you’re going to do some shoplifting, you probably shouldn’t apply to the same store, particularly on the same visit to the shop. If you are going to be so stupid, at least don’t use your real name and address on the application so the police can track you down.

Image via jon.liu [Flickr]

There are plenty of dumb criminals out there, so this is by no means the full extent of lessons to be learned by stupid rule breakers. Feel free to share your bad troublemaker stories in the comments.

For my book, The Year of Living Biblically, I spent 12 months trying to follow every rule in the Old Testament. Even the obscure one-like stoning adulterers (I used pebbles) and never shaving your beard (I did a lot of itching). My challenge: to reconcile the Bible’s easy-to-grasp wisdom with some of its seemingly baffling laws. The following are a few of the more arcane rules I found along the way, with possible reasons behind them.

1. THE RULE: “…she shall put the rainment of her capitivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month; and after that thou shalt go in unto her and be her husband…” (from Deuteronomy 21:10-14)

THE TRANSLATION: If you capture a beautiful woman during war, and you want to marry her, you must first have her shave her head and trim her nails. Then you must live with her for a month without touching her. After that, she’s all yours.

POSSIBLE EXPLANATION: Think of it like gun control-it’s a mandatory waiting period. If you still want to marry a bald, short-nailed woman after a month of no sex, then maybe it truly is love.

(Image credit: Flickr user Willam Cho)

2. THE RULE: “Even these of them ye may eat: the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. / But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.” (Leviticus 11:22-23)

THE TRANSLATION: You can’t eat bugs. Well, except for locusts, beetles, and grasshoppers-those you can eat all you want.

POSSIBLE EXPLANATION: A ban on eating bugs isn’t all that hard to argue with, but why the loophole for locusts et al.? It’s believed that this is actually an example of the Bible’s pragmatism. If locusts swarmed and devoured all the crops, the Israelites would have nothing left to eat-except the locusts themselves.

3. THE RULE: “…thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed; neither shall a garment of mingled linen and woolen come upon thee.” (Leviticus 19:19)

THE TRANSLATION: Don’t wear clothes made of mixed fibers. Wool-and-linen blends are particularly bad. Polycotton is probably OK.

POSSIBLE EXPLANATION: The Old Testament was obsessed with separating things. (Don’t wear mixed fibers; don’t mix milk and meat.) According to many biblical scholars, the idea was to drill the notion of separation into the ancient Israelite mind. This way, they would remain separate from the pagans and not intermarry-a sin even worse than mixing wool and linen.

4. THE RULE: “And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days; and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.” (Leviticus 15: 19)

THE TRANSLATION: Stay away from a woman if she’s menstruating. She’s impure, and if you touch her, you’ll become impure, too.

POSSIBLE EXPLANATION: While many people say this rule is misogynistic (kind of like the theological equivalent of cooties), some scholars and devout Jews defend the practice. They say it has to do with reverence for life. When a woman has her period, it’s like a small death. A potential life has vanished, and this is a way of paying your respects.

5. THE RULE: “A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh with his eyes…” (Proverbs 6: 12-13)

THE TRANSLATION: No winking. This is just one example, but the Bible contains no less than four anti-winking passages.

POSSIBLE EXPLANATION: Many believe that the Bible’s “wink” referred to a tacit approval of evil. As in “I saw what you did, but I won’t tell.” But let’s face it; the wink is a creepy gesture, no matter how you cut it.

[Editor's note:] All Old testament verses are taken from the King James translation of the Bible. They are presented here solely for the purpose of historic investigation and in no way reflect the religious views of the magazine.

__________________________

The above article was written by A.J. Jacobs. It is reprinted with permission from the Scatterbrained section of the November-December 2007 issue of mental_floss magazine.

Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ entertaining website and blog for more fun stuff!

Since the Internet began, people have been sharing lists of the weirdest laws in the world, even so, I can’t get enough of these absolutely inane rules. Elistmania has a great top 10 of these terrible laws, the best of which may just be “Single women can’t parachute on Sundays in Florida.”

Why in the world would this be a law, and how could it be legal to discriminate like this in modern times?

For more silliness, see the rest of the list.

Link Image Via Bloomsberries [Flickr]

1. Munroe’s Law: A person in a geeky argument who can quote xkcd to support his position automatically wins the argument. This law supersedes Godwin, so that even if the quote is about Hitler, the quoter still wins.

2. Lucas’s Law: There is no movie so beloved that a “special edition,” prequel or sequel cannot trample and forever stain its memory. [...]

8. Wilbur’s Law: Bacon makes everything better.

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We’ve all heard someone complain about the stereotypes and sexism associated with Barbies, but now Democrat Jeff Eldridge wants to have the dolls banned in West Virginia. He claims the dolls encourage girls to focus too much importance on looks, rather than brains.

The announcement came right as Mattel is prepping up to celebrate Barbie’s 50th birthday on March 9th.

What are your thoughts, classic American icon or symbol of of an outdated 50′s mentality?

Link Photo Via CherrySoda [Flickr]

“I certainly respect the Constitution,” Melton said, “but we have some issues that are much bigger than the Constitution.”

I know Neatorama tries to stay unpolitical, but it is crucial for all of us to stand up and declare our rights to sag our pants.

Link Via Boing Boing