Stupid or Weird Laws? You Tell Me.

Alabama

It is illegal to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.

Alaska

It is illegal for a moose to walk on the sidewalk downtown.

Arizona

Hunting camels is prohibited.

Arkansas

It is illegal to mispronounce Arkansas while in Arkansas.

California

Community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stop a child from playfully jumping over puddles of water.

Colorado

It is illegal for a woman wearing a red dress to be out on the streets after 7 PM.

Connecticut

You are not allowed to walk across a street on your hands.

Delaware

Getting married on a dare is grounds for an annulment.

Florida

Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

Georgia

Members of the state assembly cannot be ticketed for speeding while the state assembly is in session.

Hawaii

In Hawaii you will be fined if you do not own a boat.

Idaho

Riding a merry-go-round on Sundays is considered a crime.

Illinois

It is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, and other domesticated animal kept as pets.

Indiana

Bathing is prohibited during the winter.

Iowa

Kisses may last for as much as, but no more than, five minutes.

Kansas

It is illegal to put ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas.

Kentucky

By law, anyone who has been drinking is "sober" until he or she "cannot hold onto the ground."

Louisiana

Biting someone with your natural teeth is "simple assault," while biting someone with your false teeth is "aggravated assault."

Maine

You may not step out of a plane in flight.

Maryland

You cannot swear while inside the city limits of Baltimore.

Massachusetts

You may not, at any time take a crap on your neighbor.

Michigan

It is legal for the blind to hunt, and they don't need anyone with them.

Minnesota

It is illegal to walk across the Minnesota-Wisconsin border with a duck on your head.

Mississippi

A man may not seduce a woman by lying, and claiming he will marry her.

Missouri

Single men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty must pay an annual tax of one dollar (enacted 1820).

Montana

It is illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperon.

Nebraska

A parent can be arrested if his child cannot hold back a burp during a church service.

Nevada

It's still "legal" to hang someone for shooting your dog on your property.

New Hampshire

One must not collect seaweed.

New Jersey

It is illegal to wear a bulletproof vest while committing a murder.

New Mexico

Females are strictly forbidden to appear unshaven in public.

New York

A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. This old law specifically prohibits men from turning around on any city street and looking "at a woman in that way." A second conviction for a crime of this magnitude calls for the violating male to be forced to wear a "pair of horse-blinders" wherever and whenever he goes outside for a stroll.

North Carolina

Elephants may not be used to plough cotton fields.

North Dakota

Beer & pretzels can't be served at the same time in any bar or restaurant.

Ohio

Women are prohibited from wearing patent leather shoes in public.

Oklahoma

Violators can be fined, arrested or jailed for making ugly faces at a dog.

Oregon

You may not bathe without wearing "suitable clothing," i.e. that which covers one's body from neck to knee.

Pennsylvania

A special cleaning ordinance bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling.

Rhode Island

Any marriage where either of the parties is an idiot or lunatic is null and void.

South Carolina

Horses may not be kept in bathtubs.

South Dakota

If there are more than 5 Native Americans on your property you may shoot them.

Tennessee

You can't shoot any game other that whales from a moving automobile.

Texas

It is illegal to take more that three sips of beer while standing.

Utah

A husband is responsible for every criminal act committed by his wife while she is in his presence.

Vermont

Lawmakers made it obligatory for everybody to take at least one bath each week -- on Saturday night.

Virginia

There is a state law prohibiting "corrupt practices of bribery by any person other than candidates."

Washington

A law to reduce crime states: "It is mandatory for a motorist with criminal intentions to stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town".

West Virginia

No children may attend school with their breath smelling of "wild onions".

Wisconsin

Unless a customer orders it specifically, it's against the law to serve margarine instead of butter at a restaurant (the dairy state).

Wyoming

It is illegal for women to stand within five feet of a bar while drinking.

Blonde In Casino

Two bored casino dealers are waiting at the crap table. A veryattractive blonde woman arrived and bet twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) on a single roll of the dice. She said, "I hope you don't mind, but I feel much luckier when I'm completely nude."
With that, she stripped from the neck down, rolled the dice and yelled, "Come on, baby, Mama needs new clothes!" As the dice came to a stop she jumped up and down and squealed... "YES! YES! I WON, I WON!" She hugged each of the dealers and then picked up her winnings and her clothes and quicklydeparted...
The dealers stared at each other dumbfounded. Finally, one of them asked, "What did she roll?" The other answered, "I don't know - I thought you were watching."

Cambodian couple saw house in half in divorce

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A couple in rural Cambodia has terminated their 18-year marriage with a divorce settlement that entailed sawing in two the wooden house they once shared, villagers said Friday. The husband, 42-year-old Moeun Sarim, has taken away with him all the bits and pieces of his half a house, said his 35-year-old wife, Vat Navy."Very strange, but this is what my husband wanted," she said by phone from a village about 62 miles east of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. She said they ended their marriage last month.

"He brought his relatives and used saws to cut the house in half," she said, adding that she now owns the other half that is still standing. The house is made from wood with a tile roof and propped up on wooden pillars, a typical style for a Cambodian country home.

She said her estranged husband and his relatives, after ripping apart half of the house, carried all the debris to his parents' house nearby.

She said the divorce was prompted by her husband's jealousy about her alleged relationship with a policeman in the village. She denied having an extramarital affair.

"He wanted a divorce, and I said, `Let's divorce,'" she said.

The husband could not be reached for comment.

Bou Bout, a village chief, said local officials and police were present as witnesses the day the couple split their 20-by-24 1/2 foot house into half.

"Local officials tried three times to get them to mend their differences, but the husband would not budge," Bou Bout said by phone.

P/S : Now they have cut the house in half. What's going to be next? A cow which is minding its own business grazing the green grass? Hmm...I wonder.

Your Money Keeping It Safe.

The Dow Jones dropped more than 600 points to its lowest level in five years.

Scared yet? The Dow Jones industrials suffered a decline of more than 875 points on Monday and Tuesday, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted that the global financial markets crisis is likely to restrain the economy well into next year.
Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, according to Congress' top budget analyst.

It's okay to feel the fear. But it's not okay to react to it. Panicking and making big changes in your accounts is likely to do a heck of a lot more damage than a recession ever could.
Sticking to some tried-and-true principles can help you get through the bad times with your sanity and your savings intact.

"Don't panic, stay the course," said Allan Roth, a financial planner in Colorado Springs. "If you can't be right at least be consistent. We're allowed to feel the emotions, but how we react to them is going to be far more important than any short-term swings."

An Early Start
If you're just starting to think about saving for retirement, don't delay. Despite the upheaval of the past few months — and the past few weeks in particular — it would be a mistake for someone in their 20s or 30s to hold off on investing now.

The key here is the long-term prospects for stocks. Ultimately, stock values hinge on the productivity of U.S. workers and the earnings power of American companies. And it's not as if those engines of long-term growth are about to disappear.

The country may need some time to work through the detritus of the housing bubble and lending excesses. And stock returns could very well be anemic as that happens. But history shows that some of the best long-term gains go to investors willing to buy stocks when they're reviled, as in the years following major setbacks like the 1929 crash and the 1973-1974 bear market.

Of course, the long view may not seem particularly relevant to you at the moment. But remember: the money that you contribute to accounts such as a 401(k) is going to be invested for many years.

The real question isn't whether you should be contributing to a 401(k). It's how you should be investing the money you contribute, as well as the money that's already there.

If you're in your 20's or 30s, you still want most of your 401(k) money in stocks, say between 80% and 90%. That may be a tough sell emotionally in these uncertain times. But the important thing isn't what your 401(k) is worth over the next few years — it's what its value will be in 2040 and beyond.

Mid-Career
Even if you're older, you should still think of the money you're contributing now as a long-term investment. But you also need to give some consideration to preserving the assets you've already accumulated.

That means dialing back your stock exposure somewhat, although you don't want to hunker down completely in bonds and cash. Lightening up on stocks will give you more short-term stability. But if you get too conservative, you run the risk of stunting the eventual size of your nest egg — and your lifestyle in retirement.

But before you go tinkering around with your portfolio, keep in mind that while bear markets can hurt a portfolio, how you react to downturns can make matters worse, said Roth. He points out that investing in stocks when they're hot and then running to bonds when they're not has a name: performance chasing.

"When you move in and out, you're actually increasing risk while decreasing your returns," Roth said. Over time, market timing can cost investors around 1.5% a year in returns, according to Roth.

'The Danger Years'
The decade before you quit the work force, along with the five years immediately after, is the most sensitive period in an entire lifetime of retirement planning. The saving, investment and career decisions you make during this time will dictate in a major way whether you'll spend the next 30 to 40 years enjoying the life you've always looked forward to or eating the early-bird special at Denny's.

"It's natural to have a queasy feeling at this time in your life, wondering if your retirement will happen as planned," says Joseph Chadwick of the Longevity Alliance, a financial services firm that specializes in retirement products. "But there's no need to panic."

Stocks held for the long term can be counted on to bounce back eventually. But if you need to sell shares just as they're dropping in value — exactly the scenario many newly minted retirees have faced recently — you run a sharply higher risk that your money will someday run out. That's because when the market does recover, you'll have less money invested to benefit from renewed growth.

Fortunately, there's a minor tweak that can dramatically cut your risk.
Typically, to ensure your nest egg lasts as long as you do, you should withdraw no more than 4% of your savings for living expenses in your first year of retirement. In year two, you might take a little more to account for inflation.

The bear-market adjustment? Give up on the inflation increase until stocks recover.
A study by T. Rowe Price concludes that this simple step cuts the odds of running out of money over a 30-year period in half, from 22% to 11%, on a sample portfolio invested 55% in stocks and 45% in bonds.

Worried that forgoing your inflation raise will bust your budget? Pull a Brett Favre and go back to work part time to make up the "lost" income. You probably won't need to put in more than a few hours a week — a 3% increase on a $75,000 annual withdrawal equals only $200 a month.