We've come a long way since the days of the British mental hospital, 'Bedlam,' where one could 'pay a penny, see the loonies.'
"If you were bored in the 1800s, you could always pop down to the local insane asylum to liven up your day. Many of these institutions allowed the public to pay a small to fee to walk around gawking at the residents.... St. Mary Bethlehem, aka Bethlam Hospital, aka Bedlam. The bastardized version of its name is where we get the word for absolute craziness. And in the 1800s it was very crazy at Bedlam. Visitors paid a penny to look at the patients and if they were being too calm and docile for the visitors liking, they were allowed to poke the patients with sticks."
5 More Crazy Ways People Amused Themselves Before Television | Mental Floss
Granted....that was before cable TV....
...but now it's totally free to view crazy folks.
And....they walk among us!
And now for a quiz!
See how many crazies you can find in this story:
1."French mother on trial for son Jihads T-shirt
2. SORGUES, France A T-shirt worn by a 3-year-old nursery-schooler named Jihad has led to an unusual and politically charged criminal trial here that tests the limits of free speech and common sense ...
3. I am a bomb, the shirt said on the front. The back read, Jihad Born Sept. 11.
4. ... began Sept. 25 at an unlikely place: the Ramieres de Sorgues municipal nursery. As she dressed the children after a lunch break, a teacher there became alarmed when she saw Jihads T-shirt.
5. Although little Jihad was born on Sept. 11, the teacher saw an outrageous reference to Islamic war and the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks...
6. ... the principal, who was equally upset and called in Jihads 35-year-old Moroccan-born mother, Bouchra Bagour.
7. ... the single mother, who works as a secretary, apologized for causing trouble and said she had no intention of conveying a political message via her toddler.
8. ...we cant let that go by, [Mayor] Lagneau recalled. I didnt know what was behind it, but we could not let that go. We have to impose limits.
9. The uncle, who had bought the T-shirt in nearby Avignon and given it to Jihad, said he was kept in custody for four hours, including more than two hours in a holding cell....The most troubling question from police, Makouh said, was put to the mother as well as the uncle: Did Bagour induce labor three years ago so Jihad would be born on Sept. 11?
10 ...the prosecutor decided to charge Bagour and her brother with apology for crime, which under a 1981 French law carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $58,000 fine."
French mother on trial for son Jihad?s T-shirt - Washington Post
We live in interesting times....
"If you were bored in the 1800s, you could always pop down to the local insane asylum to liven up your day. Many of these institutions allowed the public to pay a small to fee to walk around gawking at the residents.... St. Mary Bethlehem, aka Bethlam Hospital, aka Bedlam. The bastardized version of its name is where we get the word for absolute craziness. And in the 1800s it was very crazy at Bedlam. Visitors paid a penny to look at the patients and if they were being too calm and docile for the visitors liking, they were allowed to poke the patients with sticks."
5 More Crazy Ways People Amused Themselves Before Television | Mental Floss
Granted....that was before cable TV....
...but now it's totally free to view crazy folks.
And....they walk among us!
And now for a quiz!
See how many crazies you can find in this story:
1."French mother on trial for son Jihads T-shirt
2. SORGUES, France A T-shirt worn by a 3-year-old nursery-schooler named Jihad has led to an unusual and politically charged criminal trial here that tests the limits of free speech and common sense ...
3. I am a bomb, the shirt said on the front. The back read, Jihad Born Sept. 11.
4. ... began Sept. 25 at an unlikely place: the Ramieres de Sorgues municipal nursery. As she dressed the children after a lunch break, a teacher there became alarmed when she saw Jihads T-shirt.
5. Although little Jihad was born on Sept. 11, the teacher saw an outrageous reference to Islamic war and the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks...
6. ... the principal, who was equally upset and called in Jihads 35-year-old Moroccan-born mother, Bouchra Bagour.
7. ... the single mother, who works as a secretary, apologized for causing trouble and said she had no intention of conveying a political message via her toddler.
8. ...we cant let that go by, [Mayor] Lagneau recalled. I didnt know what was behind it, but we could not let that go. We have to impose limits.
9. The uncle, who had bought the T-shirt in nearby Avignon and given it to Jihad, said he was kept in custody for four hours, including more than two hours in a holding cell....The most troubling question from police, Makouh said, was put to the mother as well as the uncle: Did Bagour induce labor three years ago so Jihad would be born on Sept. 11?
10 ...the prosecutor decided to charge Bagour and her brother with apology for crime, which under a 1981 French law carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $58,000 fine."
French mother on trial for son Jihad?s T-shirt - Washington Post
We live in interesting times....
