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The owner of a foul-mouthed cockatoo who was recently fined 15 USD (470 Roubles. 11.75 Euros. 9.25 UK Pounds) for violating a noise ordinance in Warwick RI in the USA is appealing her case to the state Superior Court. Lynne Taylor found herself before a judge when her next-door neighbour… who’s also her ex-husband’s new girlfriend… claimed that Taylor’s bird was cursing loudly and chirping the word “whore” repeatedly at her. Taylor’s attorney says the 12-year-old bird, named Willy, isn’t cursing at all, and never bothered anyone until the girlfriend moved in. On Tuesday, Taylor’s attorney, Stephen Peltier, said, “She says knock it off; he doesn’t curse at the new girlfriend. The girlfriend’s all upset about everything; if it rains tomorrow, she’ll blame my client”. Taylor’s appeal claims the noise ordinance is unconstitutional because the town doesn’t clarify how loud a noise has to be to be considered a nuisance. A date for the hearing hasn’t been set yet.
26 September 2012 (MSK)
RIA-Novosti
Voices from Russia 
Poll Shows Over 80% of Russians Favour “Blasphemy” Draft Law
Tags: blasphemy, Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Christian cross, Criminal Code, Cross, Duma, legal affairs, Moscow, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox, Orthodoxy, political commentary, politics, Punk rock, Pussy Riot, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, RF Criminal Code, RF Gosduma, Russia, Russian, Russian Orthodox Church, State Duma, Vladimir Putin, VTSIOM
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A survey by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed that over 80 percent of Russians support draft legislation that would introduce harsher penalties for blasphemy and desecrating religious sites. Next week, MPs in the RF Gosduma will debate amendments to the Criminal Code. The amendments envisage a prison term of up to three years or a penalty between 100,000 and 200,000 Roubles (3,200 to 6,400 USD. 2,500 to 5,000 Euros. 1,975 to 3,950 UK Pounds) for desecration of religious sites and attacking people’s religious beliefs. According to the survey, 82 percent of those polled favour the new draft law, whilst 12 percent spoke against it.
The initiative first emerged after a Moscow court handed down a two-year sentence to three members of the all-female anti-Putin punk band Pussy Riot in late August, in a case that divided Russian society and sparked a wave of protest actions in support of the group. The group members were jailed after a protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour over Church support for Vladimir Putin ahead of the March presidential election that returned him to the Kremlin for a third term. The draft law also comes after four wooden crosses were chopped down throughout Russia last month. A senior Moscow priest, Fr Dmitri Smirnov, said the cross attacks amounted to a declaration of war against the Church. Several Church figures previously called for blasphemy to be made a crime. Currently, it’s an administrative offense punishable by a fine of up to 1,000 roubles (32 USD. 25 Euros. 20 UK Pounds). The survey was conducted on 7-8 September, among 1,600 respondents in 138 Russian localities. The margin of error is below 3.4 percent.
26 September 2012 (MSK)
RIA-Novosti
http://en.ria.ru/politics/20120926/176228857.html