Re: Paging John Hughes!

["John Hughes" <pureneasy@xxxxxxxxx>]

Scott, re

> > Also, Pete claims that what he did was not illegal at the time.
> > Ex post facto laws are unconstitutional in the U.S....are they
> > allowed in the U.K.?
> >
> > I'd like to know the answer to that, too.
> >
> > PAGING JOHN HUGHES!  PAGING JOHN HUGHES!

Under normal circumstances, British Governments don't pass retrospective
legislation, usually after an overwhelming case has been made, for instance
with the War Crimes Act.

Until it was passed by Parliament, a Lithuanian living in Britain who
committed murder in continental Europe in 1943 could not have been
prosecuted. But it was not so much the crime that was made retrospective
(murder has always been an offence) as the jurisdiction.

I'm not sure that Pete was dealt with under retrospective legislation - he
was cautioned in respect of an offence under the Protection of Children Act
1978 as amended by the Criminal Justice Acts of 1988 and 1994. The entry on
the sex offender's register came under the sex offenders act 1997 - and I
believe all of that legislation was in place when Pete "accessed" the porn
site.

I've found a web site which goes into considerable legal debate on Pete's
case here

http://www.geocities.com/pca_1978/

I should say I didn't like the overall tone of the site; I got the feeling
that the owner of the site is more concerned for the rights of paedophiles
than the protection of children, but you'll make your own mind up about
that.

> > Also, John, (if you're out there) could you please explain the British
> > saying "taking the mick (?)" (or "mickey") as in "pulling my leg" or
> > more succinctly "fucking with me."
> >
> > Any idea how that British expression originated?

"take the mick/mickey/michael -- vb. British -- to mock, deride, poke fun
at. These expressions are milder versions of 'take the piss.' Unbeknownst to
most users, they employ rhyming slang: Mickey is short for a mythical
'Mickey Bliss,' providing the rhyme for 'piss.' 'Michael' is a humorous
variant. The phrases, like their more vulgar counterpart, have been in use
since the 1940s."

"take the piss (out of someone) vb. British -- to mock, deride, poke fun
(at). This vulgarism has been in widespread use since the late 1940s. The
original idea evoked by the expression was that of deflating someone,
recalling the description of a self-important blusterer as 'all piss and
wind.'"

Fucking with me(someone) is one of those curious phrases. I'd probably use
it among close friends or family when I realised someone was taking the
mickey, but some tanked up lads in a kind of rutting bulls scenario would
use it as a precursor to a fight - 'ere, you fucking with me?

Semantically speaking,

John