In our struggle for a better world, there are good stories and bad stories (the ratio is in favour of the latter). And then there are ridiculous stories.

The causes for the world’s illnesses are numerous: greed, corruption, inefficiency, bureaucracy, ignorance… And then there is stupidity.

Let the Absurd Theatre take over the stage…

WOMEN. In Indonesia, women have to cover themselves up. If they don’t do it themselves, the police will do it for them. 20,000 skirts were paid for by the state with this in mind. “If a police officer decides that a female’s clothing is too tight, provocative, or otherwise offensive to the vice squad’s interpretation of Shariah law, the enforcer can instruct the woman to put on one of the skirts he’s carrying.” What is this? Misogyny? Discrimination? Anti-fashion campaign? Three-in-one?

ABORTION. In Phoenix, Arizona, Sister Margaret McBride was excommunicated in May. Her sin against the Catholic Church was to allow a life-saving abortion for a mother of four. The woman had a dangerous illness and the pregnancy would have killed both her and the fetus. But the Church had other views. It decided it was better to leave four children without their mother than to allow an abortion, because “you can’t do evil to bring about good.” That’s how good it gets.

IMMIGRATION. Immigration authorities can be really harsh, especially if you have no documents. In Italy, a law passed in 2009 orders illegal immigrants to pay a fine of €5,000-10,000. As if it is the world’s rich who travel to Europe illegally. Border agencies might not like your nationality, but your face? A Chinese-American recently got his passport photo back with an order to replace it. The reason for this is that the US State Department thinks the man is “too yellow”. Until he un-yellows himself, he will be denied his US passport. So much for the supposed colour-blindness.

LANGUAGE. Four Filipino nurses were fired from a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland for speaking in Tagalog, their mother tongue. The hospital has an English-only policy in emergency rooms, where understanding among staff can determine life or death situations. But nurses say they have to be careful even during their lunch breaks and personal conversations. One Ciao! to your workmates at the end of your shift and you’re out. Ciao, amigos! and you're out twice.

UNEMPLOYMENT. Times are tough. Unemployed are many. With government spending cuts a reality, benefit systems are being reviewed. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah, US believes the unemployed have no jobs because they are drug addicts. He suggested drug-testing for people who are unemployed and/or poor before giving them state benefits to live on. Following the logic, why not drug-test all the banksters? Their taxpayer bailout was a sort of state benefit, too.

LGBT. Bill O’Reilly, the host of a TV programme The O’Reilly Factor, dedicated part of his show to the McDonald’s “Come as you are” ad.  He didn’t like the fact that companies feature LGBT issues in their commercials. He also wondered if McDonald’s would encourage other groups to “come out”. Namely, al-Qaida. For Bill O’Reilly, gay people are the same as terrorists. Let it be known that The O’Reilly Factor is aired on FOX News. No surprise here.

The curtain never drops in the Absurd Theatre. The stage is firmly occupied.

If only common sense was allowed to intervene…

 Photo: bradleykurtz via flickr