This dude just grassed on all the people who bent the rules to be nice to him. With pictures. For a moment of blog fame. Very uncool.
I just learned a new word: grassed
I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
191–200 of 246 posts
Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#192We are programmers and architects - do not bend the rules, we made them, your bending suggests flaws and imperfection and is offending. Trains shall run on tracks. Spontanious agents are a loss of controll. The horror.
The downvoting behaviour so predictable.
The irony of a controlling agent, hating the idea of beeing controllable.
Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find this response, and the suggestions, exemplifying why Kazakhstan justice (as expressed in the story, I don't know how it's in general) is superior to American justice. It's the ability to take the law and regulations lightly, when they're not that serious, and be humane about it. I mean writing: "YOU CHOSE to violate it", with added emphasis, as if having a visa expiring on the same day you leave a place (and l…
Yep. Exactly. There's something to be said for a little wiggle room outside of "the rules". And for what it worth, he was "detained" (in a way) and had to pay a steep fine of $500, and had to face some significant stressful (and interesting) uncertainty. It was perhaps not as punitive as rules-oriented folks might like, but I think its safe to say that this guy is now careful to have his paperwork in order on foreign…
It may be too easy to look at this and be appreciative of the humanity and 'wiggle room' if one should be the person to benefit from it. Would a local be afforded the same wiggle room?
Recently, I read an anecdote about someone in the US arrested for drug possession. The family was well-known in the community. Charges were dropped due to minor procedural errors. Other cases with potential procedural errors are pursued and the accused are often recommended to take plea deals.
> What more can one expect?
Someone may find it great that the rules were bent for a not-so-bad infraction. Someone else may want a system that is evenly applied and by-the-book in all situations.
Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was thinking about this just the other day, the term "demented" literally means "with mind removed".
Actually it means "out of one's mind"
Huh. So it does, thanks for that!
...as a tangent, I'm impressed and slightly weirded out by the fact that I googled for "etymology demented" and it answered directly with an etymological tree for the word. Google's getting smarter.
Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#195This dude just grassed on all the people who bent the rules to be nice to him. With pictures. For a moment of blog fame. Very uncool.
The guy sounds like an asshole. His bemused depictions of friendly border guards reek of self-superiority and total lack of empathy.
What? I got the opposite impression.
Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sasha was a responsible scientist with a stable life. McAfee is someone who kept a minor girlfriend, fled Belize after being implicated in the murder of his neighbor and spent most of his time down there booty bumping bath salts. For some perspective.
> spent most of his time down there booty bumping bath salts source? Having lived in Cambodia (nowhere near as dangerous as Belize, but probably just as corrupt), being implicated with a crime you didn't commit isn't the most far fetched thing.
> spent most of his time down there booty bumping bath salts
There's a phrase I'm never going to google. I'm happily ignorant.
Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep. Exactly. There's something to be said for a little wiggle room outside of "the rules". And for what it worth, he was "detained" (in a way) and had to pay a steep fine of $500, and had to face some significant stressful (and interesting) uncertainty. It was perhaps not as punitive as rules-oriented folks might like, but I think its safe to say that this guy is now careful to have his paperwork in order on foreign…
It may be too easy to look at this and be appreciative of the humanity and 'wiggle room' if one should be the person to benefit from it. Would a local be afforded the same wiggle room? Recently, I read an anecdote about someone in the US arrested for drug possession. The family was well-known in the community. Charges were dropped due to minor procedural errors. Other cases with potential procedural errors are pursue…
> Someone else may want a system that is fair and by-the-book in all situations.
It is utterly unreasonable to expect or desire everything to be "by the book" all the time. If you do, you'll be sorely disappointed with the real world.
Your particular example actually works against your argument. The "minor procedural errors" were likely discovered and exploited by highly compensated lawyers who make a living negotiating with the "fair" rules. The real problem for both cases is getting arrested in the first place. Both actors likely spent a miserable night in jail. Could a little discretion from the police involved have averted the misery, expense, and absurd waste of resources grinding the gears of the criminal justice system over nothing much at all? I think so.
Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#198Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#199Can anyone tell me what this means? > ...in another ten years, you will see, we’ll be living like Arabs.
I'm assuming he meant "living like Arabs" in the sense that they'll become a very prosperous country.
That's what I assumed, but I didn't know if people of Kazakhstan have a negative view of how Arabs live. Thanks!
Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
It may be too easy to look at this and be appreciative of the humanity and 'wiggle room' if one should be the person to benefit from it. Would a local be afforded the same wiggle room? Recently, I read an anecdote about someone in the US arrested for drug possession. The family was well-known in the community. Charges were dropped due to minor procedural errors. Other cases with potential procedural errors are pursue…
> Someone else may want a system that is fair and by-the-book in all situations. It is utterly unreasonable to expect or desire everything to be "by the book" all the time. If you do, you'll be sorely disappointed with the real world. Your particular example actually works against your argument. The "minor procedural errors" were likely discovered and exploited by highly compensated lawyers who make a living negotiat…
I don't have the story around, but if I recall correctly, the minor procedural errors were forgetting to read Miranda rights. In the US, conviction can be based on possession without that form of evidence. Let's say for the sake of the argument that social status was an important factor here.
If going by-the-book is overly harsh, then the book needs to be amended. Bending the rules is not really praiseworthy, though it may end up with an good result in a particular case. It's not what I prefer in a justice system.