Dear readers,
About twenty minutes ago I received a phone call from Ms. Gloria Montiel from the Embassy of Paraguay (now that's a sentence I never thought I'd write). Ms. Montiel assured me that dueling is in fact illegal in Paraguay regardless of organ or blood donor status. After receiving her phone call I immediately wrote to the publishers of The New York Public Library Desk Reference for comment.
Stay tuned!
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Showing posts with label duel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label duel. Show all posts
Thursday, February 18, 2010
An Offical Message From the Reference Staff
On March 18, 2009, Elisabeth wrote a blog in which she quoted The New York Public Library Desk Reference as saying "In Paraguay, dueling is legal provided both parties are registered blood donors." Today, almost a year later, a guest contacted me on meebo and said that information was not true. The guest claimed that dueling was now outlawed in his native country.
In order to find out if indeed a blood donor could duel in Paraguay, I searched our collection, contacted the New York Public Library, and emailed a law librarian. Sadly, none of these sources could answer my question. Instead of giving up, our fearless leader, Tracy, called the Embassy of Paraguay in Washington, D.C. to get some answers. (I guess Senior Fernando Lugo was busy, ha ha) We are currently waiting on a response from Paraguayan officials.
To be continued....
In order to find out if indeed a blood donor could duel in Paraguay, I searched our collection, contacted the New York Public Library, and emailed a law librarian. Sadly, none of these sources could answer my question. Instead of giving up, our fearless leader, Tracy, called the Embassy of Paraguay in Washington, D.C. to get some answers. (I guess Senior Fernando Lugo was busy, ha ha) We are currently waiting on a response from Paraguayan officials.
To be continued....
Friday, May 15, 2009
Mississippi Decoded
About once a week, I end up leafing through the trusty Mississippi Code to find the answer to reference request. Did you know that it's a set of thirty-one books? That's not including the indices, court rules, legal forms, etc..., etc... What a set to lug around, right?! If you ever want to have a glance without shelling out for the whole set, your local public library more than likely has it. You can also contact us!
Today as I flipped to the end of Title 97 (Title 97 gets a whole book to itself!), the word dueling caught my eye. That's right, folks. There is a whole chapter in Mississippi law devoted to the subject of dueling! (I must interject that said chapter is only three pages long.) Of course, the good stuff is all wrapped up in an incoherent slew of legalese. Let me demonstrate:
The rest of the chapter delves into an excruciatingly detailed account of how one cannot duel, watch a duel, help a dueler, get mad at someone who won't duel, and so on. For your further edification, the punishment mentioned above is a $300-$1,000 fine and/or at least 6 months in the county clinky.
We promise to be more faithful about delivering these fascinating nuggets to our admiring public in the future. We hate that you've been having to go without! Goodness, we wouldn't want anyone to challenge us to BB guns at sunup in Tennessee. (How about loaded Oreos?)
Mississippi Code 1972, annotated. LexisNexis, 2008.
Today as I flipped to the end of Title 97 (Title 97 gets a whole book to itself!), the word dueling caught my eye. That's right, folks. There is a whole chapter in Mississippi law devoted to the subject of dueling! (I must interject that said chapter is only three pages long.) Of course, the good stuff is all wrapped up in an incoherent slew of legalese. Let me demonstrate:
§ 97-39-5. Leaving the state for purposes of duel.Isn't that a beautiful thing? I have deciphered this as meaning, "You can't go duel out of state, so don't even try it." I've been wondering if, say, Alabama was having a problem with prospective duelers sneaking over the state line to duke it out in the moonlight.
If any person shall send, deliver, or cause to be sent or delivered, any challenge, written or verbal, in this state, to any person to fight a duel out of this state, or shall leave this state to fight a duel out of the same, or shall accept such challenge out of this state, and shall leave this state for the purpose of fighting a duel; or if any person shall leave this state for the purpose of sending, accepting, or bearing a challenge, or the acceptance thereof, to fight a duel or shall knowingly bear any challenge, or be concerned as second, aid, or surgeon, of either party, without this state, the person so offending shall be subject to the like punishment as is provided in Sections 97-39-1 and 97-39-3.
The rest of the chapter delves into an excruciatingly detailed account of how one cannot duel, watch a duel, help a dueler, get mad at someone who won't duel, and so on. For your further edification, the punishment mentioned above is a $300-$1,000 fine and/or at least 6 months in the county clinky.
We promise to be more faithful about delivering these fascinating nuggets to our admiring public in the future. We hate that you've been having to go without! Goodness, we wouldn't want anyone to challenge us to BB guns at sunup in Tennessee. (How about loaded Oreos?)
Mississippi Code 1972, annotated. LexisNexis, 2008.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Parenthetically Paraguay
Yesterday afternoon I was flipping through my favorite reference book, The New York Public Library Desk Reference, and ran across this line: "In Paraguay, dueling is legal provided both parties are registered blood donors" (938.) I think this is among the most fabulous policies that I have ever seen! I decided to look around and see if there were any more nuggets about this tiny South American country of which I know essentially nothing. It turns out that there are quite a few!
The New York Public Library Desk Reference, 3rd Edition
"Bolivia" Oxford Guide to Countries of the World. Peter Stalker. Oxford University Press 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Mississippi Library Commission. 19 March 2009 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t42.e25
- There are only two completely landlocked countries in South America: Bolivia, and you guessed it, Paraguay (Bolivia, Oxford.)
- The country's name means "land with an important river" in Guaraní, the language of the native peoples of the area (Paraguay, Hutchinson.) How succinct and practical can you get?!
- "Paraguay produces more electricity per person than any other country" (Paraguay, Oxford.) Shocking!
- According to National Geographic's website, Paraguayans are "the most racially homogeneous in South America." The population tends to be of Spanish and Guaraní descent.
- From 1865-1870, Paraguay fought a bitter war with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Ninety percent of Paraguay's male population, the ones that were able to fight, that is, were killed (National Geographic.) That's such an astounding number!
Ñandutí lace is one of Paraguay's famous traditional crafts (Paraguayans, Cassell's.) Isn't it beautiful?
The New York Public Library Desk Reference, 3rd Edition
"Bolivia" Oxford Guide to Countries of the World. Peter Stalker. Oxford University Press 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Mississippi Library Commission. 19 March 2009 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t42.e25
"Paraguay" Oxford Guide to Countries of the World. Peter Stalker. Oxford University Press 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Mississippi Library Commission. 18 March 2009 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t42.e166
Paraguay. (2008). In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Abington: Helicon. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/8001003/
PARAGUAYANS. (2005). In Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures. London: Cassell. Retrieved March 19, 2009, from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6075889/.
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