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BBC

Austrian Man Makes Case For Lower Fine After “Deliberately” Farting At Police

Austrian Man Makes Case For Lower Fine After “Deliberately” Farting At Police
Bertrand Hauger

In Austria, they call it Darmwind — literally "bowel wind."

In June 2020, a man was fined 500 euros for intentionally letting one such Darwmind go at police officers approaching him for an identity check as he sat on a bench in a Viennese park. The Vienna Regional Administrative Court has now reduced the fine to 100 euros.

As Austrian daily Der Standard recalls, the deliberate flatulence — and the hefty fine that ensued — had made serious headlines last year, with international media catching wind of the affair. Police at the time had justified the inflated penalty by saying the suspect "had already behaved in a provocative and uncooperative manner" before letting her rip.

The individual had appealed the fine, arguing that the incriminated gas was merely a "biological process' that had escaped him. The suspect also argued that the targeted fart should be considered public criticism of police forces, `and thus within "freedom of expression" rights.

Unconvinced by such a line of defense, the court responded that to fall within freedom of expression purview, a statement still had to convey certain "communicative content" — which, in the case of this "pure body stimuli," was not the case.

Ultimately, considering this was the man's first offense (as offensive as it may have been), the court decided to reduce the fine to 100 euros. So it seems that this singular story, as Swiss daily Le Matinconcludes, is gone with the wind ...

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Migrant Lives

They Migrated From Chiapas When Opportunities Dried Up, Orchids Brought Them Home

An orchid rehabilitation project is turning a small Mexican community into a tourist magnet — and attracting far-flung locals back to their hometown.

They Migrated From Chiapas When Opportunities Dried Up, Orchids Brought Them Home

Marcos Aguilar Pérez takes care of orchids rescued from the rainforest in his backyard in Santa Rita Las Flores, Mapastepec, Chiapas, Mexico.

Adriana Alcázar González/GPJ Mexico
Adriana Alcázar González

MAPASTEPEC — Sweat cascades down Candelaria Salas Gómez’s forehead as she separates the bulbs of one of the orchids she and the other members of the Santa Rita Las Flores Community Ecotourism group have rescued from the rainforest. The group houses and protects over 1,000 orchids recovered from El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas, after powerful storms.

“When the storms and heavy rains end, we climb to the vicinity of the mountains and collect the orchids that have fallen from the trees. We bring them to Santa Rita, care for them, and build their strength to reintegrate them into the reserve later,” says Salas Gómez, 32, as she attaches an orchid to a clay base to help it recover.

Like magnets, the orchids of Santa Rita have exerted a pull on those who have migrated from the area due to lack of opportunity. After years away from home, Salas Gómez was one of those who returned, attracted by the community venture to rescue these flowers and exhibit them as a tourist attraction, which provides residents with an adequate income.

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