Discussion on:

Can fines keep residents of Brussels from cursing in public?

Can we serve a cease and desist court order on the EU Parliment in Brussels, as most of the public of the European Union and separate members of the Eurozone as fed up of the offense they cause

What if they use bad language in foreign language? Does it count? How do you know what they are saying if you are told to @@@*** yourself in Albanian? Does it discriminate against none disabled people by allowing swearing in sign language? Will bus drivers be exempt whilst giving unauthorised hand and arm signals to other drivers? Does this mean the rich will be able to insult the poor without fear of being insulted back. looks like this will make more money for the government that parking fines, unless when fined everybody tells the finer what to go and do in a another language and where to put the paperwork in a different one.

I've worked with Belgians and found them to be polite to a fault. They are capable of being extremely polite while delivering a rebuke that is both softly spoken and cutting to the core, but I did not hear many "4-letter' words. That law may be hard to enforce and the crime even harder to prove. Slang for the police is 'chickens' (no idea what that means in context). It's an interesting two-culture nation and I enjoyed my time working there. When in doubt, cuss 'em out in Klingon.

More importantly, it's more about yet another "law" (rule) being passed than it is the pseudo-crime being committed. One should be asking, what bureaucrat in what cellar was permitted to come up with such garbage? Funny, no one asks where obama gets his information, or what cellar he dug up his healthcare manifesto from?

The poor cannot trade insults with the rich; their pockets are just not deep enough. Most laws, and fines are set to affect the lower class and/or lower middle class.......the bulk of the population. Unfortunately, with lawmakers, they do not consider the upper class, or upper middle class as being lawbreakers. There are 2 sets of rules for justice. 1 is for people with money, the other is for those without. Good luck bridging them both.

According to Bilderberg (top group and leaders of the world) there will be a One-World-Government where all people will become subservient to THE government. First it happens in Brussels, then here, there, finally to end up here in the States. Yep, Bilderberg is in your face, like it or not. They place obama in office here in the states to carry out what no man has done so far, and that is to force more and more people into a false sense of security under the guise a temporal dictatorship. You don't really think obamacare is some sort of "I REALLY CARE ABOUT YOU" do you? Nope, it's just another step in TOTAL CONTROL OVER IT'S POPULATION,i.e., what cars you drive, where you live, and where and if you can receive inferior healthcare -- if the lines are not too long and the "pills" are available.

Remember, it all starts in small ways, like "no smoking", then later, "no this" and "no that" until one day, the word no will be as common as the air you breath.

New Speak....1984, O. Wells..

I think this law will not help anything. Like most laws, it will probably make things worse in unexpected ways.
Now the cat-callers will be chasing Sofie Peeters around without swearing or insulting and will try to agitate her into swearing. And when she yells at them Get out of my face, you creeps! they will turn her in to the authorities for insulting them.

...those are, in fact, the "expected" results.

Any form of insult is from now on punishable, whether it be racist, homophobic or otherwise,

And just who decides exactly what legally constitutes "racist, homophobic or otherwise"? Is there an official list to consult, or will it be decided by the easily offended and after the fact by political hacks on some government star chamber, like they do with the Canadian Human Rights Council?

For example, just last week we learned that referring to "Chicago" or that the President enjoys playing golf is now considered "racist". It won't be long until there won't be anything we can legally talk about.

John, I concur.

How long before expressing an opinion contrary to the regime gets you arrested?

In an unrelated matter...
"Use no Reproachful Language against any one neither Curse nor Revile." -George Washington

"But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. " - James, brother of Jesus

Needs to pay more attention to where she takes a walk. Unless that of course was the point.

In particular, this sounds vague enough to be nearly impossible to enforce...and probably no new law is necessary, since there are undoubtedly laws against assault and harassment already.

It is perfectly possible to 'insult' someone while using perfectly innocent words in the correct tone of voice, or with the correct expression.

Politeness in society is not enforceable by law, as it is primarily learned by custom, and varies from place to place even within a society.

Rudeness, per se, says far more about the character (or lack thereof) of the speaker than of the listener.

If I were her, I would continue to record video, ask the 'gentlemen' their names, and file civil actions against them. The usual response to rude comments is to fling an equally rude comment at the source.

"Hey, baby, how much to have sex with you?" Rude guy.

"For you? Even if you could get it up, which I doubt, you can't afford me."

"Where do you live baby?" says Mr. Nobody.

" " (Print it on a card....)

"" Rud E.

"Does your mother let you talk like that?" or "Does your wife know you're loose?"

"What do you say to a little ^&%&?" Little &*^&.

"Goodby, tiny."

If they are actually physically following you, this is a threatening move and in most places can be prosecuted as assault....of course, the judicial system has to agree, and many judges around the world are just as bad as these guys.

And of course, a proper kick in the pelvic girdle will break the pelvis, leaving them to crawl home in intense pain....

It's a sad statement of our times that the only solution governments can come to for such a problem is to legislate against it--far too many politicians seem to think that simply passing a law actually changes anything. In fact, the police on the beat have far too many laws to enforce already, and thus only selectively enforce what they feel makes the most sense.

Financial fines are not very effective, far better to reinstall public stocks and sentence them to a day or two of being publicly ridiculed, putting them on the media with their crimes. A day's lost wages combined with public humiliation is far more effective than a few Euros.

When it comes to enforcing politeness, social ostracism is second only to armed response in effectivenes.

Language is a fluid entity. What is a curse word today wasn't one just a few years ago, and won't be in just a few years more. My current favorite curse word is "Fractions!" What is a rude remark to me might be an awkward attempt at a compliment to you. Tone of voice is not an indicator of intent. I can say "Get bent!" in every tone of voice imaginable EXCEPT shrill and angry. But it's still an insult on my part. Or if I say "Happy Birthday!" in a snide and caty manner, would it be an insult? Or an expression of jealousy?
Thus proving that this law will be un-inforceable.