We're Not the Only Crazy Ones

It seems that Belgium is learning the American legal system...sadly.
A family living just outside Bruges, 80 miles NW of here, was ordered by a local court to remove a tree house they had constructed for their 5 and 6 year-olds. A neighbor had complained that the "house" (actually, a mere platform less than 4 feet off the ground) represented an invasion of privacy, allowing the kids to look into their windows. Just what was going on in the house that you wouldn't want a little kid to see was evidently not brought out in court. Nor was the logic behind the complaint, whereby the neighbors claimed that the kids were always crying and screaming in their own yard. I guess when they did this on their tiny platform it somehow amplified the sounds, allowing them to pierce the walls of the neighboring house and provide visual images back to the kids of terrible things going on in that neighboring house.
Following in the tried-and-true American tradition, the judge sided with the complainant, threatening to fine the offenders about $150 per day until the platform was removed.
It's nice to know we're not the only legally crazy folks in the world.