Commonsense about polygamy is finally appearing in the mainstream. (No, I don’t think government should be involved, but otherwise, this is good stuff.)
If you want to live innovatively off-grid, maybe it’s best not to do it in a city. Or at least not to talk about it if you do. (H/T H.)
That Texas “affluenza” brat who killed four people and turned one of his friends into a vegetable may not have to pay any consequences for his actions. But his parents might.
The courts might never stop the NSA’s outrages (despite hopeful rulings to the contrary). Congress? They never, ever, ever will. But the collaborating companies like Google, Yahoo, IBM, Verizon, etc. might eventually have to stop the NSA or die an economic death. Now shareholders are upping the pressure.
The author of The Anarchist Cookbook, having made all the money off it that he personally needs, now wants the book banned. I doubt it’s going to happen, but you might want to get your copy, just in case. You do know, though, that you’re more likely to hurt yourself with the recipes in that book than you are to hurt anybody else. (H/T B.)
Re: Going off the grid in the city.
I’ve just moved to a new house (in Florida) and haven’t had time to install a full rainwater system. Still, my water usage is miniscule–and is zero during the rainy season.
The thing is, even if I have my water shut off I’ll still be required to pay a water bill every month. It isn’t really a bill, it’s a tax. Using no water, my bill will drop from $35 to $33. Yay! I’m sure my electric service also has a “minimum charge.”
Going off-grid in the city isn’t about saving money; it’s about being prepared for when the grid goes down. And if it does, I’m sure I’ll still have to keep paying my minimum bill every month.
I’m not sure that I’d characterize much of anything appearing in “CNN” to be commonsense, Claire, particularly when it comes to “Law and Religion.” But their agenda is at least consistent.
The irony here is that the “free exercise” clause of the First Amendment was one of the first elements of what was once called the “Bill of Rights” to be raped. Cleverly, and setting a precedent that has worked for everything from the prohibition of arms to neo-slaves to the Big Brother Surveillance State, Congress allows a third party (ie, Utah) to do its dirty work via coercion.
The results have never varied.
The problem is “licenses”, and whether formerly free people need to ask permission to have them, and can be criminally sanctioned by Big Brother for saying “No!”
PS> A further irony, for those who noted the ‘polygamy’ story from a fellow claiming “Law and Religion”: The same Bible which forbids male-on-male (only – check it out for yourself) relations clearly sanctions not only many of its most-venerated figures but YHVH Himself as husbands of more than one wife. Proponents of “law and THAT religion,” at least, have to work the ‘logic’ backwards.
Same thing goes for those who worry about a “Mark of the Beast,” too. If said Beast can forbid peons to “buy or sell” the ONE SINGLE TYPE of property specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights — what CAN’T it mandate?
Once “freedom of worship” is curtailed in the interest of “society” – much less mere “safety” – the limits are gone, and the ‘new god’ has been revealed.
I remember hearing the opinion long ago that if homosexuality were condoned, then the next steps could be polygamy and bestiality. As Mark C points out, religious morals are irrelevant to judges, who define their own moral code. I don’t see acceptance extending to bestiality, though, even for grandmothers http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3413845/Grandma-posed-for-sex-with-rottweiler.html
As harsh as it is for the parents of ‘affluenza’ boy, it’s right that they be held civilly responsible.
I don’t know if the IBM stockholders have much of a chance, but it’s definitely worth a try. I never thought about the financial implications of NSA spying to American companies.
I’m startled (but shouldn’t be) that book banning is being advocated. I would think that today everything in the cookbook would be available on the internet, though it would be difficult to access anonymously.
I am against govern,net granting permission to marry or unmarry. I am actually in favor of polygamy. Yet another reason I am not welcome at church. As long as people get married of their own Free will, it is not the government or churches business.
Polygamy always reminds me of the great old movie Paint Your Wagon!
Paint Your Wagon (one of my favorite movies) was about polyandry, not poligamy. :-)
I guess the bottom line is, as in so many things, if you want to do something out of the ordinary, the last thing you should do is ask permission. Just do it.
Thanks for posting that story about the former prosecutor. That is an excellent thing to link to when conversing with a believer in the government religion.
The Anarchist Cookbook is obsolete and pretty much worthless except as fashion statement or collector’s item. You can find better info than what that forty-year-old dead tree edition contains just surfing the internet. Is the now conscious syndication copywriter holder gonna sign over all his $$$ from all his decades of sales too? Not holding my breath.
An author saying that his own book “should go quietly and immediately out of print” isn’t quite what I’d calling banning it.
Actually, given the precedent from “Hit Man”, I’m surprised Delta Press hasn’t pulled the Cookbook on its own for liability reasons. More surprised that some parents haven’t already sued the bejeezus out of them after Little Johnny killed himself following one of those bogus “recipes”. Yeah, they settled out of court without a judicial ruling (other than the prior finding that it wasn’t protected from liability on First Amendment grounds), but it still cost Paladin millions.
Re: Polygamy- Between the judge’s opinion on Utah’s polygamy law, North Dakota’s take on same sex marriages, and Florida’s… interesting take on “people”, it might finally occur to folks that the government that brought us the Post Awful, most of a century of undeclared war, and Obamacare probably shouldn’t be deciding who/what/how many can marry.
Re Anarchist’s Cookbook, I remember reading that the author didn’t make much off it at all. His publisher screwed him, with the contract the naive young man signed.
December 18th, 2013
Re: Going off the grid in the city.
I’ve just moved to a new house (in Florida) and haven’t had time to install a full rainwater system. Still, my water usage is miniscule–and is zero during the rainy season.
The thing is, even if I have my water shut off I’ll still be required to pay a water bill every month. It isn’t really a bill, it’s a tax. Using no water, my bill will drop from $35 to $33. Yay! I’m sure my electric service also has a “minimum charge.”
Going off-grid in the city isn’t about saving money; it’s about being prepared for when the grid goes down. And if it does, I’m sure I’ll still have to keep paying my minimum bill every month.
December 18th, 2013
The first rule of OPSEC is, “Do not violate OPSEC.”
December 18th, 2013
I’m not sure that I’d characterize much of anything appearing in “CNN” to be commonsense, Claire, particularly when it comes to “Law and Religion.” But their agenda is at least consistent.
The irony here is that the “free exercise” clause of the First Amendment was one of the first elements of what was once called the “Bill of Rights” to be raped. Cleverly, and setting a precedent that has worked for everything from the prohibition of arms to neo-slaves to the Big Brother Surveillance State, Congress allows a third party (ie, Utah) to do its dirty work via coercion.
The results have never varied.
The problem is “licenses”, and whether formerly free people need to ask permission to have them, and can be criminally sanctioned by Big Brother for saying “No!”
PS> A further irony, for those who noted the ‘polygamy’ story from a fellow claiming “Law and Religion”: The same Bible which forbids male-on-male (only – check it out for yourself) relations clearly sanctions not only many of its most-venerated figures but YHVH Himself as husbands of more than one wife. Proponents of “law and THAT religion,” at least, have to work the ‘logic’ backwards.
Same thing goes for those who worry about a “Mark of the Beast,” too. If said Beast can forbid peons to “buy or sell” the ONE SINGLE TYPE of property specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights — what CAN’T it mandate?
Once “freedom of worship” is curtailed in the interest of “society” – much less mere “safety” – the limits are gone, and the ‘new god’ has been revealed.
December 18th, 2013
I remember hearing the opinion long ago that if homosexuality were condoned, then the next steps could be polygamy and bestiality. As Mark C points out, religious morals are irrelevant to judges, who define their own moral code. I don’t see acceptance extending to bestiality, though, even for grandmothers http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3413845/Grandma-posed-for-sex-with-rottweiler.html
As harsh as it is for the parents of ‘affluenza’ boy, it’s right that they be held civilly responsible.
I don’t know if the IBM stockholders have much of a chance, but it’s definitely worth a try. I never thought about the financial implications of NSA spying to American companies.
I’m startled (but shouldn’t be) that book banning is being advocated. I would think that today everything in the cookbook would be available on the internet, though it would be difficult to access anonymously.
While the former prosecutor seemed alarmed by the different treatment of whites and blacks, statistically that might be a logical allocation of resources. Jesse Jackson said once that he heard footsteps behind him and was relieved to see it was a white man. Actually, I’m very surprised the prosecutor didn’t find himself physically at risk in his predicament, although it wasn’t a prison situation like G. Gordon Liddy encountered http://www.amazon.com/Will-Autobiography-G-Gordon-Liddy/dp/0312119151/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387410663&sr=1-3&keywords=will nor the gangland situation of the former Cody Scott http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Autobiography-L-Member/dp/0802141447/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387410730&sr=1-4&keywords=monster While some complain about attorneys and lawsuits, jail and prison conditions as well as medical malpractice are areas where it seems there could be a lot more legal stirring with more representation.
December 18th, 2013
I am against govern,net granting permission to marry or unmarry. I am actually in favor of polygamy. Yet another reason I am not welcome at church. As long as people get married of their own Free will, it is not the government or churches business.
Polygamy always reminds me of the great old movie Paint Your Wagon!
December 18th, 2013
Paint Your Wagon (one of my favorite movies) was about polyandry, not poligamy. :-)
I guess the bottom line is, as in so many things, if you want to do something out of the ordinary, the last thing you should do is ask permission. Just do it.
Thanks for posting that story about the former prosecutor. That is an excellent thing to link to when conversing with a believer in the government religion.
December 18th, 2013
When I hear about polygamy I remember the Biblical injunction against it: No man can serve two masters.
;-)
December 19th, 2013
The Anarchist Cookbook is obsolete and pretty much worthless except as fashion statement or collector’s item. You can find better info than what that forty-year-old dead tree edition contains just surfing the internet. Is the now conscious syndication copywriter holder gonna sign over all his $$$ from all his decades of sales too? Not holding my breath.
December 19th, 2013
An author saying that his own book “should go quietly and immediately out of print” isn’t quite what I’d calling banning it.
Actually, given the precedent from “Hit Man”, I’m surprised Delta Press hasn’t pulled the Cookbook on its own for liability reasons. More surprised that some parents haven’t already sued the bejeezus out of them after Little Johnny killed himself following one of those bogus “recipes”. Yeah, they settled out of court without a judicial ruling (other than the prior finding that it wasn’t protected from liability on First Amendment grounds), but it still cost Paladin millions.
Re: Polygamy- Between the judge’s opinion on Utah’s polygamy law, North Dakota’s take on same sex marriages, and Florida’s… interesting take on “people”, it might finally occur to folks that the government that brought us the Post Awful, most of a century of undeclared war, and Obamacare probably shouldn’t be deciding who/what/how many can marry.
December 19th, 2013
Re Anarchist’s Cookbook, I remember reading that the author didn’t make much off it at all. His publisher screwed him, with the contract the naive young man signed.