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Domain: petermcwilliams.org
Stories and comments across the archive that link to petermcwilliams.org.
Comments · 8
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It also alerts the IRS to your electricity usage
It not only learns your behavior, but reports that behavior to the government if it suspects you might be running a business.
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Re:Small Detail: Growing is Still a State Crime
From a case about Prop 215:
1. The California Constitution, Article III Section 3.5 (c) states: "An
administrative agency...has no power. . . (c) To declare a statute
unenforceable, or to refuse to enforce a statute on the basis that
federal law or federal regulations prohibit the enforcement of such
statute unless an appellate court has made a determination that the
enforcement of such statute is prohibited by federal law or federal
regulations."
3. The California Constitution, Article V Section 13 states: "It shall
be the duty of the Attorney General to see that the laws of the State
are...adequately enforced."
http://www.petermcwilliams.org/articles/1998%20lawsuit.html -
puritan values - strict rules
"very strict rules that no one but themselves think everyone else must follow."
You have not noticed that the vice laws in the US are based on puritan values and rules?
Read this: http://www.petermcwilliams.org/mirrors/www.mcwilliams.com/books/books/aint/index6.htm -
Re:Probably
"It would be great to see some sort of mechanism that discourages that behaviour."
It's called becoming a social outcast. Both online and in real life. If you know someone who's a griefer, stop associating with them in real life. Wow...consequences for my actions...who'd have thunk it? It's not a total solution, but it's a step.
We need to stop trying to legislate people's morality. Mine is *not* the same as yours and should not be expected or forced to be. Want examples? Two words : Consentual Crimes. http://www.petermcwilliams.org/mirrors/www.mcwilli ams.com/books/books/aint/index6.htm
Eventually either we're going to have a Harrison Burgeron (http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html type government or people are going to give up and realize that sometimes, Freedom(TM)means not punishing someone for thinking differently than you do.
(dons Flame(TM)-proof clothing for this and above post.) -
Re:Big "OH Brother"
>> And so what? Why is it any of their business what you choose to put in your body?
> Aww Jeez, not this shit again.
> Anyone spouting "ah kin put wut ah like in muh body" crap has never been addicted to anything, and never had to have friends,
> family and loved ones suffer with the side effects of that addiction.
What about the late Peter McWilliams, he went through several addictions and STILL came out for legalization:
http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/aint/toc.htmThe thing is, he understood that our freedoms as Americans are more precious than safety from drugs. Drug abuse is a social and medical problem, not a criminal one. And as he shows, there aren't really ANY valid reasons for making the substance abuser a criminal.
And the final irony is that McWilliams died not from the drugs, but because the courts took the drugs away from him!
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Re:Privacy != Freedom && Freedom != PrivacWhat is perceived as harmful changes from time to time. Civil disobedience is necessary for political reform. Some laws are unjust. Microregulation enables a government to quell this activity between individuals before it can rise to the level of a protest or a rally (guaranteed peaceably by the US Constitution). If the government monitors a phone conversation where you discuss receiving medical marijuana, they may consider that evidence enough to justify a raid your home. They can arrest you, and seize everything you own (that means take it and you don't get it back), even though you are using a drug that makes your life bearable—or even possible. They can't arrest you for protesting, but they can use your phone conversations organizing a pro-marijuana rally to write up a phony warrant and find what little marijuana you may have around your home (or plant some). Maybe you're going to lead an anti-torture rally. I hope you don't have any porn on your computer (even the deleted stuff; they can get that back, you know), because when they raid your apartment or house, they'll use whatever they can to implicate you. The charges don't even have to stick; if there's any media coverage whatsoever, you are branded for life (that perv or that druggie). They can always find something on which to incriminate you; that's the point. We're none of us perfect, and given this level of surveillance the gov't is free to take down anyone labelled as a troublemaker on whatever trumped-up charge they can.
I'd recommend you read about Peter McWilliams, specifically the circumstances of his death. Then you can start reading some of his books. You might want to start with Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do. It's very light and engaging, despite its length. I know I devoured my hardcover edition (now out of print, but available via special order from your local Borders, if you have one) in a week.
This is not an indictment, but a suggestion based on the assumption you would care to expand your knowledge. If you're just trolling, then pay me no mind.
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Re:Privacy != Freedom && Freedom != PrivacWhat is perceived as harmful changes from time to time. Civil disobedience is necessary for political reform. Some laws are unjust. Microregulation enables a government to quell this activity between individuals before it can rise to the level of a protest or a rally (guaranteed peaceably by the US Constitution). If the government monitors a phone conversation where you discuss receiving medical marijuana, they may consider that evidence enough to justify a raid your home. They can arrest you, and seize everything you own (that means take it and you don't get it back), even though you are using a drug that makes your life bearable—or even possible. They can't arrest you for protesting, but they can use your phone conversations organizing a pro-marijuana rally to write up a phony warrant and find what little marijuana you may have around your home (or plant some). Maybe you're going to lead an anti-torture rally. I hope you don't have any porn on your computer (even the deleted stuff; they can get that back, you know), because when they raid your apartment or house, they'll use whatever they can to implicate you. The charges don't even have to stick; if there's any media coverage whatsoever, you are branded for life (that perv or that druggie). They can always find something on which to incriminate you; that's the point. We're none of us perfect, and given this level of surveillance the gov't is free to take down anyone labelled as a troublemaker on whatever trumped-up charge they can.
I'd recommend you read about Peter McWilliams, specifically the circumstances of his death. Then you can start reading some of his books. You might want to start with Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do. It's very light and engaging, despite its length. I know I devoured my hardcover edition (now out of print, but available via special order from your local Borders, if you have one) in a week.
This is not an indictment, but a suggestion based on the assumption you would care to expand your knowledge. If you're just trolling, then pay me no mind.
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Re:Privacy != Freedom && Freedom != PrivacWhat is perceived as harmful changes from time to time. Civil disobedience is necessary for political reform. Some laws are unjust. Microregulation enables a government to quell this activity between individuals before it can rise to the level of a protest or a rally (guaranteed peaceably by the US Constitution). If the government monitors a phone conversation where you discuss receiving medical marijuana, they may consider that evidence enough to justify a raid your home. They can arrest you, and seize everything you own (that means take it and you don't get it back), even though you are using a drug that makes your life bearable—or even possible. They can't arrest you for protesting, but they can use your phone conversations organizing a pro-marijuana rally to write up a phony warrant and find what little marijuana you may have around your home (or plant some). Maybe you're going to lead an anti-torture rally. I hope you don't have any porn on your computer (even the deleted stuff; they can get that back, you know), because when they raid your apartment or house, they'll use whatever they can to implicate you. The charges don't even have to stick; if there's any media coverage whatsoever, you are branded for life (that perv or that druggie). They can always find something on which to incriminate you; that's the point. We're none of us perfect, and given this level of surveillance the gov't is free to take down anyone labelled as a troublemaker on whatever trumped-up charge they can.
I'd recommend you read about Peter McWilliams, specifically the circumstances of his death. Then you can start reading some of his books. You might want to start with Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do. It's very light and engaging, despite its length. I know I devoured my hardcover edition (now out of print, but available via special order from your local Borders, if you have one) in a week.
This is not an indictment, but a suggestion based on the assumption you would care to expand your knowledge. If you're just trolling, then pay me no mind.