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Subversives In South Carolina Mostly Safe

sabt-pestnu sends in an update on our story about South Carolina and subversives. "According to Eugene Volokh, the Raw Story article has got it backwards. Westlaw says that the cited statute dates back to 1951, when a lot of anti-Communist statutes were being enacted nationwide. What brought Raw Story's attention to it may be that South Carolina is once again trying to repeal the archaic law. And in any event, a half-century-old case (Yates vs. United States, 354 U.S. 298 (1957)) took most of the teeth out of such laws."

200 comments

  1. In other words ... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Funny

    Mostly harmless.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    1. Re:In other words ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why the fuck do people keep saying that? Is that some fucking catchphrase or something?

    2. Re:In other words ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostly_Harmless

    3. Re:In other words ... by darth+dickinson · · Score: 1
    4. Re:In other words ... by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And also in the Guide (the book within the book, an encyclopedia much like wikipedia) it's the definition and advice for the Planet Earth before it was destroyed. Mostly Harmless.

      Given the events of September 2008, does this mean South Carolina can put the CEOs of Goldman Sachs, AIG, and JP Morgan Chase in jail for their (largely successful) attempt to overthrow the government of the United States?

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    5. Re:In other words ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ^mostly a retard... Seriously, are you serious? Delete your /. account now.

    6. Re:In other words ... by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Funny

          Please reference section 42 of your Slashdot User Agreement, and you will find it necessary to submit yourself to 30 lashes with a wet noodle, and turn in your geek card. You should hurry before your late.

          Sorry about that. Ford only wrote "Mostly Harmless", not "Completely apathetic". You should have been aware of the rules. They were clearly posted.

          In the cellar...

          In the disused lavatory...

          Clearly marked with the sign "Beware Of The Leopard"...

          In the bottom of the locked file cabinet...

          Under a mostly dead parrot.

          Like I said, clearly posted.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    7. Re:In other words ... by imakemusic · · Score: 1

      You should hurry before your late.

      Late as in "the late Anonymous Coward"?

      --
      Brain surgery - it's not rocket science!
    8. Re:In other words ... by cntThnkofAname · · Score: 1

      It's been a while, but I seam to remember ford writing A LOT more than just "Mostly Harmless"... but after the editors got to it, that was all that was left.

    9. Re:In other words ... by Sandbags · · Score: 1

      Undermining the stability of the economy may be a bad thing, and should be punishable if it can be proven they did so with knowledge of the potential outcomes, and for their own profit and benefit. However, undermining the economic stability of a nation is not in itself equivalent to an attempt to overthrow a government, nor does it include the additional requirements of the Smith Act in that is must a) be intended to be done both by force of violence, and at the soonest opportunity, b) recruits brought into the offending organization must be brought in under that impression, that they are being recruited to, though violence, overthrow the government.

      Also, they're registered as a bank in SC, and therefor, most juries would assume them criminals in SC, therefor the statute of requiring them to register or pay a fine is met :)

      --
      There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
    10. Re:In other words ... by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

          We only have so much storage in the infinite improbability storage drive (no relation to some other product we've heard exists in a starship). We can't include every word that's submitted. Our focus groups have shown that the readers lose interest after just a couple words, so that was sufficient. Mr. Prefect had been advised to keep his entries as short as possible. He knew better than to submit such a long entry for such an uninteresting blue-green planet out in the backwaters of the Milky Way galaxy.

          JWSmythe
          Sirius Cybernetics Corporation

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    11. Re:In other words ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Undermining the stability of the economy may be a bad thing, and should be punishable if it can be proven they did so with knowledge of the potential outcomes, and for their own profit and benefit

      A bit off topic, but recently a thought came to me. What would happen if someone with a vast fortune the likes of Bill Gates were to buy up all the houses/buildings/land that they could with credit, take all of their money out of banks and stock and what-have-you and convert it into physical cash, fly a plane over major cities just dumping the cash out the window, and once all of their physical cash is depleted, commit suicide?

    12. Re:In other words ... by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      a) Economic instability is a form of violence- and as proof, our government just paid out a huge ransom to prevent it.
      b) I'm pretty sure large numbers of brokers who work for those companies were told that if they could get enough foreclosures, the government would step in and bail them out, while earning huge transaction fees in the process.
      c) You have a point that they've already registered.

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    13. Re:In other words ... by Trogre · · Score: 1

      HHGTTG, and a bit of Princess Bride and Python thrown in.
      I take my hat off to you, sir.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    14. Re:In other words ... by JWSmythe · · Score: 1

      You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted.

      [the masked stranger walks off towards his ship "Revenge"]

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  2. Doh! by sargeUSMC · · Score: 5, Funny

    How do I withdraw my application?

    1. Re:Doh! by LostCluster · · Score: 1

      Just send your withdrawal letter to the FBI.

    2. Re:Doh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just send your withdrawal letter to the FBI.

      Along with finger prints, DNA, and a recorded voice sample. Just so they can, you know, make sure it's really YOU that is asking to withdraw your application.

      You have the right to remain... for the moment.

  3. Kind of confused here by zappepcs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How is this law, real or not, any different than thousands of other laws on the books in various states that aim to make something illegal by requiring that you register your 'group', business or service?

    Anyone wanting to do something contrary to the morals of the standing legislators is likely to fall foul of one or more laws with the same miasmal qualities. For instance, look at sex laws; they are nothing but attempts to stop 'subversive' elements of local society, or at least make it so you can fine them if they do those 'subversive' things, and generally make them unwelcome in the community.

    I say we should hang those that enact such laws if it were not so hypocritical ....

    1. Re:Kind of confused here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, hang those violent pigs! :P

    2. Re:Kind of confused here by shentino · · Score: 1

      What worries me is that with all these "unconstitutional" laws still being on the books, all it will take is a few braindead SCOTUS rulings to dust them off and put them back in full force.

    3. Re:Kind of confused here by yuhong · · Score: 1

      Which is exactly what this is supposed to fix.

    4. Re:Kind of confused here by RenderSeven · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Whats far more likely is a brain-dead local authority tries to dust them off and apply them and SCOTUS tosses them out. You and I may not always like the outcome of SCOTUS decisions but they do tend to serve the Framers' intent of keeping legislators and their more ridiculous laws in check.

    5. Re:Kind of confused here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Whats far more likely is a brain-dead local authority tries to dust them off and apply them and SCOTUS tosses them out. You and I may not always like the outcome of SCOTUS decisions but they do tend to serve the Framers' intent of keeping legislators and their more ridiculous laws in check.

      Woah, holly shit, have you even been watching the news lately? Just a few weeks ago SCOTUS shot down rules limiting the amount of money corporations can donate to politicians. That doesn't even scratch the surface of what they have been doing...

    6. Re:Kind of confused here by zach_the_lizard · · Score: 1

      Whats far more likely is a brain-dead local authority tries to dust them off and apply them and SCOTUS tosses them out. You and I may not always like the outcome of SCOTUS decisions but they do tend to serve the Framers' intent of keeping legislators and their more ridiculous laws in check.

      Yeah, like, maybe 200 years ago. Certainly not in this century or the last have they done much of keeping things in check. Things like the changes to eminent domain that they magically puffed into existence, because we all know taking land and giving it to business interests is for "the public good."

      Or how about that case of the farmer who did not want to comply with legislation that regulated what amount of wheat he could grow? That law was billed as being supported under "interstate commerce," and then applied to this farmer who grew his own crops for his own use in his own state, because his mere existence in that industry has some sort of effect on the rest of the industry. Yeah, sure, that's a time cherished constitutional principle there.

      Or how about the, how shall we say it, lack of any declaration of war since WWII? You know, that kinda makes every war after that somewhat illegal under the Constitution, but I don't see the Justices complaining, or even Congress complaining. Let's not even talk about the various illegal wiretapping schemes they have, or the drug laws. (If alcohol took an amendment to ban, why doesn't weed?)

      --
      SSC
    7. Re:Kind of confused here by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      Businessess - regardless of their size - should not be able to donation to politicians. Only individual persons should be able to.

    8. Re:Kind of confused here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Courts were not meant to check and balance the other two. They gave themselves this power with Marbury v. Madison. Jefferson on the courts:

      But the opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional, and what not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the legislature and executive also, in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic branch. — Letter to Mrs. John Adams, Nov. 1804

  4. Now what am I going to do? by Qzukk · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's the point of being subversive if it's not forbidden?

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    1. Re:Now what am I going to do? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well if it makes you feel better, and you aren't too picky, I forbid you from being subversive.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    2. Re:Now what am I going to do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Please, Sir, forbid me as well, please.

    3. Re:Now what am I going to do? by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes! He'll forbid all of us!

    4. Re:Now what am I going to do? by mysidia · · Score: 1

      And I forbid you from being non-subversive. Take that!

    5. Re:Now what am I going to do? by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 2, Funny

      And after the forbidding, the oral ... reprimand!

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    6. Re:Now what am I going to do? by R2.0 · · Score: 1

      "What's the point of being subversive if it's not forbidden?"

      For the same reason that people still burn flags after SCOTUS said it was OK.

      Wait, they don't burn flags anymore? But why wouldn't they....Ohhhhhh.

      [rosanna_rosanna_danna]Nevermind[/rosanna_rosanna_danna]

      --
      "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
    7. Re:Now what am I going to do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dancing is forbidden. Dancing has ALWAYS been forbidden.

  5. This is not the only example of such by JoshuaZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Very often laws on the books stop mattering not because they are repealed by the legislature but because they cease to get enforced or get enforced very rarely. The classic example of this is laws against pornography which still exists in many jurisdictions but by and large don't matter since almost no one is prosecuted. Unfortunately, you then get every few years someone like John Ashcroft in charge who decides that prosecuting porn makers should be a high priority of the federal government and then assigns multiple agents full time to prosecute videos made of consenting adults. So getting rid of obsolete legislation when one can is a good idea since it can't come back and bite you when an extremist manages to get elected or appointed to a relevant position.

    1. Re:This is not the only example of such by fm6 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Unfortunately, you don't have to wait for a particularly repressive official to get persecuted by such laws. You just have to be somebody with no political clout.

      Classic case: not so long go, most states had laws against "sodomy" — basically, oral or anal sex. Theoretically, this law applied to everybody, but in practice it only got applied to gays. (Well, also rapists, but there it was just used to add counts to the existing charge.) Eventually, most states repealed these laws, but even the liberal Warren court refused to find this hypocrisy unconstitutional. Curiously enough, the remaining anti-sodomy laws were finally thrown out by the hyper-conservative Roberts court. That probably says a lot about the change in attitude towards homosexuality during that time period.

    2. Re:This is not the only example of such by JoshuaZ · · Score: 3, Informative

      Huh? Lawrence v Texas, which threw out the remaining anti-sodomy laws was decided in 2003. Renquist didn't die until 2005. So it wasn't the Roberts court. (I'd argue with the claim that the current court is "hyper-conservative" but that's a separate issue).

    3. Re:This is not the only example of such by fm6 · · Score: 1

      You're right, it was the Renquist Court. I got my times wrong. But I think you'll agree that the court under Renquist wasn't a lot more liberal than it is now.

    4. Re:This is not the only example of such by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, Lawrence v. Texas didn't throw out all of the remaining anti-sodomy laws. It only forbids the government from regulating sexual conduct between consenting adults. So, in places where they left the laws on the books, they are still enforceable against minors. What you end up with in most of the states that bothered to leave statutes like that on the books after Lawrence was decided is:

      1. Age of consent for coitus = 16
      2. Age of consent for all other sex acts = 18

      So, if you're under 18, you can't fool around and have to go straight to home plate.

  6. I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by fm6 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Westlaw says that the cited statute dates back to 1951, when a lot of anti-Communist statutes were being enacted nationwide.

    When I went to college in the 70s, I had a number of jobs at the same state U I was attending. All University employees, including me, were required to sign an oath that they were "not a member of the Communist Party or any other organization which advocates the overthrow of the Government by force or violence". Naturally, I had to wonder what kind of namby-pamby insurrectionists Moscow was infiltrating our way, if they were willing to violently overthrow the government, but not lie about their willingness to do so!

    This is not quite a dead issue. Quite recently, a Quaker hired to teach remedial math at Cal State East Bay lost her job after somebody noticed that she'd amended the mandatory oath she'd signed when she was hired. (The oath requires the signer to "support and defend" the California and U.S,. constitutions; not wanting to violate her religious principles, she'd inserted the word "nonviolently".) She was eventually rehired after the usual legal squabble, which ended with the state AG ruling that the unamended oath did not obligated the signer to do military service!

    1. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

      (The oath requires the signer to "support and defend" the California and U.S,. constitutions; not wanting to violate her religious principles, she'd inserted the word "nonviolently".) She was eventually rehired after the usual legal squabble, which ended with the state AG ruling that the unamended oath did not obligated the signer to do military service!

      Aw. I was hoping the issue was resolved when they balanced the score by hiring someone who amended the oath by inserting "exclusively through violence".

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    2. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      You still have to sign that oath. I know, I did it last fall to get a part-time job at my university.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    3. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by mhajicek · · Score: 5, Insightful

      (The oath requires the signer to "support and defend" the California and U.S,. constitutions;

      If I had signed an oath like that I would be forced to attempt to overthrow those who claim to be the government, and reinstate a government that actually follows the constitution.

    4. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by maxume · · Score: 1

      The Constitution (of the United States) doesn't necessarily enjoin states and other more local forms of government.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    5. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by vxice · · Score: 1

      With those laws they just get that extra offense and several more years that they can throw at you. And remember Capone was arrested and jailed for tax evasion since they could not prove anything more serious and then just threw the harshest sentence they could at him for it. Also their evidence was that he was clearly living beyond his means, as stated by his tax returns. Funny thing to add to that is illegal income is taxable and must be included on your tax filings. 1040, line 21, in case you needed to know.

      --
      every anarchist is a baffled dictator. Benito_Mussolini
    6. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Brett+Buck · · Score: 2, Interesting

      (The oath requires the signer to "support and defend" the California and U.S,. constitutions;

      If I had signed an oath like that I would be forced to attempt to overthrow those who claim to be the government, and reinstate a government that actually follows the constitution.

                So, you have somehow concluded the that requiring someone to "support and defend the constitution" as a condition of employment, is, itself, unconstitutional? Fascinating.

                Brett

    7. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I think he's arguing that he has a constitutional obligation to overthrow a government he considers unconstitutional. I'm guessing he's a birther...

    8. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is not quite a dead issue. Quite recently, a Quaker hired to teach remedial math at Cal State East Bay lost her job after somebody noticed that she'd amended the mandatory oath she'd signed when she was hired. (The oath requires the signer to "support and defend" the California and U.S,. constitutions; not wanting to violate her religious principles, she'd inserted the word "nonviolently".)

      Personally I find the whole oath thing weird, here in Norway being a public school teacher is just a job not being an agent of the state. It binds you no more or less to uphold the constitution than it should for any other citizen, not that being a citizen is required either. And even for a citizen I find it weird, think of some of the amendments that have been repealed like Prohibition, what if you say "I don't support or defend Prohibition, it is wrong and should be removed"? Such oaths should not infringe on your first amendment rights.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    9. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And I'm guessing that you have not read (or read and not understood) the Constitution if you think this current government is operating within the parameters.

    10. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by fm6 · · Score: 1

      The University I mentioned also still requires an oath. But it's not the same oath — the anti-Commie language I quoted is gone. I'd be surprised if yours did either.

    11. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hardly. He's just claiming that current government violates the constitution(s), and that IF he had signed an oath to defend said constitution(s), he would then be obligated to attempt an overthrow. He isn't saying the constitution(s) obligate(s) him to do anything of the sort. Nor saying requiring such an oath as a condition of employment violates them.

    12. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Tax evasion may not be as bad as what Capone should have gone to jail for, but it's still pretty serious. I can't think of any serious penalty for disloyally signing a loyalty oath, beyond losing your job. I doubt that it's even against the law.

    13. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by fm6 · · Score: 4, Funny

      They did. He's called the Governator.

    14. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by TheCarp · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is amusing how often this is held up as a triumph for law enforcement. Its pretty pathetic, if you ask me, that they would put "punishing the guy that we know is bad, but can't prove up to the standards of our legal system" above all else. Isn't that just, kind of a cop out?

      If you never would have bothered him, gotten into his business, and prosecuted his tax evasion except that you believe he is guilty of some other crime completely, that you can't prove, then isn't he, in fact, being punished for a crime that you can't prove up to the legal standards that he committed?

      Not to defend Capone or anything, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, from all I hear, but, its still no win for high minded justice.... afterall... he is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    15. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      herp derp.

      not any more unconstitutional than things have been running for 100 years

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    16. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is not quite a dead issue. Quite recently, a Quaker hired to teach remedial math at Cal State East Bay lost her job after somebody noticed that she'd amended the mandatory oath she'd signed when she was hired. (The oath requires the signer to "support and defend" the California and U.S,. constitutions; not wanting to violate her religious principles, she'd inserted the word "nonviolently".)

      Sounds like she performed the contract which she signed and which was agreed upon by her employer. What was the problem?

    17. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by billstewart · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Back when I had a security clearance in the 80s, they also asked if you had any family members who were part of organizations advocating the overthrow of the U.S. One guy had marked "yes" - his explanation was that his great-grandfather had fought for the Confederacy during the War Between The States. They let him in anyway...

      --

      Bill Stewart
      New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    18. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by fm6 · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Too cute. And you know, it represents a kind of doublethink. It's OK to support a rebellion that would have destroyed the nation and maintained the enslavement of a huge population. After all, it was just a bunch of good old boys.

      Now if I had to get a security clearance, I suppose I'd have to mention that my grandmother was a Ukrainian anarchist. I never met the lady, and I doubt if I share any of her political views, but somehow I suspect it would be more of an issue than this CSA guy.

    19. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Asic+Eng · · Score: 1

      And a lot less unconstitutional than the previous one. Still wouldn't it be reasonable to expect the government just to stick to the constitution? Election in the US is not a choice between good and evil but between very evil and not quite so evil. There is room for improvement methinks.

    20. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by lwsimon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm no defender of the Bush administration (particularly the second term), but I think you'd be hard pressed to show that Obama's has been a "lot less unconstitutional".

      Obama's Nobel Prize money springs to mind, though it isn't quite germane to this discussion, as it is not strictly a constitutional issue. According to law, he has 60 days from receipt to dispose of the money - he can't keep it. Where is it?

      --
      Learn about Photography Basics.
    21. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by vxice · · Score: 1

      in all fairness he was guilty, of tax evasion which they were able to prove. but yes it does seem almost unconstitutional that they can charge him for some other crime and use the harshest sentence available just because of their suspicion. I'm sure the modern equivalent would be searching someones house for a crime they suspect you of and upon finding nothing except a bunch of illegal downloads on your computer convict you of that for the max sentence, or alternatively use that to "encourage" you to confess to their suspicion. however that is why search warrants are supposed to be specific on the target of the search.

      --
      every anarchist is a baffled dictator. Benito_Mussolini
    22. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by icebrain · · Score: 1

      I think it has less to do with the Confederates being "good old boys" and more with (a) Lincoln's half-followed idea of trying to bring the rebels back "into the fold" and avoid the kinds of post-war vengeance that we later saw applied to Germany following WWI, and (b) that said rebellion took place almost 150 years ago. Everyone alive at the time is long since dead.

      --
      The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
    23. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      It's weird in a lot (most?) of the US as well. I've had jobs at 3 different colleges now, and I have yet to have to sign anything like that.

      Frankly, I find that pretty disturbing. There have been plenty of things added and repealed from constitutions over the years. There's no reason to think the the documents currently align with, and will always align with the signee's morals.

      If forced to sign something like that for a job, I'd modify it too. Probably by inserting inserting the words "a copy of" before the word "constitution". I can definitely support and defend a copy of the constitution. I'll hold it in my hand, and fight anyone who tries to take it.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    24. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I agree with the Lincoln bit. But my granny is as dead as any Johnny Reb.

      And there is an element of doublethink here. Lots of homegrown nastiness gets a pass just because it's homegrown. Part of this whole "tea party" thing is a resurgence of the militia movement, which advocates "armed resistance" to what they view as unconstitutional government. And many militia people believe that states have a constitutional right to secede, just like the southern states tried to.

      This tolerant attitude even extends to actual violence. I've had arguments on Slashdot with people who deny that Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist. Never mind that he murdered a large number of people (including children) for political purposes. He believed in what he was doing, so he was a "freedom fighter", not a terrorist. This contrasts with Osama bin Laden, who "obviously" has more cynical goals.

    25. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Asic+Eng · · Score: 1

      I don't know about the money, but torture, going to war on false pretenses, compromising FBI agents, the enemy combatant concept - these things are far more important to me. Sure Obama has been a great disappointment on that, basically failing to clean up anything the previous administration did but at least he didn't actually come up with that stuff.

    26. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by lwsimon · · Score: 1

      Torture is not a pretty thing, to be sure, but I cannot say that it is out of the question in some cases. War isn't waged according to rules of fairness - especially when the war is against an ideology, not a county with defined borders.

      The false pretext for war bit is bullshit. Do you honestly believe that George Bush convinced Britain and France's intelligence services in an effort to mislead the American public? There were serious issues with the way war in Iraq was pursued, and we can go into that if you'd like, but the motivation for war was not in question. Furthermore, Congress duly authorized the action. Even if I accepted your claim that war was fought under false pretenses (which I do not), that is not in and of itself a constitutional issue.

      FBI agents --- I assume that's a misstatement, and you're referring to Valerie Plame, a CIA agent. If Congress couldn't link the Bush administration to Novak's source, then I can't really hold much credence in your opinion. It's possible, but I think it more likely that someone screwed up and everyone was ordered to stop speaking to limit damage. That's pretty standard.

      As for the "enemy combatant concept", the term was coined in 1942 by the Supreme Court.

      --
      Learn about Photography Basics.
    27. Re:I'm not a Commie! Cross My Heart! by Asic+Eng · · Score: 1
      That's a lot of nonsense. War is waged according to the Geneva conventions which the US have agreed to and the US constitution demands that the US follows it's treaties. As for the cause of war - you are lying and you know you are lying. You have blood on your hands for supporting the Bush government in this, and you are too chickenshit to admit it.

      The "enemy combatant concept" didn't suspend the rules of war in 1942, so that's another neocon evasion.

      Sorry I'm not going to pretend you are engaging in an honest discussion here, you are clearly not.

  7. In a related development... by LostCluster · · Score: 4, Funny

    Al Queda of South Carolina has declared a victory!

    1. Re:In a related development... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No dude Al Queda is in Georgia.

  8. revoke mod points? by oneplus999 · · Score: 1

    does this mean we can revoke all the mod points gained by the tin-foil-hat wearers when the first story was posted?

    1. Re:revoke mod points? by maxume · · Score: 1

      Indeed. They now mean nothing.

      Like before.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  9. definition of a subversive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Prosecutor: Tell the court why you think he is a traitor to this country.
    Miss America: I think Mr. Mellish (Woody Allen's character) is a traitor to this country because his views are different from the views of the president and others of his kind. Differences of opinion should be tolerated, but not when they're too different. Then he becomes a subversive mother.

    - "Bananas" (1971)

  10. How? Why? Who? What? Where? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Why do you want to know?

    Why do you care?

    Are you working for the Government?

    If said mod points were revoked, how would you know that they were? Is there a way of checking?

    Do you know of a way to track said people? Script? tracking MAC addresses on ethernet cards? How?

    Forgive the typos and the untimely response, but the anonymizer running off of the proxy off of the anonymous proxy bouncing through an out of business Icelandic banks web server through the FDIC monitoring and the CIA's NSA connection that goes directly to the Vatican communicating with the Dali Lamma's servers in India hosted through the Mongolian underground via a Russian oligarch's oil company into the California's school system and then being hosted by the anonymizer in Canada and then down to where I live is having a problem with timing out. It may have to do with being by Sam's Internet cafe in downtown Cleveland on the corner of Pine St. and Andrews.

    What I do to hide my identity and location.

  11. Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by grandpa-geek · · Score: 1, Informative

    It was a similar kind of law passed back then. I don't know if it was repealed or is just being ignored because it was declared unconstitutional. Someone named Ober had pushed it.

    There were a lot of these laws passed during the time Senator Joseph McCarthy was conducting his witch hunts ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H investigations. There was also something at the time called the House Un-American Activities Committee that did similar things (often involving guilt by vague association) . Then came the famous Army-McCarthy hearings ("point of order, point of order", "sir, have you no decency") that discredited McCarthy. The HUAC seemed to melt away, various laws went to court and were declared unconstitutional, and the whole situation wound down.

    1. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by ravenshrike · · Score: 4, Insightful

      While McCarthy's investigations were quite vile and unconsitutional, they were not witch hunts. A witch hunt implies looking for something that's not there. Oddly enough, most of the evidence that came out after the fact confirmed a great deal of those he investigated to in fact be communists.

    2. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by tsm_sf · · Score: 1

      A witch hunt implies looking for something that's not there.

      You're thinking of a snipe hunt.

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
    3. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by cptnapalm · · Score: 2, Funny

      Mod parent down! We don't allow reality here!!!!

    4. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by maxume · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You are playing a definition game. McCarthy wasn't simply looking for Communists, he was looking for a threat to the American way of life. Oddly enough, it wasn't there.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    5. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by PPH · · Score: 1, Interesting

      What McCarthy was looking for were Communists, not communists. The former were a group of operatives working under the direction of the Soviet Communist party. The latter are a group of people who believed in the principles of Marx and Lenin, without necessarily doing the bidding of a foreign power. What McCarthy found was a lot of little 'c' communists. Not the capital 'C' variety. McCarthy (erroneously) equated one with the other.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    6. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The witch hunt analogy is very appropriate. In Salem, etc. they persecuted witches (or anyone who wasn't Bible thumpin protestant or they just didn't like). Didn't matter if the witches/communists were actually bad people doing bad things. The possibility that you might be a communist/witch was enough to get you or your career burned at the stake depending on the century. So yes, McCarthy was on a witch hunt. The morality and wisdom of such a hunt is left as an exercise for the reader.

    7. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by dbIII · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Oddly enough, most of the evidence that came out after the fact confirmed a great deal of those he investigated to in fact be communists.

      The defendant gives money to the poor and obeys the ten commandments - he must be a filthy commie!
      When you expand the definition of Communist to anyone you can harrass if it gets you closer to the White House as McCarthy did then that is a lot of people. He was nothing but an opportunistic scumbag that would have got furthur if he hadn't decided to pretend that the US armed forces from General Marshall down were Communists.

    8. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      While McCarthy's investigations were quite vile and unconsitutional, they were not witch hunts. A witch hunt implies looking for something that's not there.

      No no no.

      From Wikipedia:

      The term "witch-hunt" is often used by analogy to refer to panic-induced searches for perceived wrong-doers other than witches. The best known example is probably the McCarthyist search for communists during the Cold War,[2][3] which was discredited partly through being compared to the Salem witch trials.[2]

      Dictionary defines it as

      n.
      An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing views.

      Another dictionary defines it as

      witch-hunt also witch hunt (wchhnt)
      n.
      An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing views.
      witch-hunter n.
      witch-hunting adj. & n.
      witch-hunt
      n
      (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a rigorous campaign to round up or expose dissenters on the pretext of safeguarding the welfare of the public
      witch-hunter n
      witch-hunting n & adj

      Webster's defines it as

      Function: noun
      Date: 1885

      1 : a searching out for persecution of persons accused of witchcraft
      2 : the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (as political opponents) with unpopular views

      — witch–hunter noun

      — witch–hunting noun or adjective

      There never has been ANY implication that the target of the hunt is non-existent. You're simply confused- the implication is that those who are named in the hunt are usually not actually what they are accused of being.
      In fact, if you do some research, you'll see that the McCarthy "investigations" one of the prime examples of a witch hunt.

    9. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Oddly enough, most of the evidence that came out after the fact confirmed a great deal of those he investigated to in fact be communists.

      The defendant gives money to the poor and obeys the ten commandments - he must be a filthy commie!
      When you expand the definition of Communist to anyone you can harrass if it gets you closer to the White House as McCarthy did then that is a lot of people. He was nothing but an opportunistic scumbag that would have got furthur if he hadn't decided to pretend that the US armed forces from General Marshall down were Communists.

      Technically speaking, the Communist Party was actual a Socialist group- there is a reason the word 'communist' did not exist in "U.S.S.R" Most people confuse Marxism/Lenonism with Communism, although the stated goal of the two was to end up with a communist society it's doubtful that anybody in power ever really had that intention.
      A true communist society has no government, no authority, and no class system. There is no need for money or the idea of property ownership simply because everybody helps everybody out, and nobody takes anything they don't need. Of course we are all well aware that it's a Utopian pipe dream which doesn't stand a chance in the real world.

      I find it interesting that the pure Utopian visions of Communism, Democracy, and Anarchism are almost identical. Which is probably why none of the three systems are actually in use.

    10. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 1

      In other word, Arthur Miller got his message across.

    11. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by boxwood · · Score: 1

      witches are those who follow a pagan religion. There really are people that follow pagan religions so yeah witches are something that exists. Though most of those burnt at the stake were not actually witches.

    12. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but until those damn liberal baby boomers grew up there where no witches. Damn those meddling kids!

    13. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by Garwulf · · Score: 2, Informative

      "You are playing a definition game. McCarthy wasn't simply looking for Communists, he was looking for a threat to the American way of life. Oddly enough, it wasn't there."

      Actually, yes it was. It just wasn't where he was looking.

      McCarthy was an opportunist who destroyed a lot of lives while running a witch hunt for communists - more or less taking what the FBI was doing and running rampant with it. And, up until the mid-1990s, the history books didn't have the information the FBI did from the NSA. So, accepted history was that it was only a witch hunt, and the wasn't really a communist threat.

      And then, in the mid-1990s, the NSA declassified the Venona intercepts.

      In fact, there WAS a serious Soviet infiltration of the United States government at some of the highest levels. It was detected because of duplication of some of the one-time pads (an otherwise unbreakable type of code) that allowed some Soviet intelligence communications to be decoded, and revealed the spy rings.

      You can read about it here: http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/declass/venona/index.shtml

      --
      Robert B. Marks
      Author, Demonsbane in Diablo Archive
    14. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1

      McCarthy wasn't simply looking for Communists, he was looking for a threat to the American way of life. Oddly enough, it wasn't there.

      Oh, yes, it was - just a little closer than Sen. McCarthy was willing to believe.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    15. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by maxume · · Score: 1

      Those activities went undiscovered and failed to destroy America. It isn't fair to classify them as non-threats, but clearly they were not dire threats.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    16. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by maxume · · Score: 1

      Sure.

      I don't have to backtrack real far to say that it wasn't where he was looking.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    17. Re:Maryland had something called the "Ober law" by Garwulf · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, that's the thing - as Venona indicates, they didn't go undetected. In fact, a lot of spies were caught because of Venona. The Rosenbergs, for example. And, some Soviet activities had a definite impact on sabotaging U.S. foreign policy - as I recall, one of the reasons China was able to go communist was that either the U.S. Treasury or State department had a high-level Soviet spy who made certain that funds earmarked for supporting Chiang Kai-Shek never arrived, allowing Mao Zedong to succeed.

      When you start looking at the intelligence picture of the Cold War, particularly in the late 40s, 50s, and early 60s, you see VERY interesting things happening. And you have to look very carefully to see it. One of the things to keep in mind is that an intelligence success tends to be secret - it's the intelligence failures that are public.

      (Modern examples: Bin Laden's satellite phone being tapped by the NSA and used to foil Al Qaeda operations up to 2000 vs. September 11, 2001.)

      Wikipedia has an article that's a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Soviet_and_Russian_espionage_in_the_United_States

      --
      Robert B. Marks
      Author, Demonsbane in Diablo Archive
  12. Gay sex still banned, sort of by davidwr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Lawrence v. Texas (2003) threw out laws that banned private sex acts between consenting adults.

    Even after 2003, there is still anti-gay discrimination when it came to consenting acts between teenagers compared to the same acts between consenting heterosexual couples:

    1) I think some states still have laws on the books that make gay sex a felony, those laws are theoretically enforceable against a 17-year-old gay couple.

    2) Likewise, in states where there is no Romeo and Juliet law, straight couples can have sex all they want if they get married first. Gay couples, well, good luck getting a marriage license outside of a handful of states. Even when the laws are non-discriminatory, the application can be - some prosecutors may look the other way when an 18 year old man has sex with a 17 year old almost-woman, but they'll be happy to throw the book at an 18-year-old man with a 17-year-old male youth. Or the prosecutor may not be biased but the parents of the girl may be willing to not press charges but the homophobic parents of the 17 year old boy may insist on it.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:Gay sex still banned, sort of by fm6 · · Score: 1

      On point 1, there's nothing theoretical about it. A few years ago, I was watching one of those MTV reality shows. One of the characters was a gay college-aged guy from Massachusetts — yes, the first state to issue same-sex marriage licenses. When he was in high school, he'd asked another guy to the prom. When his date's parents found out, they tried to bring criminal charges against him. They were able to get a hearing, because he was past the age of consent (16 in that state) and his 15-year-old date wasn't.

      In the end, of course, their case foundered on the little fact that this was nothing but an innocent social thing. But obviously if he'd asked out a 15-year-old girl, the idea of legal action wouldn't have occurred to anybody.

    2. Re:Gay sex still banned, sort of by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Lawrence v. Texas (2003) threw out laws that banned private sex acts between consenting adults.

      If that's really what it did, why are the laws against using money during foreplay still being enforced?

    3. Re:Gay sex still banned, sort of by xenn · · Score: 1

      That might depend, are you making a movie straight after you hand the money over?

    4. Re:Gay sex still banned, sort of by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      in states where there is no Romeo and Juliet law

      What if you're a 14 year old who has sex, both you and partner must kill themselves?
      No, I'm not American.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    5. Re:Gay sex still banned, sort of by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anonymous Coward
      The Romeo and Juliet analogy does not cut it. Juliet was played by a pre-pubescent male child in those elden times. Both characters under age for any sexual contact. Confusing init?

  13. Shocking! by patternmatch · · Score: 1

    What's that? You mean a story that seemed to require all involved to be complete morons was revealed to be incorrect? You mean there was more to the story, which revealed that what really transpired was actually sort of reasonable? Shocking! Surely this is the first time this has ever happened.

    1. Re:Shocking! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a story that seemed to require all involved to be complete morons

      Well, in Slashdot's defense, it *is* South Carolina...

  14. hurrah for local government! by retchdog · · Score: 1

    Those damned activist judges on the Supreme Court, always working against individual liberties! What we need is more state governm...

    Oh, wait.

    --
    "They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
  15. subversion by Weezul · · Score: 1

    Dude, I've gotta explain why I thought they were talking about subversion, which I'm sure will go over real well.

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
    1. Re:subversion by JDmetro · · Score: 1

      In reply to your sig. What about Zionism and Islam? Are you just a religion basher or do you just descriminate against Christians?

    2. Re:subversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not GP (in fact I'm Christian, so it would be a little ironic) - but he's quoting Bertrand Russell. From Bertrand's point of view (a late-18th/19th century Briton), it would certainly appear to be just Christianity that was causing all the trouble (this was largely before easy international travel, and Britain was primarily Christian at the time). He also lived in America briefly, but that's also a largely Christian nation, so what could you expect?

    3. Re:subversion by Philip_the_physicist · · Score: 1

      Probably because in 1927 Islam was basically irrelevant to English society, and Zionism was very different to what it is today.

      Furthermore, GP is probably living in an area where the only religious nutjobs who matter are Christian, and so is beng slightly parochial.

      Finally, Judaism was not of great significance for most of history, and the Islamic peoples lost their power at about the same time as their religion became oppressive, so they too had less potential to cause harm.

    4. Re:subversion by c6gunner · · Score: 3, Interesting

      In reply to your sig. What about Zionism and Islam? Are you just a religion basher or do you just descriminate against Christians?

      As others have pointed out, BR would not have had much exposure to Islam, nor would he have considered them important. From a more modern perspective, though, Zionism doesn't count since it's not a religion, and Islam is currently floundering around, trying to re-fight the battles which Christianity lost centuries ago. Islam isn't "the principal enemy of moral progress" because it's so ass-backwards that they don't even get counted in discussions about morality. Kinda like how the Quakers aren't "enemies of technological progress" because they're such complete luddites that nobody cares what they think.

      As for Christianity, the situation's changed a bit since Russel's time, but not enough. The brand of Christianity practiced in most of the western world is generally benign, with the obvious exception of the US. On the other hand, the brand of Christianity being practiced in developing nations is just as regressive as Islam, and even the benign varieties tend to cause harm by teaching people to blindly accept dogmatic statements.

    5. Re:subversion by JDmetro · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      The brand of Christianity practiced in most of the western world is generally benign You mean like Chatholics and all their off shoots? Did you know that pope Joseph Ratzinger was a member of Hitler's Youth Party. But then again why did the Chatholic Church tell the German to vote for Hitler?

    6. Re:subversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you preach intolerance based on religion and geographical location?

    7. Re:subversion by SEWilco · · Score: 4, Funny

      Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of /.?

    8. Re:subversion by the_womble · · Score: 1

      Finally, Judaism was not of great significance for most of history

      It has been pretty influential though. Thing of the number of Jewish scientists, writers etc: something that can be attributed to a religious and cultural respect for learning, and, perhaps, a reaction too persecution.

      Islamic peoples lost their power at about the same time as their religion became oppressive

      Intolerant versions of Islam did exist at times and places when it was powerful. The current rise in fundamentalism seems to be rooted in once particularly group of nutcases, the Saudis, getting more power (oil = money = power). I heard Fatima Bhutto (yes, once of that family) talking about how better funding is encouraging Wahabbism at the cost of Sufism in Pakistan, and I heard similar stories from all over the world.

      Look at just the high profile stuff. Who funded the Taliban? Where does Osama Bin laden come from? Where does the money for fundamentalist madrasas come from?

    9. Re:subversion by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If membership is compulsory, membership is meaningless.

    10. Re:subversion by Bl4d3 · · Score: 1

      First off this is NOT a defense of the pope, Nazis or Catholics.

      But from what I've seen in documentaries, not joining Hitler's Youth Party in those days was the equivalent of joining say the communist party instead of the boy scouts in the 50'es.

      And Hitler wasn't particularly fond of the classic religions, he was more into the occult, so the Catholic Church had to either do as he wished or find somewhere else preach and leave their earthly possessions behind.

      --
      40% Funny, 40% Insightful, 40% Informative, 40% Dolomite
    11. Re:subversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is Parent marked "Funny"? Should be "Insightful".

    12. Re:subversion by JDmetro · · Score: 1

      Hitler wanted too restore the glory of the Roman empire. Seriously look at the imagery, the military parade formations, crests and banners. And the Roman Empire created the Catholic church that promoted Hitler's rise to power.
      Wow sometimes I suprise myself. Maybe I should start a conspiracy website

    13. Re:subversion by JDmetro · · Score: 1

      Quaker's are the "Society of Friends" not the Amish you speak of.

    14. Re:subversion by umghhh · · Score: 1
      I must also say that I am surprised that I am writting this - I ran away from a country that is full of churches and live without going to one for decades now but I made few observation in a process which made me wonder.

      In societies under duress people have to be ready to sacrifice in order for society to survive - this works better if there is a set of reasons and (possibly false) promises that can justify the sacrifice. Religion is one of such things, Strong nationalistic feelings another but they often come together and one may even argue how much different these two really are. So having religious society is not necessarily harming. Unless of course you are going to argue that religion is the very reason why society is in trouble in the first place. I would say it works both ways and sometimes medicine causes more trouble than illness that it is supposed to cure/has cured already. Making general claims about how harmful a religion can be is not justified however.

      Now this discussion is pointless - it will (if it has not already done while I am writing) evolve into a religious war which is a fault of all sides of course. I guess humans cannot live without religion even if they do not want and consciously decided not to follow any.

      Now /. bash me for I have sinned and took part in a discussion involving 'r' word!

    15. Re:subversion by zach_the_lizard · · Score: 1

      Who funded the Taliban? Where does Osama Bin laden come from? Where does the money for fundamentalist madrasas come from?

      For a brief period, Osama and co were funded by the US in an attempt to kill as many Soviets as possible, in addition to the usual suspects (eg Saudi). IIRC, the Pakistani intelligence also helped the Taliban gain power. Other than those brief anomalies, your point mostly stands.

      --
      SSC
    16. Re:subversion by rogeroger · · Score: 1

      Maybe I should start a conspiracy website

      I heard you did.

    17. Re:subversion by realityimpaired · · Score: 1

      Making general claims about how harmful a religion can be is not justified however.

      No, it's not. However, it's worth pointing out that *most* religions do preach intolerance of one group or another. What matters, though, isn't the creed you follow, it's how you apply it. In the western world, a lot of people can look at the intolerance of, say, the LGBT community as preached by the Christian texts, and realize that it's a question of context and doesn't really apply to the modern world. They can live in harmony with the LGBT community, and gays and lesbians can even practice within the religion.

      But not everybody chooses to apply that interpretation. As a member of the LGBT community (the L, if you're interested), I have to say that I get pretty tired of being told I'm going to hell by religious idiots, and it's pretty easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all religions are like that. You don't notice the ones that are treating you with respect and dignity, you notice the ones that are preaching about burning you at the stake.

      And that question of moderation and interpretation is why I firmly believe that having a specifically religious society is a bad thing, and why I do believe that separating church from state is an inherently good idea. That doesn't mean you can't practice your religion. Far from it. But it does mean that you can't force me to practice your religion. I have my own set of beliefs, and while they may differ from yours on some of the finer points, it doesn't automatically make me a bad person.

    18. Re:subversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless you know of something to be more intolerant of.

    19. Re:subversion by Joey+Vegetables · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As a Bible-believing aspiring Christian (one who aspires to being worthy of being called a follower of Christ, not one who claims to have attained that aspiration):

      I can agree with a lot of what you have to say - almost all of it really. The failures and weaknesses that people should be most concerned with are their own, which they can control, not other people's, which they can't. (And of course that assumes that we agree with one another what constitutes a weakness or failure in the first place, which, even among Christians, we often don't).

      The greatest commandments for any Christian, according to Christ Himself, are: (a) to love God with all our being and (b) to love our neighbor as ourselves. This implies tolerance. It implies that we should not attempt to use force, including the force of a state, to inflict our will upon others. It implies that we can disagree and still be friends and still relate to one another. It implies a moral standard that is more concerned with love than with rigid dogma. It does not imply that we turn a blind eye to sin - especially our own - but rather, that we do all we can with God's help to deal with our own, then offer help (NOT judgment or condemnation) to those around us who may want it.

      Now, there is a bit more to Christianity than law. We find that we are unable to keep the law. None of us is free from sin in one sort or another. Few if any of us are totally sexually pure. Few of us are truly un-judgmental. Few if any of us always live up to even our own moral standards, much less God's. So we find that, even if we understand and try to follow God's Law of Love, we still will fall short, and thus will find ourselves in need of His forgiveness. And we find in Scripture that this forgiveness is available to all those who trust in Christ. That is not the same as implying that all those who claim to be Christians possess this forgiveness and the eternal life that follows . . . nor that all those who do not so claim are outside of it. But it is wise to seek it where we know it may be found.

      Much of this is summed up in the story of Christ forgiving the woman taken in adultery, whom the "religious" leaders of the day were about to stone to death, in accordance with their understanding of Mosaic law, but also in total hypocrisy, as she had done nothing they had not also done: "Neither do I condemn you;" He said, "go, and sin no more."

      I am horrified by how badly many "Christians" treat many members of the LGBT community, how many people get hurt as a result, and how badly the Christian message gets distorted in the process. It isn't "do whatever you want and God will look away" and neither is it "do exactly what we say or God will burn you." It is that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." And we are ALL sinners, so we don't have any right to judge anyone else, but we have been given the privilege and responsibility to live according to what we know of God's love (as well as His justice), and also to invite (NOT force) others who are willing to do the same if they wish.

    20. Re:subversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For a brief period, Osama and co were funded by the US in an attempt to kill as many Soviets as possible, in addition to the usual suspects (eg Saudi). IIRC, the Pakistani intelligence also helped the Taliban gain power. Other than those brief anomalies, your point mostly stands.

      What makes you think it stopped?

    21. Re:subversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... Kinda like how the Quakers aren't "enemies of technological progress" because they're such complete luddites that nobody cares what they think.

      No, you're thinking of the Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites.

    22. Re:subversion by umghhh · · Score: 1

      I did not mean to force you to or prevent from anything. Whatever community you want to belong let it be your joy. The barking christians that you mention share the same freedoms that you even if they do not appreciate them as much as you do. You cannot exclude beliefs from human life - so maybe you should accept that fact that people dislike other ones especially if they can easily mark them as strangers. In other words you may need fight to establish your rights as unfortunate as it is. Fortunately for you this fight has started long time ago at least in western societies and brought already number of fruits. Not all oft hem are really sweet though (PC for instance is a bitter pill albeit funny at times).

    23. Re:subversion by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      In societies under duress people have to be ready to sacrifice in order for society to survive - this works better if there is a set of reasons and (possibly false) promises that can justify the sacrifice.

      Absolutely.

      So having religious society is not necessarily harming.

      Sorry, that's a non-sequitur. How do you go from "religion can help motivate people" to "religion is not necessarily harmful"? Cocaine addiction can also help motivate people, but is usually quite harmful.

      Hell, a government-orchestrated brainwashing program combined with a a carefully designed drug regime can make people not only willing to sacrifice themselves, but make them much more capable of doing so. Would you say that such a program would also be "not necessarily bad"?

      I agree - if you're just looking to create mindless automatons who are willing to martyr themselves "for the greater good", religion is a great tool. I'm just not sure how you can consider that a good thing.

      Making general claims about how harmful a religion can be is not justified however.

      Why?

    24. Re:subversion by couchslug · · Score: 1

      "Islam isn't "the principal enemy of moral progress" because it's so ass-backwards that they don't even get counted...."

      Other than by the hundreds of millions of Muslims throughout the world, who run "countries" and stuff, or are present where they can influence modern countries (by stabbing their playwrights and driving their cartoonists into hiding while intimidating their governments into abject political annilingus), I'd have to agree with you.

      I'm not worried about collecting a Fatwah on /., but the world ain't /.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    25. Re:subversion by ArsonSmith · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "to love our neighbor as ourselves."

      Seems to tell me specifically that I should enforce my moral code on others, and has nothing to do with tolerance.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    26. Re:subversion by Joey+Vegetables · · Score: 1

      Make sure you note the Biblical definition of love, as found in 1 Cor. 13 among other places. Forcing your moral code on others does not meet any part of this definition. Tolerance on the other hand is mentioned fairly explicitly there and in many other places in Scripture: not that you have to agree with everyone or everything, but you accept that like you they also are created in the image of God, and therefore of inherent dignity and worth, regardless of any differences we may have.

    27. Re:subversion by GasparGMSwordsman · · Score: 1

      If membership is compulsory, membership is meaningless.

      I always had a problem with this quote. While I agree with its sentiments I always felt that it stated there was no negative or positive value to the "membership". However in many cases there is no positive value for being a member, but there is a negative value for NOT being a member. This would mean that membership is not positive but it does have value or meaning - avoiding the negative.

      That is why I always felt that it should be understood to be only half of the saying, the other half being:

      If membership is compulsory, non-membership may be life threatening.

    28. Re:subversion by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      Gee - if christianity matters because it is just as regressive in 3rd world countries as islam is - then how can islam "not count" when there are more muslims in 3rd world countries than there are christians?

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    29. Re:subversion by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Gee - how about addressing what I said instead of demolishing your own strawmen?

    30. Re:subversion by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      Gee - how about addressing what I said instead of demolishing your own strawmen?

      Such as? You said christianity is the principal enemy of moral progress because (a) its mostly benign in the west (own strawman apparently demolished) and (b) it is just as regressive as islam in the 3rd world. So if that's true then how does affecting LESS people in an identical fashion make it MORE of an enemy?

      Or do you think your throw-off about "re-fighting battles" means nothing else you say has to be congruent?

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    31. Re:subversion by Nutria · · Score: 1

      Did you know that pope Joseph Ratzinger was a member of Hitler's Youth Party.

      Even if he willingly and gladly joined, so what?

      (Some) people grow mentally and morally, realizing the folly of their youth.

      But then again why did the Chatholic Church tell the German to vote for Hitler?

      Proof? If true, then probably through guile and the hiding of true intentions.

      (Once in power, the Nazis disbanded the Catholic Center Party on 5 July 1933.)

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    32. Re:subversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, that's a non-sequitur. How do you go from "religion can help motivate people" to "religion is not necessarily harmful"? Cocaine addiction can also help motivate people, but is usually quite harmful.

      Hell, a government-orchestrated brainwashing program combined with a a carefully designed drug regime can make people not only willing to sacrifice themselves, but make them much more capable of doing so. Would you say that such a program would also be "not necessarily bad"?

      I agree - if you're just looking to create mindless automatons who are willing to martyr themselves "for the greater good", religion is a great tool. I'm just not sure how you can consider that a good thing.

      Now class, this is an example of how "the slippery slope" argument can change from a rhetorical device into a true logical fallacy. The more observant of you may also notice that this was accompanied and complemented by use of a false analogy in the first sentence. Furthermore, those of you who aren't yet senile may also detect the intended irony in this reply to the quoted section.

    33. Re:subversion by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      You obviously have no clue what fallacies are. You also apparently don't know how to read your own source material. Please click on your second link, and scroll down to the sections titled "Incorrectly classifying an analogy false".

  16. But watch out by countertrolling · · Score: 1
    --
    For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
  17. Should go in the other direction. by maxume · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The government should just stop recognizing marriage.

    (the big downside there would likely be companies that stopped extending health benefits to families of employees. I can't think of any other real big ones (most other stuff can easily be handled with contracts))

    --
    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    1. Re:Should go in the other direction. by Martin+Blank · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And then inheritance and child custody issues go all to hell.

      Government has a Supreme Court-recognized interest in promoting the family. They are always -- always -- delicate in how they word that, and they always address the balance between personal rights and improving society. They have in a number of cases taken away government's power to regulate family life -- interracial marriages, adoption/child custody by gays, use of birth control -- and I expect that in the near future they will remove the power to prevent gays from marrying. I recommend reading some of the decisions that have discussed these points, as the logic used by the Court is usually very solid and well-defined, with the risks of over-extension realized and addressed.

      But part of the promotion of family is the structure of laws that govern marriage, part of which addresses inheritance without wills and what happens in child custody cases, particularly involving the death of a spouse. Some regulation of family life is recognized by the courts and by social scientists to have benefits to keeping order in society, and some amount of order helps to protect the people -- the most basic role a government is intended to perform.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    2. Re:Should go in the other direction. by maxume · · Score: 1

      I don't see how things go to hell. For child custody, being a blood relative or an adoptive parent of the child is already a lot more important than being a spouse of one of those, and people already have to get a license to get an 'official' marriage, it would not be difficult to translate that into registering a simple will (that is, the complexity and expense of the one is similar to the other).

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    3. Re:Should go in the other direction. by icebrain · · Score: 1

      The problem's logistics... if you cancel all of that stuff, you then have half the country trying to redo their arrangements, and a whole bunch of case law to be rehashed. The simplest solution is to change the wording on government documents from "marriage" to "civil union" and open it to any pair of consenting adults. It provides a minimum of hassle and is much easier to work into existing frameworks than starting from scratch.

      Yes, you can accomplish all of the stuff that comes with a marriage license through contracts, wills, legal documents, and all that, but it's easier and faster to roll the common options into one package that can later be tweaked rather than having to have everyone build it up from scratch. To use a pooor analogy, how many people really compile their own OS from source instead of just using a preassembled package and modifying it after installation?

      --
      The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
    4. Re:Should go in the other direction. by maxume · · Score: 1

      Sure. But people will still rail against what you say because it 'devalues' marriage.

      (I think what you propose would be a reasonable resolution of the issue, but I prefer to start from the extreme end, as I figure it will lead some people to consider that government recognition isn't a particularly valuable part of marriage, which simply sets aside the entire discussion of marriage being devalued by civil unions)

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    5. Re:Should go in the other direction. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The simplest solution is to change the wording on government documents from "marriage" to "civil union" and open it to any pair of consenting adults.

      I'm from [insert state here]. Can I Civil Union my sister? She's expecting you see....

    6. Re:Should go in the other direction. by steelfood · · Score: 1

      You can't outright get rid of marriage. You have to replace them with something, i.e. civil unions.

      That should solve the matter once and for all.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    7. Re:Should go in the other direction. by maxume · · Score: 1

      Why not?

      (Note that I am only interested in the government recognition aspect; people will still want to get married and have this be recognized socially)

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  18. founding fathers of the U.S.A. by vxice · · Score: 1

    Were all traitors, terrorists, radicals and patriots. Not all labels were applied at the time. An important part of the right to bear arms is denying the state the right to monopoly of force. "And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure." Jefferson

    --
    every anarchist is a baffled dictator. Benito_Mussolini
  19. Don't worry by tom.zombie · · Score: 1

    There are plenty of archaic and unconstitutional laws still on the books; written and passed in some vain sort of attempt to change people. Look at any of the states that still have Drug Tax Stamps despite the very obvious evidence presented in Leary v. The United States. Mostly these laws are passed, I guess, to add one more charge to some unlucky schmuck to keep them away from "good" society longer. There is a larger problem here that needs to be addressed by better persons than myself.

  20. problem is not that they were communists or not by circletimessquare · · Score: 2, Insightful

    the problem is that you would be outed, ostracized and otherwise derided

    you defeat communism because it is ideologically inferior. you don't defeat communism with thuggery. let communists speak openly and without fear of reprisals with their views. and let them fall and fail on the incoherence of their flawed ideology

    unfortunately, we see the same braying thuggery "socialism! socialism! bark! bark!" today as in the mccarthy era. as if socialism is anything but medicare, the interstate highway system etc.: there are plenty of times where socialism, such as with healthcare, just makes the most fucking sense. but opposition to issues (some issues, not all issues) where the socialist approach is superior amounts to nothing but the braying of sheep

    so much of opposition to simple coherent logical progress amounts to zombified hordes of americans whipped up into unthinking opposition by demagogues and corporate shills, when if they actually thought about the fucking issues for a second, they would see socialism works far better for them than, for example, the bastard healthcare system we currently have. they decry government death panels, when currently they have corporations, whose job is to bring healthy financial returns to investors, rather than deliver quality healthcare to themselves. in other words, we currently have corporate death panels. fact: healthcare has infinite cost, and we all die eventually. so there is a triage of resources, no matter what the system we choose. there always will be. so would you rather that triage be done by a transparent government whose mandate is to keep you alive? or an opaque corporation whose job is to pay dividends? so why the hell do so many americans defy universal healthcare?

    oh, you say the government will be an unwieldy bureaucracy? have you actually tried dealing with the ridiculous dance of paperwork between doctors, hospitals, hmos, etc? its MORE expensive and bureaucratic, the current system we have. socialized universal healthcare is not perfect, its simply BETTER than the current retarded system we have. admit it, and lose your ignorant fear of the scary word "socialism", and choose the superior option

    "socialism! socialism! baaah baaah!"

    its exactly the same as ignorant peasants whipped into an emotional irrational frenzy by religious madmen that there are witches about, doing evil things! and all they do is wind up killing some of their neighbors and friends, the same as they do when they oppose universal healthcare. the opposition to universal healthcare is the same as witchhunts in colonial times and the same as the mccarthy era- its not based on logic and reason, but based on fear of the unknown

    kneejerk fearmongering of the word "socialist". without any respect as to logic behind the issues involved. that's the "debate" we have in the usa right now. pathetic

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 0, Troll

      Circletimesquare, your eye has a funny cast about it. Is that your cat?

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    2. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by advertisehere · · Score: 1

      It doesn't really need to be socialist though, just well regulated. Only a few countries have truly socialized medicine, the rest just have a heavily regulated insurance industry.

      Although I agree that socialism is demonized for some pretty bad reasons.

    3. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by Lehk228 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      regulations can always be weakened or ignored by future (republican) administrations. A full single-payer system that scraps the entire health insurance industry would make that far less likely to happen, since there wouldn't be any health insurance companies to lobby for rules changes in their favor.

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    4. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by advertisehere · · Score: 1

      And so can a socialized version of it, just like efforts to privatize social security, medicare, and education.

      It would also be really difficult to gain support and implement the elimination of an entire industry. I support the idea in principle, but I don't think it's the most practical solution. The only reason the UK has it is because they had a golden opportunity after WWII.

    5. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by dr_dank · · Score: 3, Insightful

      so why the hell do so many americans defy universal healthcare?

      It's the irrational fear that somebody somewhere is getting something that they didn't earn or deserve.

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    6. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by c6gunner · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's the irrational fear that somebody somewhere is getting something that they didn't earn or deserve.

      No, we weren't talking about gitmo ...

    7. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by moeinvt · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Your assumptions and arguments conveniently ignore the U.S. Constitution. You referred to "Americans" in a collective sense, so I'll assume you're talking about the Federal government.

      "...a transparent government whose mandate is to keep you alive?"

      We haven't had anything close to a "trasparent" government at the federal level in recent history. Furthermore, the government's madate is NOT to "keep us alive" or "keep us safe". Their mandate is to preserve our individual liberty and carry out a very limited and specifically defined set of functions. Providing healthcare is not one of those functions.

      "...why the hell do so many americans defy universal healthcare?"

      1. It's un-Constitutional (i.e. illegal)
      2. The government can't even be trusted with their existing powers. Why do so many Americans want to give them even more?
      3. The government's biggest welfare programs are all insolvent. They've clearly demonstrated their unwillingness and/or inability to actually manage welfare programs.

      "socialized universal healthcare is not perfect, its simply BETTER than the current retarded system we have. admit it, and lose your ignorant fear of the scary word "socialism".

      See #2 above. I'm sure that you're a well-meaning individual, but what you get out of Washingon D.C. is legislation with a nice cover sheet that reads "Healthcare Reform" placed on top of 2000 pages of corporate welfare, tax increases, and expansion of government power. Do you actually believe these people are going to pass a bill that threatens insurance and pharmaceutical company profits?

      "...all they do is wind up killing some of their neighbors and friends, the same as they do when they oppose universal healthcare."

      Now you're being as irrational as the people who suggest that the government wants to give grandma a lethal injection.

      "...same as the mccarthy era- its not based on logic and reason, but based on fear of the unknown."

      There is some opposition to government run healthcare that may be due to fear of the unknown, but there are very logical and reasonable arguments for opposing it. Fear of the "S-word" is a fortunate counter-balance to the blind acceptance of the empty promise that government is going to provide free universal healthcare. A promise that they have no intention or ability to fulfill.

    8. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by Arccot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      so why the hell do so many americans defy universal healthcare?

      It's the irrational fear that somebody somewhere is getting something that they didn't earn or deserve.

      Everyone I've talked to who opposes universal healthcare believes the government, by increasing restrictions and tightening regulations, will make the situation worse rather than better, being an often poorly run government.

      Not everyone who doesn't think as you do is an idiot. There's no need to attack and marginalize people who disagree with you. Hopefully that's not the kind of person you want to be, and you'll re-examine your perceptions in the future.

    9. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by Ogive17 · · Score: 1

      so why the hell do so many americans defy universal healthcare? It's the irrational fear that somebody somewhere is getting something that they didn't earn or deserve.

      My opinion is that the Federal Government can't do it efficiently, at least not with what they've been proposing to this point. There are much easier ways to improve the current system that should be taken before socializing health care.

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    10. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      What part of even the most government-run health care isn't covered by the "general welfare" clause of the US Constitution? You may not like its existence, but it puts general welfare on a par with defense (they're parallel clauses in the text).

      Why do you think the United States is uniquely inept? Pretty much every other developed country has a health care system at least as good as ours (measured by public health numbers), often better, and spends a lot less per capita. When I grew up, the general attitude was that the US could do anything better than other countries. That attitude had its problems, but the defeatism I see (in this case, it's mostly Republicans and other right-wingers) is worse.

      I think the US is capable of running a good public health system, and it's clearly constitutional. Let's do it.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    11. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by dr_dank · · Score: 1

      Just how your perceptions are shaped by your first-hand experiences, so are mine.

      I've been to far too many family gatherings where fox news talking points fly fast and furious. There are certainly well-reasoned and nuanced opinions about government-run healthcare, but the same "I'm not shelling out tax dollars for illegals and lazy parasites" trope comes up again and again in this crowd.

      Come over Pop's house for Thanksgiving and you'll see for yourself. Please bring pie.

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    12. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      an industry that exists sole-ly to introduce inefficiency in health care? i have no problem scrapping that

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    13. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by Agripa · · Score: 1

      What part of even the most government-run health care isn't covered by the "general welfare" clause of the US Constitution? You may not like its existence, but it puts general welfare on a par with defense (they're parallel clauses in the text).

      None of it is covered. The general welfare clause is a justification and not an enumerated power. If it were a power, it could be used much like the interstate commerce clause is misused.

      "The laying of taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for which the power is to be exercised. They [Congress] are not to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. In like manner, they are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose." - Thomas Jefferson

    14. Re:problem is not that they were communists or not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What part of even the most government-run health care isn't covered by the "general welfare" clause of the US Constitution? You may not like its existence, but it puts general welfare on a par with defense (they're parallel clauses in the text).

      None of it is covered. The general welfare clause is a justification and not an enumerated power. If it were a power, it could be used much like the interstate commerce clause is misused.

      "The laying of taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for which the power is to be exercised. They [Congress] are not to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. In like manner, they are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose." - Thomas Jefferson

      Nice quote, but it only shows Thomas Jefferson didn't believe that the Congress could do "anything they please to provide for the general welfare". It doesn't give any indication either way about his thoughts on if providing health care was one of the finite number of things he did think was appropriate for a government to do. Since this issue doesn't seem to have been debated during Thomas Jefferson's life, I doubt we'll ever have more than just conjecture as to his opinions on the subject of state-sponsored health care. I'll end with this quote from Thomas Jefferson showing his thoughts on public corporations trying to exercise control over society, implying that unless curtailed they would become just as abusive as England's hereditary aristocracy:

      I hope we shall take warning from the example and shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country.

  21. You reinforce my point. by JDmetro · · Score: 1

    Quaker is a derogatory term used against members of a certain Christian faith. And for the record do the "Quakers" preach anything bad/evil against their fellow man? Or even against you for making fun of them?

    1. Re:You reinforce my point. by Miseph · · Score: 4, Informative

      Uh, what? "Quaker" is to The Society of Friends what "Mormon" is to the Church of Latter Day Saints; a colloquial term for church members. I suppose that some Quakers out there might be offended by the term, but I've never heard of it, and there are actually a decent number of them in my area.

      As for preaching against their fellow man... no, not really. The Quakers are pretty well known for teaching peace, tolerance, equality and universal love. They were one of the first groups to outright condemn slavery in the United Sates, and also one of the first to take direct action against it (Quaker craftsmen, particularly shipbuilders, refused to make anything that would be used for the purpose of slavery, including those used for the slave trade; they also ran many of the stops on the underground railroad, and often provided material assistance to escaped blacks once in the North). They were also one of the first modern sects to allow female ministers, and have long supported and worked for equal rights for men and women.

      They're also shockingly badass for radical pacifists, throughout their history they have maintained a reputation for being downright fearless when it comes to issues of faith vs. the powers that be. It took some serious stones to tell the king of England that you will not remove your hat in his presence because the only authority which you respect is the Lord, even more when the circumstances are such that the king is pissed you're not following the state religion in which he is the voice of God.

      --
      Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
    2. Re:You reinforce my point. by JDmetro · · Score: 1

      The label Quakers was a derogatory term given to the Society of Friends because of their habit of "quaking" during services.

    3. Re:You reinforce my point. by jimicus · · Score: 1

      And for the record do the "Quakers" preach anything bad/evil against their fellow man? Or even against you for making fun of them?

      They did when they first started - many were tried for heresy because they thought the Church at the time was full of corruption and had let the ceremony get in the way of the basic belief system of honouring God. And they had no qualms whatsoever in telling Church leaders of this.

    4. Re:You reinforce my point. by jimicus · · Score: 1

      The label Quakers was a derogatory term given to the Society of Friends because of their habit of "quaking" during services.

      The alternative meaning of the term is it originates from when George Fox was on trial and told the judge that he should "quake in fear of the Lord".

      The judge retorted by calling him a Quaker and the name stuck. It may have been intended as derogatory but the Quakers don't really seem bothered by it.

    5. Re:You reinforce my point. by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      Considering a town they helped form was named Quakertown, I really don't believe they were offended by it. But please, continue to derail the discussion with irrelevent "facts."

    6. Re:You reinforce my point. by IorDMUX · · Score: 1

      It may have been intended as derogatory but the Quakers don't really seem bothered by it.

      See "Yankee" for further examples.

      --
      >> Standing on head makes smile of frown, but rest of face also upside down.
    7. Re:You reinforce my point. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That like niggers running around calling each other niggers. And then bitching cause someone called them a nigger.

  22. agreed! by circletimessquare · · Score: 0, Troll
    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  23. Parent article was precisely on topic by billstewart · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Calling Quakers complete Luddites doesn't make sense; they've got no problems with technology as long as you don't let it distract you from living an authentic life. Amish generally think post-1700s technology gets in the way. But they're both "Historic Peace Churches", along with the Mennonites, and both traditionally wore plain clothes and big hats back in the 1700s. In the case of the Quakers, the hats were because England had a beastly climate, and then many of them moved to North America; I suspect it was pretty much the same with the Amish moving from the Germanies.

    On the other hand, Quakers never did adopt the American technology called televangelism. A TV show with a bunch of people sitting around quietly for an hour just doesn't haul in cash, even if there is the exciting part at the end where the shake hands and then the clerk reads the announcements for the week, and maybe there's a potluck lunch or some coffee. It can be deeply meaningful if you're there, but you've got to be there...

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  24. Moot bein naughty? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Capt. J. Sparrow: A forbidden! Alright! I love forbiddens! Drinks all around! Y-yes, I'm clapping me hans.

  25. IIRC, you still can't buy vibrators in Texas by billstewart · · Score: 1

    Somebody was busted within the last year for having a dozen of them in her car trunk. (She ran a business selling them.) (Might have been Alabama instead of TX.) Even if they can't outlaw sodomy, they can outlaw obscene devices, because those things are Not Politically Correct.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    1. Re:IIRC, you still can't buy vibrators in Texas by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      There have been many cases like that. This isn't just about political correctness or such. The courts have generally given governments much more leeway about how they regulate commercial exchange. In the case of selling vibrators, we have commercial exchange that doesn't involve a speech. So this is reasonably within the jurisdiction of the state. Just because a law is stupid doesn't make it unconstitutional.

    2. Re:IIRC, you still can't buy vibrators in Texas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So start selling them as "pieces of art", then it becomes speech. Maybe put a racing stripe on there or something.

  26. and the arguments against that are obvious: by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    the moral argument: if someone is lazy, they don't deserve a wii or an iphone. and they won't get one. but that doesn't mean they deserve to die early of easily treatable diabetes for example

    the investment argument: when you invest in the health of your community, it pays dividends to you in terms of: your own kids not getting diseases from sickly other people, your coworkers showing up and working instead of out on disability, the breadwinner actually able to work, so his kids don't wind up trying to burgle your car to feed themselves, etc

    the philosophical argument: the money in your pocket is not some detachable entity, it is an intrinsic reflection of the value attached to it by the society you live in. as such, the va;ue of the money in your pocket goes down when you are part of a sick society. a society that takes care of itself is a rich society, and this inflates the cash in your pocket

    the impetus to save costs: why spend $10,000 on the diabetes or heart attack when you can spend $100 on preventative medicine? such an imperative only exists in a system where prohibitive medicine is encouraged. our current system puts a premium on expensive and emergency care

    etc, etc

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  27. Age of Consent Laws by billstewart · · Score: 1

    "Romeo and Juliet" laws don't mean that the age of consent is under 18; they mean that even if one of the partners is under the age of consent, it's not statutory rape if the other partner is within N years of the same age. In New Jersey, the age of consent was something like 15 or 16, and N=3 when they passed the law in the (?80s?).

    While some states have an age of consent that's 18, in many others it's lower. When I was growing up in Delaware, the age was 12, because if you were old enough to get pregnant, you were old enough to make your own decisions about sex (or if you prefer a non-feminist explanation, old enough to be a farmer's wife because why would girls need a secondary education?) They've since raised it to something like 14. But it was still strange to encounter the term "jailbait" when I went off to college in another state; the idea that the government would meddle in something like that was appalling, and the age limit of 18 seemed to be totally out of touch with reality.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    1. Re:Age of Consent Laws by realityimpaired · · Score: 1

      12 is a little low, and frankly a little creepy. 14 is a little creepy too, when you think that it means a 40-year old could legally have sex with a 14-year old. And I say that as a card-carrying feminist.... The age of conesnt in most jurisdictions is 16, and that's about right, IMO.

      The thing to keep in mind is that there's a lot of emotional and mental maturity needed to be able to make an informed consent about sex. Frankly a 14-year old just doesn't know enough about life to know what he or she is getting into when thinking about sex. Romeo and Juliet clauses exist to protect high school romances, and it's a good thing, but when you're talking about having sex with somebody who's twice your age, you need to make sure that the person who's getting into it is mature enough to know what they're doing, and to know when somebody is stringing them along.

  28. Birther? Not likely by billstewart · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'd assumed he was talking about the Bush/Cheney/Rove Administration, the most shameful Presidency we've had since Jefferson Davis's administration. They've been far more opposed to and dismissive of the Constitution than anything done by either Roosevelt, or Woodrow Wilson (who was seriously bad news) or probably even Lincoln.

    And Warren Harding doesn't even fit on that scale; he was just the traditional corrupt politician trading favors for money and other favors, and supposedly losing the White House china set in a poker game.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  29. HUAC lasted until 1975 by billstewart · · Score: 1

    HUAC didn't melt away - go read Wikipedia HUAC article. They were still around harassing the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-Vietnam War protest organizations. Some of their most famous targets in later years were Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, but a friend of mine got interviewed by them (or their staff; it's been a long time and I don't remember details) about his involvement in SDS.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  30. Personally, I'd been wondering by billstewart · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Did the Republican and Democratic Parties ever register? If not, should we help them out by submitting forms for them? The filing fee's only $5; that was real money back in 1951, but these days it's less than the price of a movie ticket.

    And no, those guys had no interest in overthrowing the US government; if they did that then who'd be around to pay them billions and billions of taxpayer dollars? The ones they need to bust are anybody from the Bush Administration, though many of those folks are still around because Obama didn't clean house when he took over.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    1. Re:Personally, I'd been wondering by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      And no, those guys had no interest in overthrowing the US government; if they did that then who'd be around to pay them billions and billions of taxpayer dollars?
       
      That was the purpose for overthrowing and taking control of the government- to force a payment of tribute, just like any other conqueror.

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  31. Ahhh... so it's an old law by istartedi · · Score: 1

    The law is full of cruft like this. It's literally dead code. Legislators, by necessity, cannot simply cut code from "the program". They actually have to vote on all the changes. As frustrating as programming can be, can you imagine how it would be if you literally had to have a vote on every commit to the repository?

    I used to work in a shop where we printed law books. I got to inspect the printing plates and sometimes had time to read them. My favorite was the law from some mid-western state that put a bounty of $5 on each gopher you shot. I wonder if they ever controlled the gophers. IIRC, it was when $5 was a lot of money.

    OK... Google is my friend. it wasn't quite $5. and more amazingly, people are still doing it.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:Ahhh... so it's an old law by lwsimon · · Score: 1

      I note that they trap them, not shoot them.

      With the price of ammunition these day, $1.50 per head - or per paw, as the case may be - wouldn't even cover your expenses.

      --
      Learn about Photography Basics.
  32. loud buzzer noise by jDeepbeep · · Score: 1

    I am revoking all of your nerd credits now.

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    Reply to That ||
  33. Re:Birther? Not likely by spartacus_prime · · Score: 2, Informative

    Except, you know, Jefferson Davis wasn't President of the United States.

    --
    If you can read this, it means that I bothered to log in.
  34. Re:Birther? Not likely by elrous0 · · Score: 1, Troll

    The Andrew Johnson and, arguably, Ulysses Grant administrations were worse. But in those cases their incompetent was mostly unintentional. The Cheney Administration (let's not kid ourselves about who was really calling the shots) had a much more insidious agenda (though they were certainly incompetent in many respects as well). Chency had dreamed since the Ford administration of re-centralizing much of the Presidential power lost in the wake of Watergate, and he largely succeeded during his administration in resorting that power and gutting laws like of FISA that had decentralized that power. The fact that he also helped out his oil buddies was almost benign compared to some of the stuff he pulled off.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  35. Ewww, but hey, that's your business by davidwr · · Score: 1

    If that's really what it did, why are the laws against using money during foreplay still being enforced?

    I didn't know using currency during foreplay was illegal. Not my thing anyways.

    If you want to use money or any other paper or cloth goods during foreplay, that's your business.

    Yes, the bank will trade in damaged currency for new currency, but again, do them the courtesy of cleaning it off and putting it in a sealed bag. If I were a bank teller I wouldn't want to touch any money that was used in foreplay until it had been adequately disinfected. Ewww.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  36. Reading the communist manifesto isn't either. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reading the communist manifesto isn't either.

    1. Re:Reading the communist manifesto isn't either. by Sandbags · · Score: 1

      Well, reading it isn't exactly the same as joining the party either. ...and in todays world, do you think there's a single sane person who believes the Communist Party is actually a group of violent people hellbent on overthrow of the US government through force?

      --
      There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
    2. Re:Reading the communist manifesto isn't either. by GundamFan · · Score: 1

      I know at least 3 people who believe this. Also, there was a Tea Party spokesman on NPR a few weeks ago implying that armed rebellion was a real possible outcome of there movement and one of there talking points is that the current government is socialist so a few of them probably believe a Communist over throw is a real possibility as well. Just because it's ludicrous doesn't mean people don't believe it.

      --
      I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
      Mark Twain
    3. Re:Reading the communist manifesto isn't either. by Sandbags · · Score: 1

      Actually, the United States is not a Democracy. It's a Socialist Federated Democratic Republic. Always has been, since the first taxes were collected and used for a public project.

      People might believe that poeple of an opposite view might become violent. However, that's not the case of law, it;s whether or not the people joining the organization know it;s INTENT is Violent, and that it specifically provides materials and training in preparation for a violent act.

      Just because some physical fighting, possibly involving guns, is possible in the minds of some nut job paranoids who can't even identify that we in fact ARE a form of socialist government (and so is nearly every government on EARTH!) does not mean people are ORGANIZING with the express intent to overthrow our government by violent means. If they are, they have to register...

      --
      There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
  37. Delaware is 16 now Re:Age of Consent Laws by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Here is an age of consent chart.

    If you are a 40 year old man, no state has an age of consent below 16 unless you are married to the girl (or guy). This was taken from this report from December 2004, so it's probably outdated.

    Also not shown on the table is the minimum age of prosecution, minimum age for prosecution in adult court, and special diversion programs available to teenage and young-adult defendants. In states that have these, this protects kindergartners from being prosecuted as juveniles for "playing doctor" and preteens who are acting inappropriately from being prosecuted as adults. Diversion programs allow teens and sometimes young adults to have their records sealed so they can get on with their life in cases where the person is not predatory but his girlfriend was just a year or two too young for the law.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  38. So you'll ban medicare, then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you'll ban medicare, then? And remove Veteran's Health. Oh, and the police, fire, ambulance and armed forces. Let the corporations do them.

  39. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ya'll are so dang smart we'll down heer in SC we figured up the only way to find them dang terrorista fella's was ta pass a law that would require thems there to register themselves as such.
    That a way once they signed up we could heard em all together and have them FBI fellas come on down and arrest them all. Dang smart if'n ya aks me. PS I ain't no coward

  40. In Soviet America... by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Only the guy has to die. Read West Side Story.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  41. meh by Weezul · · Score: 2

    Spirituality is about self improvement. Religion is about organization and power. Pretty simple really.

    I did not alter Russell by adding [and Islam] or saying Religion, I quoted Russell in context. I read "and Islam" myself today, but quotation is quotation.

    I'm confidant that Russell quote is particularly poignant because every so often people like you object, but they never mention Martin Luther King or Jimmy Carter.

    Organization can obviously be used for good. Religion succeeds when Religion has been more democratic than government. Religion usually fails the modern word by being less democratic. Oh, Real democracy requires representation as noted during the Boston tea party, btw.

    Afaik, Jimmy Cater is the only living man who both has held the reigns of power and is truly an idealized Christian. I'll change my sig when I hear him give a logical defense of religion. I've only ever heard him defend spirituality, not religion. MLK might've given religion an argument, but you know what happened to him, and you know by whom.

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
  42. Re:Birther? Not likely by billstewart · · Score: 1

    He was still the President of a number of the American states.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks