Welcome To The Land Of The Not-So-Free
Unfortunately, we've also become the land of the way-too-comfortable.
I told a reporter who interviewed me about the TSA agent suing me for "defamation" that this country was started by "assholes" -- and I say that as somebody who has enormous respect for our founding fathers, and who even found George Washington rather hot. (My boyfriend almost got jealous watching me with a statue of him at the National Constitution Center in Philly -- here, "Hunka Hunka Burning Forefather.")
What I mean by referring to the founding fathers as "assholes" is that these were men who spoke up, who told the King of England to "blow it out his keister" (or however they said that keister stuff back then). Here, for example, is Thomas Paine with a 1776 "we're free/screw you" to the King:
But where says some is the King of America? I'll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain...let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING. --Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
In case you hadn't noticed, we're way short on assholes in this country these days (save for the sort shouting on their cell phones in public places).
We'd better grow some of the freedom-defending sort fast, because here's Laurence M. Vance posting at Lew Rockwell about freedoms in need of defending as of late. (Forget whether you agree with his take on the military earlier in his piece, and see if this list -- in no particular order -- makes sense to you, too.) The first, of course, is one of my particular recent favorites:
•The freedom to fly without being sexually violated.
•The freedom to purchase a gun without a waiting period.
•The freedom to grow, sell, and smoke marijuana.
•The freedom to sell goods and services for whatever amount a buyer is willing to pay.
•The freedom to make more than six withdrawals from one's savings account each month.
•The freedom to drink alcohol as a legal, voting adult under twenty-one years of age.
•The freedom to purchase Sudafed over the counter.
•The freedom to gamble without government approval.
•The freedom to deposit more than $10,000 in a bank account without government scrutiny.
•The freedom to not be stopped at a checkpoint and have one's car searched without a warrant.
•The freedom to sell any good or offer any service on Craigslist.
•The freedom to fill in a "wetland" on one's own property.
•The freedom to cut someone's hair for money without a license.
•The freedom to home-brew over 100 gallons of beer per year.
•The freedom to advertise tobacco products on television.
•The freedom to smoke Cuban cigars.
•The freedom to not wear a seatbelt.
•The freedom to be secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.
•The freedom to keep the fruits of one's labor.
•The freedom of an employer and an employee to negotiate for any wage.
•The freedom to discriminate against anyone for any reason.
•The freedom to videotape the police in public.
•The freedom of businesses to hire and fire whomever they choose.
•The freedom to not be brutalized by the police.
•The freedom to not be arrested for victimless crimes.
•The freedom to sell raw milk.
•The freedom to not have one's child subject to unnecessary vaccinations.
•The freedom to not have one's child unjustly taken by Child Protective Services.
•The freedom to not be subject to the Patriot Act.
•The freedom for kids to set up neighborhood lemonade stands.
•The freedom to not have every facet of business and society regulated.
•The freedom to stay in one's home during a hurricane.
•The freedom to not have our e-mail and phone conversations monitored.
•The freedom to travel to and trade with any country.
•The freedom to be left alone.
Now, there's one here I don't agree with -- the vaccination example, for one. I'm of the science school of vaccines (rather than the Jenny McCarthy school), and there are terrible diseases that were eradicated that are showing up in places because of all the nitwits who believe a celebrity and a fraud of a doctor. If you ever want your kids to be out in public, you need to be part of protecting "herd immunity."
Otherwise, I've blogged about a whole lot of these, like the raw milk issue, kids being fined for setting up lemonade stands, certainly the TSA!...and more. I also think it's fine if you want to ride a motorcycle without a helmet or stay in your home during a hurricane -- if you aren't going to look to the rest of us to pick up the cost if and when it goes badly.
Any you disagree with? Anything that you think should be added?
And finally, Vance concludes his piece with three thoughts:
One, I want the military to defend our freedoms. But fighting foreign wars only reduces our freedoms. After all, it is still true that war is the health of the state. Two, if the military is going to defend our freedoms, then we need freedoms to defend. Our freedoms must be restored before the military can defend them. And three, the greatest threat to our freedoms is the U.S. government, not the governments of China, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, or Iran.
The founding fathers set us up to be a free country, and if we're going to remain that way, a lot of people need to wake up, stand up, and start saying "screw you" to big government and all these little yank-aways of our rights and freedoms.
As far as vaccinations go, I don't want my child to have any unnecessary vaccinations. However, the vast majority are necessary, good not only for a child's individual health, but also for the herd immunity.
And as afar as I'm aware, they haven't made flu vaccinations (as an example of an unnecessary one) requisite yet. I'm sure it's coming, but it's not there yet.
Jazzhands at September 8, 2011 1:38 AM
I agree. There are a lot of freedoms on the list that I wouldn't personally engage in, but we should concern ourselves with attaining ALL freedoms, not just the ones we agree with.
Drew Johnson at September 8, 2011 3:13 AM
The freedom to post your ridiculous opinions on blogs and other sites all over the internets. Of course this also implies that others then have the freedom to point out your obvious lack of intelligence.
Not that I'm talking about commenters on this site :)
Seriously, it worries me that people are not standing up and shouting about the continuing erosions of our rights. Sooner or later we need to stand up or this will all fall down around us.
DrCos at September 8, 2011 4:06 AM
The bill that was attempted to be passed in Texas requiring all girls to get the HPV vaccine before they started sixth grade is a wonderful example of an unneeded vaccination being shoved down people's throats.
There is no way that HPV, or any other sexually transmitted disease, should be communicable during school hours. I'm not saying that women shouldn't get the vaccine. I'm saying it should not be mandated that they have to have it to start school.
Perry's support of this legislature alone upsets and angers me.
Cat at September 8, 2011 6:15 AM
The freedom to renounce one's citizenship without penalty.
It's nothing I'd do, but if being an American is a good thing, why do we need to exorbitantly tax those who want to leave? It makes us look petty, and weak. I'd replace the tax with a simple statement that all such decisions are final.
MarkD at September 8, 2011 6:15 AM
Please add in the freedom to decide for ourselves where our children attend school and control what they are taught. The worst examples of the Bitybrained Bureaucracy are found in our public schools.
BarSinister at September 8, 2011 6:28 AM
As far as the HPV vaccine go, while parents should have a say in their childrens heath care - it needs to be an INFORMED say. ANd the sad fact is some 12yr olds are having sex theses days.
And if the only reason parnets werent getting it is beacuse "only sluts need it", well, that isnt an informed decision.
As for the wetland, there is valid reason to not allow people to fuck with some waterways.
Here in AZ filling in a gully on your property will cause flood damage to you neighbors up stream. A devolper out here a few years back wanted to level out an area that had about 20 gullys running thru it, had those home sold a few years later all the homes foundations would have started shifting due to the periodic erosion that always sweapt thru the area
lujlp at September 8, 2011 6:30 AM
Here's a few:
Jim P. at September 8, 2011 6:40 AM
"ANd the sad fact is some 12yr olds are having sex theses days."
And that means that all should get the vaccine? A vaccine that has hardly been proven to be effective. They also sold it as a cancer preventative and wanted to force boys to take it too, without much testing as to what it might do to pubescent boys. Hell, I think they only tested a few hundred teen girls.
Gardasil (they're pushing it in CA now too) was nothing but corrupt business pushing corrupt government to mandate them sales. All while playing the "think of the children" card.
Sio at September 8, 2011 7:15 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/08/welcome_to_the_18.html#comment-2465377">comment from Jim P.Business having the right to decide to be smoke-free or have smoking areas
I hate cigarette smoke, but I absolutely agree. People say, "What about the workers?" But, just as people have a choice to not work for the TSA, they can not work for a bar that allows smoking. Having choices requires people to muster up the thinking to manage choices.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2011 7:15 AM
Regarding vaccinations, I only have to point to my cousin Ronnie. Had the Polio vaccine been available when he was young, he would not need to walk with crutches today.
WayneB at September 8, 2011 8:00 AM
"Nobody misses a slice off a cut loaf".... The Nazis called it "Salami-tactic", cutting off our rights, one slice at a time, so we never notice how much we're losing.
I disagree with the notion of despoiling nature, just because it's on our property. Along with rights, we have responsibilities, and one that's not been handled well is our guardianship of nature.
We do need to have flouride removed from our drinking water. What they're dosing us with is industrial waste, not beneficial nutrients.
Jefe at September 8, 2011 8:30 AM
I have a few nits:
The freedom to not wear a seatbelt.
As long as you are willing to live with the ramifications of not wearing a seat belt, I'm ok with it. Hint: if your injuries are severe, don't expect the rest of us to pay your hospital bills. Also, if you end up disabled and can't work, don't expect to get on Social Security disability.
If you can't afford it, then wear your damn seat belt.
The freedom to home-brew over 100 gallons of beer per year.
Eh, that's a tax issue. If you really want to get me on your side, allow me to distill 100 gallons of whiskey per year. At least you can make home brew beer. I can't have a still that produces booze.
Not without the possibility of the ATF kicking my door in. Let me guess, you're not here about the firearms or tobacco?
The freedom to stay in one's home during a hurricane.
So long as you realize that when things get nasty, and you need rescusing that help isn't coming until it is safe for the rescuers go to out in the storm. You maybe on your own for the duration.
The freedom to smoke Cuban cigars.
No. When the Cubans who grow, process and make those fine cigars aren't slaves to a murderous regime, then you can smoke them to your heart's content.
I R A Darth Aggie at September 8, 2011 8:46 AM
The freedom to smoke Cuban cigars.
No. When the Cubans who grow, process and make those fine cigars aren't slaves to a murderous regime, then you can smoke them to your heart's content.
By that logic, you shouldn't be able to buy anything from China, North Korea or a dozen other countries.
Steamer at September 8, 2011 9:03 AM
I disagree with the Cuban cigars one.
I should probably say, I am biased though - my family immigrated from Argentina and we are NOT fans of Castro.
Cuban cigars (unless I am mistaken) are the result of a trade embargo on Cuba because of their hostilities against the US (Cuban Missile Crisis, etc) and the fact that they are communistic and absolutely HORRIBLE, to their citizens.
I don't think America needs to support that in any way and I do believe it is a matter of National Security - (Cuban Missile Crisis).
Babalu blog does a good job of keeping up on the atrocities that happen in that country.
Everything else...meh, I err on the side of freedom.
(Although, I am leaning towards Darth's nit about the seat belts. I agree, but if you don't, then comparative negligence should be taken into account when damages are awarded. If I hit you going 25 miles an hour and you - otherwise, would not have been a vegetable or died then I shouldn't - or my insurance company shouldn't - have to pay for your own stupidity. Same deal with motorcycles and helmets).
Feebie at September 8, 2011 9:06 AM
They did the HPV vaccine at 12 so girls got it BEFORE they were having sex. It does no good once you're exposed. It was mandated so medicaid would have to cover it for poor people, not because kids had sex at school (although trust me they do. My little brother is the cop at a pretty good school here in RR, and WOW).
I have high-risk HPV. I've got paps every 3 months for life, occasional chemical burns on my cervix (oh, the PAIN) to remove odd cells, and had some cervix removed already. My girls will get it as soon as they can. I'm not banking their future health and reproductive ability on me knowing when they're going to start having sex. That's stupidity of the highest order. And yes, it was tested on more than a few hundred girls.
momof4 at September 8, 2011 9:09 AM
I have to go to the airport this afternoon for business travel. I plan to, as always, give them hell about violating my Rights.
Keep spreading the word!
dbabe at September 8, 2011 9:47 AM
Great article!
I would say that, while immunizations can be effective in eradicating disease, so does the development of the human immune system, which - as George Carline once said - needs germs to practice on.
In any case, however good an idea some vaccines may be, they should never be mandated by the government, just to "keep us safe." The violation of an unwanted vaccine may not be like the assault you had to endure, but it ranks right up there. This is particularly true for newer, unproven vaccines that can and have caused harm, including death.
Besides, what makes our government the authority on which vaccines are good and which ones aren't. They have shown their ineptness in almost every other policy designed to protect us.
G at September 8, 2011 10:07 AM
•The freedom to discriminate against anyone for any reason."
Well, interesting. So I can open up a bar that says, "No Jewish Women Allowed" (presumably a bar that intendeds to cater to Jewish men), or how about, "Hiring, No Women or Kikes Need Apply."
Really? You want to go back to the days when a boss could tell an attractive female employee, "Put out or get out"? "Suck this big dick and swallow or hit the road?"
Your neighbor can open up a whorehouse, with signs advertising such, as in "We Have Slutty Asian Girls Here for You" Or, worse,a 7/11 store or McDonalds?
Most people blah-blah about freedom, but when faced with it, turn tail and think up reasons to restrict what they don't like.
They want freedom for their limited sphere.
Really? How about polygamy? Open prostitution--glass windows at the airport?
Last comment: Someone above was whimpering about 12-year-olds having sex. Well, let's do away with government and legalize underage prostitution. Then those 12-year-olds can at least earn some money while having sex. That's free enterprise.
BOTU at September 8, 2011 10:33 AM
He's half-right. Our state governments, being much closer to us, are much greater threats to our freedom than the U.S. government.
If you're going to be stopped, searched, or arrested, it's probably going to be by local authorities for violating state laws (see, for example, everyone ever arrested for not submitting to TSA authority).
Most curtailments of our Constitutional rights have come from state prosecutors successfully arguing that the Bill of Rights doesn't mean what we think it means.
Mark Bennett at September 8, 2011 10:35 AM
I would say that, while immunizations can be effective in eradicating disease, so does the development of the human immune system, which - as George Carline once said - needs germs to practice on.
There are plenty of germs to practice on without the ones that have been the targets of vaccines up to the past 20 or so years. They ARE starting to take it too far, because Chicken Pox is, frankly, just not normally serious enough to warrant getting everyone vaccinated.
On the other hand, when you get a vaccine, you ARE being exposed to the germs (except for the Smallpox vaccine, which used Cowpox virus) that you are being protected against, just in a weakened or killed state, so the immune system DOES get its workout, by creating antibodies against the appearance of being infected.
WayneB at September 8, 2011 10:41 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/08/welcome_to_the_18.html#comment-2465681">comment from BOTUCan't answer all of BOTU's because I need to keep working on a piece I'm writing, but yes, I think private businesses should be able to keep out whomever they want. I'm an atheist, but I was raised Jewish, and you should be able to keep Jews or redheads or BOTUS or anyone you choose out of your private business. If you are racist, I will not patronize your business and I will probably speak out about how ugly you are. That is my right -- at least, at the moment.
Re: 12-year-olds, of course not. But consenting adults should be allowed to do whatever they want with any other consenting adult.
For those who are new here, BOTU (Butthole of The Universe, he aptly calls himself) gets attention by trying to be brash in the comments section. We're all weary of it, we who are here daily, but this is a free speech site, and even assholes are welcome to spout off here, providing they aren't here as part of a mob driven here from some other site in hopes of screwing up the discussion in my comments section (as I write about in Chapter 9 of I See Rude People).
And finally, Mark Bennett, great point about the states.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2011 10:49 AM
Amy Alkon--
Huh. My comments are "brash," but you accost strangers on the street with what--soft murmurs?
You commentary, online or on the streets is often profane! Gutter-mouthed!
But mine is "brash"?
Come now.
And I notice you neatly dodged the one about a boss telling an attractive employee to either suck cock and swallow or get out.
That one usually sinks in. No government? Oh, really?
Or government for when you think it is right?
BOTU at September 8, 2011 11:02 AM
The freedom to fill in wetlands on my property. Oh, yes! You bet. I also want the freedom to dam or divert any stream or river on my property.
Or I suppose, dump whatever waste into said stream on my property. Or perhaps bury whatever waste underground on my property.
After all, it's MY property.
Much of this discussion is nuts.
railmeat at September 8, 2011 11:36 AM
As far as seatbelts go, how about this:
When the seatbelt kills someone, we allow the survivors to sue the people who think seatbelt laws are nifty.
The government cannot compel me to do something that may kill me.
The government also cannot create a law requiring me to do something solely on the basis of how it improves insurance company profit margins.
brian at September 8, 2011 11:40 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/08/welcome_to_the_18.html#comment-2465777">comment from railmeatThe libertarian principle applies here, railmeat -- that your right to punch me in the nose ends where my nose begins. If you are dumping waste in a stream on your property, this waste is not contained to just your property.
The late Brit economist Pigou said that businesses (and people) must pay the costs of their business out of their profits (and not pass them on to others). There's a terribly run bar near my house that has been waking our neighborhood several nights a week for quite some time (I'm working on it with local law enforcement). Now, I don't care if they have orgies in there and light themselves on fire -- as long as it doesn't wake me up at night. Frankly, what they do in there is none of my business whatsoever -- unless it spills over into my home and causes me lost sleep (a form of torture).
PS I lived by a bar in New York that was well run and had no complaints. (We got awakened once or twice a month by some asshole, but what mattered was that the bartender 86'd em fast and made clear that they weren't to wake the neighbors.) This bar's a block away and was no problem for anyone in the neighborhood (for decades, and for much of the time I've lived in the house I rent) until it was bought by a bunch of people who apparently see no reason to let being considerate of those living around the bar get in the way of their profits.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2011 11:42 AM
> Well, let's do away with government and
> legalize underage prostitution. Then those
> 12-year-olds can at least earn some money
Interesting that the commenter enchanted by anality, and who makes frequent trips to Thailand, offers this as a pinnacle of argument.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at September 8, 2011 12:04 PM
Property rights?
How about when other people pollute and it comes on to my property?
Are my property rights absolute? I can make them stop polluting my property?
How about if methane gas comes into my water supply from nearby drilling?
And property rights--you mean, on land that was stolen from Native Americans? Going back to the Spanish land grants? A king in Spain had the right to seize land in Mexico and the Western United States and give it to people he liked?
So, property rights are sacred--but only back to a certain point in time. Before that, property rights are crapped on.
Yeah, tell me about property rights.
BOTU at September 8, 2011 12:05 PM
I think that the phrase was 'The right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins' but the idea is absolutely sound, phrased either way.
Many of the 'rights' Vance describes do not pass this test.
This makes for an important distinction.
Almost every right we claim comes with a companion responsibility, as you point out in your discussion of the bar scene in your neighborhood. Many of the rights Vance describes ignore this issue as well.
railmeat at September 8, 2011 12:05 PM
Agree with most of the list. These are things that each person should research and decide for themselves.
I CHOOSE to wear a seatbelt, because I weighed the risks vs. inconvenience of the choices.
I CHOOSE to purchase raw milk, again by weighing the risks vs. rewards.
In general, I feel most US citizens think that the government should "protect" them from unsafe/bad products and then are just shocked when that doesn't happen. I look at it differently-- I personally research purchases and find that many "approved" toys, etc are incredibly dangerous. As a thinking adult, I then make decisions. If the myth of government approval = safety is taken away, perhaps people will take seriously their obligation to think.
Also, regarding vaccines: If you believe in their efficacy, feel free to shoot whatever chemicals you wish into your system or your child's. If you are right as to vaccines' effectiveness, my un-vaccinated children pose not risk to you.
Rachel at September 8, 2011 12:08 PM
"my un-vaccinated children pose not risk to you."
You may think they pose no risk, but nothing in life is 100%. If no one ever GOT the diseases and exposed others, then the 99% effectiveness rate wouldn't be an issue. F you and your unvacc'd kind for nearly killing my kids with whopping cough. Shall I send you the hosptal bill?
I'd challenge any no-vac imbecile to go spend some time with a polio survivor. Then thank God and Pfizer your kid doesn't have to worry about that.
As to the list or any other, when your decisions affect me, that's when your rights should be limited.
momof4 at September 8, 2011 12:52 PM
"These are things that each person should research and decide for themselves . . . If the myth of government approval = safety is taken away, perhaps people will take seriously their obligation to think."
This is true *most* of the time - that is, when a citizen is able to make an informed decision. At the risk of harping on waterway issues, consider this - Water can be clean or unclean, and it is often difficult to know one way or the other. If I am assured of cleanliness, then I have the freedom to swim in, or drink of that water.
I can see few organizational bodies other than governmental ones to give me this assurance - although the anti-regulation crowd might end up undermining this assurance. We'll see.
On the other hand, providing for my safety by telling me I cannot swim in a given body of water because it is 'unsafe' (undertow, current, depth, or just that someone drowned there last year - that is to say, things I can and should evaluate for myself) THAT is taking away a freedom, and I believe that to be an example of nanny-state over-reach.
Not all regulation restricts freedom. Sometimes regulation enhances it. That is another point Vance seems to miss.
railmeat at September 8, 2011 1:21 PM
Crid-
Have you seen a proctologist lately? You seem sphincter-obsessed. Are you yourself a proctologist? If so, why did you choose that profession?
Have you been reading "I Am More Than a Anus," by I. M. Butz and Ura Lipshitz?
When someone calls you a "galaxy-class anus," are you proud?
Do you look forward more to good bowel movement than orgasmic ejaculations?
Ponder these questions carefully, and then report back to us.
BOTU at September 8, 2011 1:52 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/08/welcome_to_the_18.html#comment-2465928">comment from momof4As to the list or any other, when your decisions affect me, that's when your rights should be limited.
Momof4 is correct.
If it doesn't leak into the lives of the rest of us, have at it.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2011 2:03 PM
The freedom to make more than six withdrawals from one's savings account each month.
Why not just use a normal demand account if you're doing lots of withdrawals every month?
The entire point of the Section D regulation is that it defines "savings account" with that limitation in it.
You can have a non-"savings account" that therefore doesn't have that regulatory limit on it.
I see no particular loss of liberty in the fact that it can't be bother called a "savings account" and allow over 6 withdrawals a month.
While much of that list is good, some of it is bollocks. Like this part, and "the Patriot Act!".
(Heuristic: Never trust any objection to "The Patriot Act" as some sort of talisman, rather than specific provisions of it.
I've read the damned thing, and most of it is not troublesome at all to civil liberty.)
Sigivald at September 8, 2011 2:06 PM
Boy, BOTU, you're a little bossy and pushy today. Did someone piss on your leg?
Dave B at September 8, 2011 2:11 PM
Some of those on the list are just daft.
•The freedom to sell any good or offer any service on Craigslist.
Really? Really?? I think CL is a private enterprise. Don't like it? Use a different site. Or start your own. But bitching about what someone else allows you to do *mostly at no cost to you* on their site is pathetic.
And I agree with the seatbelt law. And motorcycle helmet laws. As long as taxpayers are on the hook to wipe your drooling chin and teach you to tie your shoes again after you smear yourself across the pavement, they get some say.
The flip side of the coin for rights is responsibilities.
LauraGr at September 8, 2011 2:47 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/08/welcome_to_the_18.html#comment-2466001">comment from LauraGrAnd motorcycle helmet laws. As long as taxpayers are on the hook to wipe your drooling chin and teach you to tie your shoes again after you smear yourself across the pavement, they get some say. The flip side of the coin for rights is responsibilities.
I think there should be special comprehensive "no helmet" insurance you can buy, and if you don't have it, you should have a little card in your wallet asking to be left as human huevos rancheros on the side of the highway.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2011 3:02 PM
"Boy, BOTU, you're a little bossy and pushy today. Did someone piss on your leg?"
I wish it had been only my leg.
BOTU at September 8, 2011 3:53 PM
Also, regarding vaccines: If you believe in their efficacy, feel free to shoot whatever chemicals you wish into your system or your child's. If you are right as to vaccines' effectiveness, my un-vaccinated children pose not risk to you.
Posted by: Rachel
Unless ofcourse you're one of the few who cant take vaccines, or are too young to have them administered
I recall a Law and Order episode where some granola loving mother took her sick unvaccinated kid to the park and wound up killing a couple of kids who were too young to get the vaccine
Read this
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/infectious-diseases/articles/2010/03/22/measles-outbreak-triggered-by-unvaccinated-child
and this
www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/282419
Also any medical costs traced back to not getting vaccinated should be paid out of pocket. Your insurance carrier and everyone else shouldnt have to pay for your dumb ass
lujlp at September 8, 2011 4:34 PM
> then report back to us.
The backdoor obsession is all yours. See your own signature and the contents of your last 500 comments. I think you're infantile... No insights, no eye for patterns, only resentments. The offense you give never pays off.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at September 8, 2011 4:58 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/08/welcome_to_the_18.html#comment-2466139">comment from Crid [CridComment at gmail]Exactly right, Crid.
Especially this:
The offense you give never pays off.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2011 5:02 PM
"Really? Really?? I think CL is a private enterprise. Don't like it? Use a different site. "
I think you missed the point of that, Laura... we aren't demanding that CL carry an ad for whatever we want. Rather, we don't want the government to dictate to CL that it isn't allowed to carry ads for X, Y, or Z.
Cousin Dave at September 8, 2011 5:56 PM
> Especially this:
Yeah, listen, I like The Dark Side of the Force. I use it my own life everyday... It's not just for blog comments! But if you got no experience discussing public affairs —as is pretty obviously the case with this guy— and nothing else to offer but childish sex snark, why comment at all?
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at September 8, 2011 6:13 PM
I thought of a few more:
I will agree and disagree. If your state does something of that state's own volition, such as RomneyCare in Taxachusetts, you have several options. You can fight it in the courts or at the ballot box. You can move to another state that doesn't have such mandates. Or you can just deal with it.
When you have a mandates handed down by the Fed, such as seat belt laws, alcohol legal age, and the DUI .08. They are held hostage by National Minimum Drinking Age Act and similar bills.
The point being that if you don't like what your state legislators are doing, you can, more easily, contact them and make your case. And if they refuse to listen, or vote your way, you can easily start a blog item, a petition, or <Contact> campaign with friends, family, and like minded individuals. See the the effect of the Tea Party on the fed. If that same percentage of the population in an individual state became politically active, do you think the state legislature would be as blithe about it?
Jim P. at September 8, 2011 7:35 PM
Freedom to advertise tobacco products?
That's hardly a human rights issue. That's a multinational criminal drug cartel rights issue.
Otherwise, I wholeheartedly agree - even on vaccinations. The freedom to choose should not be violated.
Alf at September 9, 2011 3:36 AM
Laura: I agree with Cousin Dave about Craigslist. It was included on this list because the company was pressured by state governments into scrapping its "adult services" section, which had been very profitable.
pbaseoul at September 9, 2011 4:30 AM
Amy Alkon - I just saw your interview with Alex Jones. I just wanted to say that you have a lot of people behind you and support your resistance to this TSA tyranny. It makes me sick that we've all let this happen and go this far. We're with you.
John L at September 9, 2011 6:06 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/08/welcome_to_the_18.html#comment-2467062">comment from AlfFreedom to advertise tobacco products?
You should have the freedom to advertise them and I should use my brain and avoid them. Same as I do with sugary foods, which are a considerable health hazard, despite what people who think Big Government is there to protect them (instead of the corn producers' bank accounts) go by.
Here, on sugar, by Gary Taubes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all
Do I think sugar should be illegal or that sugary foods should be banned? Absolutely not. I do what I should on this -- blog often about what is a healthy, evidence-based diet, which is, per Taubes' exhaustive research of the research out there, a low-carb diet. Per Taubes, in a nutshell, it is carbohydrates -- sugar, flour, starchy vegetables like potatoes, fruit juice -- that cause the insulin secretion that puts on fat.
See the picture of me in the yellow dress? That's me on bacon.
Amy Alkon at September 9, 2011 6:09 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/09/08/welcome_to_the_18.html#comment-2467063">comment from John LThank you so much, John L -- and to everyone sending their support. Please, please speak up at the airport, any way you can, and speak up in general to everyone you can, including your (probably worthless) elected officials. If there's enough of an outcry, if more people speak up and file charges (right away when this happens to them) I hope we can make some changes. I'm working on an op-ed on this now.
Amy Alkon at September 9, 2011 6:12 AM
"Also, regarding vaccines: If you believe in their efficacy, feel free to shoot whatever chemicals you wish into your system or your child's. If you are right as to vaccines' effectiveness, my un-vaccinated children pose not risk to you."
Wrong.
Wow, that's appallingly, breathtakingly strange that you could even open your eyes and say anything of the sort.
You've never heard of herd immunity. Have you heard of influenza? Smallpox? Rubella? Whooping cough?
Do you really not believe that vaccines work?
Are you in lock-step with Andrew Wakefield, professional and now publicly-exposed and discredited liar? A Playmate (who actually accepted botulism toxin, personally!) with no credentials, or background to even understand the consequences of her lies?
Forget the assertions of talking heads, the Limbaugh-equivalents (though with fewer qualifications!) you prefer or avoid.
Just look around.
Where's the smallpox? (Gone.)
What happens when vaccination rates drop? (People die. Polio is even back. So is whooping cough.)
In short, inform yourself.
Yes, inform yourself. Don't waste time being mad at me, because it won't do any good.
Radwaste at September 9, 2011 7:39 AM
I'd challenge any no-vac imbecile to go spend some time with a polio survivor. Then thank God and Pfizer your kid doesn't have to worry about that.
Like I said above, I have a cousin who is a polio survivor, who now walks with crutches all the time (he has no use of his legs). Not took long ago, he posted on Facebook that he was suffering this that day:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/post_polio/detail_post_polio.htm
I had no idea that it actively affected people that long afterward.
WayneB at September 9, 2011 8:51 AM
Hear hear! Every word of your post is great.
The freedom loving types willing to make a big old stink are still out here, however, not all of us have pedestals.
I complain incessantly about what's going on - because it pisses me off royally that what my family made* ... is being destroyed. (* We've lived here since 1632 - I have relatives who took up arms against the King. )
Hell - if someone wrote a guide on how I could get my own big mouth up on a national stage - I'd read it. I've been trying to figure out how to make my own big mouth a thousand times bigger.
So -sure- we're still out here. Not all of us have clawed our way to the top yet.
KyanWan at September 9, 2011 1:20 PM
I also think it's fine if you want to ride a motorcycle without a helmet or stay in your home during a hurricane -- if you aren't going to look to the rest of us to pick up the cost if and when it goes badly.
While this sounds fine in theory -- you're free to make whatever choices you want as long as you don't expect others to pay for them -- the fact is that, as a society, we're not willing to make people suffer the consequences of poor choices.
And this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Let's say a you're-responsible-for-your-choices conservative and a bleeding heart liberal are standing by the side of a dangerously fast-moving river when a teenager walks up and looks like he's going to dive in. Both of them say "you shouldn't go in that river...it looks far too dangerous." But the kid dives in anyway. Sure enough, he gets into trouble and yells for help. The conservative just stands there while the liberal dives in and, risking his own life, rescues the kid. Wouldn't most of us applaud the action of the liberal? I sure would. Wouldn't only the most hard-hearted among us feel that the conservative's action (or inaction) was more admirable?
And this is why we end up with "nanny-state" laws. We know that we're going to end up like the bleeding heart liberal, risking our lives (or spending our money) to bail people out from their poor choices so what we do is enact laws banning people from being able to make those choices.
Jim at September 10, 2011 8:13 PM
I used these guys to maintain my gutters, your're better off having your guttering cleared regularly as it stops damage and defacing of property walls in the future
Gutter maintainance at November 14, 2011 7:48 AM
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