Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 01/03/18 > What hand am I suppose to use? New laws that have taken effect…
I make it no secret that I am for less government control and more personal responsibility; I think we can agree on that. Recently I wrote a daily dose that was in response to a person over on Sola who claimed that Americans have too much pride to admit that we are not the freest country in the world, in that reply to him and in the daily dose I pointed out the we are so overly controlled by laws that we can’t even begin to count them all.
Sadly, I have to report that my home state of Texas has been busy in their last special legislative session and added 24 more laws to our vast array of laws. These 24 laws took effect on New Year’s 2018. Twenty four really doesn’t seem like that many, and in the grand scheme of things it probably isn’t. So maybe I should talk about the “grand scheme”, which is to tax, fine, and assess the people of the state of Texas into the poor house.
Without looking back to September and my blogs when I first started here I don’t believe I have ever mentioned the laws that took effect on Sept. 1, 2017 in Texas. I would really like to approach each and every one of them individually and let you critique them and offer comments. There is just one thing standing in my way of doing that, I don’t want to lose you as a reader of the daily dose.
It’s not that I think you aren’t interested in law, I think for the most part all of you are lawful people, I would have no reason to believe otherwise. I also think that the majority of folks here in the US and around the world have an attraction in some way, shape or form to the state of Texas. It might have to do with how we have been portrayed on television programs like “Dallas” with the famous J.R. Ewing character. Maybe it has to do with the world famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, that is one fine collection of Texas women there.
Maybe it is because Texas has become the Silicon Valley of the south with Austin, Texas becoming a major technology center. Speaking of Austin, it is the live music capital of the country, more live music events go on there than anywhere else in the USA and it is not just country music in case you didn’t know.
So with all that said, I still haven’t said why I won’t do the laws one at a time and review them. The thing about laws is that the wording of laws can be very damn confusing, and why they have to include amendments that have nothing to do with what the main purpose of the law is beyond comprehension. Even with that, we would be able to figure it out, and form some opinions but even that isn’t what is stopping me.
In order to take the laws that was added in September of 2017 to the state of Texas existing laws I would have to dedicate the next 600 days of daily dose blogs to review each law in a separate column. That is not a typo, yes, 600 new laws were added to the books on September 1, 2017. The 24 added on January 1, 2018 were ones they couldn’t get passed in the regular legislative session in 2017, and were passed in special session over the summer. I know you folks are pretty reasonable people, but it would be well beyond reason to think that anyone would stick with me and read each day some piece of legislative bull shit that has been adopted and signed into law.
When I say legislative bull shit, that is what it is in plain and simple terms. I haven’t gone through and read them all, I have read some of them. Would it surprise you to know that is against the law to wipe your ass with your hand that you do not write with? We also have a new law relating to common nuisances, I might need to pay attention to that one. We also have a new law on removing deceased persons from the registered voter rolls; that is going to make some folks mad, dead people should still be allowed to vote. They probably have a better understanding about what is going than the young folks who are voting.
They also changed the law on how public schools report and compile dropout rates of students, the people of Texas don’t need to know that the school system is failing and the kids are opting out at an alarming rate. We also have a new law on hunting wild hogs from hot air balloons, they had to do that because the hot air balloon pilots were getting confused on their champagne flights, brides and grooms normally don’t show up with guns would be the first clue on when to put the booze away.
They also passed a law designating July as train safety awareness month, I guess all of the trains in Texas haven’t been paying attention to safety and now will be required to take part in safety training. They also passed a few name changes for certain portions of state highways to honor some people and law enforcement officials who have passed away. Texas also passed a law now giving the state control of the red snapper fish in the Gulf of Mexico up to 200 miles from shore, for some reason that sounds a little fishy to me, international waters start at seven miles off shore the last time I checked.
The state also changed some abortion laws and voter identification laws as well, I won’t even comment on those, despite what you might think, sometimes I know when to keep my mouth shut.
I could go on and on with this but I won’t, you get the picture, if one group or person has enough money they will get a law passed here in Texas, it might be a law to gain an advantage or it might be a law to restrict or criminalize an activity. The good thing is that the legislature is only in session every other year here in Texas.
Even with that, the average would be 300 new laws per year; we don’t need any more laws. I sometimes feel like running for state office on the platform of smaller government. I would try and pass a law that would require the repeal of two existing laws before you could pass one new law. The reason I won’t run is simple though, I really would like to see the Republic of Texas reinstated as a sovereign nation.
The process is well underway, and people laugh when they hear about Texas succeeding, but there are papers already filed with the World Court in The Hague, and with the way the United States is acting on the world stage don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen soon. The actual law that governs Texas is common law as stated in the Texas constitution, all these codes and regulations are actually not law. The people aren’t smart enough to understand the difference, and that suits the people in power just fine. The mafia is a recognized criminal organization; the state government of Texas is one also, just not as open with their criminal activity as the mafia is.
The good news is you will not have to look forward to 600 more days of Texas law review. As for that law about wiping your ass with the hand you write with, it may or may not be true, I haven’t looked at all the laws yet. It wouldn’t surprise me if it is in there though.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
The more lawlessness, the more laws. If people made it their purpose in life to live morally, we would not need so many laws. In the small town days, you didn't need hundreds of laws. You did wrong, the community knew about it and made sure it didn't happen again. Law or no law. @ironshield
The term "morally" has different meaning to different people so that is a poor way to evaluate it my opinion. I would rather go back to the original set up which was common law.
If you injured a person or their property you had broken the law of the land. It was plain, simple and easy to understand and did not require a law degree to figure it out.
Man was free to live as he chose as long as he didn't cause injury or harm to another person. The creation of laws creates lawlessness, and that is really where the problem originates in my opinion. We no longer operate under common law, the country uses statutes and codes in place of law. Statutes and codes are treated as law but they are not law, and that is truly why we have the problem.
My morals and your morals might differ, but as long as neither one of us does something to cause injury or harm to each other then we should just leave each other alone on how we want to live.
If I chose to grow weed and smoke it, how does that injure or cause harm to another person? It doesn't , it may not fit under your set of morals, but it did not cause any other person injury or harm.
Laws have been created to give power and control to the people who make the laws, and to extract the wealth from the people by the way of fines and fees associated with the so called laws. That is truly what it boils down to in easy to understand terms.
Many laws are unjust, for extortion purposes. Many statutes are in place to benefit the authority usually in the form of money. It's like legal bribery. Building codes, parking tickets, property taxes... the list goes on and on. Bribery is immoral and wrong.
Things like speaking your mind or smoking the ganja, these are not moral issues, but ethical standards. One person may be fine with smoking weed, while others might not. Or drinking. Or driving too fast. Or breaking social mores. Things that are ethically debatable, but not morally wrong.
There are many ethical standards which people hold themselves and others to, but only one morality. When somebody violates a moral standard, it is very clear across all societies. That's when any decent person will say "That's just wrong." It's repugnant. Unless they are depraved. Then they deceive themselves into believing it's ok. Some serial killers consider themselves saints in their own minds. Some societies even adopt immoral practices, like cannibalism or euthanasia. These practices are justified by saying they're for the "greater good". That greater good is referring to the universal moral standard. The only way an immoral practice can be accepted in a society, is if a society accepts them as an absolute moral standard.
Civilization can adapt to all sorts of changing and relativistic ethical standards, but once morality becomes subjective to the individual, civilization will begin crumbling back to barbarism. @ironshield
I agree with your comment that "many laws are unjust, for extortion purposes." They exist as big cash-cows for local authorities. But if someone drives too fast and loses control of the vehicle, bringing harm or death to others, then it crosses the line between ethics and morality, in my opinion. I have lost family members because of someone's carelessly driving-too-fast.
I'm sorry you lost family members because of careless driving.
I said "driving too fast" which implies driving at unsafe speeds, but this is a bit unclear. I was referring to people who believe it is "acceptable" to drive over the speed limit to keep up with traffic on an expressway, although it's illegal. It is ethically debatable whether this is really an "acceptable" practice, but in most cases it's not a moral issue.
Being careless when behind the wheel, distracted, sleepy, unsafe speeds (driving too fast), intoxicated, etc does put lives at risk, and it is absolutely a moral issue because it puts people in harm's way. So I agree with you, it crosses the line between ethics and morality.
It's the golden rule: I don't want a sleepy driver to hit my car, I'm feeling sleepy, I'd better stop for the night.
We shouldn't require laws to enforce this sort of thing, but we do. People want to do whatever they want (moral lawlessness) but they don't want to get caught or pay the very real consequences. I think sometimes people worry more about being caught than the potential harm they could cause someone. Laws can be a deterrent for lawless people. Therefore, the more lawlessness, the more laws.
It's the old question: if you had a chance to murder a person and be guaranteed that you wouldn't get caught or experience any consequence, would you do it? The upright person would say "never", the morally lawless person would consider doing it just for the thrill. They would say "guaranteed?".
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. @ironshield
All these laws seem to really only help one group Lawyers
That is very true, most elected politicians are lawyers as well. When the country was founded it was illegal for lawyers to be elected to office for good reason.
That’s a very good point and a law we may All well Wish was never changed
Phew - just reading this abridged version of Texan laws made my eyes kinda swim and my mind boggle.
The world has gone mad.
Still I enjoyed your thinnly veiled tongue in cheek rant.
I live in the UK at the moment but will be moving to Bulgaria in early springtime. In BG life is simpler, folks are kinder and it is possible to live quietly under the radar!
Upvoted/followed I look forward to reading more from you - I love dry humour :)
I invite you to pass by mine if you have time.
Hers's to a great and somewhat lawless, in the best possible sense, 2018.
xox
I am happy that you made it by and liked what you read. Good luck with your upcoming move to BG, I am not going anywhere at the moment, so you can find me here each day. Stop back again if you have a chance and I'll get by yours and take a look as well.
Makes Hitler turn on his grave.... (if he has one)...
Back then he couldn't even dream to achieve this, in such peaceful way... No wonder it's so easy, sheep's never complained... they just go bhehehe... It's too late to stop it, like they say.. I you got nothing to hide, you got nothing to worry! Welcome to NWO.... It's better then cancer, you can survive it... Just, Obey..
One of my favorite quotes:
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
that about sums it all up right there in that one quote
When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - you may know that your society is doomed.
OK... Sorry... I'll stop with this one.. Promise.
You sir write a mighty big blog.
Have my favorite quote.
"Folks, I hate to spoil your fun but-there’s no such thing as rights, okay? They’re imaginary. We made them up! Like the Boogie Man… the Three Little Pigs, Pinocchio, Mother Goose, shit like that. Rights are an idea, they’re just imaginary, they are a cute idea, cute… but that’s all, cute, and fictional."
George Carlin.
You should consider following @wwf
I'm from Texas, we always do things bigger in Texas, and George Carlin was very funny and correct. Thanks for stopping by today.
Dear you have written a very big blog.i appreciate your stance.It is a natural fact that most politicians are before lawyers.
So am I missing something here? What is it with "very big blog" and "mighty big blog"? I'm going to take those as compliments unless someone tells me differently. Anyway, thanks for dropping in and sharing your take, we have a system that is broken and needs fixing, we can't expect the people who screwed it up to get it fixed and that would be lawyers, that is a certainty that I stand by.
Yeah I'm definitely not a fan of all the regulation. Luckily, Indiana, like Texas (where I'm from) probably have some of the fewest laws and regulations out of the 50.
Well Gnik, this is from Texas where you are from, I'm not familiar with what other states have but I can tell it is out of control here now as far a laws and regulations, and if it ifs worse in other places I really feel sorry for them.
Don't move to California ;)
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Would that become known as the Tex-it.
the only law id like to hear the legal language on is that butt wiping protocol one.
some how the legaleze on that one could get interesting.
I think as soon as they get their "bath room bill" passed that says you have to use the restroom of the gender you were born as passed then they will get the butt wiping bill rolled up and signed. And I am not fooling on the bathroom bill, they don't want transgender people using restrooms of the sex that they identify as or are making physical changes to become. For some reason the legislature in Texas thinks that transgender people must be pedophiles as well as trans.
The more laws they past the more laws that get broken. No one can keep up wiyh all the new laws being past each year.
That is a fact, if you caught my post the other day i pointed out the fact that there is no complete count available of all the laws, they can't or won't give an accurate number when it comes to laws on the books.