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1. Richard Stallman (rms@mastodon.xyz)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 13:06:51 JST Richard Stallman

   Texas has imposed censorship on sale of books by imposing a system of "ratings" inspired by movie ratings. In addition to being unjust censorship, it is also impossible in practice to implement. If this law is not overturned, it could force every bookstore in Texas to close: https://web.archive.org/web/20230728160610/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/books/book-banning-texas-lawsuit.html Or, if Republicans enforce it selectively, it could make all bookstores stop selling books that have to do with sex, or have to do with queer people, or have to do with evolution.

   • Machismo (zerglingman@freespeechextremist.com)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 13:06:49 JST Machismo

     in reply to
     @rms Let's hope they do the latter.
   • freedomtux@noagendasocial.com's status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:42:08 JST freedomtux

     in reply to

     • Machismo

     @Zerglingman
     @rms

     Censorship of adults = bad
     Censorship of what children can access without their parents = good

   • Machismo (zerglingman@freespeechextremist.com)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:42:39 JST Machismo

     in reply to

     • freedomtux
     @freedomtux @rms Censorship of faggot propaganda = good
   • Zealous :verified: (zealous@clubcyberia.co)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:43:59 JST Zealous :verified:

     in reply to

     • Machismo
     • freedomtux
     @freedomtux @Zerglingman @rms why shouldn't children be allowed to buy pornographic magazines then?
     Machismo likes this.
   • Machismo (zerglingman@freespeechextremist.com)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:44:15 JST Machismo

     in reply to

     • Zealous :verified:
     • freedomtux
     @Zealous @rms @freedomtux He already answered that.
   • Zealous :verified: (zealous@clubcyberia.co)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:45:15 JST Zealous :verified:

     in reply to

     • Machismo
     • freedomtux
     @Zerglingman @rms @freedomtux I didn't see 👨🦯
     Machismo likes this.
   • Zealous :verified: (zealous@clubcyberia.co)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:46:44 JST Zealous :verified:

     in reply to

     • Machismo
     • Zealous :verified:
     • freedomtux
     @Zerglingman @freedomtux @rms in any case how is it any more impossible to implement than film ratings, and game ratings. those seem to have been easily implemented and are more or less enforced
     Machismo likes this.
   • Machismo (zerglingman@freespeechextremist.com)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:47:02 JST Machismo

     in reply to

     • Zealous :verified:
     • freedomtux
     @Zealous @rms @freedomtux ikr, seems like rms is just drinking koolaid
   • Zealous :verified: (zealous@clubcyberia.co)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:49:10 JST Zealous :verified:

     in reply to

     • Machismo
     • freedomtux
     @Zerglingman @rms @freedomtux not that I agree with these things btw, I think ratings are retarded and give parents an easy way out to avoid having to do any critical thinking of their own and most people ignore them anyway, but yeah, I don't see how this is any worse than film, video game, and music ratings that have been going on for decades.
     Machismo likes this.
     Machismo repeated this.
   • Machismo (zerglingman@freespeechextremist.com)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:50:49 JST Machismo

     in reply to

     • Zealous :verified:
     • freedomtux
     @Zealous @rms @freedomtux I think the ratings are good for a first-pass.
   • Zealous :verified: (zealous@clubcyberia.co)'s status on Saturday, 05-Aug-2023 22:57:53 JST Zealous :verified:

     in reply to

     • Machismo
     • Zealous :verified:
     • freedomtux
     @Zerglingman @freedomtux @rms
     
     "require stores to rate books based on sexual content, arguing the measure would violate their First Amendment rights"
     
     I'm not an American but this doesn't make a lot of sense. Isn't the first amendment about freedom of speech, how does providing a rating limit your freedom of speech? It just lets people know how explicit your speech is, so they can see whether they want to avoid it or not. It doesn't sound like it is stopping you from expressing yourself.
     
     "It will be a huge burden,” Valerie Koehler, the owner of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, said of the law. She estimates that schools account for some 20 percent of her store’s sales. “It’s unfathomable to think that we would need to rate every book, not only ones that we’d sell in the future to schools, but also any books we’ve sold in the past.”
     
     "The store does not have records of titles sold over the last half century, much less a way to know which of them are still in circulation — but under the law, BookPeople would be responsible for rating those books."
     
     Do they not read what they're selling or at least know what they're selling? How would it be difficult? They sound lazy. Besides, the article also says the state would assign a rating if the state disputes the stores rating. The store could just rate all books at whatever rating and then let the state do the rest.
     
     The rest of it doesn't even mean that these books are being banned. They are still being published and are freely available to purchase.
   • freedomtux@noagendasocial.com's status on Sunday, 06-Aug-2023 00:11:09 JST freedomtux

     in reply to

     • Machismo
     • Zealous :verified:

     @Zerglingman
     @Zealous

     RMS is an interesting character. He can be a liberty extremist which I dig

     But he's 'Die hard democrat' > soft red taper > libertarian

     And some left/right libertarians(*) like protecting children at the cost of a teeny bit of red tape, but the Democrat in him blinds him of any merit in this

     * (left and right are at the expense of liberty IMO)

     Machismo likes this.
   • Machismo (zerglingman@freespeechextremist.com)'s status on Sunday, 06-Aug-2023 00:12:07 JST Machismo

     in reply to

     • Zealous :verified:
     • freedomtux
     @freedomtux @Zealous >sex
     >queer people
     >evolution
     
     It's pretty clear where his allegiance lies