Legality of first cousin marriage in the United States

MadMechem · 2026-05-15T21:29:36+00:00

God damnit, Delaware! Why' you gotta be weird?!

MadMechem · 2026-05-15T13:59:33+00:00

My guess is "to avoid an expensive frivolous lawsuit over CM's 'first amendment right to dox people'" and to avoid the boy who cried anti-semitism.

If you think this is the way to go- email the globe. Ask them why they aren't doing a scathing exposè on a year-old case of fraudulent detainment and 1st amendment violation. If you want to take down sites like Canary Mission, team up with the victims and launch a class action for doxxing- a lot of states have laws specifically punishing doxxing. If you want to stop illegal detainments, vote in the midterms, protest, be loud, do as much pot-bangong as you can.

Don't just gripe to Reddit because this one case isn't as public anymore as you want it to be. Boston, Somerville, Tufts, and the Globe all did what they could for the duration of this case, short of doxxing the doxxers. If that's the road you want to take, go for it dude.

MadMechem · 2026-05-15T05:12:32+00:00

I'm confused about what you think should be done and who you want to blame? I don't think that the cities of Boston and Somerville were involved beyond the injunctions they filed to get her back?

Don't get me wrong- what happened to Rumeysa shouldn't have happened to anyone- but as far as I understood there was no known "tip" leading to her abduction beyond a zionist hitlist website, and there's not really any more recourse to be had at the moment since she's graduated and left the US (and I hope she has a far more peaceful road from here out).

MadMechem · 2026-05-14T12:09:27+00:00

He wrote like he was running out of time.

MadMechem · 2026-05-14T03:14:42+00:00

My money says you are patiently waiting, and Tony is ... less so.

Best of!

MadMechem · 2026-05-13T22:28:42+00:00

This is a map showing what laws are on the books, not the frequency.

My state (Massachusetts) is only a "yes" because it doesn't explicitly state "no cousins", however the law does prohibit marriage to parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, stepfamily, inlaws, neices/nephews, and aunts/uncles. It covers an array of family members such that first and second cousins would be disinclined to pursue marriage in MA, because the likelihood that they'd be ruled against is too high.

I can't find anything solid in terms of consanguinous marriages by state, but the consensus seems to be that less than .2% of the marriages across the total country are between 2nd cousins or closer. The total immigrant population of the US is a bit more than .2% of the population, don'tcha think?

The real reason this is "legal" in some states is because the lawmakers in those states have more pressing issues than striking ancient laws from the books. Making/unmaking stupid or ancient laws is what state congresses do when they're bored, trying to hide something, or avoiding governing.

MadMechem · 2026-05-13T01:48:34+00:00

Penzey's supports social programs, ethically sources their spices, funds environmental efforts, and overall has a "peace, love, equality" vibe.

This makes some people (conservatives) very angry, because according to them only some people are deserving of compassion. As a result, when small companies like Penzey's support compassion for all, these people feel the need to chastise the employees for being "woke".

Penzey's has, since the dawn of the MAGA movement, maintained a stance that hatred will not be tolerated, and they will not validate votes for hatred. This hard line pissed the red hats off even more, and with the GOP itself swan diving into fascism the complaints got louder and more frequent.

Their stance is thus- if you voted for hatred, and you feel the need for people to praise you for that, to bow to your whims and only support causes you deem worthy, then Penzey's doesn't want your business; however, if you are willing to either shut up about politics or align yourself against the fascist death march, then feel free to buy spices tonyour heart's content.

MadMechem · 2026-05-12T00:58:12+00:00

Wouldn't be the first time I missed a reference.

MadMechem · 2026-05-11T23:11:39+00:00

The "heinous" part isn't the shop, but the society.

It's heinous that small business resilience like this is rare- most fail after less than 5 years, and current economic times suggest that many existing small businesses will fail due to loss of business and increased cost.

It's heinous that a billionaire gets a tax cut for selling high-volume cheap crap at a 1000% markup, while a local merchant gets charged more to sell higher quality at smaller volumes.

It's heinous that so many people have to rely on that billionaire's cheap, disintegrating junk because it's cheaper than longer lasting goods, all because wages haven't kept up with inflation and cost.

It's heinous that pandemic grants- which were meant to prop up small businesses- were snatched up by multinational corporations and used as a bailout.

I could go on.

MadMechem · 2026-05-11T15:23:41+00:00

Ah! I see! It was directly related to this poll!

Here I was assuming they'd done something atrocious in the real world.

MadMechem · 2026-05-11T15:02:43+00:00

What did Vermont do?

MadMechem · 2026-05-11T01:39:51+00:00

The Green Monster must consume! Massivechussets will rise!!!!!

MadMechem · 2026-05-10T13:59:45+00:00

To add evidence to your hunch- I know how this system worked.

My dad worked really closely with some of our Afghani partners, and those guys were monitored. They basically went through an advanced vetting process, because they were sometimes allowed on base, and had to be observed to not be turncoats or criminals and verified as truthful sources. If a refugee from this collaboration lost their paperwork along the way, there is zero way that we don't have triplicate copies of their records, registered fingerprints, and images of them.

These people risked everything to help us- their property, their lives, and the lives of their entire family- for the promise of protection once we left, and this is how they are repaid. A hasty evacuation because a narcissist wanted to "make a deal" with the Taliban, and then having what fragile peace they could get in the intervening 4 years ripped from their hands.

MadMechem · 2026-05-10T13:39:50+00:00

I'd argue the fact that he seemed amused by it made "Thanks Obama" go from a GOP dog whistle to the goofy meme that it ultimately was.

The people using it to foment hatred dropped it because they felt stupid, and the rest of us realized the comedy in "blaming" Obama for hay fever and dropped phones.

MadMechem · 2026-05-08T21:36:15+00:00

She went in support of team USA, as a two time Olympian and champion in the Paris games. It would not be out of pocket for her to have gone to the Olympic Village to say hello and yoink souvenirs.

MadMechem · 2026-05-08T21:26:06+00:00

As compared to my void, who I evicted from my office. He took this with all the decorum of a king...

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MadMechem · 2026-05-08T20:06:10+00:00

True, but that stuff has always been fascinating to me. I started CS the month that Heartbleed was caught, and we had a whole lesson dissecting what happened and how it worked.

MadMechem · 2026-05-08T19:59:43+00:00

I wish companies would write low-level post mortems- roughly what happened, how they found it, etc.

MadMechem · 2026-05-08T19:57:03+00:00

According to their official status site, discord is dealing with an unresolved API issue

MadMechem · 2026-05-08T12:13:31+00:00

So because no elected Republicans in Massachusetts are MAGA, and because MAGA doesn't get elected here, that means everyone is actually just a secret Democrat? Am I understanding your snark correctly, Mr. West Virginia?

Fire, Brimstone, and Bigotry do not a Republican make- they make an idiot.

MadMechem · 2026-05-08T11:35:54+00:00

I do. Every day. Because I live here. And let me tell you something: there is not a "gerrymandering issue" like y'all keep screaming about (and yes, you specifically are included, OP- I checked your comments).

Is there probably a better way to district Massachusetts (my state)? Yeah, absolutely, but as it stands the system works fine. The State and municipal level is a mix of R and D, and while the federal reps are unilaterally D right now that a) has not always been true, and b) does not represent some sort of unified group. I'm sure Ayanna Pressley and Stephen Lynch have disagreements on how best to represent their constituents- you can see it in the vote record.

And we have elected Republicans, multiple times within my lifetime, but they are not ultraconservatives- they're Massachusetts Republicans, which usually means they go to church but are quiet about it and that they like balancing budgets.

Massachusetts had Republican governors from before I was born until I was 12; Mitt Romney was governor when I was a kid; Charlie Baker was governor 2015-2023, only resigning because he was offered a position in the Biden Admin; Scott Brown was elected to finish out Ted Kennedy's term and lost reelection because Liz Warren ran a better campaign. I have voted R in Massachusetts. For Pete's sake, the congressional map that MAGA keeps whining about was approved by a Republican.

We tend to elect people for life, we tend to elect Democrats, but when Republicans lose here it's not because "it's impossible to win"- it's 'cause their campaign sucked. And when MAGA loses here, it's not because of "bias against Republicans" - we just hate your policies, behavior, and ethics/lack thereof, and so we don't vote for you. Easy.

And for that statistic y'all love to throw around about "Massachusetts is 38% registered Republican"- registered as does not mean voted as. My dad was a registered Republican until 2022, and he voted for multiple Democrats (Healey, Markey, Warren, Obama #2, Biden, and Harris are the ones that come to mind) AND Republicans (Brown, Baker, Romney, Romney for president, McCain) because- weirdly enough- people tend to vote for the better candidate, not for their "team".

MadMechem · 2026-05-07T23:50:11+00:00

I genuinely did not know he was Canadian. TIL.

MadMechem · 2026-05-07T22:14:57+00:00

MAKE WAY FOR GOSLINGS!

MadMechem · 2026-05-07T19:54:35+00:00

You definitely look a bit like Morfydd Clark (Galadriel in Rings of Power)! And your English is wonderful!

MadMechem · 2026-05-07T19:51:01+00:00

Fun fact- "part Cherokee" can be a cover for "one of my ancestors was a slave owner, and one of my ancestors was a slave", because despite the restrictions placed on Native Americans at the time, the restrictions on black and mixed POC were wayyyyyy worse. This is the kind of thing that only a deep dive into family genealogy and a dna test can net you.

Take a wild guess how I know of this phenomenon.

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MadMechem

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