Re: Texas Polygamists--sf in real life?

In article <fv60h7$o0s$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Paul Ciszek) wrote:

> In article <ddfr-075FB0.23443726042008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> David Friedman  <ddfr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >In article <fuvbk8$m9c$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> > nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Paul Ciszek) wrote:
> >
> >> In article <ddfr-8D886F.10403225042008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> >> David Friedman  <ddfr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >Given that we now know that the pregnant sixteen year old with an 
> >> >abusive 50 year old husband who made the call was a 33 year old
Colorado 
> >> >woman with no connection to the sect outside her own imagination, we

> >> >ought to revise down our assumptions about what was actually going
on. 
> >> 
> >> The pregnant 15 year olds and 16 year olds with multiple children
that
> >> were discovered as a result of the raid remain, though.  
> >
> >If I've correctly followed the current status of the case, law 
> >enforcement claims a total of three pregnant under 17 (or maybe under 
> >18?) year olds, and the FLDS says it's only two.
> 
> According to NPR today, there are 29 girls between the ages of 14 and 17
> that are either pregnant or already mothers.
> 
> >As best I can work out 
> >from a little googling a few days ago, about 4% of texas females 15-17 
> >get pregnant each year, so it's hard to see how a total of two or three

> >of them out of 400+ minors represent, in themselves, a sufficiently 
> >drastic situation to justify taking all 400+ minors away from their 
> >parents.
> 
> 1) Assuming approximately half the 400 kids are girls, more like 14%
>    of them are pregnant or post-pregnant.

The figure I gave for Texas was the percentage pregnant, not pregnant or 
"post pregnant." Apparently the news story you heard conveniently left 
out the fact that only two of the girls seized are pregnant--abut the 
Texas average. The story I saw provided no information on the basis on 
which the Texas authorities concluded that other girls had had 
children--and given that the Texas child protective folk have gone on 
record with the claim that several of the girls seized knew the 
(non-existent) Sara who called, I'm not inclined to take their word on 
it. Obviously you are.
> 
> 2) If those 4% in the general population are getting knocked up by older
>    men--which many probably are--then those men should be hunted down
>    and convicted.

And all Texas parents should have their children taken away, since their 
failure to protect their daughters proves they are unfit? Same 
percentage pregnant.

-- 
 http://www.daviddfriedman.com/
http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
 Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic.
 Published by Baen, paperback in bookstores now