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Author Topic: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: T+0  (Read 1395630 times)

wierd

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13290 on: November 18, 2016, 11:56:06 pm »

Its only a problem when antitrust from the FTC (an executive agency) deny the merger.

For reasons that are obvious, I feel I need not say more.
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smjjames

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13291 on: November 19, 2016, 12:18:51 am »

Teddy Roosevelt would be like 'SPLIT 'EM ALL UP!!, NOW!'.
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Frumple

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13292 on: November 19, 2016, 12:37:09 am »

Yar, I was curious about it, though Comcast and Disney own NBC and ABC I think, which would be a problem, it did look like CMCSA had more value but a lower stock price so I was rather confused.
Oh. Think I get what you were going at now.

... as for what it means vis a vis mergers. Tbh? Nothing. Financial data rarely means much of anything so far as predicting that goes. You can determine likelihood of raw fiscal possibility -- i.e. if a company can buy out another, or if there's some indicator (i.e. falling or rising value, ferex) that a merger is more or less likely -- to a degree, but so far as mergers and related shenanigans go the raw fiscal possibility is so little of the notable considerations it's only barely worth considering. Never really got much into exactly what the more meaningful indicators are, but it's more along the lines of business interactions (competition, degree of competition, previous history etc.), interplay being applicable markets (whether it's vertical, horizontal, etc., and the degree of appeal of such for the businesses in question), non-market connections (shared administration, various sorts of past history between major shareholders/company leaders), whether there's some kind of fairly immediate goal for one or more of the businesses involved that would benefit, all sorts of things like that.

Though, uh, no, Isp, Disney would not be a natural monopoly. Any aspects of some kind of merger that tried to lock down parts of the market where that kind of thing isn't applicable (i.e. almost everything disney does) wouldn't get even the least bit of protection on that front. Comcast is more of a thing, but even a lot of its junk doesn't necessarily apply -- anything related to natural monopoly stuff would be fairly strictly infrastructure based, and there's a fair chunk of what they do that doesn't fall under that. Natural monopolies pop up where competition would be actively detrimental, particularly on the public, because of the physical logistics issues that exist due to the necessity of redundant infrastructure implicit in competition over that sort of thing. There's only so many phone or TV or power lines you can allow in a particular area before things get very, very silly. Even with stuff that's airwave or whatev' based it can happen -- there's reasons there's radio/TV/etc. frequencies that are basically verboten for certain activities. Some things are just normal monopolies, but there's a fairly strict delineation between the two sorts.
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Bumber

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13293 on: November 19, 2016, 02:30:16 am »

OH MY GOD IT'S STILL PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND
Now imagine it playing in the background pretty much non-stop. More or less the entire day. Sometimes literally the entire day, with people leaving it on while they sleep. Something approaching that isn't terribly uncommon among conservative households.
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine Fox news playing in the background - forever."
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Rockphed

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13294 on: November 19, 2016, 02:40:36 am »

Sometimes that guy's the only one available to serve

Or that particular business is reputed to be the best at what they do, or there's some tradition ("This family's gotten our wedding cakes from this place for forty years, and I'm making enough fuss by marrying another guy instead of a girl that I don't want to change anything else", for example) involved, or the other local businesses charge too much, or...

There's no good reason to allow discrimination for any reason that won't directly harm your business (things like banning known cheats from a casino or shoplifters from a carryout) and doing so is fundamentally Un-American.

Does a print shop have to print things for the KKK?  If not, how is it any different than a baker having to make a wedding cake for a ceremony that they are morally opposed to?
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wierd

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13295 on: November 19, 2016, 02:45:44 am »

with the KKK, there might be laws against hate speech that would prevent them from having something made.

However, if a random guy who is a KKK member just shows up and wants a big picture of his daughter printed, I can see no reason not to service his request.
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Rockphed

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13296 on: November 19, 2016, 03:04:20 am »

with the KKK, there might be laws against hate speech that would prevent them from having something made.

However, if a random guy who is a KKK member just shows up and wants a big picture of his daughter printed, I can see no reason not to service his request.

I was specifically asking about a banner for a KKK rally, not turning away a KKK member just for his membership in said organization.  And no, hate speech laws do not typically pass constitutional muster, so you cannot use them as an excuse.

Alternatively, what if the Westboro Baptist Church showed up and wanted to rent a meeting hall.  Would the owner of said hall be within his rights to refuse to rent to them?
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UXLZ

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13297 on: November 19, 2016, 03:13:16 am »

with the KKK, there might be laws against hate speech that would prevent them from having something made.

However, if a random guy who is a KKK member just shows up and wants a big picture of his daughter printed, I can see no reason not to service his request.

I was specifically asking about a banner for a KKK rally, not turning away a KKK member just for his membership in said organization.  And no, hate speech laws do not typically pass constitutional muster, so you cannot use them as an excuse.

Alternatively, what if the Westboro Baptist Church showed up and wanted to rent a meeting hall.  Would the owner of said hall be within his rights to refuse to rent to them?

That likely depends on the intended use of said meeting hall, but unless they have another reason I would say not.
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apiks

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13298 on: November 19, 2016, 03:44:40 am »

You fellas seem rather set on pushing the fearmongering agenda. As such I have recognized your claims and asked a friend who is studying law in the US and has almost graduated. The "not withstanding other law" does indeed work the way I claimed. The humongous amount of anti-discrimination laws will still be in effect. Also here's the important part he told me. This bill applies to people who claim a moral or religious basis only regarding the 5 points it has claimed.

Spoiler: 5 points (click to show/hide)

It only stops the federal government from imposing such punishments. All other punishments enacted by anti-discrimination laws are still very viable and in effect. It merely cuts some slack for people who claim a moral or religious basis. It does not grant them free reign. It also does not grant a get-out-of-jail or fire-who-you-want card.

Let me repeat this. This law will not let people discriminate you personally whenever they want with no reprecussions. It will not let an employer fire you. Absolutely nothing in regards to current anti-discrimination laws will happen.


On another hand I was asked to provide facts for the wage gap. In 1963 in the USA the Equal Pay Act was passed. It is illegal in legal businesses to pay people less than other people of the same position based on gender, race and so on.

So why do we see the infamous wage gap keep appearing? It's because the statistics do not adjust for position. A woman engineer of the same position as a man engineer makes the exact same amount of money if in the same circumstances. Women also prefer to take family duties more. That is also not accounted for. And the cream on the cake for me would be the fact that despite women increasingly entering STEM fields, all women choose less paying jobs (like a teacher) more often. What this leads is not to pay discrimination but to an overall earnings disposition simply due to what each gender is more likely to focus on.

For an easier explanation of this and a list of sources in the video description, check this out.


Next up, why are we discussing what is considered "the west" as if that is something that has not been decided? The west has always and always will be first world countries. Countries considered the most developed and often linked with the culture and image of Europe and North America. There is nothing ambiguous about it. As you said, there is a ton of discrimination in the world, even in first world countries. The point I tried making when I said that the west was the most liberal place in the world is that it is in fact, the most liberal place on the planet. Nowhere do discriminated groups have so much power and freedom as in the west. Nowhere else is the culture shifting so rapidly to an acceptance of them. The fact that discrimination still occurs is not an argument against it. One discriminatory act in the USA does not make up for a hundred in Saudi Arabia, India or any other non 1st-world country. It simply doesn't. It gets more publicity, but it is not statistically the same level of discriminatory.


As for the free speech thing, that was my own point I wanted to make. Limiting hate speech does not make it free speech. If anything it is the precursor to censorship.


Also no, nobody is going to deny hospital care or psychologists to LGBT people just because they don't like them. First, the bill doesn't work that way. It simply doesn't. It doesn't remove anti-discrimination laws. They can still get tried for it. Second hospitals or psychologists with a problem with such people are not people I would like to help me. Maybe you can't choose when you're near death, but neither can they. They will still help you. Indirect ways of discrimination might still happen afterwards, but let's be honest. How many times do you statistically expect it to happen? People in hospitals are trying to work. Not cry or ruin your life. Same thing with a psychologist. I most definitely am not going to one that does not empathize with my issues and who I am.



So in conclusion: Chill the hell down. Nobody is cracking down on LGBT groups with this bill. Tension in the west (1st world Europe-N.America countries) is currently high, but that is still better than how it was about half a century ago from what I hear of the oldies. Nobody is going to deny you medical care without a good reason. You will not randomly be fired if your boss doesn't like you. There are literally a hundred other ways they can make you resign yourself in order to avoid paying stuff (like putting you in a room with the most boring or mundane job possible in horrible conditions, hoping you eventually resign). This bill does not grant immunity to any people who discriminate. It does no such thing.

And the gender wage gap is a myth. Before throwing out numbers to me, do check if they're adjusted for everything. Illegal businesses can pay whoever they want as much as they want, that much is true. But they're illegal. We're not discussing them. Legal ones are legally bound to pay the same for the same position between races, genders and sexual orientation.


Really, just stop with the fearmongering. There may be reason to worry about some things, but this is not one of them. Strawmans aren't cool when they're only made with straw.
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Xantalos

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13299 on: November 19, 2016, 04:15:39 am »

I'm going to punctuate this discussion with something completely off-key that I just realized is extremely funny to at least me.

Someone who's very good at the game they play but has never quite gotten to the pinnacle of achievement in their particular field and is widely suspected but not necessarily verified to be a bit of a dick finally comes within grasp of their ultimate goal, finally reaching that point they've strived for for so long. They're perfect at the game they play, honed their art for years, and almost reach their goal before being thwarted now and likely for the rest of their career by a thin-skinned raging asshole who breaks all the informal rules of their competition by pandering to the crowd more brazenly than has ever been done and acting like a bit of a buffoon who picked up this whole game as a hobby just a short time ago.

America, you just got Happy Gilmore'd.


Irreverence over and out!
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Reelya

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13300 on: November 19, 2016, 04:41:39 am »

Quote
Really, just stop with the fearmongering. There may be reason to worry about some things, but this is not one of them. Strawmans aren't cool when they're only made with straw.

I'd say stop being naive. We saw what happened with GW Bush. The guy killed millions, while basically being the sole reason ISIS exists, and half the middle-east is exploding now. All the checks and balances didn't stop them basically stealing billions of dollars under cover of a war they started. We'd be here until the next Presidential election if we were to start listing all the crooked stuff that happened when Bush was in charge. And I'm only talking about the well-documented stuff.

"What's the worst that could happen".

Clearly, something like Bush, but worse than that.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2016, 04:46:46 am by Reelya »
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apiks

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13301 on: November 19, 2016, 04:46:13 am »

Quote
Really, just stop with the fearmongering. There may be reason to worry about some things, but this is not one of them. Strawmans aren't cool when they're only made with straw.

I'd say stop being naive. We saw what happened with GW Bush. The guy killed millions. All the checks and balances didn't stop them basically stealing billions of dollars under cover of a war they started.

"What's the worst that could happen".

Clearly, something like Bush, but worse than that.

Why would it be worse? Whether it's Clinton or Trump has absolutely no bearing. The end result would've been the same. Nothing will change. Life will go on. People will die, yes, but they always have.

The state of millions dying is the default state in our modern society. Let's not act as if it's something new. Corruption will exist. People will die. Complaining about it on a forum will do absolutely nothing to stop or even impede that. You are not raising awareness. You're satisfying your ego.

I repeat, nothing is happening that hasn't happened before. Before Bush we had Balkan wars. We even had a genocide in Africa. The Cold war. It's not going to stop that easy. In fact you should be worrying when ti does stop. Then you can call people naive.

Anyways, I admitted there are things worth worrying about. What I'm saying is that this bill is not one of them.
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Reelya

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13302 on: November 19, 2016, 04:50:46 am »

Quote
Whether it's Clinton or Trump has absolutely no bearing.

no, that's really not true. Since Nixon, the Republicans, and only the republicans, have repeatedly backed death-squad toting governments (Nixon, Reagan/Bush I and Bush II all had that going on). Meanwhile, Carter, Clinton and Obama took pretty much the opposite tack on those same governments. Every single Republican back to Nixon has initiated wars of aggression as well, while no Democrat has done that since Kennedy. In every case where a Democrat has intervened, it's been where there was already a war, in an attempt to prevent bloodshed, rather than finding some country that doesn't have a war on, then "fixing" that situation, as every Republican seems to want to do.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2016, 04:58:58 am by Reelya »
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apiks

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13303 on: November 19, 2016, 04:56:45 am »

You are going to have to supply sources for these death squads. I seem to be unable to find any that don't relate to the KKK at the beginning of the 20th century or the native american hunt in the 19th century for the US.

On the other hand during the election I do recall quite a bit of drama with Hillary Clinton being accused of key assassinations and so on.

I realize that one party having control of the president, senate and possibly the supreme court appointment now is quite a dangerous proposition, however I simply cannot imagine it to be the end of the world. The US has always been at best a democracy, at worst an oligarchy. Democrat or Republican won't change that. Their policies might be different, but that's the reason they're both separate parties, no? You not agreeing with one of them does not make them wrong.

The reason there's more than one party to start off with is to represent different views.
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Reelya

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Re: Doc Helgoland's Asylum for the Politically American: Post-Apocalypse
« Reply #13304 on: November 19, 2016, 05:00:44 am »

Let's start with one well known one

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/US_ThirdWorld/deathsquads_ElSal.html

Quote
In 1963, the U.S. government sent 10 Special Forces personnel to El Salvador to help General Jose Alberto Medrano set up the Organizacion Democratica Nacionalista (ORDEN)-the first paramilitary death squad in that country. These Green Berets assisted in the organization and indoctrination of rural "civic" squads which gathered intelligence and carried out political assassinations in coordination with the Salvadoran military.  Now, there is compelling evidence to show that for over 30 years, members of the U.S. military and the CIA have helped organize, train, and fund death squad activity in El Salvador. In the last eight years, six Salvadoran military deserters have publicly acknowledged their participation in the death squads. Their stories are notable because they not only confirm suspicions that the death squads are made up of members of the Salvadoran military, but also because each one implicates U.S. personnel in death squad activity.

Some American nuns who were tortured in the 1980s reported that the guy in charge of the torture center was an American.

Yet another example is Colombia, who's president Uribe was heavily linked to ongoing death squad activity, was lauded as a "model democracy" by Bush Jnr.

http://www.franksmyth.com/the-progressive/still-seeing-red-the-cia-fosters-death-squads-in-colombia/
Quote
In the name of fighting drugs, the CIA financed new military intelligence networks there (Colombia) in 1991. But the new networks did little to stop drug traffickers. Instead, they incorporated illegal paramilitary groups into their ranks and fostered death squads. These death squads killed trade unionists, peasant leaders, human rights, journalists, and other suspected "subversives." The evidence, including secret Colombian military documents, suggests that the CIA may be more interested in fighting a leftist resistance movement than in combating drugs.

Another example is the terrorist "Contra" units funded and trained by the US to attack civilians in Nicaragua. The Contras were actually the remnants of the secret police of an overthrown fascist dictatorship backed by the USA.

Interesting note: Nicaragua took the USA to the international court of justice over this, and won:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._United_States



« Last Edit: November 19, 2016, 05:11:21 am by Reelya »
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