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[RedWarrior0]

Governor Rick Snyder is scheduled to visit neighboring St. Joseph next week as Marshal of the  Blossomtime Festival Parade.  I'm sure everyone in the area will turn out, to make it a visit to remember.

Any bets on what will be thrown at him?

Octopi.

I feel like I should be able to articulate how corrupt and fucked up this is.

[Criptfeind]

Wow. That's a lot of stuff.

[SalmonGod]

I feel the need to comment on this.

so bear with me as I do my best not to sound conspiratorial.

I don't understand why people worry about this so much.

Conspiring isn't really necessary for a set of people grouped by a major common feature (absurd amounts of money and/or influence) to have similar motivations which place themselves at odds with everyone else who does not share that feature.

Think of ants.  They're not very intelligent.  They don't exactly plan their behaviors or coordinate in any complex manner, but the unity of their motivations and behavior patterns amounts to concerted effort.  This is how I see the powerful elite, except they actually are intelligent.

Is it really so ridiculous to believe that people with power will mount concerted efforts to maintain and expand that power?  They don't exactly need to skulk around in the shadows holding secret meetings and plotting elaborate schemes to do so.  They just need to have common interests and follow each other's leads when someone takes action that furthers those interests.  It's ridiculous to expect otherwise, and I'm sick of the "conspiracy theory" taboo getting in the way of such a concern that I see as perfectly sensible and even necessary.

[Leafsnail]

Hm... even if there's no link, the actions of passing that bill and using the bill in an attempt to bypass local government are completely disgusting when viewed independantly of each other.

Ah, Keynesian economics, making the government say corporations can fuck you before they do.

I'm not even sure where to begin on this one.  Probably with "That's completely and utterly irrelevant".

[Aqizzar]

Is it really so ridiculous to believe that people with power will mount concerted efforts to maintain and expand that power?  They don't exactly need to skulk around in the shadows holding secret meetings and plotting elaborate schemes to do so.  They just need to have common interests and follow each other's leads when someone takes action that furthers those interests.  It's ridiculous to expect otherwise, and I'm sick of the "conspiracy theory" taboo getting in the way of such a concern that I see as perfectly sensible and even necessary.

I agree actually.  I think I was saying that as a way to say "read my links, so you have all the information I do, from reputable sources, and you'll reach the same conclusion without needing to believe anyone is out to get you".  I think conspiracy is the difference logical and illogical connection; by laying out all the proper information at once, it would be illogical to assume anything but a connection.  I kinda put that in as a caveat, to say "this isn't just a paranoid screed, I'm actually trying to cite sources here".

Ah, Keynesian economics, making the government say corporations can fuck you before they do.

I'm not even sure where to begin on this one.  Probably with "That's completely and utterly irrelevant".

Thanks, I was going to do the same thing.  Keynesianism has absolutely nothing to do with this.  This isn't really an economic issue at all, it's a democratic separation of powers issue, with a big ol' helping of non-philosophic "there's a lot of corruption here".

[SalmonGod]

I agree actually.

Ok, I totally understand and I'm sorry if it seemed like snapped on you a bit.  I'm just overreacting/venting from having to deal with the anti-tinfoil hat attitude from pretty much anywhere except these forums.  I think I can safely consider it my biggest pet peeve at this point.

[Nadaka]

Aqizzar... Holy fuck. I am not being paranoid about new corporate feudalism after all.

[RedWarrior0]

Feudalism? I'll take a fief on the west side, thank you very much.

Actually, I think our Baron wouldn't want that derail again.

Okay, time to start the protests. Detroit or the PRAA should be a good starting place. Or head out to the Fiefdom of Benton Harbor and convince the councli to ignore the Emergency Financial Manager.

[Earthquake Damage]

Ah, Keynesian economics, making the government say corporations can fuck you before they do.

I don't see the connection.  Please explain this, lest I suspect you view the term merely as a buzzword and bogeyman.

[PTTG??]

I'd never have thought it could be bathtub makers who take over the world.

[Gorjo MacGrymm]

Alas Freedom, we knew thee well.  Unreal situation.  You have a lot of innuendo and circumstantial evidence there Aqizzar, but, it still stinks.  The dots fall together very nicely.  At the very least, conflict of interest is rampant.

My money's on the supreme court throwing this out.  *hoping

[Zangi]

Welcome to the United Corporations of America, or at least the history of its struggle for dominance over the former United States of America unfold before your very eyes.

Your right to bring a class action can now be signed away when you sign that contract for your new cell phone or whatever have you.

EDIT: Grammar stuffs

[Earthquake Damage]

I don't really know what arbitration entails, but I assume the legal fees involved are still prohibitively expensive for the average person.  Class action suits distribute this cost among a large number of people.  Eliminate those and ordinary citizens could lose a lot of legal power.  It doesn't matter how right you are if you can't afford to defend yourself.

[Cthulhu]

Arbitration's an out of court thing.  They put it before Judge Judy and sign a contract agreeing to go along with whatever she decides.

In other words, good luck consumers.

[Earthquake Damage]

So, basically, hope for an L+ judge.