USPOL Dec: The War on Christmas -- Just another example of the War on Coal

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USPOL Dec: The War on Christmas -- Just another example of the War on Coal

«‹›305 »

Riptor: Apr 13, 2003; here's to feelin' good all the time

Uber's also tremendously helpful when you're traveling to different cities or countries; I've used it all around the US but also in Tokyo, Singapore, and London. Often you may be somewhere where there's a huge language barrier and you can just open the app, drop the pin to where you want to go and you're all set

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:17

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 3, 2024 07:05

shrike82: Jun 11, 2005

Apparently not wanting to deal with local taxi cos makes you a social retard.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:20

Oracle: Oct 9, 2004

KomradeX posted:

Do you have any news links?

Have like, a zillion going all the way back to when they first switched:
http://flintwaterstudy.org/articles-in-the-press/
An aggregate site of a lot of what's been going on. You can donate money to buy lead water filters for Flint peeps to not rot their brains!

Related articles on the whole Flint City Managers debacle, which directly led to this lovely situation (again gently caress Snyder and his cronies forever):
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/12/emergency_manager_michael_brow_3.html
Appoint a guy being paid $170,000 a year to save money for a poor city by docking the pay of people who make maybe 20k a year: way to save tons of money!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/flint-emergency-manager-michael-brown-plan_n_1213140.html
Oh hey let's 'renegotiate all collective bargaining agreements.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/03/flint-emergency-manager-michael-brown-public-meeting_n_1252544.html
When he finally deigned to meet with the plebes, three months after being appointed.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/01/water.html
Privatizing sewer and water. I mean its not like those are essential services.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/21/judge-stalls-detroit-consent-agreement-flint-emergency-manager_n_1369307.html
Hey guys, maybe this poo poo ain't as legal as you thought....

http://www.freep.com/article/20120327/NEWS15/203270432/Appeals-court-puts-Flint-emergency-manager-back-charge
Oh wait Michigan's packed Court of Appeals says 'let's not jump to conclusions.' Money quote:
"The state says it believes the financial review teams are not subject to the Open Meetings Act."

http://www.cbs46.com/story/18786809/3-flint-residents-sue-over-emergency-manager
Flint folks ain't having it, sue.

http://nbc25news.com/news/local/emergency-manager-repeal-petition-denied?id=746758
They also filed to put a petition on the ballot to get rid of the emergency manager but oh hey, a deadlocked Board of Canvassers (voting on party lines of course) put the end to this democracy idea right quick. But surely they had a legitimate public interest reason for doing so? Right?

quote:

The reason why two members of the election board denied the petition was because they say the size of the print on the petition was too small.

Republicans: keeping old people who refuse to wear glasses safe from the ravages of misrepresentation.

So whose fateful decision was it to use Flint River water?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/11/22/records-mich-gov-office-loop-flint-drinking-water-decision/76222312/
Looks like old EM Kurtz, who declined to comment (not that the city council was blameless, they still voted for the move).

The real kicker of this 'cost-saving' move?

quote:

Mayor Walling was quoted in March 2013 saying Flint would continue to get its water from the DWSD until the $272-million KWA pipeline system to Flint was completed. On Friday, he repeated his assertion that the plan was to stick with Detroit as an interim source, and said he was not aware of any pressure from Dillon or other state officials to instead use the Flint River as an interim source because it would be cheaper.

That decision came later, for reasons that are not entirely clear. Flint and Detroit, under the control of state-appointed emergency managers since late 2011 and March 2013, respectively, could not agree on a rate structure for the DWSD to continue serving Flint until the KWA pipeline was completed.

The failure to reach a pricing agreement on an interim water supply for Flint is puzzling considering Dillon's Treasury Department had commissioned an engineering study, which in February 2013 said it would be less costly for Flint to stay with the DWSD than to switch to the KWA. Also, state officials were consumed at the time with trying to keep Detroit out of bankruptcy, and for Flint to split with the DWSD could only make Detroit's financial situation that much more perilous.

Dillon said in an email to the Free Press Friday that although Detroit may have been under the state's control, the DWSD was not.

"After we signed off on Flint joining the KWA, Flint was to negotiate with the DWSD regarding using their water during the construction of the KWA," Dillon said.

"DWSD at the time was overseen by a board appointed by (U.S. District) Judge (Sean) Cox as the system was under federal oversight," Dillon said. "If Flint was unable to negotiate a fair deal, I recall their backup plan was to use the Flint River. I don't recall Treasury being involved in the negotiations with DWSD or, after negotiations broke down, in Flint's decision to switch to the Flint River."

So it would benefit neither Flint nor Detroit to switch to Flint River water, and in fact would hurt both communities. So who is this Judge Sean Cox? Let's see...

quote:

Sean Francis Cox (born September 24, 1957 in Detroit, Michigan) is a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He is the older brother of Mike Cox, Michigan's Attorney General.

President George W. Bush nominated Cox to the federal bench on September 10, 2004 to fill a vacancy left by Judge Lawrence Zatkoff. Due to the opposition of Michigan Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, Cox's nomination was not voted on until June 8, 2006, when he was confirmed by voice vote.

Prior to joining the federal bench, Cox was a trial judge in Michigan for the Third Judicial Circuit Court in Wayne County, Michigan. He was appointed by Republican Governor John Engler in 1996. Before that, Cox was in private practice in Michigan from 1983-1996. Cox received his law degree from the Detroit College of Law in 1983, and a B.G.S from the University of Michigan in 1979.

He administered the oath of office to his brother Michael on January 1, 2007.

So yeah, he's a Federalist Society Republican. Surprise surprise. And his brother? About what you'd expect. Affair-having, Obamacare-hating, unilaterally acting AG who was defeated in 2010. You may remember him for not firing the homophobic asst atty general who harrassed the poo poo out of the UM gay student assembly president until public pressure forced him to do so. You know, typical Republican office holder. He ran for governor in 2010 and lost to Snyder in the primaries (no bad blood there; he donated 3400 to Snyder's campaign).

There's a long history of the DWSD here, but the money quote:

Crain's Detroit Business posted:

While it seems clear that the timing of Judge Cox�s decision is coincidental with the appointment of an EFM for Detroit, as a practical matter it may open the door for those who are looking to leverage the City of Detroit�s ownership of DWSD and its many assets as a means to generate revenue for the City. As this possibility is considered, the federal court, which has overseen DWSD�s operations for decades, will not have a part in its consideration. The federal court will not become involved again unless and until DWSD violates its NPDES permit in the future.

What Crain's doesn't say?

quote:

Detroit�s bankruptcy case produced the Great Lakes Water Authority, a new regional organization that oversees water and sewer services to much of southeast Michigan.

Supporters say it means more regional cooperation, and better management of its huge water system. But the Authority also has plenty of skeptics.

That clash is nothing new to the region, �That city versus suburbs, or suburbs versus city mentality, that really prevailed over the past several decades,� says Nick Schroeck, director of the Transnational Environmental Law Clinic at Wayne State University.

It�s a long history, as Detroit�s water system is one of the nation�s oldest and largest. As the metro area grew and sprawled, Detroit kept control of the central infrastructure even as more suburbs tapped in. That meant Detroit controlled water rates, which didn�t make its suburban customers too happy.

�Water and sewer rates are extremely high, and have been going up substantially over the past 10 years,� says Brian Baker, the budget and finance director in Sterling Heights who is Macomb County�s representative on the Great Lakes Water Authority board.

So yeah, basically Republicans used the dissolution of the DSWS to wrest control of suburban water and sewage from Detroit. The new Great Lakes Water Authority were the ones who caught the attention of United Nations for turning off water to delinquent (private homeowner) accounts. (Corporate accounts which owed a hell of a lot more and would have made more sense to turn off, were left untouched). Just no end to this rabbit hole, is there?

But I digress.

So if the deal was going to screw over both Detroit and Flint AND not save any money, what were the EMs/Judge Cox thinking? Gosh, I wonder. (hint: racism and punishing liberal minority-majority cities with long histories of labor activism, also removing the 'undesirables' so they can remake Detroit in their own image. Ever heard of the Detroit Future City plan)?

quote:

the Detroit Future City plan was unveiled last year (2013), presenting a long-term blueprint for Detroit policy-making for the coming decades. The report offers strategies for reorganizing Detroit, moving people from less-occupied neighborhoods to streamline services, and reforesting vacant areas. Many have praised the plan, including the Kresge Foundation, which has pledged $150 million to help implement it, as well as Mayor Duggan�s development chief, who has called it �his bible.�

On the surface it sounds great, right? But what's it go to do with the water thing? From the previous link:

quote:

You said the report sounded like it was written by civil engineers.

Hammer: I said that [the report�s] water section is. The [blue-coded] infrastructure very much reflects the thinking and methodologies of a civil engineer addressing a technical problem, which is how to manage storm water � and you do so by channeling it into drains and making the right gradients and putting it in the retention ponds you want. That section is very clearly marked, as one would expect, with a logic and ethos of civil engineering. I was then saying, by matter of analogy, that the same template actually is reflected in the treatment in trying to move people around. That�s where institutional economics comes in. If you think about what�s the cost of staying, what�s the cost of moving, how much access do you have to public services, what�s the inconvenience of being increasingly isolated, at some point you make the cost of staying greater than the benefits. And when the cost exceeds the benefits, people leave. You can actually manipulate the playing field to make people make logical decisions to �voluntarily� leave, and you can channel them in the same way that the engineers are channeling the water to the places that they want it and the places that they don�t.

This is getting way long and I'm getting ~~suicidally depressed~~ tired, so I'll leave you with this interesting piece on the history of EMs in Michigan. (Seriously, read the whole thing, its important to understanding the whole situation).

DrPop posted:

But yeah the Flint water thing is an obscene disaster, whether you opt to look at it from the perspective of EM mismanagement or government bumblefucking in general

Ain't no bumblefucking or mismanagement about it, son. They're doing what they were paid to do: clear out the undesirables, one way or the other.

Oracle fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Dec 15, 2015

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:21

Muscle Tracer: Feb 23, 2007; Medals only weigh one down.

shrike82 posted:

Apparently not wanting to deal with local taxi cos makes you a social retard.

I mean, not to disparage retards, but yes.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:21

shrike82: Jun 11, 2005

It's funny to picture a nation of mentally disabled travelling on Ubers to stay at AirBnbs.
If there's a pandemic of such, maybe it's a sustainable business after all!

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:24

Submarine Sandpaper: May 27, 2007

shrike82 posted:

It's funny to picture a nation of mentally disabled travelling on Ubers to stay at AirBnbs.
If there's a pandemic of such, maybe it's a sustainable business after all!

Uber denies service to the disabled hth

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:25

shrike82: Jun 11, 2005

Mentally disabled

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:26

Submarine Sandpaper: May 27, 2007

shrike82 posted:

Mentally disabled

How do you picture a "mentally disabled?"

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:28

ComradeCosmobot: Dec 4, 2004; USPOL July

Mr. Wookums posted:

How do you picture a "mentally disabled?"

He walks over to his bathroom mirror. :downsrim:

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:32

shrike82: Jun 11, 2005

Yeah look at my profile pic for an example.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:33

Shageletic: Jul 25, 2007

Oracle posted:

This is getting way long and I'm getting ~~suicidally depressed~~ tired, so I'll leave you with this interesting piece on the history of EMs in Michigan. (Seriously, read the whole thing, its important to understanding the whole situation).
Ain't no bumblefucking or mismanagement about it, son. They're doing what they were paid to do: clear out the undesirables, one way or the other.

So is there a book on what's happening in Detroit yet (Emergency Manager focused)? There oughta be.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:37

Luigi Thirty: Apr 30, 2006; Emergency confection port.

So the bomb threat to LA schools was sent by a guy in Germany using the email address madbomber@cock.li and signed "Muslim Extremist".

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:39

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

Paul Ryan said the omnibus bill would be posted today and voted on Thursday. It has yet to be posted. A Republican conference set for this afternoon has been pushed back to 9pm.

So, that's probably a good sign, right?

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:42

Raerlynn: Oct 28, 2007; Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life.

Luigi Thirty posted:

So the bomb threat to LA schools was sent by a guy in Germany using the email address madbomber@cock.li and signed "Muslim Extremist".

Amazing. Bart Simpson would be proud of this troll.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:44

ReidRansom: Oct 25, 2004

Luigi Thirty posted:

So the bomb threat to LA schools was sent by a guy in Germany using the email address madbomber@cock.li and signed "Muslim Extremist".

Well done, LAUSD.

I mean, I get that you sometimes have to err on the side of caution, even when it's something as stupid as that and you've for whatever dumbfuck reason deemed it "credible", but seriously when is a emailed/called in bomb threat ever actually credible? Yeah, that used to be a thing when it was the IRA or whoever and maybe they sometimes didn't actually want people to die so much as to make some sort of statement, but these days it seems someone wants to do some sort of attack they're just going to do it.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:45

Oracle: Oct 9, 2004

Raerlynn posted:

Amazing. Bart Simpson would be proud of this troll.

He also sent the same identical threat to New York City schools, which ignored it as a hoax and are snickering at LA (Which to be fair has a bit of a right to be spooked given recent events).

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:45

woke wedding drone: Jun 1, 2003; by exmarx; Fun Shoe

ReidRansom posted:

Well done, LAUSD.

I mean, I get that you sometimes have to err on the side of caution, even when it's something as stupid as that and you've for whatever dumbfuck reason deemed it "credible", but seriously when is a emailed/called in bomb threat ever actually credible? Yeah, that used to be a thing when it was the IRA or whoever and maybe they sometimes didn't actually want people to die so much as to make some sort of statement, but these days it seems someone wants to do some sort of attack they're just going to do it.

It's LA, so they probably imagined getting crucified when the day's murder happened like it usually does.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:49

Paul MaudDib: May 3, 2006; TEAM NVIDIA:
FORUM POLICE

Shageletic posted:

One of the articles I posted last page stated that the majority of black people in Michigan are now under Emergency Manager supervision, i.e. any idiot willing to take a two day lobbying seminar.

As a kid I used to love playing the Flint scenario in SimCity 2000 because it was real easy and then you have a sweet city to dick around with. Flint is high-crime but you can bulldoze all the parks and build police stations instead since they're both 3x3 footprints.

I think I would make a good emergency manager.

Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Dec 15, 2015

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:57

nachos: Jun 27, 2004; Wario Chalmers! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

shrike82 posted:

It's funny to picture a nation of mentally disabled travelling on Ubers to stay at AirBnbs.
If there's a pandemic of such, maybe it's a sustainable business after all!

Why are you taking it so personally if sharing economy businesses are not sustainable in a properly regulated environment? It's not a big deal, failure is progress. Uber has at least gotten traditional cabs off their rear end and offering more modern features.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:58

duz: Jul 11, 2005; Come on Ilhan, lets go bag us a shitpost

McDowell posted:

I use Uber for quick hops, it's cool having a little chat with someone. If you don't think local governments should move cab licensing/registration toward an Uber-ish model you might be a reactionary.

Some places it's already like that. Uber left this town for awhile because they were refusing to provide ADA compatible vehicles as an option, proof of insurance for their drivers and submitting driver fingerprints for the city to do a basic background check. After the city didn't budge, they came back and started doing those things. Weird how they never once mentioned those reasons or anything to do with licensing in their press releases asking their users to complain to city hall.
Edit: The local yellow cab company has an app that does everything Uber's does and most drivers have a Square as well so you can pay them on the sly if you're really into that.

euphronius posted:

The entire company is a gimmick and really absurd. If they were just a matchmaker that would be fine.

I liked when they recently announced they added a new option to actually ride share with the app, but locked it to be only usable twice a day.

duz fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Dec 15, 2015

# ? Dec 15, 2015 22:59

ZobarStyl: Oct 24, 2005; This isn't a war, it's a moider.

Paul MaudDib posted:

As a kid I used to love playing the Flint scenario in SimCity 2000 because it was real easy and then you have a sweet city to tick around with. Flint is high-crime but you can bulldoze large parks and build police stations instead since they're both 3x3 footprints.

I think I would make a good emergency manager.

Do the SimCity games incorporate racism yet? There needs to be a scenario where you have to reverse white flight for an urban area.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:02

radical meme: Apr 17, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

Joementum posted:

Paul Ryan said the omnibus bill would be posted today and voted on Thursday. It has yet to be posted. A Republican conference set for this afternoon has been pushed back to 9pm.

So, that's probably a good sign, right?

So that don't want to confirm a government shutdown until after the debate?

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:14

happyhippy: Feb 21, 2005; Playing games, watching movies, owning goons. 'sup; Pillbug

ReidRansom posted:

Well done, LAUSD.

I mean, I get that you sometimes have to err on the side of caution, even when it's something as stupid as that and you've for whatever dumbfuck reason deemed it "credible", but seriously when is a emailed/called in bomb threat ever actually credible? Yeah, that used to be a thing when it was the IRA or whoever and maybe they sometimes didn't actually want people to die so much as to make some sort of statement, but these days it seems someone wants to do some sort of attack they're just going to do it.

The IRA gave code words with their bomb threats.
They sent a list of code words to the police that they would use in future to identify themselves.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:19

Accretionist: Nov 7, 2012; I BELIEVE IN STUPID CONSPIRACY THEORIES

I love all the conservatives who're downplaying Flint as some kind of unavoidable accident where nothing bad actually happened.

And by, "love," I mean, "I want to emigrate."

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:24

WhiskeyJuvenile: Feb 15, 2002; by Nyc_Tattoo

ReidRansom posted:

Well done, LAUSD.

I mean, I get that you sometimes have to err on the side of caution, even when it's something as stupid as that and you've for whatever dumbfuck reason deemed it "credible", but seriously when is a emailed/called in bomb threat ever actually credible? Yeah, that used to be a thing when it was the IRA or whoever and maybe they sometimes didn't actually want people to die so much as to make some sort of statement, but these days it seems someone wants to do some sort of attack they're just going to do it.

other email domains run by this 8chan affiliated service:

�nigge.rs�
�horsefucker.org,�
�goat.si�
�dicksinmyan.us�

SOMEHOW I DON'T THINK THIS IS CREDIBLE GUYS

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:27

Mc Do Well: Aug 2, 2008; by FactsAreUseless

There's no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:28

Chard: Aug 24, 2010

McDowell posted:

There's no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism.

Yeah but owning stuff is nice tho

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:33

Goatse James Bond: Mar 28, 2010; If you see me posting please remind me that I have Charlie Work in the reports forum to do instead

Shageletic posted:

One of the articles I posted last page stated that the majority of black people in Michigan are now under Emergency Manager supervision, i.e. any idiot willing to take a two day lobbying seminar.

I knew I missed out on my true calling. :negative:

We need more mad economists as dictators anyway.

edit: oh god, read a little further up this page, there actually is an evil mad economist involved.

Goatse James Bond fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Dec 15, 2015

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:44

Islam is the Lite Rock FM: Jul 27, 2007; by exmarx

So only citizens of Flint, MI and those who grew up in Idaho's Silver Valley will be shielded from the radiation after President Trump starts WW3?

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:45

KomradeX: Oct 29, 2011

Oracle posted:

Have like, a zillion going all the way back to when they first switched:
http://flintwaterstudy.org/articles-in-the-press/
An aggregate site of a lot of what's been going on. You can donate money to buy lead water filters for Flint peeps to not rot their brains!

Related articles on the whole Flint City Managers debacle, which directly led to this lovely situation (again gently caress Snyder and his cronies forever):
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/12/emergency_manager_michael_brow_3.html
Appoint a guy being paid $170,000 a year to save money for a poor city by docking the pay of people who make maybe 20k a year: way to save tons of money!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/flint-emergency-manager-michael-brown-plan_n_1213140.html
Oh hey let's 'renegotiate all collective bargaining agreements.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/03/flint-emergency-manager-michael-brown-public-meeting_n_1252544.html
When he finally deigned to meet with the plebes, three months after being appointed.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/01/water.html
Privatizing sewer and water. I mean its not like those are essential services.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/21/judge-stalls-detroit-consent-agreement-flint-emergency-manager_n_1369307.html
Hey guys, maybe this poo poo ain't as legal as you thought....

http://www.freep.com/article/20120327/NEWS15/203270432/Appeals-court-puts-Flint-emergency-manager-back-charge
Oh wait Michigan's packed Court of Appeals says 'let's not jump to conclusions.' Money quote:
"The state says it believes the financial review teams are not subject to the Open Meetings Act."

http://www.cbs46.com/story/18786809/3-flint-residents-sue-over-emergency-manager
Flint folks ain't having it, sue.

http://nbc25news.com/news/local/emergency-manager-repeal-petition-denied?id=746758
They also filed to put a petition on the ballot to get rid of the emergency manager but oh hey, a deadlocked Board of Canvassers (voting on party lines of course) put the end to this democracy idea right quick. But surely they had a legitimate public interest reason for doing so? Right?
Republicans: keeping old people who refuse to wear glasses safe from the ravages of misrepresentation.

So whose fateful decision was it to use Flint River water?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/11/22/records-mich-gov-office-loop-flint-drinking-water-decision/76222312/
Looks like old EM Kurtz, who declined to comment (not that the city council was blameless, they still voted for the move).

The real kicker of this 'cost-saving' move?

So it would benefit neither Flint nor Detroit to switch to Flint River water, and in fact would hurt both communities. So who is this Judge Sean Cox? Let's see...
So yeah, he's a Federalist Society Republican. Surprise surprise. And his brother? About what you'd expect. Affair-having, Obamacare-hating, unilaterally acting AG who was defeated in 2010. You may remember him for not firing the homophobic asst atty general who harrassed the poo poo out of the UM gay student assembly president until public pressure forced him to do so. You know, typical Republican office holder. He ran for governor in 2010 and lost to Snyder in the primaries (no bad blood there; he donated 3400 to Snyder's campaign).

There's a long history of the DWSD here, but the money quote:

What Crain's doesn't say?
So yeah, basically Republicans used the dissolution of the DSWS to wrest control of suburban water and sewage from Detroit. The new Great Lakes Water Authority were the ones who caught the attention of United Nations for turning off water to delinquent (private homeowner) accounts. (Corporate accounts which owed a hell of a lot more and would have made more sense to turn off, were left untouched). Just no end to this rabbit hole, is there?

But I digress.

So if the deal was going to screw over both Detroit and Flint AND not save any money, what were the EMs/Judge Cox thinking? Gosh, I wonder. (hint: racism and punishing liberal minority-majority cities with long histories of labor activism, also removing the 'undesirables' so they can remake Detroit in their own image. Ever heard of the Detroit Future City plan)?
On the surface it sounds great, right? But what's it go to do with the water thing? From the previous link:

This is getting way long and I'm getting ~~suicidally depressed~~ tired, so I'll leave you with this interesting piece on the history of EMs in Michigan. (Seriously, read the whole thing, its important to understanding the whole situation).
Ain't no bumblefucking or mismanagement about it, son. They're doing what they were paid to do: clear out the undesirables, one way or the other.

Jesus loving Christ I knew the Republicans were loving Michigan bad but I can't believe how every one decided to focus on Walker and Brownback as examples of Republican leadership screwing a state and forgetting about Snyder.

I think I'm going to steal this whole post for Facebook or something cause everything in it is to important

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:47

KomradeX: Oct 29, 2011

ZobarStyl posted:

Do the SimCity games incorporate racism yet? There needs to be a scenario where you have to reverse white flight for an urban area.

Hate to double post but considering the Sim City games libertarian bent racism mat have been in the game by default

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:53

Luigi Thirty: Apr 30, 2006; Emergency confection port.

Simcity 4's default tax setup was the 9-9-9 Plan

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:57

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

radical meme posted:

So that don't want to confirm a government shutdown until after the debate?

Yup. It's being posted at 10pm and a bunch of reporters are saying that they're being told nobody really knows if there's a deal to pass it.

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:57

Paul MaudDib: May 3, 2006; TEAM NVIDIA:
FORUM POLICE

Oracle posted:

This is getting way long and I'm getting ~~suicidally depressed~~ tired, so I'll leave you with this interesting piece on the history of EMs in Michigan. (Seriously, read the whole thing, its important to understanding the whole situation).

We didn't "allow" the emergency manager thing to happen, though. We actually voted it down in 2012 but Snyder just passed it again a week later (this time with funding for something-or-other attached so that it couldn't be subject to another referendum).

Republicans have an iron grip on all three branches of government in the state. Whatcha gonna do? �\_(ツ)_/�

Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Dec 16, 2015

# ? Dec 15, 2015 23:59

ComradeCosmobot: Dec 4, 2004; USPOL July

Eric Posner at Slate just put out his hot take on why Trump is right and the rise of ISIS means it's time to start curtailing free speech by treating people who access websites that support ISIS like child pornographers and sending them to prison.

# ? Dec 16, 2015 00:04

Tigey: Apr 6, 2015

ZobarStyl posted:

Do the SimCity games incorporate racism yet? There needs to be a scenario where you have to reverse white flight for an urban area.

First one did, albeit indirectly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS0HgUJnAxY

# ? Dec 16, 2015 00:07

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

Debate thread is here for people who want to watch the debates at 6:30pm and 9pm ET.

# ? Dec 16, 2015 00:13

JT Jag: Aug 30, 2009; #1 Jaguars Sunk Cost Fallacy-Haver

shrike82 posted:

Except people are criticizing the service on the basis that it doesn't offer anything over a traditional taxi service.
Keep up mate.

It's significantly faster, cheaper and more convenient than most normal taxi companies

Just at the cost of the exploitation of its workers

# ? Dec 16, 2015 00:17

icantfindaname: Jul 1, 2008

ComradeCosmobot posted:

Eric Posner at Slate just put out his hot take on why Trump is right and the rise of ISIS means it's time to start curtailing free speech by treating people who access websites that support ISIS like child pornographers and sending them to prison.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Posner

quote:

In June 2013, Posner and Jameel Jaffer, fellow at the Open Society Foundations, participated in the New York Times's Room for Debate series.[11] Posner responded to concerns about expanded National Security Agency (NSA) programs that vacuum information about the private lives of American citizens. Those who oppose the surveillance claim that the collection and storing of unlimited metadata is a highly invasive form of surveillance of citizens' communications. Posner claimed that Americans obtain the services they want by disclosing private information to strangers such as "the market services of doctors, insurance companies, Internet service providers, employers, therapists and the rest, or the nonmarket services of the government like welfare and security." Posner argued that, since 2001 there has not been an incident in which the United States government used information "obtained for security purposes with "war-on-terror-related surveillance" technologies to "target a political opponent, dissenter or critic."[11]

oh yeah, plus

quote:

As of 2014, he was the 4th most-cited legal scholar in the United States.[2]

# ? Dec 16, 2015 00:26

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 3, 2024 07:05

delfin: Dec 5, 2003; SNATTER'S ALIVE?!?!

The best thing about the Flint lead saga is that if Law and Order did an episode on it, it would get panned as being too unbelievable.

And at the end someone would get arrested

# ? Dec 16, 2015 00:28

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USPOL Dec: The War on Christmas -- Just another example of the War on Coal

«‹›305 »