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from the company-towns-and-company-scrip dept.
Nevada bill would allow tech companies to create governments:
Planned legislation to establish new business areas in Nevada would allow technology companies to effectively form separate local governments.
Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a plan to launch so-called Innovation Zones in Nevada to jumpstart the state's economy by attracting technology firms, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday.
The zones would permit companies with large areas of land to form governments carrying the same authority as counties, including the ability to impose taxes, form school districts and courts and provide government services.
The measure to further economic development with the "alternative form of local government" has not yet been introduced in the Legislature.
[...] The governor's economic development office did not respond to questions about the zones Wednesday.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Arik on Saturday February 06 2021, @05:23AM (1 child)
Nevada in the early 21st century; replicating Appalachia of the early 20th century.
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by legont on Saturday February 06 2021, @01:18PM
Those who do learn from history are doomed to helplessly watch it repeated.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by fakefuck39 on Saturday February 06 2021, @05:25AM (1 child)
we'll need to make sure these new corporate government areas have a new cost-effective police force - i suggest donut eating robots. not really like robocop, but like that fat yellow indulgence bot from futurama.
well on our way to that canadian corporate government show Continuum. sucks that was cancelled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY2jOx3bwF0 [youtube.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MIRV888 on Saturday February 06 2021, @09:22AM
Pinkerton 2.0
(Score: 5, Interesting) by coolgopher on Saturday February 06 2021, @05:40AM (3 children)
This sounds like the opening setting in Stephenson's Snow Crash [wikipedia.org]...
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @02:11PM (2 children)
More like the illuminati trilogy. Which I don't recommend reading by the way. Worst book ever published, and a total waste of time. But yeah, get your point.
Not sure what the big deal is. Nevada has had sovereign microstates for decades. Everybody else just calls it the mafia.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Saturday February 06 2021, @03:19PM
I much enjoyed the Illuminati trilogy. It mostly consisted of a huge number of pop-culture occultism and conspiracy items strung together into a slightly coherent plot. A number of those you would not recognize unless you already knew about them, such as the man who walked around his horse and was never seen again.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @04:59PM
The illuminatus Trilogy, and the Schrödinger's Cat trilogy, are some of the greatest literature of the 20th century. I regard them as an intelligence test. If you think they are crap you are, at best, a normie.
(Score: 4, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday February 06 2021, @06:16AM (14 children)
I say we declare SN sovereign and all stop paying taxes. Well, the commie pinkos can still pay taxes if they like. They each give us a number or a scale they think they should have to pay and we'll make sure to send Azuma around with a buster sword from FF7 to collect once a year, since they obviously don't believe they are capable of doing good or even necessary things without being compelled by force.
Dibs on being the national bird.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @10:57AM (2 children)
All hail the Mighty God Emperor Buzzard
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday February 06 2021, @01:53PM (1 child)
Pffft, no way. I've managed to avoid all the paperwork and final decision making responsibility for over six years. I'm not about to start putting up with all that crap now.
Head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives don't sound bad though. If appointed, I hereby vow to do it right and celebrate them as their awesomeness deserves instead of demonizing and restricting them.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @05:24PM
The Mighty HBATFE ??
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 06 2021, @12:48PM (3 children)
I'm a mage-type with a little hand to hand experience, thanks :) A lot less Cloud and a lot more "*incredibly* pissed off Aeris/Tifa chimera with several mastered Blizzard materia linked to goodies like MP Turbo and All," if we're making an FF7 reference.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday February 06 2021, @01:46PM (2 children)
Fair nuff, either Aeris(th?)'s staff or Tifa's punchy knuckles are acceptable, just so long as there's plenty of violence being threatened. Public transportation or walking's going to be necessary though on account of chocobo farts contributing to climate change.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @06:32PM (1 child)
Sorry to burst your bubble but she is not into guys buzzard.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday February 06 2021, @07:57PM
Yeah, I know, but on rare occasion she misplaces the chip on her shoulder and her sense of humor is allowed to poke its head out of its cage.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Saturday February 06 2021, @03:21PM (6 children)
Wasn't that sword originally a letter-opener in the real world before it went to the book worlds? Stands to reason that a letter-opener, which cuts paper, would be powerful in a book world.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday February 07 2021, @04:11AM (3 children)
...why and how do you know that?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday February 08 2021, @01:37PM (2 children)
I watched the series Yami, the Hat, and the Travelers of the Books, i.e. Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito, i.e.(according to Wikipedia) ヤミと帽子と本の旅人
It's much better than a fair amount of the anime put out nowadays. It's also hard to find.
A message I tried to send you via the soylent news admin evidently didn't get to you, at least not in its entirety, or you would have known that.
I also tried to tell you in that message that my dentist has a contact that *might* be able to provide leads on pharmacy jobs in Canada, but if that pans out (I don't have the leads yet) I won't easily be able to inform you unless I have, say, your email address.
It seems that this discussion would be best handled outside of public channels, so write me at my email address hendrik@topoi.pooq.com (My email address is not a secret, so I don't mind posting it here publicly.) if you want to discuss any of this further.
-- hendrik
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday February 09 2021, @01:30AM (1 child)
Oh, wow. Sorry, I actually did see that message but it got forgotten in the insanity of life @_@
Very interesting you found the source material for this avatar too, though I actually think it was pretty awful...which may be just down to not knowing much about anime (my ex found it and showed it to be because she said Hazuki reminds her of me). The especially creepy part of the resemblance is we have the same birthday, 6 August 1988, and very similar-sounding voices. Plus the story reads like a very metaphorical retelling of something that happened to me at her age, my "Hatsumi" being named Rebecca and if anything leading me on even worse.
Regarding jobs in Canada, it's probably going to be around mid-2022 by the time I get out there permanently :( My mother's retired and wants to come to Buffalo this summer, and would like to share an apartment for a year while she adjusts and gets settled in. I've also not decided whether to go to Hamilton or try to make it to Halifax directly, and potentially lose a lot of money trying.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Informative) by hendrikboom on Wednesday February 10 2021, @10:40PM
So your mother wants to stay in Buffalo? And after you've left for Canada will she still want to stay there? Or would she really like to be wherever you are?
Yeah, there's a chance the Covid-19 situation will be less drastic next year, unless it keeps coming up with new mutations to evade the vaccines. That could make travel to Canada cheaper -- currently they're requiring everyone coming in to quarantine from from three days to two weeks in a guarded government-approved hotel, and that's charged to the traveller. There seems to be an exception for "essential workers"; I don't know if that would apply to you before you start working here; it might. Apparently they think it's not reasonable to require long-haul truckers to quarantine two weeks while the food and vegetables in the truck rot.
It doesn't seem right to hold this discussion here in public. You have my email address should you agree.
And no, the anime wasn't that great, but it was fresh and original. Too much current anime is build to a formula these days, based on what sold well a year or two ago. But there is still inventive stuff coming out, and some of the old stuff is still quite interesting.
I enjoyed the recent remake of Sailor Moon, remade with the participation of the original mangaka. The original North American release decades ago was badly damaged by censorship (back then they couldn't tolerate even a hint of lesbianism). The remake is called Sailor Moon Crystal.
By the way, Halifax suffers from severe storms, and they are only going to get worse with continuing global warming.
-- hendrik
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 07 2021, @03:37PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday February 08 2021, @01:12PM
You do use a letter opener on books where the edges of the paper haven't been cut properly. This happened on some old books I encountered in the 50's and 60's, but I haven't seen it much recently, even on paper books I buy. Of course it's not an issue on ebooks.
-- hendrik
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @08:03AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @08:50AM
Uh oh, a copy/pasted comment!? You know what to do TMB.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @08:58AM (3 children)
when "Great Reset" is being codified into law, just as those crazy conspiracy theorists said it would. Merry Christmas, dear turkeys!
(Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Saturday February 06 2021, @09:28AM
Reset? When did it stop?
Money talks and bullsh1t walks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @06:13PM (1 child)
What is this "great reset"? I only hear about it from my Fox News obsessed colleagues. Is this the new scare phrase these days? I think "socialism!" has fallen flat on its face. We're probably due for a new round of "appeasement!"
Don't you idiots EVER have a thought on your own?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 07 2021, @01:01PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Reset [wikipedia.org]
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54498122-covid-19 [goodreads.com]
Go read something beyond the script you are given to parrot, bot.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MIRV888 on Saturday February 06 2021, @09:05AM (1 child)
May as well have company money too. It worked so well before.
(Score: 4, Funny) by legont on Saturday February 06 2021, @01:22PM
Did you read it? Blockchain LLC is the first candidate.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @03:09PM
Corporation and government are a lot alike in many ways, but very different in one.
The right to make and enforce laws with guns.
In theory, that power resides with the people delegated to the government thru the Constitution and elections.
In this Corporate government scheme, how does that feedback path work.
Corporate towns have a long history.
Even without the official power of government, they ran pretty much over those who lived in them.
Doesn't seem like a good idea, but with the right precautions and feedback mechanisms, and perfect humans to run them, maybe.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @04:11PM (5 children)
Here's the problem, in a nutshell: a failure of the imagination.
Governments employ dull, unmaginative people. They drive imaginative people out and leave only the dull and stupid.
If we had bright, imaginative people in charge, then when the Internet had manifested, the United States Library of Congress and the United States Congress would have worked together to allocate funding to deliver services like Archive.org, Gutenberg.org, Google.com, even Youtube.com to the American people - along with fiber down very highway and byway, to every house.
But we don't. We have dullards and Ben Dovers and ass kissers and brown nosers and back stabbers and grifters of every kind.
And so the dullards relinquished responsibility for the future of mankind to corporations.
Have you ever tried to apply for a government job? You have to fill in EVERY. SINGLE. FUCKING. BOX. Pages and pages and PAGES of boxes. Allocate an entire day to applying for the job. Be prepared to wait months for an interview.
The world moves faster than that.
We need better government in the United States.
Unfortunately, these corporations will not invent that better government. They will invent models that are advantageous for corporate and stockholder profitability and link civil rights to stockholder status simply by charging for services and refusing services to those without the ability to pay - the so-called "subscription economy" that certain elements of Silicon Valley have been salivating over for decades, now.
What we need is a grassroots democracy - an agora, a safe space for citizens to share their perspectives free of accusations, as well as a safe way to collect, process, and independently verify consensus and voting on matters of importance to us all, as well as mechanisms by which we can enforce the will of the people.
Hold, on, someone's at my door .... ^&@(* NO CARRIER
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @06:24PM (3 children)
There's nothing wrong with the rank and file in the government, they are only implementing the rules and regulations set forth by the legislature and executive branch. Civil servants don't make the bureaucratic morass, but they have to implement it.
You get the government you deserve. If half the people are going to elect republicans, who except for a massive tax cut given to themselves, have completely stopped even pretending they want to govern (and haven't put forth significant legislation in over 10 years), you are going to get AT LEAST a half-assed government. Demand your representatives actually govern, but that means doing the hard work that involves exchanging ideas and compromising, and even worse, actually going on the record for various issues. It is awful easy to say no and shit on other people's ideas, but a lot harder to actually put your own ideas out there. The R's officially wiped out their entire party platform this year, and jackasses like the new 20-something rep from NC put all of his staff into communications and nobody into legislation, which means all he is planning on doing is showing up on Fox News.
You want a better government? Elect a better government. But at least half of the people are completely happy with electing people who don't do any work as long as they can say things that will "own the libs."
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday February 06 2021, @11:51PM (2 children)
Yes, minister.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 07 2021, @02:20AM (1 child)
You disagree, apparently? Those poor Senators being harassed by those GS-9s?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday February 07 2021, @02:46AM
Yes, minister [wikipedia.org]
In reply to your "Civil servants don't make the bureaucratic morass, but they have to implement it."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @09:55PM
(Score: 3, Insightful) by rigrig on Saturday February 06 2021, @04:15PM
It starts with harmless looking blockchain cities, but before you know it they are driving trucks with biomedical waste through food riots and building private armies to "secure their nuclear reactors".
No one remembers the singer.
(Score: 2) by LVDOVICVS on Saturday February 06 2021, @04:44PM (2 children)
And now for our Corporate anthem...
(Score: 0) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday February 06 2021, @06:41PM (1 child)
There was an episode of Rescue Rangers where the team discovers the Cola Cult, a bunch of mice that literally worship a brand of soda called Coo-Coo Cola. They have a ritual of gathering around a TV playing Coo-Coo Cola commercial (which had a nice jingle) and if I remember correctly they also had "baptisms" in colored soda.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday February 06 2021, @07:59PM
Feel the Fizz, bitch!
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2021, @06:52PM
Do you not understand that All the bounty of Capitalism flowith unto thee from the corporation?
(Score: 2) by Lester on Saturday February 06 2021, @07:55PM (3 children)
So the idea is to allow small kingdoms ruled by non-democratically elected rulers into their territory.
If in the USA there are people who think that a government not controlled by people and for the the people is so desirable and efficient, why all this stuff about spreading democracy?
(Score: 2, Touché) by VLM on Saturday February 06 2021, @08:07PM
Why indeed, given that for every minute of squacking about last century ideals like democracy, we get like ten hours of political commentary about how the only way to select leadership is identity politics and race members who leave their place on the plantation are no longer members of their race and so forth.
Who needs democracy if we have identity politics and race riots?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday February 06 2021, @11:40PM
For a starter, yes.
The "dream" is for multinational conglomerates, competing with all they have available - corporate armies included.
The dream is called corporatist feudalism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday February 07 2021, @04:16AM
Simple: it's another code word. Like everything else the GOP and a good chunk of the Dems speak about, it's appropriating a word to use it to mean something completely different. "Spreading democracy" is codepseak for "expanding US economic and political interests, regardless of who that hurts or kills." And "US economic and political interests" itself only means those of the ruling classes.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by srobert on Saturday February 06 2021, @11:08PM
Sisolak actually explored the possibility of running as a Republican before he decided to run as a Democrat. This bowing down to corporate authority has a neoliberal smell to it that make me feel I made the right choice in not voting for him.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Sunday February 07 2021, @07:41PM
The idea of mega-corporations turned governments turned evil is pervasive in dystopian future fiction. I'd like to know what precautions and checks on power are in place to prevent abuse.