ciq_steve

3M, Activision and Alaska Air Group (3 S&P 500 companies) are a bigger threats than the government?

I'd venture to say between corporations and governments 99% of 'bad things' that have happened in the last century were at the hands of governments. A few world wars is a good starting place.

The idea that governments are benevolent overseers of the common good is what is bullshit. Those in government are as self-interested (if not more) as any other group (lawyers, plumbers, etc).

The last thing the rich want to do is kow-tow to a bunch of politicians, but the reality is they have to because one poorly conceived law or regulation can do real harm to a business. You have to pay to be at the table to do the best you can to prevent this. Politicians demand $$$$ to be at that table. I've seen this first hand.

A few days ago the car I was in was robbed while we were driving in Chicago. I immediately called 911. They said they'd send someone so I told them where to find the driver. They called me back 20 minutes later and said they were not coming and that such a crime could be reported by phone only. The driver's phone had been stolen. - As a former Chicago resident I can say this is par for the course, in large part because that type of theft is extremely common. As a general rule you cannot leave anything of value within site in your car or it will probably be gone by sunrise.

Even better is the realtime support on their IRC channel.