Intergalactic Summit

You know how Caldari sometimes tell us Federals we trust too much in the integrity of our Senate and our democratic system? Well, sometimes I think Caldari trust too much in the integrity of their corporate system.

Do remember that Heth, close to the end of his reign, wanted to scrub the State clean of corporate culture entirely because it was no longer behaving the way he wanted it to. He was able to unceremoniously oust the previous CEO of the Kaalakiota corporation - do you think he didn't take great care to ensure that KK's board of directors stayed cleanly under his thumb? Just because every Caldari citizen should be too honourable to resort to blackmail, intimidation, bribery and embezzlement doesn't mean every Caldari citizen is too honourable to resort to the same.

Remember what happened when somebody tied to take the CPD to court?

I do. A Provist agent walked up to the bench, served the judge with an executive order to abort the trial, and the powers of the Caldari Business Tribunal were then brutally pruned back.

I suspect that the Kalakiota board were rather more shrewd than the plaintiff at the heart of that particular incident. They knew something similar would happen if they openly defied Heth, and so they played for time. Successfully, in the event.

A system does not have to work instantly after all. In the end, it DID work - the tumor has been excised and we're on to the next chapter in Caldari history, at long bleeding last. The fact that it took five years should be an indicator of just how problematic the issue really was, rather than an indicator of any lack of competence on the part of KK's directors.

I'm pretty sure you're referring to the case involving us (DUTY), in which case we neither represent, nor represented the CPD. And for obvious legal reasons I'll make no further comment.


Edited to more accurately reflect my (extremely minor) point being that it was not the CPD taken to court.

Indeed you did not. you were among the defendants.

I did say that the KK board were likely more shrewd than the plaintiff, did I not?

if the CPD weren't involved at all, they wouldn't have shut the trial down. The fact is that, although the CPD wasn't among the defendants, the action in question had to do with missions commissioned by, and carried out on behalf of, the Heth administration.

Anyway, Priano-haani:



Except that, in fact, he didn't. He had the ability to do it, and the ability to demolish anybody who tried to stop him, but he didn't have the legal authority. What he was doing was thoroughly illegal, but nobody at the time had the ability to prevent him

He's being charged today for crimes he committed yesterday. As is the case for all charges and trials. It has never happened the other way round, and indeed can't thanks to elementary causality.

In fact, he cannot.
For those readers, who are unfamiliar with Caldari customs, I would like to note, that for the Tea Maker Ceremony the party, that takes the tea, must agree to take the tea voluntary, understanding the consequences.

Unfortunately, from other accounts the admiral was encouraged rather strongly to take it. The option to not was removed and thus, from what I have heard, a violation of the very tradition as Verin has already pointed out.

As long as the option to not take the tea is given, the consequences can be extremely severe. It's less about the reality of choice and more about the illusion of choice. Just because it must be offered as a choice does not mean the consequences of refusal must be tolerable or survivable.

Yanala may have technically had the choice to refuse the tea, but the consequences of doing so could have been immediately fatal anyways. She may never have walked out of that room in anything but a black headbag and handcuffs - if she could walk out of that room at all. There have been countless historical cases where those who refused the tea were simply killed where they stood, thus dying without any honor at all. In historic times, death by the sword was a common consequence of refusal. In modern times, an extended and possibly torturous imprisonment or exile are the norm. Often enough, both cases are not always preferable to death. It is extremely rare where refusal means simple freedom to move on and live somewhere else.

It is pleasing and comforting to think of the Tea Maker ceremony as something that follows a romantic set of rules that offers honorable death or harmless exile... but the reality is much different. This lends itself to an odd situation, where the prosecutors of the Ceremony are at risk of being punished should they fall out of political favor or force it on the wrong person.

In addition, we the general public have no way of knowing exactly what alternatives were available to Yanala, only that Heth 'forced' her to take the tea. We don't even know how the word 'forced' should be interpreted. Did she voluntarily drink from the cup herself, or was it physically poured down her throat by a guard? Was she coerced or threatened at gunpoint, or merely with words? Was she told what her alternatives were at all? What were those alternatives? Did she ask?

Everything happened behind closed doors, and we don't know what really happened. It has become increasingly clear that while Heth is a raving madman, he was being flayed politically even before the Haatomo Incident. He had fallen out of favor AND served a popular figure the tea. Even if he followed typical use of the ceremony, it should not be surprising to us that the act may have backfired because of circumstance rather than the technical violation of no choice the CEP has determined.



See above. This is normal.

You always have alternative, especially when it is you who are required to do something. It is just not all peoples can see alternatives.

A gallentean position on Caldari affairs is a useless shaking of air. Gallenteans must know their place and not put their noses where it shouldn't be. Unfortunately, they can't hold themselves.

And this is why the Federation must be destroyed.