Ahem. Government response to Ft. McMurray fire: US, Mexico, Israel, Australia, Russia, and Taiwan offered to help. Canada turned down the help and invited 301 South Africa firefighters. These 301 firefighters had to be specially trained to use hoses to fight fires instead of leather padded wooden sticks known as "Firebeaters" that they use in SA. They then promptly went on strike. The fire was declared an emergency on May 1. News from June 13: "The fire that destroyed some 2,400 buildings in Fort McMurray, Alta., and forced the evacuation of the entire city is now classified as "being held," officials said Monday. The classification means the fire is not yet under control but is no longer expected to grow."
We're bouncing all over on topics right now. I really hope you aren't suggesting that Canada doesn't have its own military and that it hasn't engaged in every major conflict of the last two centuries. The US has a history of foreign policy that creates instability that requires subsequent military intervention. Other countries don't have the same size of army largely because they aren't meddling quite as much. Also, let's not pretend that the military isn't much larger than it needs to be. It's often a jobs program inflated by special interest groups. Ahem, back at you.* The response to the Ft. McMurray fire was overwhelmingly positive, and swift. Furthermore, the kind offers of foreign aid were turned down because the Canadian response was operating at capacity and had as much of it controlled as could be. The fire is large enough that humans couldn't really control or contain it, no matter how many tried. As for the South Africans, there is something exceedingly fishy there. I don't know that they were invited by the government, and they were sent home when the issue of pay came up. It sounds like some sketchy charity was involved and promised free resources but told the firemen they'd be paid. Also, Alberta has had its share of natural disasters in the last five years and the public and government response has been awesome. Compare the flooding in Calgary and High River from four years ago to what happened in New Orleans. In addition to a solid government response, no one looted or rioted either in Ft. Mac or in High River. The only criticism I have was the RCMP in High River seizing guns, and for that I think there should be a trial. I don't know how this turned into a pissing contest. Canada has some fucked up procedures and policies and no where on Earth is life perfect. Shit is always going to happen. The mentality should be, "Let's take the good that other people are doing and build on that," rather than defending things that get people killed. *I'm not sure what a response to a natural disaster has to do with anything. Our healthcare is still universal and our education is still cheaper, and there was no violence during the evacuation or rebuild. God forbid if an Orlando should happen in downtown Edmonton no one would be on the hook for medical bills.
I don't know how much this is going to help when the US currently only gets 16% of our oil from the Middle East. What I would question, however, is if the US cut off the tap wouldn't China just step in to fill the void? I wounder about this too, because like the link VI posted; Saudi Arabia is the primary influence behind the spread of Wahhabism. I'm certainly in favor of cutting off those fuckers. Who would a propaganda war be waged against, and what would be the goal? I have to point out though that your three suggestions are actions targeted toward the Middle East, not Islam in particular. And I think it reveals how much of the problem of Islamic terrorism is wrapped up with certain Middle Eastern cultures, which I think is at the heart of the problem, not Islam itself.
Or dumb. Don't forget about dumb. It has the astounding ability to let the good, the bad, and even the indifferent shape policy and divert issues in ways the most intricate social theories could never predict. I love my country, but this is generally how I feel for the two weeks following these mass shootings.
Probably, but nevertheless, Islam has been insanely bastardized by these Middle Eastern cultures it is unfortunately redefining the concept entirely in its image. A corn fed white boy from Nebraska can become a Muslim, but the religion and perception of it has been hijacked completely. As for your other question, the Chinese influence in the ME is a huge question mark and is been largely debated on what their role would be. Their absence from it likely contributes to near non-existent Islamic terrorism in many parts of Asia (aside from Malaysia and Indonesia). Now, passing the influence to China or Russia (which I think is far more likely) would be an enormous shift in the global power balance and would raise some ethical questions as to whether 1) What their treatment of peaceful Muslims would look like (Russia has already demonstrated theyre far more brutal than we ever are) and 2) The ethics of transferring the risk of terrorism onto the Chinese civilians. The potential ramifications start becoming very derivative. No, I am not suggesting Canada doesnt have a respectable military. Im referring to Pax Americana.
Well, you did mention public safety and a huge fire does threaten public safety. And quite honestly, I found the government response hysterical. (Not the fire or loss of property. The refusal of help from qualified countries and then inviting in completely unqualified help who promptly went on strike.) I know this is anecdotal, but I've also seen numerous Canadian citizens who claim to have wildfire fighting experiences in other Providences say they tried to volunteer to fight the fire and were turned down. This does not sound like the government acting in the best interest of the people. As far as health care, again this is anecdotal, but I lived for years in a border town and met quite a few Canadian citizens who came to the US for health care. They claimed US health care was faster and better. They decided their best course of action was to pay for their health care rather then deal with free health care. Government is not meant to be our parents and provide for all our needs and desires. Our country was founded on distrust of government and flourished for years. The slow decline of our country amazingly coincides with the government getting bigger and more intrusive, along with a greater percentage of the population thinking the government has to take care of everything for them...up to and including things which are privileges, not rights.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...ighters-back-home-after-pay-dispute-1.3634600 It sounds like the South Africans were allowed to come over due to their affiliation with a job training program based out of South Africa. They signed contracts saying god knows what, and Alberta demanded confirmation that they were being paid at least minimum wage plus a $50 daily stipend in addition to their wages. The program, Working on Fire, is refusing to answer any questions on the matter and is instead tweeting that they will "Work on their policies internally." It sounds like they petitioned to have access to the fire in an effort to put people to work and train them for fires back home. When it came time to pay wages that are required in Canada, though, they were unable and instead pulled the firefighters out and sent them home. I'm gonna go ahead and say that this wasn't Canada's debacle; it was Working with Fire's.
They were also a bit pissed at the $50 a day, saying that it wasn't enough now that they were here... regardless of the fact that they signed contracts for exactly that. It also sounds like there were some news stories back in Africa that were stirring the pot and making serious claims that really caused lots of unrest over here. Basically Working on Fire was saying one thing to them and the government, while the news reports in their home towns were saying something else. It sounds like the workers didn't believe Working on Fire and chose to bail. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...national-incident-after-pay-dispute-1.3630071 "Working on Fire said reports in the South African media that the firefighters would face discipline on their return home were incorrect. Philani Innocent, 28, is also anxious about the reaction of Working on Fire officials, who are now investigating the matter."
"With a shortage of water and specialized equipment here, the South African firefighters often use “firebeaters” – wooden sticks with a leather pad attached – to beat out a bush fire. But at their boot camp this month, the South Africans learned new water-handling techniques for the Canadian fires." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...-and-headed-to-fort-mcmurray/article30197182/
So then what exactly are we supposed to do when individuals who cry "individual responsibility!" decline to be individually responsible themselves?
Canada gave registration a try not long ago and it was a pretty epic fail. Lessons to be learned there. Right now it sounds like democrats are starting a filibuster on gun control. I think the NICS firearms background check process needs an overhaul- it was a lapse in the NICS that allowed the Charleston shooter to purchase his gun. I would be in favor of extending required checks to all semi-auto rifles (in addition to handguns) if it helps make a compromise. Danger Boy's suggestion of licensing owners has merit but would work only if we had a system properly funded and equipped to deal with the flood of applicants, otherwise it'll go over like a lead balloon. I think the NRA has a reasonable stance (for once) on barring those on watch lists, etc. from getting guns too: "If an investigation uncovers evidence of terrorist activity or involvement, the government should be allowed to immediately go to court, block the sale, and arrest the terrorist. At the same time, due process protections should be put in place that allow law-abiding Americans who are wrongly put on a watchlist to be removed." I will also repeat again that we need to make certain firearms offenders aren't let off easy with less-than-minimum sentences, which happens all the time and makes zero sense to me.
I think what's caused a tremendous amount of social tension is that out post-war policies were designed for a certain lifestyle that is now a statistical minority, and the social safety net has yet to catch up. Also the issue with the Middle East has always been a tiny handful of insanely wealthy people, funding a slightly smaller group of religious nuts to distract millions of people with no hope of an economic or cultural future. The whole premise is that someone else is to blame for the fact that it sucks to be your average Pakistani or Saudi. The window for oil is shrinking and if it wasn't for oil, what the fuck would these places sell? If you believe that we pivot to electric cars and solar panels within the next ten years (and why the fuck would we not), then within a generation these countries are the poorest on earth. I think we are the wealthiest most powerful culture that has yet existed and we lack a unified direction. The concept of "United we stand" has never carried so little weight, and that has to change. We don't respect the people we share this society with, because we spend less time with them and are socially more isolated than ever before.
To what end? What would that information do for you? The only thing it was really used for during it's short life in Canada was to inform police of the potential firearms they'd be dealing with when attending a residence. Once that level of sharing of information was deemed to be unconstitutional, it was basically disbanded (Quebec threw a tantrum but the other provinces killed it). As it was, only law-abiding people registered, and even then I know lots of people who under-reported. Had ZERO effect of getting guns off the street or decreasing any form of gun crime. All for the low, low price of $1 Billion. Weee! I believe strongly that we should have a database of people who are licensed to have firearms, and make that available to those that need to when transferring firearms. We also need a way to properly get people that are not allowed to have firearms on that list. We also need to incorporate that with a Federal hunting database, instead of having totally different systems to track gun vs. hunting licensing. I also believe that we need to prosecute the absolute shit out of people that break gun laws, to the point that it's not worth the chance to get caught with one illegally. Same goes with storage and accessibility laws. THIS is what will make a difference with guns in crime. Right now it's a slap on the wrist and on your way, and that's fucked.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ckt5t9eWUAAJyyv.jpg:large Opening up a can of worms, here, but pretty much bang-on. Again, doesn't fix the guns already on the loose.
I love when Nev Schulman gets preachy about women's rights considering he got expelled from college for beating the shit out of a woman.
Point 1: If we had instituted a national licensing system, what criteria would have prevented the Orlando shooter from obtaining a license that didn't prevent him from buying weapons? It is in effect just another bureaucratic step for gun purchases. Point 2: If people on watch lists are prevented from buying guns, we will all find ourselves on a watch list. Due process means that the government has to prove someone committed a crime before their rights are taken away, not the ability for people to restore their rights by proving they're innocent.
So I guess they proposed Read the second link. There are competing bills being negotiated that use different means to make due process for the individual to contest being on a list. The NRA came out this morning in support for one of them. The due process problem has always been the sticking point to this as even the ACLU is in court fighting a handful of these types of list that random innocent people wound up on. The dems want universal background checks as well. I'm telling you make a deal to remove silencers from the NFA and national reciprocity and you'll see even die hard gun rights supporters get on board.
This is how I feel California is treating gun enthusiast. My brother 's best friend is a county prosecutor in LA. He's been trying for 3 years to get concealed carry permit. He tries gangbaners for a living. They just past a slew of laws that essentially do the same thing red states do with abortion clinics. Create hoops and barriers to entry that makes it cost and time prohibitive to own guns legally. This is a much clearly defined constitutional right than what ever line they read between in Roe v Wade. I don't give a fuck about women getting abortions. Leave gun rights alone we'll leave abortion rights alone. Cool?