The All-Purpose Political Thread

[Leah]

https://i.imgur.com/sppHyeD.mp4
Guy getting egged  is a member of Australian Parliament. He said that the victims of the mosque shooting is because of immigration.

Teenager behind him has had enough of his s**t and egged him live while talking to news reporters. Apparently the guy isn't great with other members of Parliament..

[AoTFan]

Nigerian Muslim Militants Kill 120 Christians in Three Weeks

https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2019/03/16/nigerian-muslim-militants-kill-120-christians-three-weeks/

Strange how THIS story isn't getting much coverage...

[indianasmith]

As it is practiced in most of the Middle East, Islam is the most violent and least tolerant religion on earth.
That being said, it does not follow that all Muslims are violent and intolerant.
Most of the ones who emigrate to the West are coming here to get away from the strictures of Sharia law and the fanatics who police it, and the thugs that run their governments.
Most Western Muslims may not like the damage the "war on terror" has inflicted on their people, but most of them also reject violent jihad as a means to spread their faith.  These moderate Muslims are the ones who need the encouragement and understanding and tolerance Western culture is built on; otherwise the fanatics win the debate and things become even worse than they already are.

[Alex]

In the days after the Las Vegas shootings, I recall there being a bunch of bombs going off in the Philippines (I think it was there anyway), that received next to no coverage. Sadly the news in the west seems to treat things happening in poorer countries as being less important.

New Zealand is going to reform its gun laws to limit access to the kinds of weapons used there and has told the gun lobby to shut up while they sort out what is wrong with them. Seems sensible. If the gun lobby can't sort itself out then someone else needs to step in and do it for them. I am sure given their previous gun laws, it will not be easy to make the kinds of changes they are talking about but at least they aren't just throwing their hands up and saying "Oh, it would be too difficult to do anything so let's not bother."

[indianasmith]

The problem with any kind of serious gun reform in America is that it runs into the Second Amendment.
When your Constitution recognizes the right to bear arms as a fundamental civil right, you have to get massive buy in at all levels to change that, and I don't know that it will ever happen.
For those overseas, or those who slept through Civics class, it takes a 2/3 majority of all 50 states to propose and amendment, and it has to then be ratified by 3/4 of the states to become part of the Constitution.

[Trevor]

Gun laws are very very strict here in South Africa. In my birth country of Rhodesia however, kids would bring pistols and revolvers to school and when a sports team went on tour during the war, the teachers and coaches were armed.

Strange that even though children (teens, actually) were armed, no shootings occurred and no one thought much of young peeps bearing arms. I used to walk around with one of these - my Dad's when he was in the Police - a lot



until one day the neighbors crapped themselves and called the cops on me. 

[Alex]

I haven't had an in depth look at the US constitution, only a cursory read and I know the supreme court has interpreted it differently, but I feel they need to go back and look at the bit that talks about being part of a militia. But hey, that is just my view. I am not against gun ownership, I do feel you need to look at who you are giving guns to though, what guns people can have and what they want them for.

Where I live is filled with shotguns and it isn't unusual to hear them popping off some rounds out in the shooting areas, or under bird control. Combined with the daily firings on the shooting range, the occasional practise firing for military funeral drills, it is a rare day when we don't have guns going off nearby. I've been unable to find the last time someone was shot in Morayshire though.

[indianasmith]

I think the problem is not with our guns but with our culture.
When I was a kid, during hunting season, you could look out on our parking lot and every pickup truck had a deer rifle in the gun rack that was attached to the rear window.  Kids and teachers alike.  No one shot up a school.
It's like Columbine kicked open a door and now any psychotic nutjob who wants to be on the news grabs his AR-15 and heads for the nearest church, school, or mall . . . it's become a part of our culture now and I see no easy way to be rid of it.

[lester1/2jr]

In Bowling for Columbine michael Moore goes to Canada and they all have guns and play shooting video games and so forth but don't have the gun violence problems we do. of course, he doesn't explore that at all!

[Leah]

It does have to do with culture. It's usually a result of the environment basically lacking any sort of legitimate money, which in turn creates poverty. One of my professors said that a huge reason why poverty is rampant and why there's a lot of gangs is that the education system always gets f**ked. With public schools being in the heart of some sketchy areas and doesn't get funding for basic updated textbooks and equipment kids are starting to just skip school and get in a gang. Why? Because if they go to the school they really don't get the knowledge.
Another reason is the lack of mental health. Reagan's administration I believe started the cutting to mental health, which trickles down to some people doing massacres at an accelerated pace.

[Alex]

That seems to be the problem Indy, it involves hard work and people seem to be scared of that. Every time there is one of these attacks in the states there seems to be a lot of hand wringing and wailing accompanied by "Oh we need to do something to stop this, but anything would be too hard!" Attitudes can be changed, but enough people have to say enough is enough. I do agree with you that it is very unlikely to happen and it just becomes something in the background of the news as people become blase about the deaths.

[Svengoolie 3]

The problem with any kind of serious gun reform in America is that it runs into the Second Amendment.
When your Constitution recognizes the right to bear arms as a fundamental civil right, you have to get massive buy in at all levels to change that, and I don't know that it will ever happen.
For those overseas, or those who slept through Civics class, it takes a 2/3 majority of all 50 states to propose and amendment, and it has to then be ratified by 3/4 of the states to become part of the Constitution.

Tye funny thing about the second amendment is that people love to shout "Shall not be infringed" but seem to forget "a well regulated militia".

[Svengoolie 3]

As it is practiced in most of the Middle East, Islam is the most violent and least tolerant religion on earth.
That being said, it does not follow that all Muslims are violent and intolerant.
Most of the ones who emigrate to the West are coming here to get away from the strictures of Sharia law and the fanatics who police it, and the thugs that run their governments.
Most Western Muslims may not like the damage the "war on terror" has inflicted on their people, but most of them also reject violent jihad as a means to spread their faith.  These moderate Muslims are the ones who need the encouragement and understanding and tolerance Western culture is built on; otherwise the fanatics win the debate and things become even worse than they already are.

I agree wholeheartedly with you about islam being violent and expansionist.

The thing is if you go back not that far in history christianity was the same way. The concept of "manifest destiny" was used to justify expanding america by crushing the godless aboriginal populations of the continent.

So it's not really the islamic faith that's a problem, it'[s the fact in mideastern culture the religfion is placed above all else, in western culture we place law and civcillization about religion.

[Svengoolie 3]

Isn't it kinda funny that for years the right has been ranting against "liberal elites" running government and are now screaming that AOC isn't fit to be in government because she was "just a bartender"?

[indianasmith]

As it is practiced in most of the Middle East, Islam is the most violent and least tolerant religion on earth.
That being said, it does not follow that all Muslims are violent and intolerant.
Most of the ones who emigrate to the West are coming here to get away from the strictures of Sharia law and the fanatics who police it, and the thugs that run their governments.
Most Western Muslims may not like the damage the "war on terror" has inflicted on their people, but most of them also reject violent jihad as a means to spread their faith.  These moderate Muslims are the ones who need the encouragement and understanding and tolerance Western culture is built on; otherwise the fanatics win the debate and things become even worse than they already are.

I agree wholeheartedly with you about islam being violent and expansionist.

The thing is if you go back not that far in history christianity was the same way. The concept of "manifest destiny" was used to justify expanding america by crushing the godless aboriginal populations of the continent.

So it's not really the islamic faith that's a problem, it'[s the fact in mideastern culture the religfion is placed above all else, in western culture we place law and civcillization about religion.

Christianity became violent when it abandoned the teachings of Jesus.  When it follows them, it is a peaceful faith.