Islamic Terrorism

[Marah]

and if gun laws are totally irrelevant here, then when was the last time you saw a mass shooting (...) in Europe

The biggest one were the Paris attacks. Strict gun laws didn't prevent it, but instead took away the possibility of self-protection.
.

Strict gun laws however made it impossible for the terrorist of Joué-les-Tours to find a gun, instead he had to make do with a knife.
Also, there was this other case of a suspect arrested by the police because he bought a knife online after he tried to buy a gun to no avail.

Maybe less people would have died that night in Paris - and that remains to be proved because even in the US I don't think you can go to a concert or a bar with a weapon, and if someone is firing at you with an AK-47 you're not going to try to take him down with a simple gun - but if the downside is more killing sprees in schools and whatnot I have to say it's a stupid idea.

[Yasna]

I cannot believe that anyone would want to emulate US gun laws. The only reason we are stuck with them is because of the ridiculously powerful NRA and some sort of Wild West derived mythology about needing to have a gun at all times to protect you and your family. And then there's our fucked up two party political system that tends to polarize every issue, so that we end up in a situation where Republicans feel they are not being loyal to their clan if they back down on gun laws (or just about any other issue).

[Levike]

And then there's our fucked up two party political system that tends to polarize every issue

Are these 2 parties self-standing or are they built up from multiple smaller parties?

In any case yes, I can see why it's a bad idea.

Does this 2 party system apply only for the US or also for the every state separately? Can for example Louisiana's parliament have multiple parties?

[vijayjohn]

How exactly do you see this as being caused by political correctness, and if gun laws are totally irrelevant here, then when was the last time you saw a mass shooting at a center for people with developmental disabilities in Europe, where AFAIK gun laws are not nearly as lax as they are in the US?

I thought the kind of guns they used were already illegal in the US?

The guns were purchased legally, but then they were altered illegally.

How exactly do you see this as being caused by political correctness

AFAIK their neighbours were suspecting something was going on, but didn't alert the police. I heard an explanation that they were scared they'd be labelled as racists/islamophobes and the police wouldn't take any actions anyway.

I see.

I know this is OT, and I'm sure I'm not the best person to answer these questions, but nobody else has yet, so I'll try anyway.

Are these 2 parties self-standing or are they built up from multiple smaller parties?

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "self-standing." If you simply mean "not built up from multiple smaller parties," then indeed, they are not. They've both existed since the 19th century; in fact, the Democratic Party is the world's oldest voter-based political party.

Does this 2 party system apply only for the US or also for the every state separately?

For every state.

Can for example Louisiana's parliament have multiple parties?

Well, there are other parties that exist (both at the state and federal level), collectively called "third parties." They just have very little power.

[Prowler]

After the Paris attacks, I suddenly hear and read everyone worried about terrorism again. It feels like the 2001-2005 years again. In the last few years people in Europe seemed to be forgetting about islamic terrorism, even though it was still happening in other parts of the world, and now everyone seems to be concerned again and wary of Muslims.

And Germany is the newest country about to bomb Syria. I dunno if bombing the country to oblivion is a good strategy. I mean, in every attack how many jihadists die? 5? And how many innocents die and get wounded? 200? And thus more refugees and also more people willing to join terrorist groups in order to avenge friends and family as well? Such a vicious cycle.

[Yasna]

I mean, in every attack how many jihadists die? 5? And how many innocents die and get wounded? 200?

You're off by at least one, but probably two orders of magnitude.

[Car]

And Germany is the newest country about to bomb Syria.

No, we're not about to bomb Syria, but we're only providing support staff and reconnaissance jets. See more e.g. in this Guardian article.

[Saim]

Another attack of islam, this time in San Bernardino.

What exactly is an "attack of Islam"?

[linguoboy]

Another attack of islam, this time in San Bernardino.

What exactly is an "attack of Islam"?

I had one just the other day. I was leaving work and suddenly I found myself doubled over in the direction of Mecca. But I took a couple sips of whiskey from my hip flask and it passed.

[Dormouse559]

I hear there are millions of people who have those as many as five times a day. They say all you can do is pray until it passes.

[הענט]

I find it sad, that many people behave like sheep and mourn only when the media tells them to. After the Paris attacks, many of my Facebook friends made comments and french flagged their profile pictures, but nobody cares about the Russian airplane or anything outside Europe for that matter. Islamists can shoot through kids in Pakistan, but nobody gives a shit until they bring it here...

In the internet age, ignorance is a choice and they still choose ignorance.

[vijayjohn]

Here, I get the impression that people aren't even all that sympathetic for the victims of the Paris attacks. They were so upset about September 11, which I can understand to a point, but by contrast, the amount of media coverage I've seen given here to even those attacks seems remarkably underwhelming to me tbh.

[הענט]

Here, I get the impression that people aren't even all that sympathetic for the victims of the Paris attacks. They were so upset about September 11, which I can understand to a point, but by contrast, the amount of media coverage I've seen given here to even those attacks seems remarkably underwhelming to me tbh.

Wow. Really. That's kinda surprising. Anyway. Donald Trump seems to have gone crazy. He wants to ban all Muslims from entering the USA. Even the tourists. That's a very un-American thing to do.

[vijayjohn]

Here, I get the impression that people aren't even all that sympathetic for the victims of the Paris attacks. They were so upset about September 11, which I can understand to a point, but by contrast, the amount of media coverage I've seen given here to even those attacks seems remarkably underwhelming to me tbh.

Wow. Really. That's kinda surprising.

https://sylvar.wordpress.com/2003/05/04/doonesbury/

Y’all’s sense of loyalty is one-sided. After 9/11, French headlines said “Today we are all American!” If the terrorists had destroyed the Eiffel Tower, would you have said, “Today we are all French”?

[Levike]

According to any trustworthy American poll how big are Donald Trump's changes of actually winning?

[linguoboy]

Here, I get the impression that people aren't even all that sympathetic for the victims of the Paris attacks. They were so upset about September 11, which I can understand to a point, but by contrast, the amount of media coverage I've seen given here to even those attacks seems remarkably underwhelming to me tbh.

It's way more than the coverage given to the Madrid train bombings, I can tell you that much.

According to any trustworthy American poll how big are Donald Trump's changes of actually winning?

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/big-phony-and-loser-nate-silver-cant-even-see-donald-trump-is-a-winner-what-a-joke/
tl;dr: "Polls don’t mean much at this stage and aren’t very predictive."--Nate Silver

[Saim]

I had one just the other day. I was leaving work and suddenly I found myself doubled over in the direction of Mecca. But I took a couple sips of whiskey from my hip flask and it passed.

Here, I get the impression that people aren't even all that sympathetic for the victims of the Paris attacks.

You probably still got the wave of Facebook "support" with all those profile pictures though, right?

I was really happy to see that most people who did it on my Facebook I wasn't really close to, and in most cases I even thought "why do I even have this person as a contact anyway?".

[vijayjohn]

You probably still got the wave of Facebook "support" with all those profile pictures though, right?

No, because I don't have Facebook.

It's so weird, like there has to be a hierarchy of significance of terrorist attacks. 9/11 > Paris > everything else.

[linguoboy]

It's so weird, like there has to be a hierarchy of significance of terrorist attacks. 9/11 > Paris > everything else.

Welcome to the age of the listicle. (You want to get really depressed, Google "Top Ten Terrorist Attacks".)

[vijayjohn]

I guess I was wrong then, because apparently Paris doesn't even make it into the top 10.