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Several news outlets are reporting shots fired at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, the seat of the national government. There have been three confirmed shooting incidents, one at The National War Memorial, another within parliament itself and a third at a nearby shopping centre.
One ceremonial guard on site has been reportedly shot and killed. Reports say the gunman moved into the building itself, and has been killed by police. Most government officials have been evacuated.
- 1 shooter dead, 1 still believed at large in downtown Ottawa.
- Police searching cars leaving Ottawa trying to go to Quebec.
- Report of additional shots fired near Chateau Laurier Hotel, east of Parliament Hill.
- Police going door to door in downtown core; downtown schools in lockdown.
- All three main party leaders, Harper, Mulcair and Trudeau, reported safe.
Parliament Hill came under attack today after a man with a rifle shot a soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa, before seizing a car and driving to the doors of Parliament Hill's Centre Block nearby.
MPs and other witnesses reported several shots fired inside Parliament, and a gunman has been confirmed dead inside the building, shot by the House of Commons Sergeant-at-Arms, according to MPs' eyewitness accounts.
A tragedy for the soldier killed -- but all I can think of right now is "great, now what security-theatre overreaction will we have to suffer through to close this barn door?"
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 23 2014, @03:01AM
1. End bombing / drone strikes on countries we're not at war with, like Yemen and Pakistan, because for some reason people get all pissed off when their home goes from being a decent place to live to a pile of rubble with the bodies of their wife and children inside.
How many of these terrorist attacks come from people with anything resembling a legitimate grievance?
2. Use tariffs and other regulations on the state-side businesses to push multinationals to treat workers in other countries better than they do now, and pay a fair wage rather than simply beating them up if they protest.
Then they'll stop employing those workers until the multinationals work around those tariffs and regulations. The only reason developing world workers get work of this sort is because they don't accept a so-called "fair wage". That's their primary competitive advantage. And as has been noted before, multinational businesses tend to pay better than the alternatives. Same goes for pollution. Those places will be highly polluted anyway, but at least they're getting paid better for it when multinational businesses are involved.
4. Support democracy around the world even if the citizens elect governments we disagree with. That's what the US in particular didn't do in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, and it's why lots of people in Cuba, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Venezuela, Iran, Egypt, and a lot of other places are easily convinced to take their (possibly misguided) anger out on us.
I think this is the first good point you've made. I think though it also shows the ridiculous elevation of hypocrisy above other sins. Nobody gives ISIS much grief for ethnic cleansing or being a bunch of world-class assholes, but if the US or other developed world country not entirely live up to expectations set by its hype, then it's a big deal.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Dogeball on Thursday October 23 2014, @01:34PM
How many of these terrorist attacks come from people with anything resembling a legitimate grievance?
Many of these people do not have a personal grievance, but see themselves standing up for people who do [theguardian.com].
That's the trouble with 'weak-minded', you don't ask yourself whether you are doing more harm than good, just if you're on the 'right side'.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday October 23 2014, @02:41PM
In the case of Osama bin Laden, his main grievance was that the US had troops in his country. Most of the rest of the crew involved in 9/11 are Saudis who's subculture (the Wahabists) has generally been mistreated by the US-allied Saudi monarchy.
Umm, we and a bunch of allies, including a bunch of Middle Eastern countries, are dropping bombs on them. I'd consider that giving them grief.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 23 2014, @10:33PM
In the case of Osama bin Laden, his main grievance was that the US had troops in his country. Most of the rest of the crew involved in 9/11 are Saudis who's subculture (the Wahabists) has generally been mistreated by the US-allied Saudi monarchy.
That's 13 years ago. For example, the recent Boston Marathon bombings involved a pair of brothers with grievances against Russia for Chechnya. They transferred that rage to a weaker, more convenient target.
Nobody gives ISIS much grief for ethnic cleansing or being a bunch of world-class assholes
Umm, we and a bunch of allies, including a bunch of Middle Eastern countries, are dropping bombs on them. I'd consider that giving them grief.
I said "much grief". I don't consider the current tempo of bombing a serious effort especially for a group that just took over in the course of a year a bunch of Iraq and threatens Baghdad. For example, Turkey is far more concerned about the Kurds coming out ahead than they are about any threat from ISIS.