Daniel Goldman

Archives for May 2017

Terrorism: Are Travel Bans Really the Answer?

By politicoid Leave a Comment May 23

I started writing this article on terrorism when a terrorist attack occurred at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, but failed to complete the article. More recently, a new attack was perpetrated in Paris. This attack was perpetrated by a recognized Islamic extremist. As past attacks, this one too spurred calls for strict border control. But such border control would have been ineffective. This article explains why.

The original act of terrorism, in the west, that I was going to address was the one that occurred at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, which I believed would result in increased opposition to immigration from Muslim dominant countries. I was right. However, such bans are meaningless. Immigration is not the source of the problem. In fact, blanket restrictions are likely to just make things worse.

The attack in Paris, on April 20th, again would not have been prevented from strict immigration control. The perpetrator of the attack, Karim Cheurfi, was born in Livry-Gargan. He was therefore a natural born French citizen, not an immigrant, let alone an “illegal” immigrant. This scenario is not uncommon. People are looking for solutions which are simple, when the problem is far more complex and the solution is far more complex. It is also far more personal.

Regarding the original attack that I was going to address, a few months back, I happened to catch Michael Savage complaining about how he is barred from the UK, but that the suspect in the attack, who had been under investigation by MI5, was allowed to enter the country. He left something very important out. The suspect, like the suspect in the Paris bombing, was born in the country in which he committed the attack. He is therefore a citizen. Savage, on the other hand, is not a citizen of Britain, and therefore does not enjoy the same protections in the UK. Now, perhaps he should. Perhaps all people should be free to move from country to country, as they please, unless they have been convicted and found guilty of a valid crime. But right now, that is not the case, and so there really is no comparison between the two. Savage was simply crying over spilled milk.

However, the issue with Savage is a minor one. The real issue is that the suspect was not a foreign born individual, who came to the UK in order to commit a terror attack. And this is not unusual. Radicalization of youth, within the country that ends up being targeted, is the real concern. And no immigration controls are going to prevent that. We need to understand why radicalization is occurring, and to see that, we need to look at the US and Western military operations around the world.

I recently completed an initial draft of an article which points out that a lot of the impetus for terrorism in, which has emerged from the greater Middle East, is a direct consequence of American intervention in the region. To understand the specifics of that, read “Middle East Turmoil: Radical Islam or Reaction to Imperialism?” The basic idea is that radical Islam is an explanation rather than a cause. The cause is constant imperialist attacks in the region, by the US and its allies. This has continued in nations such as Syria, most recently with the attack on the Syrian air base. However, this is nothing new. In 2016 alone, over 26,000 bombs were dropped by the United States, of which over 12,000 were dropped on Syria (Council on Foreign Relations).

This sort of constant attack against foreign nations has created the energy required to radicalize people, both within the greater Middle East itself, and domestically. It is this policy of military extremism that needs to stop. That shift in policy, not changes in immigration policy, will vastly increase our own safety, as well as the lives of those in other parts of the world.

UK Bombing

Since originally writing this article, and even updating it with the Paris bombing incident, we now have another major bombing: the Manchester bombing. Like with the other two cases, the person was born in the target country. Yes; is parents were refugees. They had lived in the country for years. We cannot go back in time and retroactively block immigration from countries with which we are now at war. Once again, immigration control is not the answer. Only by cutting off the problem at the source can we do something about these terror attacks. And that means pushing back against the devastation of the greater Middle East by European powers.

Further Reading

  • Free Market Immigration

The post Terrorism: Are Travel Bans Really the Answer? appeared first on Politicoid.

Steampunk World’s Fair 2017

By vasshu Leave a Comment May 11

These are my notes on Steampunk World’s Fair 2017, which was held from March 5 – 7.  This is only my second year going to SPWF. For the most part the fair was great. There were some minor issues, but nothing big enough to prevent me from going next year. I may update this article later, but for now, I just wanted to get some ideas out there.

Lodging

Last year was fun, but staying at an overflow hotel definitely made things difficult. Staying at the main hotel definitely makes things a lot easier than staying at one of the overflow hotels. But of course rooms fill up very fast. There was also an issue where people reserved a large number of rooms, which hopefully will not be as much of a problem this year due to the new reservation protocol.

I stayed in the Embassy, which I think I prefer to the Radisson. Breakfast was simple but good. Skip the pre-made scrambled eggs and get the omelet instead. I think I ended up having at least two omelets each morning. The hotel staff was quite friendly and I appreciated the service from the breakfast staff and the bartenders, especially Tyrell. I am still not a huge fan of the lunch and dinner food itself, but I do understand the limited menu on the Embassy side, as dealing with so many extra orders would be a nightmare for the kitchen. The wings were good, though.

As for the Radisson, I was not too impressed with Fusion. The restaurant did however have a few Steampunk themed drinks, though for whatever reason I never got around to trying them, probably because I spent most of my time in the Embassy. I did hear that a lot of people liked the themed drinks however. Because I spent most of my (paid drinking) time at the Embassy Hotel’s bar, I was disappointed that there were no Steampunk themed drinks there, although I suggested it. Hopefully next year they add a few.

The Fair

People started to fill into the hotel on Thursday evening, but things were still pretty slow until Friday, when the fair actually started. There was a slight issue with the Luminary t-shirts, when I went to sign in, which is fine—things happen—but there was no mention of the delay when I went to get my pass. Many people did not even know we were supposed to get a t-shirt. I did sign in quite early, so perhaps that was part of the issue.

General Entertainment

The Goblin market was great, but there seemed to have fewer bands this year. Also, a lot of the bands had recorded backup music. It would have been nice to see more full bands there. One of the great things about the Goblin market is the tech crew. Because they had to communicate back and forth while the bands were setting up, they made sure their discussions were amusing, making the crew part of the entertainment.

In addition to the Goblin Market, which was included as part of the main ticket, I purchased tickets for the Steampunk Social, but I decided not to stay for it. I think there were enough other things to do and enough other ways to drink and to meet people that it wasn’t necessary. There was also a lot going on at the same time. Honestly, I could have managed my time on Saturday night a little better. I will work on making a better schedule for myself next year.

Absinthe Party

Part of the issue was too much drinking. Pacing yourself when drinking is important, but I ended up having some extra absinthe at the Absinthe party—a few people at the table didn’t quite realize what absinthe was and did not care for it too much. It was a shame for them, but more booze for me. The absinthe tasting itself was fairly decent. I took some notes and might do a write-up on “The Alcoholic Anthropologist.”

Chocolate Tasting

I did really enjoy the chocolate tasting. I went to the tea themed tasting. I feel a little bad, since our table was a little bit more than loud, and two people at the table were “aquatically challenged.” I lost count of how many times they spilled the water/ice. Nikki Woolfolk, an Author and Chocolatier, was very knowledgeable about chocolate and food science in general, offered many stories, and provided us with delicious chocolate. There is an Etsy shop, but I do not currently see any items listed. I forgot to as Nikki about this. If I find out more, I will update this page.

Leanna Renee Hieber

The first year I went to SPWF, I came across a lecture on Gothic literature by Leanna. It was only because of this lecture that I wrote “Modern Gothic in Psycho-Pass.” There was of course a lot of overlap in this year’s lecture. However there was enough new information that I feel like I could write another paper on this topic. If I do, it will be about Serial Experiments Lain. Honestly, in some ways, it is almost like Leanna is writing these papers for me, which is why I will try to convince her, as much as possible without being overly annoying, to write a non-fiction book about Gothic literature.

The People

One thing I like about this convention is that you get to see people you meet year after year and from other cons. I ran into a fair number of people from the New York Renaissance Faire, including a certain drunken lady pirate. There is also a lot of crossover between genres at this con, and part of that is likely due to Jeff Mach running so many different cons and people building a community around them. Obviously you will find Steampunk, but you will also find goth, general science fiction, and more.

The post Steampunk World’s Fair 2017 appeared first on Geekers' Keep.

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