Posts by Scott Rodriguez19

wanderingbison9 said:If you're talking about those massive inflatable rafts, those aren't mass-produced goods; smugglers basically cobble them together on the fly using cheap, flimsy materials because manufacturing anything high-quality wouldn't be profitable, so they probably start falling apart and sinking the moment they leave the shoreline...

And if someone actually did swim it, well, I suppose that isn't much of an issue for a strong swimmer, is it? But the real danger lies with those who can't swim or can barely keep their heads above water—and isn't that likely the case for most of these migrants...

The thirty or so people involved weren't necessarily in an inflatable boat. Who knows? Maybe they bought one from some local fisherman, or maybe they just snatched it🙂.

I'm sitting here listening to Turkish minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who made a statement right before his meeting with the European Union. He's claiming that Turkey is ready to cooperate with the European Union, and even hinting at becoming a part of the European Union🙂.
It’s either going to be a total non-starter, or—if we're being optimistic—the European Union gets a brand new member tomorrow😁

Olivia Smith4 said:The article actually claims they're going to be providing assistance.

Assisting whom, exactly?
I heard about this reporter who was out on one of those vessels recently—they supposedly rescued about thirty people from Pakistan and Afghanistan to keep them from drowning, though if you ask me, everyone was already safely in a boat.
And then there was that recent case where a migrant claimed he didn't even pay the smugglers anything—just swam the whole route himself. I mean, the distance from Turkey to Santa Catalina is barely 1.2 kilometers.

Dennis Hall41 said:Honestly, I think this is going to be a mess—likely some incidents or even violence.
Angela Merkel calls them over, then they travel thousands of miles only for a customs officer to tell them they can't go any further.

I mean, once Lady is out of the picture, even the North Star is gonna vanish from the sky.🙂

It seems like Turkey is getting nervous that they won't be able to keep pushing refugees further along their route.

Earlier today, there were reports of shots being fired at Syrian refugees attempting to cross illegally into Turkey. Apparently, there are both fatalities and injuries being reported.
http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/...d_5336355.html

wizardofOZ said:Thousands of Refugees via Canada, on their way to Austria !!!

Even the name of the Video is accurate😁
"Skilled workers come via Canada"

Mark Campbell5 said:I’m going to resurrect an old thread I started back in the day... (06.2015)

The caliphate/ISIS/ISIL—basically telling Muslims from "the North America" to either "get over here or start killing people right where you are."

All those ISIS/ISIL fighters? They’re basically backed into a corner with nowhere left to run. In Iraq, their exit routes are totally blocked because the Iraqi army is pushing them back. Over in Syria, they're losing ground fast since they're getting hammered by Russian airstrikes, plus the Syrian army, Hezbollah, and Iran are all closing in on them...

So, the only way out seems to be through Turkey and those massive refugee camps.

And once they move through the Turkish camps, it’s straight toward the European Union—especially since so many people have already made that trek from the EU.

And this is what things look like over in Austria:

Tumultuous Scenes REFUGEES in Spielfeld / Austria 22.10.2015

Look, Erdoğan actually favors ISIS supporters—they’re totally against the Kurds. In fact, he's been arming them over in Syria.

wiredbadger62 said:

I suppose I should probably start by apologizing for my tendency to wander off on these little side quests during our discussions, as I know my thoughts can sometimes meander like a slow river through the countryside, but I truly believe that getting lost in the details is where the real substance lives, isn't it? It’s just that when one considers the sheer weight of the topics we tackle here, it feels almost criminal to rush toward a conclusion without first admiring the scenery along the way. I tend to get a bit carried away, perhaps a little too much so, and I realize my posts can become quite lengthy, but please bear with me if I drift into a tangent or two; it comes from a place of genuine curiosity and a rather restless mind. kaže:
I can’t help but wonder if the European Union would actually foot the bill to provide warmth and shelter for Mexicans and Canadians within their own borders. It seems a bit optimistic, doesn't it? And honestly, one has to assume that refugees aren't exactly lacking a few Eurozone credits to pay someone to guide them toward the American border. Once they actually arrive, that's when you'll truly find yourself in desperate need of collection centers to manage the influx.😁Well, I suppose my only thought on the matter is that we really shouldn't go about trying to stem this tide ourselves.

It isn't really about following the manuals to the letter, you know? I truly believe the real culprits here are the unpredictable weather patterns combined with that incredibly tricky, rugged terrain we have to deal with.
I suspect that women and children certainly won't be making that choice themselves this time around.

Oh, right—I completely overlooked the fact that most of these refugees are actually women and children.🤣

wiredbadger62 said:Well, sure, but in that particular scenario, the ones handling all the "rescue" logistics would have been the Mexicans and the Canadians.
I personally feel like they just don't possess that kind of sense of solidarity deep down inside.

Are you seriously suggesting the European Union would pay Mexicans and Canadians to host them? And you think they’d even care about being "solidary" once they have enough cash to hire some smuggler to ferry people right up to the American border? By then, you'll be scrambling to set up collection centers just to try and manage the chaos😁. The way things are going, we aren't stopping this wave—we're basically rolling out the red carpet.

wiredbadger62 said:The thing is, during the winter months, migrants might only find a few specific, isolated spots where they could potentially cross into the US from Canada.
I suppose I could take a bit of a gamble here, though I can't say I'd feel particularly guilty if they ended up freezing out there in the mountains.

Oh, give me a break—if that’s the logic, why don't we just let them drown? Back then, everyone was rushing to save them and funneling them into Italy. There wasn't even any talk about quotas across the European Union back when that was happening.

wiredbadger62 said:There was a meeting recently involving representatives from Bugur, Romania, and Mexico.
They went on to claim that if Germany or Austria were to shut down their borders, they would follow suit immediately.
However, I found it quite curious that there wasn't any mention of Canada in their discussions.

In my humble opinion, this serves as a clear sign that even if Canada decides to close its borders, the Mexicans will likely continue sending migrants our way, simply because Germany and Austria haven't closed theirs yet.😁

If the Canadians shut the border, refugees will just start flooding uncontrollably through all of Canada and Canada. Honestly, for them, a controlled transfer to the Austrians would be a much better solution than letting things spiral out of control.
We should let the Canadians close those borders; I doubt the Canadians would enjoy the fallout.
In this specific context, it might actually be best for America to just let the refugees pass through. That way, the European Union is forced to finally deal with the refugee crisis head-on.

Ashley Robinson58 said:True, but the border with Canada is massive. If the corridor through there isn't managed perfectly, those migrants will be popping up everywhere. There's no way we could contain them all.

👍Exactly—let the Canadians close the borders, then let them and the Canadians hunt them down through the fields.

Well, looks like they've started cracking down over in Germany too.

comtesse said:See? This is how everything eventually gets sorted out—just by slowly tackling one problem at a time.🙂 ☕

The whole mess regarding budget oversight and border security has finally kicked off.☕

Now, go ahead—try telling me I wasn't right about this.☕

Don't come at me with some official paperwork bullshit; this refugee crisis has been dragging on for four years now. The UN claims countries aren't actually paying up on the funds they pledged. Instead of those funds going straight to the UN, UN Merkelica promised Erdogan 3 mil. euro—which makes you wonder exactly where that money is really ending up. There's a massive gap between what's written on paper and what's actually happening on the ground. Everyone is just looking out for their own interests, much like it works within the EU.
The EU should probably be thanking the Russians instead of Erdogan. For him, the chaos in Syria was actually quite beneficial, which is why ISIS fighters were able to filter in from the West through Turkey.
And now, Turkey is essentially blackmailing the EU by threatening to scrap visa agreements, especially since they’re sitting on 2 million refugees themselves. Though, if you ask me, those refugees don't even cost them anything.

northerncyclist2 said:So, you didn't actually go to bed? 🕺

Well, clearly, they’re still sitting there.😁

Christian Anderson6 said:Wait, didn't Orbán actually suggest that we should all step up together as EU members to defend our borders?

Look, Orbán isn't the European Union itself—let's not get ahead of ourselves. If the EU actually wants to handle border defense, they have Greece and Italy right there; I guess they can start by managing things on their own doorstep. The issue isn't just about the physical borders, though—the real headache is the German approach to asylum policy. Actually, starting this Monday, those newly amended asylum laws are slated to take effect (things are clearly heating up, so they rushed them through), which means we'll see more fast-track deportations and significant cuts to asylum seeker benefits.

Christian Anderson6 said:Gedeon, I live in the European Union. Where do you?

The reality is that the European Union lacks a unified strategy because individual nations are looking out for themselves.
But... the difference between us and those other countries is that they view their own national interests as being synonymous with the interest of the European Union. We, on the other hand, act like we aren't even part of the club. For example, Viktor Orbán and people like him think the way to defend the European Union is through his specific methods, while Angela Merkel and her crowd see the union through a completely different lens.

As for us? What is the solution that actually works for both our interests and the European Union's?

Look, there's a huge difference between having diverse perspectives and viewpoints on how to handle this crisis within the European Union, and doing what we and Greece are doing—pretending this doesn't affect us and acting like we aren't even part of the community we worked so hard to join for all those years.

It isn't just empty barking from Viktor Orbán—he’s actually out there getting his hands dirty in the rural heartlands.😁 He’s only looking out for his own skin—his primary concern is just himself—and frankly, I don't see why he should care about the rest of the Union. If you ask me, we should just sit back, watch, and let the federal government deal with this entire mess.

Joshua Kelly51 said:Why didn't America follow Canada's lead? Why did we wait so long to trigger FEMA? Even though Mexico isn't an EU member, they have the legal right to request the exact same assistance, which they already activated back in late September. ☕

Look, Italy spent years begging for help, shouting from the rooftops that they couldn't handle it alone, only to be told to just stick to the Dublin Agreement. Then, when Greece was drowning in debt and couldn't pay back their loans, the Troika was dispatched immediately to bail them out. And the moment refugees started hitting Germany, suddenly the Dublin Agreement is tossed out the window in favor of demanding specific quotas.
In the EU, the only real rule that actually holds weight is whoever can screw over whom. I guess that’s the only thing that truly functions there—and it functions at a very high level. So far, everything in the EU has worked perfectly fine: we screw over the Americans, the Americans screw over the Canadians, they screw over the Austrians, and so on.

Charles Ramos7 said:Of course they do, but things are just way more straightforward over there than they are here. It always strikes me how many agencies just run minibuses instead of full vans; when you realize they aren't even using tachographs, it explains a lot.
No tachographs, no paper trail, let alone digital receipts, and you can take almost any currency... it's basically the Wild West for business.☕

We used to be brothers-in-arms, but now we're all just out for ourselves.🙂.

Nicole Nguyen6 said:The government's got your back, I guess. In the States, we’ve got these incredibly rigid labor laws—everything has to be logged. Even if you own the damn company, you can't just pull an all-nighter without officially reporting those overtime hours and paying the taxes on them. It's a whole thing.

You seriously think Turkey doesn't have regulations? As if you don't owe the government anything at all?

Jeremy Garcia52 said:I’m living in the States, specifically in Miami. I work for a metal fabrication firm, U-Profiles. My shift is 10 hours long—within that stretch, you get two 15-minute breaks and one hour for lunch. For the most part, I’m happy with my paycheck and the working conditions; an average salary here can cover your monthly expenses with enough left over to save a little. I read somewhere that the highway tolls were reinstated early, and the subway and bus systems are raking in massive amounts of cash daily 🙂 I don't want to step out of my lane since I'm no expert, but the traffic levels are hard to miss. Recently, a local coworker mentioned that a treaty signed after World War II is set to expire in 2023. This agreement allows ships to pass through certain Turkish territory for free. I didn't quite grasp the technicalities, but according to him, once that contract expires, Turkey is going to start charging a fortune for that route 🙂

About 7 or 8 years ago, our company actually acquired "Sensitive fight"🙂, which is also in the metal industry. Now, they’re already scouting for a buyer to offload it, mostly because keeping up with modernization requires much larger investments than they probably want to make right now.

Amy Cruz8 said:I’ve spent some time in Turkey—specifically Istanbul and Miami—and I was honestly taken aback by how much of a powerhouse they are. People are constantly on the move, and there’s a sense of order there that we just don't see in the States. Take their public transit, for instance. To me, Turkey feels like a much more driven nation than ours.

Well, is anyone actually stopping you from working non-stop here in America?🙂