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The unipolar model of the world order has failed.In more ways than one, last week heralded the birth of a Eurasian century. Of course, the US$400 billion Russia-China gas deal was clinched only at the last minute in Shanghai, on Wednesday (a complement to the June 2013, 25-year, $270 billion oil deal between Rosneft and China's CNPC.)
- Vladimir Putin, St Petersburg, May 22
One woman, identified as Sierra, told NewsChannel 3 that she was approached by two men in a black BMW. The driver waved a small handgun and asked, '"Hey, what's up?"'Then there's the weird near-coincidence of an active-shooter drill scheduled to take place at the same campus 5 days later:
Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District, April 29, 2014Assuming for now that this was the work of a 'lone nut', I want to examine some of Rodger's bizarre behavior in the run-up to his going postal. We've heard a few opinions in the media regarding what if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy. Most of them, in my opinion, are flat-out wrong. For example, Richard Martinez, the father of one of the victims, blames "irresponsible politicians and the NRA" for his son's death:
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"Operations attended a table top exercise for the May 28 "Active Shooter Drill" at Santa Barbara City College. Multiple agencies were there, "fine tuning" the different roles, protocols, and schedules."
'Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA.It's an understandable sentiment, especially coming at a time so soon after the loss of his son. But aside from the fact that Rodger seems to have been intent on committing the murders no matter what and with whatever means available (e.g., the knives he used to murder his roommates), gun laws are unlikely to make a difference when it comes to crimes of this sort. The problem runs deeper than laws and policies.
'They talk about gun rights. What about Chris's right to live? When will this insanity stop? When will enough people say 'Stop this madness, we don't have to live like this.' Too many have died.
'We should say to ourselves: Not one more.'
Santa Barbara City College is where the shooter was going to school but it is miles away from Isla Vista and the University of California at Santa Barbara, which is where the shooting took place. There are two different schools, one is a 2-year community college (SBCC) and the other is a four-year prestigious university that is part of the state-wide UC system (UCSB).This means that the active-shooter drill goes from being a "weird near-coincidence" to a probably unrelated event.
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