I once dreamed of immigrating to the US and working in the Bay Area... but it's become apparent to me now that there's something inherently wrong with that country. I guess I'll go to Australia or Canada instead.
"New South Wales police are on the verge of securing “extreme” new powers including to impose curfews on citizens, restrict who they spend time with or limit their communications, if they suspect involvement in “serious crime-related activity”.
The new “serious crime prevention orders” (SCPO) are similar to the control orders used on suspected terrorists, but broadened to a range of other offences including theft, tax evasion, money laundering or homicide.
Those acquitted of serious offences can still be issued a SCPO, as will people deemed to have engaged in conduct “likely to facilitate” a serious crime, defined as one punishable by at least five years’ prison."
> theft, tax evasion, money laundering or homicide.
What the actual fuck? This is despicable no matter what. They just have to be "suspected" to be subject to these insane powers?
But, the real insanity is that a crime like tax evasion is included in this list. Seriously. Tax evasion? Now, I know that the thing these all have in common is that they're commonly purpetrated by the mob and all, but tax evasion just doesn't rise to the level of homicide or even money laundering.
You don't want tax evaders out after 9pm, prowling around and evading taxes in the shadows, do you? Actually, I suspect the tax evasion and money laundering are mostly referring to drug-related crime without calling it out explicitly and arousing (more) controversy.
I immigrated here from the U.S. and the only contact I have with the "government" is my annual tax filing.
Where previously I had nearly 6-monthly encounters with police just for (I guess) being a black/Muslim man. "Random" traffic stops escalating to inquiries into everything about my life.
Long live Australia.
[Edit: I DO routinely run into my neighborhood Australian police on Fridays, that's because we frequent the same local bar and catch up for drinks and games of pool.]
You got it. Immigration is a decision that will not only affect me but also my better half, my family, and my offspring. It's totally about the environment, the society.
Killed isn't the only thing that a dopey police officer can cause. I remember another harrowing story of someone trying to help at a biking accident ending up in solitary confinement with breathing issues for two days.
google santa clara county jail, and see how many people they killed last year.. and only one of those murders was investigated and 3 guards are on trial. all others are written off.. mentally handicapped inmates with no family, easy target for sadist guards.. and no accountability.
Well... on the one hand, 50% of Canadians live south of Portland OR. On the other, the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor that contains most of those people is notable for sever swings in temperature. I lived a little ways northeast of Toronto for a few years, and survived temps of -20 and 38 C.
Very happy to be back out west (especially with the glorious weather we've been having this month).
Well, you're much more likely to be killed in a car accident wherever you live, and I don't have reason to believe that risk is particularly different in Canada or Australia. It's the delta between countries that matters, and from what I've read (mostly about Canada) I think by most metrics you are more likely to be killed by a cop in the States. We have a heavily armed and militarized police force here, and they have an awful relationship with many communities here. I'm sure there are parallels in Canada and Australia but certainly the popular perception is that the magnitude of the problem is larger here.
Given that our GDP per capita is 1.25x US I think that we're about even. Also as someone moving from Melbourne to the SF Bay, there are areas within each country that are very far apart. Melbourne is far cheaper than the SF bay.
You can self sponsor with this https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/189- bit of mucking about to get but once you have it you can work for any company. Otherwise company will need a company to sponsor you on https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/457- which is not hard to get but does limit the companies you can work for as not all will know how to do it.
https://www.border.gov.au/. I don't know the details of the process though - I am a New Zealander, and I get right of residence automatically. There is always New Zealand of course, so you can live and travel between the two countries without hindrance once you get a passport in either.
NZ badly needs a tech scene. It has not produced anything of note like Atlassian in Australia. But the lifestyle is great. Only two time zones from the Australian east coast.
I checked both AUS & NZ and despite the fact I can get in there through the company I work for, it does not seem easy or 'we need all the skilled people we can get'. The process seems not very easy in either country. I will live in AUS probably starting next year to manage the tech side from there and I will definitely check out NZ and maybe skip to there if possible as, for some reason (never been) it attracts me more. That said; I often need to go to China which is easy from AUS; I did not check how it is from NZ.
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/may/04/nsw-po...
"New South Wales police are on the verge of securing “extreme” new powers including to impose curfews on citizens, restrict who they spend time with or limit their communications, if they suspect involvement in “serious crime-related activity”.
The new “serious crime prevention orders” (SCPO) are similar to the control orders used on suspected terrorists, but broadened to a range of other offences including theft, tax evasion, money laundering or homicide.
Those acquitted of serious offences can still be issued a SCPO, as will people deemed to have engaged in conduct “likely to facilitate” a serious crime, defined as one punishable by at least five years’ prison."
Welcome to my local police-state.