[War_ooc] Timeline stuff, Part VIII: North America

[John Penta]

Yes, finally, the last regional timeline. Some additional decisions will
follow in another message. It may seem unfairly focused on the US and Canada
- it is. I apologize for that, but have an excuse: I don't speak or read
Spanish, making getting information on Mexican politics very, very hard.
---
Regional themes:

1. Disillusionment: You hear it every week, seemingly: Another politician.
Having an affair. Getting raided for corruption. Sometimes both. Sometimes
weirder. It has not been isolated by party...Or even by country, as it's
happening throughout North America. Something about politics, people are
coming to believe, does something to a person's moral fiber. Will there ever
be anyone who brings politics back into the light?
---
Events:

October 2009: Mexican President Felipe Calderon is nearly assassinated by
members of the Presidential Guard - he survives but is wounded in the
attack, which claims the lives of five members of the guard unit before the
three rogue members are captured. Responsibility is traced to the "Los
Zetas" of the Gulf Cartel. Calderon will spend the next six months in a
difficult recovery.
November 2009: Anti-Muslim riots break out in Toronto and Vancouver over the
proposed institution of Sharia law for Muslims in personal matters.
December 2009: President Barack Obama orders active-duty military forces to
the border as Mexican drug violence threatens to spill over into the United
States.
April 2010: Higher-than-normal spring snow melt results in massive flooding
throughout the central US and Canada. In Canada, several dams, including two
hydroelectric dams, burst due to the flooding, when 2 weeks of nearly
unceasing rain adds to the amount of water. 20 are killed, thousands are
displaced, and damage runs into the billions across both countries.
June 2010: Hurricane Igor, a Class 5 hurricane, barrels through the
Caribbean at the lowest pressure and highest wind speeds yet recorded for a
hurricane. 4500 are killed, mainly in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, in
the Caribbean before the storm slams into the US mainland near Brownsville,
Texas as a somewhat weaker Class 5; 300 are killed due to inadequate shelter
(and refusal to evacuate) in the poverty-striken border region (only $250
Million is sustained in monetary damage, a testament to how poor the area
is), but the state and federal response is generally rated as superb.
Hurricane Igor dissipates one week later after causing intense flooding in
Northern and Central Mexico.
August 2011: Protests over near Third-World conditions break out on Native
American reservations throughout the US, sparking similar demonstrations in
First Nation communities in Canada. These go mostly ignored until the
demonstrations turn violent. 20 die (mostly tribal police officers) in riots
in the US alone, with more violence occurring in Canada.
November 2011: Hackers of indeterminate origin manage to penetrate the
computer systems of the FAA and Nav Canada on the night before Thanksgiving
in the United States, disrupting the air traffic control operations of both
agencies during one of the busiest travel days of the year. No lives are
lost, nor planes downed (due largely to a low-level manager's decision to
ground all aircraft after the problem was noticed, onlyy slowly resuming
operations after a careful check of both countries' systems), but the
incident causes an uproar in Washington and Ottawa as the potential
consequences are realized.
March 2012: Dozens of MPs of all parties, including frontbench members of
all parties, are arrested in Ottawa by the RCMP, in a political corruption
sweep dubbed "Operation Dirty Snow". Accusations range from campaign funding
violations to the outright taking of bribes in exchange for votes.
June 2012: Renewed clashes between the Iroquois of southern Ontario and
security forces lead to the army being called in again to control the
situation, reminiscent of the Oka Crisis of 1990.  Seventeen Mohawks are
killed in a shootout with army units near Caledonia.
October 2012: Despite the best efforts of the US and Mexican militaries,
Mexican drug violence spills over definitively into the US, with a
widely-televised gunbattle between San Diego police and a Sinaloa Cartel
commando squad.
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