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France has declared a national state of emergency and has closed its borders after at least 40 people were killed in multiple shootings in Paris.
At least 15 people were killed near the Bataclan arts centre, where up to 60 people are being held hostage. Explosions and gunfire are reported.
Three people were killed in an attack near the Stade de France, with some reports suggesting a suicide blast.
Paris authorities have urged people to stay indoors.
Military personnel are being deployed across Paris.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/13/455943961/violence-reported-in-paris
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/13/world/paris-shooting/index.html
Update #1 [BBC updates]:
Scores of people have been killed in multiple gun and bomb attacks in Paris
At least 100 people are reported to have died inside the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris
Others died in attacks near the Stade de France, where France were playing Germany, and at restaurants
France has declared a national state of emergency and has closed its borders
Paris residents have been asked to stay indoors and military personnel are being deployed across the city
[...] Reuters. quoting an un-named official at Paris City Hall, says the current death toll in Paris is around 140.
According to the Paris prosecutor, of the four assailants who died during the sidge at the Bataclan, three committed suicide by detonating explosive vests. The prosecutor has warned that some of their accomplices may "still be on the loose".
[...] Here is what French president François Hollande told reporters outside the Bataclan concert hall just now: "To all those who have seen these awful things, I want to say we are going to lead a war which will be pitiless. Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 14 2015, @02:48AM
You're pretty much on target. Religion is the excuse, not the reason.
And, meanwhile, many wiser heads have indeed been waring about this kind of thing. They understand that religion is the excuse. Take multiple cultures, and mix them together, and you are guilty of "stirring the pot". Europe is a witch's cauldron today, with multiple sects of a volatile religion being stirred into a somewhat rational world.
Few if any Muslims want to integrate into European society. All Muslims are taught to wage Jihad - the lessons are ingested with mother's milk. All good Muslims must struggle to advance Islam, and to improve themselves spiritually. Not all Muslims choose to become soldiers or terrorists, but all good Muslims must wage some form of jihad.
And, Europe will remain incapable of countering jihad, unless and until Europe understands that fact.
(Score: 2) by tynin on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:17AM
And when Europe understands this fact, what then? I've been asking myself similar questions this night. To me, this appears to be a cultural war. If a group of like-minded assholes came into my town, and killed my friends and family, in the near term I would lust for the death of their friends and family, and any and all that stood with them at any point in their life. I start to realize that this is a rather Machiavellian stance. I'm divided tonight, I do not wish to lump people together in groups and judge them all, but if I were France, tomorrow Raka would be nothing more than broken stone and burn blood on the sand.
"For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his revenge."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:55AM
"I do not wish to lump people together"
It matters little what you or I might wish. In a culture war, there will be two (or more) sides, and the side that you choose NOT to stand with will regard you as the enemy. Those who don't take any side will stand alone, with all factions targeting them.
I am somewhat partial to western ways. If there is to be a culture war, then I will stand with the west - despite the fact that I know the west is terribly wrong in many cases.
We can probably expect the modern day equivalent of a Crusade in the near future. And, the armies will be motivated by religious zealotry and hatred, just as the invaders of Europe are motivated by zealotry and hatred.
I find it interesting that the media generally shows old men, old women, mothers, and children when when the cover the "refugees". Yet, the overwhelming percentage of "refugees" are military age males. Interview after interview, military age males tell a tale of woe, about how they came to Europe to make a home for the families they've left behind. Reporters eat that shit up because it makes for all kinds of feel-good reading. But the real story is "military aged male". The "refugee camps" are housing the vanguard of an invading army, it's really that simple.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:29AM
After 9/11 I attended a regular meeting of my Masonic lodge. A Lebanese brother, a close friend, and a Muslim, got up and delicately said that "jihad" is the struggle to rid yourself of spiritual impurities, not a license to kill others. I am no expert on the Quran or an Islamic studies expert, but it was a perspective I had not heard before that was very meaningful to the rest of us in that lodge meeting, so I put it out here now in light of the events.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:44AM
Unfortunately, there's very different strains of the Islamic religion, just as there's very different strains of Christianity.
Your Lebanese friend is obviously from one of the more moderate strains. Probably something like the Lutherans in Christianity.
But there's some really wacko strains of Christianity out there: the snake-handlers, the Seventh-Day Adventists, the Pentecostals, etc. In Christianity, these groups aren't really very big, but over on the Islamic side, the "extremists" seem to be a pretty large fraction of the whole, and they're far, far more violent than even the nuttiest Christians. They're like the Christians were before the Enlightenment: burning people at the stake for "heresy" etc. Well, it took half a millenium for the Christians to shed most of that nonsense and become somewhat civilized. The Muslims aren't going to do it in a decade.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @05:24AM
> the Seventh-Day Adventists,
They aren't particularly wacko, more on the amish side of things - they brought us breakfast cereal after all. Yes Kellog was a 7th day adventist.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @10:12AM
It was also invented to make you stop masturbating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_flakes [wikipedia.org]
Dr. Kellogg introduced Kellogg Corn Flakes in hopes that it would reduce masturbation.[5] In fact, Kellogg devoted much of his energy to discouraging sexual activity of any kind, and was an especially ardent critic of masturbation, which he believed could cause "cancer of the womb, urinary diseases, nocturnal emissions, impotence, epilepsy, insanity, and mental and physical debility" as well as "dimness of vision" and moral corruption.[6]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @01:22PM
Was it common for men to masturbate in their breakfast, in dr. Kellogg's time??
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Saturday November 14 2015, @12:47PM
No, they're not. They're not even a blip. There are 1.57 billion, with a "b," muslims in the world. ISIS are a rounding error. That's like saying my crazy Christian cousin Greg is a "pretty large fraction of the whole" of Christians. He's not.
I really wish this religious bigotry, because that's what this is, would cease because it is not only hateful, but also tedious, and worst of all, incorrect. It's flat wrong from any perspective.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday November 16 2015, @01:18AM
No, they're not. They're not even a blip.
Bullshit. If they're "not even a blip", then please explain how it is they control many nations. Saudi Arabia and Iran for starters, Egypt (where they elected the Muslim Brotherhood in a *popular election* but the military overthrew this democratically-elected government), Afghanistan which used to be under the control of the Taliban (and they're still trying to retake it), and Iraq where much of it is under the control of ISIS. Don't forget all the other Islamist factions in various places, such as the ones trying to take over Syria (which includes ISIS but also several other extremist factions), and I'm sure I'm missing a bunch.
But somehow it's "religious bigotry" to point out that Islamic extremists enjoy wide, popular support throughout the Middle East.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @05:32AM
It's like any religious interpretation - if you have evil in your heart you'll pick the passages that can be used to support your evil and ignore the ones that contradict it. If you have good in your heart you'll pick the passages that support your good. That includes people who demonize a religion too. You can tell runaway has evil in his heart because he's so quick to find it in others. Kind of like all those anti-gay conservatives who are actually in the closet - projecting their own fear and self-loathing on to others. He sees jihad as permission to make his bigotry and intolerance acceptable because "they did it first."
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 14 2015, @09:41AM
Interesting point of view. Gays project fear and self-loathing . . .
YOUR words, Pal, not mine.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:34PM
Interesting point of view. Gays project fear and self-loathing . . .
YOUR words, Pal, not mine.
What a perfect example! You just did exactly what I accused you of - picking the part to support your view and ignoring the part that contradicts so that you can feel justified about the evil in your heart.
Here's the full statement:
Kind of like all those anti-gay conservatives who are actually in the closet - projecting their own fear and self-loathing on to others
So no, those were your words, buddy. Expressing the shit in your heart and literally trying to blame it on me for doing it first.
Could you be any less self-aware?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:44PM
You're not being very rational here. Anti-gay conservatives who are actually in the closet are - by definition - gay. So, you are quite clearly stating that gays project fear and self loathing. Your statements have absolutely nothing to do with any evil that may or may not be in my heart.
Again, those are YOUR words, not mine.
Intersting, indeed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @05:15PM
Wow, your lack of self-awareness is stunning in the size of its depth.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 14 2015, @05:23PM
Typical SJW kind of comeback. If I'm to stupid to understand, why do you bother to try arguing with me? You keep coming back, and coming back, but you don't say anything. Keep this up, and I'm going to file for divorce, and get an injunction on your ass for stalking.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @07:18PM
> If I'm to stupid to understand, why do you bother to try arguing with me?
Because your purpose in life is to be a foil. A cautionary tale for people who think racists aren't idiots.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 14 2015, @07:21PM
Well, one of us appears to be to stupid to understand that Islam is not a race. Think about it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @08:10PM
> Well, one of us appears to be to stupid to understand that Islam is not a race. Think about it.
Foiled again.
Islam is not a race but you are still a racist. [redflag.org.au]
Debunking the “Islam is Not a Race!” Argument [wordpress.com]
Meanwhile even the OED says you are wrong: [oxforddictionaries.com]
race:
1.1 A group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.; an ethnic group:
example: "They sought to weld the country's diverse ethnicities into a Brazilian race defined in historical and cultural terms."
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 14 2015, @08:21PM
I've run out of patience, and you've ceased to be amusing, so I'm not wasting time on your links. Islam is not a race. No amount of blathering will change that. Islam is a religious political structure, commonly followed by Arabs, Black Africans, and a multitude of Asians and Pacific islanders, as well as smaller populations in the western world. In point of fact, Islam hardly recognizes race, as near as I can tell. Islam sees men as men, and women as women, one of them being the property of the other. Islam is a patriarchal society that is equally applicable to all races.
You lose this one, Pal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @10:50PM
> I've run out of patience, and you've ceased to be amusing, so I'm not wasting time on your links
lol. Are you sure you didn't read any of those links because you practically quoted what one said. Are you not the greatest parody of racism on this site?
> You lose this one, Pal.
Yeah, sure I did. The Oxford English Dictionary just kicked your ass.
(Score: 1) by rufty on Saturday November 14 2015, @11:46PM
Just to say I've heard about the same sentiment, also from a Lebanese guy, back when I was at Uni.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @04:23AM
> All Muslims are taught to wage Jihad - the lessons are ingested with mother's milk
Jesus fucking christ. You fucking hitler wannabe.
(Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Saturday November 14 2015, @04:23AM
to find out what the concept really means to the people who practice it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Zz9zZ on Saturday November 14 2015, @09:09AM
Gonna have to agree with some other comments on your post. You are obviously biased in the extreme. A few bad apples etc., and you are generalizing to the majority of humanity. Muslims are the majority, so given your opinion it is a MIRACLE that anyone else is still alive...
There are extremists in every culture, and I'm sick and tired of people venting their frustration and hatred at some group because it is convenient. Read some history, learn some shit. Get a broader perspective. Meet some people and realize that there is no general boogeyman, just some assholes in EVERY community.
Muslims beheading people, Christians blowing up abortion clinics and killing various people, Mormons knocking on EVERYONE'S door, Jehovah's witnesses keeping their women down, Buddhists judging the carnivores, FSMers eating spaghetti in some weird ritual to their god... C'MON!
LIVE AND LET LIVE!
~Tilting at windmills~
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @04:07PM
(You know you did, you know you did, you know you did...)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 18 2015, @03:50AM
I am a seasoned traveller, and have visited several predominantly Muslim countries in both the Middle-East and in Asia and *not once* have I feared for my safety based on religious grounds (on scary traffic, yes, but not for fear of being labelled an "infidel" or an "enemy of Isalm"). Absolutely no-one was wanting to wage war against me, or to harm me because of my quite obvious "lack of Isalm". In fact the general feel seemed to be the same as for all cultures that I've come across, most people want essentially the same thing - peace, safety, food, shelter, laughs, friends.
I understand how scared or bigoted people might try to equate all Muslims with these extremists, however that equation is simply not true. Not at all.