In the news

Madness. I hope the hostage situation ends well.

Hollande has just announced the closure of France's borders.
Lock down.

The French president François Hollande says a state of emergency will
be declared across France, adding that several dozen people have been
killed in terrorist attacks around Paris.

In a statement just delivered, the president of the republic said that
its border would be closed and that he would seek military aid to
ensure no further attacks could take place in Paris. Hollande said a
cabinet meeting was about to start to discuss the response to the
attacks.

Looking out the window here, bars below all closed now, streets pretty empty, still lots of sirens.

A bloke in another area of Paris said he'd heard automatic gun fire whilst talking to bbc. Then loads of police arrived, sounds like another gun man is about, not good not good at all. Why has Paris been targeted so much lately?

4th largest arms exporter in the World - but it's OK because they mainly use them elsewhere

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/industry/2015/06/02/french-arms-exports-best-years/28367351/

reddit live thread:
https://www.reddit.com/live/vwwmqtrc17ul

And your point is? These attacks were justified?

No, but what is driving these attacks? The root cause? Out of interest how many people are being killed and maimed daily in the Middle East, or Africa?

Fuck, just horrible. Watched Eagles of Death Metal two days ago in Glasgow; the thought that you could be out to see a gig and not come home from it is just plain grim.

@hoefla you OK? (Think she's in Paris at the mo)

Yeah thanks. Had just got back to hotel when news broke - was looking at this thread otherwise wouldn't have heard for a while. @pdlouche is across the city somewhere too and safe.

AFP reporting around 100 dead in the concert hall, Reuters reporting BFM TV saying the same thing :/

Glad to hear you're OK, thanks for replying. Terrible news.

A mate was in a bar near one of the locations and apparently they just locked themselves in.

Just shocking.

Fair enough, if you're seeking an understanding. Governments sell weapons, not civilians. And you live in the UK, no? Presumably you'd take a slightly different tone if these attacks were in London and it affected people on this site or people that you know/love.

As for atrocities elsewhere, I agree with you that they are sadly overlooked, but I'm not sure that's a reason to feel unsympathetic to the people affected by these attacks.

I think it was a direct response to the post before by bluebikerider ?

Just heard about this as @AKing is over there and marked himself as safe on facebook (what a weird feature, shame it's needed). Hope all the Paris polo peeps are OK too.

Any prevision about the right wings around Europe will start to talk/plan/increase/speculate/fuck-around from tomorrow?

Just heard from a news friend that is in the mele.

Hearing lots of miss information, lets see what happened once things have settled.

Note that lots of people nearby didn't notice anything...

So it was. Sorry @EB, I misunderstood your intent.

Ugh, how depressing.

What's happened in Paris is tragic, and this may be deemed politically incorrect. If so, sue me.
Social media is going crazy, TV is going crazy, the newspapers tomorrow (and for days to come) will have a field day. People praying for Paris. Posting pictures of the Eiffel Tower. All caring and considerate.
But what about the 43 people killed in Lebanon yesterday? I don't hear prayers for Beirut.
What about the hundreds killed in Syria today and yesterday and the day before and for the past 4 years? I don't see pictures of Aleppo.
What about India? What about Palestine? What about Aghanistan? What about Iraq? Or do only Western European and North American lives matter?
How do we decide who matters and who doesn't? Is it a question of distance? Of colour? Of race? Of religion?
Where were all the status updates and social media frenzy when 102 people were killed in a suicide attack in Turkey last month?

Everybody matters, it's all sick... We live in a shit world...

^ this

In all honesty, I think it's a case of frequency and how far from 'normal' this is for Paris. Also how similar culturally and how physically close they are to us.

It's horrible that tens or hundreds dead in the middle east get nary a mention over here, but it happens so regularly that it's almost no longer news in a way. People just become numbed to this sort of news from certain far away places because if you didn't... Fuck, you'd go insane.

How do we decide who matters and who doesn't? Is it a question of distance? Of colour? Of race? Of religion?

Yes.

I can't tell whether your post is naive or rhetorical or something else. Were you an adult in 2005? It can't be something that you've only just noticed. It's the news. "We" care more when it's a. close to home and b. people "like us", whatever that means to each of us. We're more likely to remember holidays in Paris or have friends/family there now. We're more likely to be able to imagine ourselves there, doing the same things. It's pretty basic.

The sense of extreme injustice between the apparent value of lives near/far, white/brown, rich/poor, based on faith and culture etc is one of the causes of radicalisation. It's a huge and sickening horror. Especially for those that feel closer or more sympathetic to the less valued, less mourned lives. Although of course there is a great leap to go from outrage at injustice to inclination to mass murder.

Everybody matters, it's all sick... We live in a shit world...

Over the weekend, millions of words will be expended by journalists and politicians trying to explain what has happened in Paris.

Few of them will offer such an eloquent insight as this.