Sad and tragic news. Paris is a beautiful city. Carnage like this won't alter that, no matter how much these butchers try. My thoughts are with the people affected by this barbarism.
It's an indescribable mystery that anyone could ever imagine that the Prophet (PBUH) might in any way consider welcoming to Paradise those who murder routinely unarmed men, women and children.
Of course the real motivation is envy of the west ... by people whose whole outlook PRECLUDES self-awareness anyhow.
In their 'acceptance speech' they call themselves 'soldiers'. I wonder what Saladdin with his famed chivalry would say to that.
Around 130 so far gone. If you pray, pray there aren't more.
We thought that security seemed to have been stepped up when we flew back into our local airport yesterday lunchtime. I wonder if there was a sniff of something happening but of course no detail. Terrible, appalling and heart-breaking events in Paris, a city that relies as much as any other and more than most on tourism. I hope the French can get back to a normal lifestyle before too long without this kind of threat hanging over them.
A good friend of mine lives on the Boulevard Beaumarchais, close to a lot of the carnage. I called him to make sure he's OK. He is fine and said it was a wild experience with emergency vehicles rushing by throughout the night. Today, he told me that Paris is eerily quiet. What a horrible tragedy.
I am reminded how important it is, in times such as these, to ACTIVELY search for the goodness in mankind. The lights of solidarity across the globe. The Facebook pics of thousands upon thousands of people showing their grief and love for those killed. It is all very inspiring, especially considering the horror the people of Paris are going through.
I am also reminded that this is a daily occurrence in some places.
While there are certainly reasons to feel disgust and shame at being human, there are also reasons to feel hopeful and pride in what we can accomplish. I challenge us all here on this board to post thoughts of pride, joy, and goodwill all the time. Remind each other that we are human. The media will happily display the horrors and drama of life. Let the rest of us display the every day goodness that makes it worth living through the horrors.
We are good. Don't let a few extremists taint the entire race.
Good thoughts and well wishes, Parisians of the world.
I am reminded how important it is, in times such as these, to ACTIVELY search for the goodness in mankind. The lights of solidarity across the globe. The Facebook pics of thousands upon thousands of people showing their grief and love for those killed. It is all very inspiring, especially considering the horror the people of Paris are going through.
I am also reminded that this is a daily occurrence in some places.
While there are certainly reasons to feel disgust and shame at being human, there are also reasons to feel hopeful and pride in what we can accomplish. I challenge us all here on this board to post thoughts of pride, joy, and goodwill all the time. Remind each other that we are human. The media will happily display the horrors and drama of life. Let the rest of us display the every day goodness that makes it worth living through the horrors.
We are good. Don't let a few extremists taint the entire race.
Good thoughts and well wishes, Parisians of the world.
This is a horrible tragedy, an atrocity. My thoughts and sympathy go out to the families and friends of the dead and injured, and to the people of Paris and France. Je suis Parisien.
Thank you to all for your kind thoughts and words!
The uncertainty as to the number of strike zones and whether terrorists would pop up in another part of the city during those five hours last night was akin to that of September 11, 2001, when it kept getting worse and nobody knew whether the latest horror that occurred was the last one.
I didn't go out today (a meeting at work was cancelled a few minutes before I was to leave), but the traffic around here (Montparnasse-- a busy quarter of the city) was very limited, like on Sundays; that was rather creepy-- an unnatural quiet.
The various monuments lit up in blue, white, red, around the world were very nice homages.
