Here we go again - another terror attack

[logicalview]

NOTHING TO SEE HERE....let the apologists do their usual spin routine....

12 Dead in 'Terrorist' Attack on Paris Satirical Newspaper

Twelve people have died and three others were critically injured as gunmen opened fire at the office of a Paris-based satirical newspaper today in an attack that France's president called a "terrorist operation."

The shooting at the office of Charlie Hebdo was a "cowardly attack," said President Francois Hollande when he was at the scene this morning.

"This is a terrorist operation against an office that has been threatened several times, which is why it was protected," he said, without going into the specifics of the police protection at the office in the center of Paris. Photos from the scene show a police car riddled with bullet holes.

The newspaper had been targeted in the past over its content, often aimed at religious groups.

French officials confirmed that there are believed to be three attackers, all of whom were seen in videos wearing black from head-to-toe. Their identities and affiliations have not been revealed but one of the men is heard screaming "Allahu Akbar," an Islamic phrase meaning "God is great," in one of the scene videos.

This morning's turmoil punctured an otherwise normal day in the French capital, with the gunshots audible from nearby buildings, sending bystanders cowering. The masked gunmen were later seen fleeing the scene and hijacked a car, authorities said. They have not been caught and a search is underway for the shooters.

The tragedy marks France's deadliest terror attack in decades. The government raised its terror alert to the highest level and reinforced security at houses of worship, stores, media offices and transportation.

The New York City Police Department ordered extra security to the French consulate in Manhattan and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that they are closely monitoring the events in France and are ready to adjust their "security posture, as appropriate."

Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, has come under attack before. Their office was firebombed in 2011 and its website was hacked after its cover featured the prophet Muhammad. Nearly a year later, the publication again published crude Muhammad caricatures, drawing denunciations from around the Muslim world.

The cover of this week's issue of the newspaper focuses on a new book by Michel Houellebecq, “Submission,” which depicts France led by an Islamic party that bans women from the workplace.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/dea ... d=28050771

[maxx]

Je suis Charlie.

[jimmy4321]

We got to do whatever it takes to rid of these terrorists, it's a small world

[opinion2015]

Definition of a·pol·o·gist


A person who offers an argument in defense of something controversial.
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Fortunately, we live in a country where offering an opinion, is not condemned or stifled, but welcomed. I am not an apologist- and I am sickened by these terrorist acts, but to say there is nothing new here- just move on- is not the answer either.

When it happens in France, Canada or the USA, it is rightly condemned- and the pundits and journalists fill the air waves with millions of words - some are apologists/some are doves/some will call out for dumping a nuclear bomb in some mountain tops in Afghanistan and in Syria and Iraq.

Unfortunately, once the news cycle has run it's course and they are tired with the story, this will be forgotten. Where are the 100's of female school girls that were kidnapped in Africa- when was it- 6 months ago? What is happening in Pakistan where the 140 or so school children were slaughtered? Ebola rampaging through Africa.

We are experiencing a microcosm of the complete despair that the people of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, African nations and other parts of the world deal with every second of every day of their miserable lives.

I wish I had the answers to solve all the world's problems- but this is what I am sure of- we are blessed to live in a country free of the sickening horror that much of the world suffers with each and every day of their lives. Children picking through garbage dumps for food??

Living in this fabulous country I do not apologize for. I am so thankful that we live in a free and democratic country, with governments that care for us. Yes- we may disagree with some of the things that our governments do- but - some of the petty complaints that appear on these forums pale by comparison to the lives of billions of other human beings in our world.

I don't think this meets the definition of an 'apologist', but a reminder to be thankful for living where you do.

[logicalview]

"I'd Rather Die Standing Than Live on My Knees"

by Mark Steyn • Jan 7, 2015 at 12:21 pm

My Wednesday appearance on The John Oakley Show was dominated by the breaking news from Paris of this morning's murderous assault on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Unlike so many of the supposedly "edgy" "satirists" on this side of the Atlantic, congratulating themselves on their transgressive "bravery" at one back-slapping awards ceremony after another, the editors, writers and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo were genuinely brave - and paid for it with their lives.

I did not know at the time I spoke to John that among the dead was Stéphane "Charb" Charbonnier, the editor of Charlie Hebdo and a great cartoonist in the French style. Two years ago, he said:

It may seem pompous, but I'd rather die standing than live on my knees.

He did. He was an heroic figure, and he paid for it with his life. But he wasn't being in the least bit pompous, merely stating what ought to be far more obvious to far more people.

In contrast to the bravery of Charlie Hebdo, at my old London home The Daily Telegraph some gutless pansies decided that their reporting on the story could only be accompanied by carefully blurred and pixilated images of the late cartoonists' work in order to avoid giving offense. Unlike the late M Charbonnier, too many members of the media are perfectly happy to live on their knees. On page 297 of my book After America, I speculate on how future generations will look back on our time from a decade or two hence:

In the Middle East, Islam had always been beyond criticism. It was only natural that, as their numbers grew in Europe, North America and Australia, observant Muslims would seek the same protections in their new lands. But they could not have foreseen how eager Western leaders would be to serve as their enablers. ... As the more cynical Islamic imperialists occasionally reflected, how quickly the supposed defenders of liberal, pluralist, Western values came to sound as if they were competing to be Islam's lead prison *bleep*.

Among them is the so-called leader of the free world, who stood up before the world at the United Nations and, in service of his Administration's lies over Benghazi, shamefully told the assembled leaders:

The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam.

Mission accomplished - at least in Paris. As I wrote two years ago:

The more that U.S. government officials talk about the so-called film "Innocence Of Muslims" (which is actually merely a YouTube trailer) the more they confirm the mob's belief that works of "art" are the proper responsibility of government. Obama and Clinton are currently starring as the Siskel & Ebert of Pakistani TV, giving two thumbs-down to "Innocence Of Muslims" in hopes that it will dissuade local movie-goers from giving two heads-off to consular officials. "The United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video," says Hillary Clinton. "We absolutely reject its content, and message." "We reject the efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others," adds Barack Obama. There follows the official State Department seal of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad...

Obama and Clinton's two-on-the-aisle act cost $70,000 of taxpayers' money. That may not sound much in the 16 trillion-dollar sinkhole of Washington, but it's a pretty big ad buy in Islamabad, and an improper use of public monies... I fought a long battle for freedom of expression north of the border when the Canadian Islamic Congress attempted to criminalize my writing, and I'm proud to say I played a modest role in getting Parliament to strike down a shameful law and restore a semblance of free speech to a country that should never have lost it. So I know a little about how the Western world is shuffling into a psychological bondage of its own making, and it's no small thing when the First Amendment gets swallowed up by the vacuum of American foreign policy.

Charb, Cabu, Tignous, Georges Wolinski and the others who died today were braver men than the stunted eunuchs who dominate the west's political class. The loss of the freedom to make jokes is not a small one, which is why there is an entire section in my latest book called "Last Laughs". To modify Charb and Charlie Hebdo's recent cover, I'd rather die laughing than live in the cowed, craven serf state the malign alliance of totalitarian Islam and a cowardly western leadership is building for us.

http://www.steynonline.com/6739/id-rath ... n-my-knees

[maryjane48]

NOTHING TO SEE HERE....let the apologists do their usual spin routine....

i thought according to you , france is a bunch of leftist communists . what do you care?

[the truth]

sad, horrible event, this will only bring the people of france closer then ever before to solve there muslim extremism problem there,and that's a good thing, its just a matter of time imo that Canada gets hit also

[logicalview]

i thought according to you , france is a bunch of leftist communists . what do you care?

so that's your response to twelve people being gunned down, all because they practiced their right to free speech? What is your solution? Knuckle under and never say anything about religion ever again in the free press? Or what? I'm curious. Should free speech just be tossed out the window here?

[Glacier]

Language warning. http://i.imgur.com/n8ul40x.png

[johnp3]

Before we get all up on our high horse we should remember the christian churches were torturing, and sextually abusing native children for 50 years. Harpo had a commission but never released the details and the churches have never apoligised.

[the truth]

Before we get all up on our high horse we should remember the christian churches were torturing, and sextually abusing native children for 50 years. Harpo had a commission but never released the details and the churches have never apoligised.

ya and the church was doing the same thing 500 years before to other white communitys and there white children, long before they came to Canada-

[the truth]

Language warning. http://i.imgur.com/n8ul40x.png

all these people should be arrested and put in jail,if you want to support this kind of crap off you go to jail

[Captain Awesome]

all these people should be arrested and put in jail,if you want to support this kind of crap off you go to jail

Why? They're exercising their freedom of speech, just like journalists did.

[the truth]

YA hate speech

[Captain Awesome]

As soon as you start saying what can be said under freedom of speech and what can't, you don't have freedom of speech.