Rob that is not really what pisses them off because (a) there is plenty of international coverage if people actually look for it and (b) its self righteous faux out rage that is simply trending. If it weren't trending people wouldn't have said shit.

Further some of the comments have been so tactless and insensitive it makes even me sick. Indeed its counter productive to advocacy and in particular seems like the most mean spirited hypocrisy like, "oh Paris you don't get our sympathy or condolences because we want to worry about other war zones that frankly last week we didn't give two shits about."

I do follow international news, there have been attacks in Beruit and Nigeria before last week, no trending no hash tags no faux outrage people didn't give a shit. That is the irony of it, Paris being so close to home grabbed their attention.

If people wanted to sincerely advocate about Nigeria or Beruit they would be saying things like they are in solidarity against ALL terrorism and making connections between Paris and the other attacks, NOT making it some kind of either or pissing contest for who deserves our attention. Indeed many good and sincere people have been doing just that.

Personally see the #Pray4... (other than Paris) movement as being just as crass and mean spirited as the #AllLives crowd

One minor yet obvious difference......Paris is a City that has been "glamorized and fantasized" in hundreds of movies over the years. For many, Paris is their "dream" vacation or the place of their Honeymoon. There must be thousands (heck, millions) of Americans who have framed pictures and artwork of the Eiffel Tower in their homes......ornaments on their Christmas trees.



People feel like they have a connection to Paris and can probably point to it on a map......not so sure about locations like, Beirut or Lebanon???

Beruit used to be a beautiful city too...

terrorism is terrible but there are much worse problems

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/...errorists.html

http://gawker.com/dumb-hicks-are-ame...eat-1743373893

^agreed. Agreed all over. 100%. The sickest thing is that, for whatever reason stupid republican (X) says indescribably stupid thing, there's always a host of constituents who just bob their heads and agree!!! This is not just about ignorant and/or downright evil politicians, it's also about blind, deaf and exponentially dumb American voters. Significant portions of the electorate, who agree with whatever dumbass thing their favorite hatemongering public official says.

About Paris: I'm not ready to talk about this yet. I work in a newsroom these days, so it's a major part of my professional life. I'm not ready willing or eager to bring that shit into my personal life.

One thing I do know: The French have a history of not putting up with bullshit. Of not allowing themselves to be bullied by any governmental force. Of thinking freely in a genuine way, as opposed to Americans. If anyone is going to respond appropriately, I trust the French to do so. And for the record I'm talking about the civilians, not the military.

i agree with suchfriends

rich white people love to start finger painting peace symbols and fuckwittedly hashtagging and posturing but this paris thing REALLY scared them because

ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE LIKE US WHO JUST WANNA ENJOY OURSELVES!

hairpiece here lost his usual smug british composure

the reaction out of euro so far has been rage and war lust. the head of the church of england confessed he almost lost his faith. the fact these attacks were coordinated and struck a concert venue and a sports stadium terrified people because their imaginary hedonistic refuges were lost.

we are in new territory here. it's a 3rd world war centred in iraq with all the major powers involved in a complex resource plundering mission which has produced a horrific suicidal death cult barbarism amongst people who have seen capitalism threaten to plunge them into 3rd world conditions or who already were 3rd worlders.

^ You know you're wrong about just about everything, don't you?

i didnt before but i definitely suspect i am now after the ominous hints contained in your response

+1. NPR isn't nearly as good as it used to be they have given Boko Harem atrocities and other terrorist acts against "nonwhites" plenty of coverage.

What fucking trash. Not only trashy but bigoted as well. So Paris is comprised of rich white people who want to drink wine and eat cheese all day? Hardly. That's like saying in response to drug cartels murdering people in Mexico "well they deserve it because they're all bandits anyway". Or dismissing sectarian violence in Ireland with "who cares they're all drunks". It's not a matter of ranking victims of terrorism based on leftist chic. The correct response is to abhor ALL acts of terrorism. But it's all just trolling to you. Don't you have anything better to do?

if what i said implied all that to you, you are closer to bigotry than me. also, the people who insist that all bigotry and crime has equal effect are the rich white people who suffer the least of it. the violence in paris, london and the usa has barely been a fraction of what it has in the middle east and claiming otherwise is bullshit

Paris does not look like this.






Everyone can still go to the Apple store and the market and the cafe and enjoy their fabulous cheeses....and can go to a memorial gathering without expecting drone strikes

Again, how does that make what happened in Paris any less a tragedy? Its not a fucking pissing contest, its the loss of human lives and wherever such occurs and in whatever circumstances is ALWAYS and universally a tragedy worth mourning

And by the way folks still going to Starbucks and Apple store in Damascus too.. war is always insane like that
http://www.worldcrunch.com/mobile/#a:20136

Disagree, hippy. If all the white supremacist groups of the world united to rumble with all the radicalized terror groups until the bloody pile of stupidity blocked the sun, I would fail to see any tragedy.

It'd be tragedy even then. Indeed hate groups that use violence WANT you to hate them in return, its their tactic. They WANT retaliatory violence, its their game.

Yeah, why is it like this? I'm fairly certain we're all level headed and mature enough to have a discussion about an event with this level of global significance without taking shots at one another.

Unless someone wants to take the stance that what happened in Paris was somehow positive/overdue/essential, I see no reason for animosity. This thread should serve as a place where we can process our thoughts in relative safety. Because I'll tell you-- talking about this issue in the "real world" is a bit of a dangerous game. You've gotta wear your public outrage face and not dig too deeply into the how & why questions, because you're likely to piss people off.

Can't we all just... not be assholes?

Because our US collective hivemind DOES NOT EVER MOURN the brown folks. we let hundreds of thousands die in Sierra Leone without a peep from the technocracy. activists and others tried sand tried to make people see the horror there but no one in power or in media gave a flying fuck, and you know why.