Saturday, November 14, 2015

Terrible Friday the 13th in Paris--



Well, I am going to sleep.
The death toll is sure to mount as some of the wounded, 60 said to be severely wounded, may not pull through.
All governments and medical personnel and hospitals should do contingency planning for this sort of thing.
In Paris, the help and the troops came pretty fast, but still a lot of people can be shot in 15 minutes.
I was going to say that since 5? of the attackers blew themselves up with suicide belts, there may not be remains (of the attackers) for much identification.
But I expect some group will start to claim responsibility.
I must say that I found The Guardian live blog to be the fasted and best informed.
Let's just be calm and see what tomorrow brings.
If you are in France, consider donating blood.
best
kmk
11-14-2015

Friday the 13th Nov turned out to be TERRIBLE--
here from a live tweet from the Guardian:
The paramedics had arrived and were tending to people. We saw dead bodies and saw people – I saw a guy who had been shot in the stomach. It was horrendous. There was blood everywhere. And the one thing that struck me was about the blood in the movies and the blood in real life. In real life it is thick.
We took a circular stairs upstairs to the first floor of the cafe and up there were more witnesses and wounded people.

Paris terror attacks: eight attackers dead after killing at least 120 people – live updates
Latest coverage of the attacks across Paris that have left at least 120 people dead
gu.com/p/4e7zp/stw#bl…|By Claire Phipps
CNN: At least 149 people killed in Paris attacks - Story
At least 149 people were killed in attacks in Paris Friday night, according to CNN.
bit.ly/1SPqTkd|By Nikki Bowers


    Paris attacks: At least 153 killed in gunfire and blasts, French officials say @CNN
    At least 153 people were killed in shootings, a hostage situation and explosions in Paris and a nearby city late Friday, according to French officials.
    cnn.it/1lntS8r|By Steve Almasy, Pierre Meilhan and Jim Bittermann, CNN

    I am sorry if you are nauseated, shocked or repelled by these live updates from major news sources, but I feel it is my duty to update you, especially as most of my FB audience live inside Burma--
    If it gets overwhelming, you can just log off of your device and go do whatever, but I have to keep going.
    That's what I do in crisis situations and it never hurts to know what is happening.
    In a way it's become ingrained in me since 1988, and we only had radio then.
    Then there was 2007, then there was hurricanes Rita and Sandy, then there was 2008 and Nargis cyclone, and so on.
    And of course 9/11 in 2001, when we could see the Pentagon in flames from the rooftop of my building, and I had to sit with my neighbor whose stock broker boyfriend was not yet home, So I guess this is what I do.
    I don't believe it wrong to be vigilant.
    Long ago, in the 1990s there was a murder in my university building, and I was away visiting friends. I found out about it from watching TV.
    Always keep your wits about you, teach children and yourself and other adults to play dead if you cannot escape immediately--
Why do the French allow home-grown radicalization ??
Thank you for the.posts of what is happening or has happened in our vulnerable. world.
Great !
KMK:
I don't think people know if it is home grown or not yet--No one has yet claimed responsibility. What is certain is that European countries are more vulnerable as they are so close. I have not traveled internationally since 2010, but I do know from a lot of travel 2002-2010 that security in Amsterdam and Munich are very tight, even for those of us in transit. There is a lot of talk of French citizens who went to Middle East and came back. If you remember many young people have been recruited into the radical groups--these people had military training like ones in the Mumbai hotel attack. That book describes in great detail the combination of "religious indoctrination" and commando style training that is chilling. Well, try to be safe wherever you are.

Burmese riddle verses from The Atlantic 1958

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1958/02/some-burmese-riddle-verses/640460/