The story is still developing but the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been attacked, with a repoted 10 journalists and two officers killed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-in-Paris.html

They knew they would all be there in a meeting. These guys were pros and more like paid hitmen. Just so very sad. They keep showing actual footage on tv.

Travelers currently in Paris and its environs can expect visibly increased security just about everywhere. Some of the shooters are still at large as of last report, having hijacked a car near the Porte de Pantin station area, quite far from the killings.

Watching tv here in the US. Just horrible. Where exactly? 11th arrond is all I can find.

Charlie Hebdo is at 10 rue Nicolas Appert.

Read that this magazine was brought to court for racist remarks, yet they continued to publish. I always wonder if people truly understand the danger they may bring upon themselves, especially when dealing with fanatics very willing to murder. Of course there is no justification for the slaughter, but they kept publishing their satire even with France's anti-racist laws. Am I getting this right?

Do not confuse racism with satire. Charlie Hebdo makes fun of all religions all the time.

Kerouac - Yes, I know. But the magazine has been brought to court. So just wondering about that and about knowing you're a target.

"I always wonder if people truly understand the danger they may bring upon themselves, especially when dealing with fanatics very willing to murder. "

That is the whole point, isn't it, to make people afraid to express themselves and to silence those who might have unpopular points of view.

The magazine staff was fully aware of the dangers. They discussed it publicly and within their meetings constantly. Their offices had previously been firebombed by criminals against free speech. They had security, but apparently not enough.

If there are French laws that should have been applied in this case it was up to the French government to do so -- and I doubt it, because the satire of the magazine was not racist but a satire of fanatical religious belief.

There will always be those who react to deadly attacks on political satirists by commenting: "They should have kept their mouths shut and their heads down, knowing these people were murderers." But history proves over and over that attacks against comedians are only the first line of attack by those looking to forbid all opinion that questions the fundamentalist view.

These people died as martyrs to free expression. I hope every newspaper in France and elsewhere republishes on their covers the satirical jokes to demonstrate they will not be cowed. Those who would rather have a quieter job than satire can probably find work elsewhere. No one is forced to take the risks, and they are always real.

Is Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel SUBMISSION to blame?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...hed-today.html

I wonder what Marine Le Pen is thinking right now.


Thin

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...do-attack.html

It is sickening and frightening ..

So how many percent the arab population in France ?

"B@@@@@ds"

The French President has called this a terrorist attack. The gunmen were shouting "Allahu Akbar" as well as “We’ve avenged the honor of the prophet!"

Also the gunmen spoke French without any accent, according to Le Monde.

"Je suis Charlie"

Are you sure it was a terrorist attack and not just a case of 'workplace violence' as its called in the states?

Hmmm cmeyer54, multiple men, armed with military style assault rifles enter, shoot, kill 10, leave building, shout Allahu Akhabar as theyre leaving, shoot at police and kill 2 officers, hijack another car and disappear. Doesn't sound like a traditional "workplace violence" episode like here in the states to me.

Scarlett, you are far too bright to read a rag like the Daily Mail.

Thin

You have to take the daily mail with a grain of salt but they have breaking news and great pics before most US papers do. I will never forget them putting the pics up of the Boston bombers first before they had caught them.