Saturday, November 14, 2015

Saddened For Paris

It almost seemed like 11 September 2001 again....  only in Paris, not spread around the northeastern United States.  Six coordinated attacks and suicide bombings, all within the metropolitan area of Paris, France.  The reports say there were eight people involved in the attacks; seven of them detonated bombs, doing away with themselves, while the eighth was killed by police gun fire.  At the latest count, there were 127 dead, and 300 patients in the hospital, 80 of them in critical condition.  That doesn't count the numbers of people who were treated and released, or those who never went in for treatment.  I'm certain there were thousands of bumps, bruises, scrapes, small cuts, and contusions that were never seen or tabulated by medical care-givers.  I feel deeply for the people of France, and particularly those of Paris. (As of 4 pm MST, the death toll was at 129, hospitalized at 352.)
   The country of France has always stood behind the United States - when we were British colonies, seeking our independence, and for the past 250 years.  We have supported France in their times of difficulty, also - the two World Wars.  The United States and France have been entwined since General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette; now through Presidents Obama and Hollande.
   This morning, Saturday, 14 November, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Parisian attack.  What shall we call this Islamic State entity?  ISIS, ISIL, or daesh?  Are we going back in time to the Moorish conquest or the time of the Crusades?  Can't all religions live in peace on our world?
  -  And just a silly thought, having written about the history of Friday the Thirteenth yesterday - was this attack planned for a Friday the Thirteenth?  A psychological strike on an "unlucky" day - a day on which a King and a Pope, based in Paris, brought down the richest and most important arm of the Church?  Just one of my odd thoughts.....
    And my thoughts, prayers, and a healing light are sent out to all of those who lost loved ones in the Paris attacks.

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