Absolutely to the above.  My 2 nieces have confirmed via Facebook they are fine.  I have asked them about their 2 brothers, and parents - their father is my elder brother.  They mostly live in Vitry in the southern suburbs of Paris.

reports on BBC news of landside Gatwick north terminal evacuated, EOD team on site. one man arrested.

nothing to say this was linked to the terrible events in Paris, may just be a coincidence.

when you see the clips on the news of the 'refugees' streaming into Europe, you can't help but notice the number of young single men among them, often appearing to be well organised and ready to take violent action against security forces.

how many of them have another agenda ?

Thanks to all.  This attack has been a big shock for us, even here at 30 kilometers fom Paris. My brother, living near the Place de la Republique said this morning that Paris is almost dead this night. This morning, nobody was in the streets, all shops closed, only military and police people moving everywhere... And a hard job to find its 'baguette' !
In a few hours, the sadness will be replaced by anger, and I hope the French state, but also the European community, will do something against these horrible people... 

Absolutely awful.  I won't comment on what I'd like to happen!!!!

The school I work at had a group of teachers and Year 12 & 13's in Paris for the weekend.  Thankfully they are all safe and back in the UK since this morning.

Quote from: Tank on November 14, 2015, 01:34:28 PM
Thankfully they are all safe and back in the UK since this morning.

Good news !

I really don't think it is appropriate to start trying to analyze how these sick individuals did it all and apportioning blame, this is for later dicussions!
My thoughts go out to all those who have been caught up in these horrific acts!

"JE SUIS FRANCE"

Please keep this thread on topic and not start political arguments (which are against forum rules) on refugess etc, so please, unless you wish to express your sympathies at this outrageous atrocity, please pass this thread by.

Apologies, CAZ

Guys,

I don't care about the politics, but I think we should keep this strictly on topic and forget the politics and attempting any comparisons.

Lets just keep our thoughts with the people of France, and stay strong as things are still developing both in France and even here in the UK (Potential weapons drop at Gatwick Airport)

Quote from: Caz on November 14, 2015, 02:58:40 PM
Please keep this thread on topic and not start political arguments (which are against forum rules) on refugess etc, so please, unless you wish to express your sympathies at this outrageous atrocity, please pass this thread by.

Caz isn't wrong, and to some extent there's something to be said about locking down any discussion at all, and simply asking people to "Thank You" a generic statement from the forum management.

But here's my thing. If all people do is say how much they feel bad about the people in France, it all amounts to nothing but pixels. Unless people think about the issues and act according to their consciences, nothing will ever change. It may be you want to welcome the refugees. It may be you think more military action in Syria and Iraq is required. It may be you want your politicians to stay out of foreign affairs and let other countries determine their own fates. But unless your belief turns into action, even if only at the ballot box, it's all empty and meaningless.

For me, having the freedom to express an opinion on these issues is precisely what the terrorists would like to eliminate. The question for anyone living in the UK (or any other liberal democracy) is to what extent that freedom to discuss politics should be exercised. It's the tension between having the right to offend someone and the desire not to offend them.

Cheers, NeMo

For what it's worth, life in Paris is continuing more or less as normal, although there were less people on the streets this afternoon compared with a normal Saturday. My daughter has gone to the female equivalent of a barmitzvah this evening.

Hope this episode will not be repeated for a long time.

Best regards,


Joe from Paris (but in Bangladesh until Tuesday)

You make a fair point NeMo and the place for expressing opinions on refugees and other political topics is with your local MP or other political forums rather than our model railway forum.

This thread is purely about expressing sympathies about the atrocity in France and the Moderation team are removing any posts that have political sentiments (and this includes quotes from other posts).

This is not about politics but humanity and compassion. Division and fear (including fear of the other in this case refugees etc) is exactly what terrorists want.

I've had very lucky escapes in the Manchester bombing by the IRA and was a tube or two behind one of the 7/7 bombs. It was quite conceivable that some of my friends could have been in the concert venue last night (fortunately they weren't). The night before I had been at an event with most of the band present. It all brings home to you the sheer senselessness of it.

Despite all that if we lose our sense of humanity, decency and solidarity then the terrorists really have won. I have nothing but sympat for all affected.

Hideous news. My condolences and best wishes to all those caught up in those dreadful events. Vive last France!

Words cannot describe the disgust I feel towards the people who planned this cowardly act.

My heart goes out to France and the people of Paris.

People say this should only be about humanity and compassion, the people commiting this and similar crimes have no compassion, and I do not consider them to be human.

Words fail me....