I've typed and re-typed several responses to this, Godfrey. I think I'll send this one, regarding your question about whether this violence will ever stop.
These sorts of horrific events cause a lot of soul - searching and looking for answers. Unfortunately, in these modern times, these contemplations occur with dismal frequency. I'm going to preface what I say by stating that ~apparently~ we live in one of the least violent times in the history of the world. It sure doesn't feel that way, but statistics indicate that. Small consolation to the victims in Paris or Tel Aviv or Baghdad, I know... Cheap, easily - obtained weapons. Combatants who have nothing to lose and are more than prepared to kill themselves for their cause. Very heavily armed, militarized nation-states. All of this and more almost ensure that these events will continue to occur. Add to that groups who feel that they've been oppressed for decades or centuries and the mix is lethal. And of course what's going on in the Middle East and how The West is handling it increase the inevitability that the violence will spill over into Europe and North America. Ironic that Hollande screams that the Friday the 13th attacks were "an act of war" when in fact France is engaging in warlike behaviour in Iraq. Over 17,000 civilians died in Iraq last year. At least 1,700 died as a result of International Coalition or Iraqi Air Force air strikes. Another 10,000 died from unidentified combatants. Is it any wonder ISIS is leaving "calling cards" on home soil of those they see as combatants in their homeland? I'm neither condoning nor justifying these heinous atrocities, but they're hardly surprising. Wars are going on all over the world. Innocent civilians are dying daily (50 of them in Iraq on Friday, for instance). We, insulated in the comfort of the affluent West, don't bat an eyelash. We don't even notice. But when the violence hits "our" shores it's the end of the world. These things are going to keep happening. The change required to stop them will never happen (see above re: heavily armed nation-states - that includes the militarization of police forces). Even if radical change does occur, these events might continue. Maybe it's just human nature. Combined with cheap weapons. But we're living in the least violent time in human history... Regards, frank On November 14, 2015 5:29:15 PM EST, Godfrey DiGiorgi <godd...@me.com> wrote: >Indeed. > >I think of this with the same feelings of sadness, outrage, and horror >that comes to mind when I hear of trouble in and near Tel Aviv, >worrying for Boris and his family. > >Can we not stop these atrocities? A century of senseless violence and >horror behind us... Is there another one to come? What will it take to >put an end to it all? > >I grieve. > >G > >> On Nov 14, 2015, at 1:36 PM, Brian Walters <supera1...@fastmail.fm> >wrote: >> >> Mike Johnston's piece today is quite simple and eloquent, I thought: >> >> >http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2015/11/to-our-friends.html >> >>> On Sun, Nov 15, 2015, at 02:01 AM, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: >>> >http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/gateway/france/fr_1x._V288659243_.png -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -- Henri Cartier-Bresson Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
