# Breaking news: terrorists attack French publisher, 11 dead. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 7, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213 "2015-01-07T12:32:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/21 "2015-01-07T15:30:54Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Apparently police reacted pretty quickly to the shooting in that several policemen arrived at the scene immediately - then left, since they were unarmed. Unarmed police is such a great concept. Just a WAG but if they were unarmed they may have been traffic cops. I’m not aware of Parisian gendarmes being unarmed as a rule. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/22 "2015-01-07T15:31:29Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Apparently police reacted pretty quickly to the shooting in that several policemen arrived at the scene immediately - then left, since they were unarmed. Unarmed police is such a great concept. Oh goodie. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/23 "2015-01-07T15:32:45Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > One thing comforts me (if I can use that particular word) in this horrible tragedy – “Charlie Hebdo” is not going to change its editorial line one iota after this. I’m not sure the publication will even continue to exist. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/24 "2015-01-07T15:42:56Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > Just a WAG but if they were unarmed they may have been traffic cops. I’m not aware of Parisian gendarmes being unarmed as a rule. The “National Police” are armed. The “Municipal Police” - that is, local policemen, aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/25 "2015-01-07T15:43:59Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Apparently police reacted pretty quickly to the shooting in that several policemen arrived at the scene immediately - then left, since they were unarmed. Unarmed police is such a great concept. Cite? French police is armed. > [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > Just a WAG but if they were unarmed they may have been traffic cops. Possibly. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/26 "2015-01-07T15:45:51Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Cite? French police is armed. Multiple news sources. Here’s one: > **[Manhunt after deadly attack on Paris newspaper](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlie-hebdo-french-satirical-magazine-paris-office-attack-leaves-casualties/)** > > 3 gunmen on the loose after attack on office of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly paper which has a history of angering Muslim hardliners A reporter for Britain’s Telegraph newspaper in Paris told Sky News that the first two officers to arrive, who were apparently unarmed, fled after seeing gunmen armed with automatic weapons and possibly a grenade launcher. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/27 "2015-01-07T15:50:29Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Apparently police reacted pretty quickly to the shooting in that several policemen arrived at the scene immediately - then left, since they were unarmed. Unarmed police is such a great concept. There are trade-offs. This is obviously one of the downsides of unarmed police. But there are also downsides to armed police. I’m not sure which is better, and it may depend on local factors. Statistically, IIRC, France and Paris are very safe places compared to, say, the US and DC. Maybe the downsides to armed police are worth it here, but they might not be worth it there. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/28 "2015-01-07T15:50:40Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Apparently police reacted pretty quickly to the shooting in that several policemen arrived at the scene immediately - then left, since they were unarmed. Unarmed police is such a great concept. There are at least two police forces in Paris: Municipal, who may or may not carry sidearms (it depends on local city policy), and National, who do carry arms. Occasions where Municipal police might need to discharge a firearm in the course of their duties are frankly very rare (although admittedly it might have made a difference here, if the quoted bit is true). I have a good friend who lives near the location of the shootings. Guess I’ll be checking in on her. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/29 "2015-01-07T15:53:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I’m not sure the publication will even continue to exist. I only have one precedent about this – in the 1970s the Spanish satirical magazine “El Papus” got their Barcelona headquarters thoroughly bombed by terrorists intent on obliterating it. Yet the magazine survived and kept being published (later it had to fold for economic reasons). That bomb attack did not deter them. I am convinced that “Charlie Hebdo” will go on and will not change its line. They are many things… One of them is, in my opinion, brave. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/30 "2015-01-07T15:57:53Z")
There was an editorial meeting going on at the time. With some big names in attendance. That suggests that they had some inside help or at least information. ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/31 "2015-01-07T16:00:30Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > The “National Police” are armed. The “Municipal Police” - that is, local policemen, aren’t. It sounds like the unarmed [Municipal Police](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_Police_%28France%29) are responsible for things like traffic violations, public drunkenness, and the like. The [National Police](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Police_%28France%29) are armed and would be the sort of people you want around in the event of a mass shooting. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/32 "2015-01-07T16:11:42Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Apparently police reacted pretty quickly to the shooting in that several policemen arrived at the scene immediately - then left, since they were unarmed. Unarmed police is such a great concept. _\_ ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/33 "2015-01-07T16:17:27Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > You know, I think I’ve finally put my finger on the main problem of a certain type of fundamentalist of any religion. > > They’ve got no sense of humour at all. And somewhere in the dim recesses of their minds, they’ve realized that they’re dour, grim people who will never be invited to the party, and so they want revenge on everyone who does have a sense of humour. > > They want a world where no one laughs, and they’ll kill to get it. > [NB: This theory falls under the category of “It makes about as much sense as anything else I’ve heard”, and may or may not bear any resemblance to the truth.] Made me think of the line by medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen, “Only the devil in his envy laughed, for there is no work of God that remained unspoiled.” And the solution to the mystery in Umberto Eco’s **The Name of the Rose** : > [@](#): > > “One monk Jorge argues that laughter is the principle of all evil…Jorge’s position is based on his belief that he knows what is true. Think about it for a second. In his universe, there are only two kinds of statements. The first are statements which are true. They are either descriptions of God’s mercy and power or prayers to God. To laugh at these is to imagine that God’s sovereignty is funny. The second set of statements are statements that attack God or condemn him or ignore him. These again should not spark laughter but rage and denounciation. Jorge’s position is set out from a position of power: Christianity is, and to laugh is to say that it is not. It is to disturb the single truth and single rule of God.” > > –from [http://gracchii.blogspot.com/2011/02/laughter-in-name-of-rose.html](http://gracchii.blogspot.com/2011/02/laughter-in-name-of-rose.html) Substitute “Christianity” for any other fundamentalist belief and it remains true in the eyes of the fundamentalist believer. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/34 "2015-01-07T16:21:16Z")
Fucking weasely, murdering shits. This is why _more_ ridicule of their Islam is required. Keep doing it until they realise they are going to have to accept it. That it won’t stop. I like\*\* Morgyn’s\*\* comment > [@](#): > > They want a world where no one laughs, and they’ll kill to get it. I agree and that should only force us to ridicule them and their beliefs even more because any belief system that compels you to take such actions is a belief system that deserves contempt and ridicule. Let my taxes be spent on providing whatever protection is needed for these sort of outlets to ply their trade. ETA: and **Gallows Fodder** gets it spot on as well. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/35 "2015-01-07T16:24:52Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I kind of like this idea, though I’d worry that it could lead to the radicalization of some Muslims that wouldn’t otherwise support violence. Perhaps if the satire was very carefully crafted (no nude Mohammed cartoons, for example) such that only the nuts would take offense, it could work. > > But I doubt most publications are close to brave enough to do this. If that’s all it takes to radicalize Muslims, then they will be radicalized anyway at some point. Someone somewhere will burn a Koran, or make a movie that denigrates the prophet. We can’t stop it, we can’t even make it illegal, and we shouldn’t even try. In a country where public funding goes to Jesus in a jar of piss, we can do a nude Mohammed and it should be funded by the federal government to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/36 "2015-01-07T16:25:44Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > _\_ Where are all the inquisitive toddlers when you need them? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/37 "2015-01-07T16:35:59Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Apparently police reacted pretty quickly to the shooting in that several policemen arrived at the scene immediately - then left, since they were unarmed. Unarmed police is such a great concept. Hey wow, fuck off with your your shitty partisanship, mkay? France gets [a fraction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate) of the gun deaths we have in the US. If our police and citizens were unarmed, we’d definitely save thousands of lives a year. Unarmed police is one sign that the police aren’t there to kill you, it would do a lot to calm the racial tensions here where every other weeks it seems some black guy is being killed. You’d be safer unarmed, and so would your neighbors ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/38 "2015-01-07T16:43:04Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Oh, apparently. Shocker. Yeah, could’ve been anyone. > > The only proper way to respond to this is for every sort of publication in the world - TV, newspapers, magazines, etc. to include some sort of satirical piece on Islam. Band together and show those fuckers that we’re together on this issue. And every fucking time they retaliate, do it for 10 times as long. That’s one of the stupidest ideas I"ve every heard. Unless, that is, you want to radicalize the muslims who don’t automatically think the West is aligned against them. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/39 "2015-01-07T16:46:43Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That’s one of the stupidest ideas I"ve every heard. Unless, that is, you want to radicalize the muslims who don’t automatically think the West is aligned against them. So what would be the alternative? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213/40 "2015-01-07T16:48:22Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Hey wow, fuck off with your your shitty partisanship, mkay? Oh, it is soooo “partisan” to point out that policemen showed up at the scene, saw armed men and ran away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-french-publisher-11-dead/709213.md?page=3)