Paris Mayhem

I agree with Dick's cynicism about social media postings on this.

Being in the airline industry I have lots of friends and colleagues who have been to Paris and they all seem to be posting their same Eiffel Tower photo with the France flag overlay on their Facebook pages.

I get that people want to feel like they're doing something but strikes me as incredibly hollow.

I got in to a bit of an online ketfluffle when I suggested doing something tangible like donating to MSF or another group to try to make a sliver of difference.

I didn't see the outpouring for Russia when their plane was bombed and 227 Russians and Ukrainians were killed.

 

Since 1945, anyway.

 

Good thing he's not in the NFL. Goodell would fine his ass.

 

My cynicism is particularly acute here, as I attended my father-in-law's memorial service in a national cemetery yesterday. He was basically a Greatest Generationer (Korea), and though he was hardly a father or husband of the year candidate, the solemnity and seriousness of the ceremony was very moving. Whatever other faults eventually bubbled to the surface over the following six decades, no one can take that away from his legacy.

My generation? Particularly the well-heeled members of my generation? It posts photos of its tour of the Louvre and calls it a day.

There's a bit of stolen valor to it, to me. Our sons aren't going anywhere near this struggle. But we still want to draft off this. We still want a piece.

 

Or when about 40 were killed by a suicide bombing in Beirut on Thursday.

 

I didn't change my profile picture, but I made French Toast for breakfast today, so I've done my part. #HollowGesturesFixEverything

 

The Mizzou hunger striker is on it.

Jonathan L. Butler added 20 new photos.
Love conquers all. Love never fails. Love always wins.
‪#‎InSolidarityWithMizzou‬‪#‎PrayForKenya‬‪#‎PrayForParis‬‪#‎PrayForJapan‬‪#‎PrayForTheWorld‬‪#‎ConcernedStudent1950‬

 

I'd rather have people posting pictures of the Eiffel Tower then going on to Facebook to blame Obama.

At least one republican candidate has already called for Iran nuclear agreement to be dissolved because of the attack.

In an update: guardian reporting three people have been arrested at the Belgium border. All believed to have connections to attack.

 

This #PrayForKenya shit is enraging. My feed has been flooded with links to the terrorist attack that happened there... IN APRIL. People think it just happened.

 

I'm not changing my profile picture, but I'm not going to get upset if people do. I'm also not going to be upset if people express actual thoughts on the larger issues at play here. Whether I like it or not, I'm interested in what people have to say about significant world events. Like I said previously, I appreciate that we're talking and filling up pages. We all get sidetracked at times, but it's better than just ignoring things you'd rather not hear.

 

Today, we are all Fronch.