Terrorist attacks in Brussels today

[FullLipsDotNose]

Thats touching and I feel the same way. It's funny though, because our own US press is attacking him for being on a "holiday" and having fun at baseball games with dictators and not flying immediately to Brussels to give speeches.

I'm on a phone and can not see who is signed on. Has anyone heard from Daryll? I don't know if she lives in Brussels or not, but she's in Belgium and have been thinking of her.

She lives in Bruggy, I think. I talked to her yesterday, she had a house-warming party and needed a sleep

 

[barbee0715]

She lives in Bruggy, I think. I talked to her yesterday, she had a house-warming party and needed a sleep

Thank you!

 

[ILoveHIStory]

Brussels vigil-goers sing Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal the World’

<iframe width="620" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_hiKXLkqX7Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[LindavG]

Est Europa nunc unita
Et unita maneat
Una in diversitate
Pacem mundi augeat
Semper regnant in Europa
Fides et iustitia
Et libertas populorum
In maiore patria
Cives, floreat Europa!
Opus magnum vocat vos
Stellae signa sunt in caelo
Aureae quae iungant nos

 

[LindavG]

Another tragedy.. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.

^I thought this was touching. Seeing so many people come together trying to send out a message of love and unison does give some hope, although it's of little consolation..

That is wonderful

 

[Antwort]

Est Europa nunc unita
Et unita maneat
Una in diversitate
Pacem mundi augeat
Semper regnant in Europa
Fides et iustitia
Et libertas populorum
In maiore patria
Cives, floreat Europa!
Opus magnum vocat vos
Stellae signa sunt in caelo
Aureae quae iungant nos

Thank you so much for posting this - most proper. The videos of people holding hands while singing Heal the world are truly beautiful. As another song goes "empty words are not enough", so I'll refrain from sending out any such, but I will say just how special and beautiful Brussels is for me, having dear friends and good acquaintances there.

I firmly believe such serious issues are worthy of far more discussion than Twitter outrage or online compassion. The complexity of these matters deserves proper attention, not just 140 characters or morbid coverage. There is great insecurity and uncertainty, but the only thing certain from my perspective is that Europe cannot possibly sucombe to the fear and barbarity these individuals call to through such heinous crimes.

Yesterday, while listening to the radio I was hearing what I thought was a completely misguided opinion - how the EU should tone down its insistence on following due process, rule of law and human rights while investigating terrorism suspects. Renouncing such practices would mean that we stop being Europeans and that cannot happen. The situation is frightful and complicated, but hopefully those in charge will realize that nationalism, populist speeches and austere policies cannot be true and valid solutions to the many crises which engulf Europe.

 

[LindavG]

Yesterday, while listening to the radio I was hearing what I thought was a completely misguided opinion - how the EU should tone down its insistence on following due process, rule of law and human rights while investigating terrorism suspects. Renouncing such practices would mean that we stop being Europeans and that cannot happen. The situation is frightful and complicated, but hopefully those in charge will realize that nationalism, populist speeches and austere policies cannot be true and valid solutions to the many crises which engulf Europe.

Like I said earlier, this is exactly what the terrorists want to happen. They have said this over and over again. They want us to live in fear, become distrusting of one another, take away the rights and freedoms that distinguish us from them, and marginalise European Muslims so they are easier to recruit for their terrorist purposes. While it's understandable that people feel angry and desperate in the face of these tragedies, it's hard for me not to view people who push for such draconian measures as traitors to European and Western values. Besides, if a handful of attacks can lead to an entire Continent throwing all its principles overboard, what is stopping terrorists from doing more? It provides a huge incentive for them.

That said, there are some areas where Europe does need to become tougher, more professional and more balanced in its approach to combat terrorism vs. protecting civil rights. Just to give a few examples: Germany has notoriously strict privacy laws which make it difficult to discover and monitor suspicious behaviour. In Belgium, law enforcement is not permitted to carry out searches - even with court orders - on residences between 21:00 and 05:00 unless a crime is in progress or in case of fire. There are legal restrictions on sharing information about European nationals with countries outside the EU, like the US. In most European countries it's illegal to gather government statistics related to ethnicity or religion (which means we have no official data on how many Muslims are involved in specific types of crimes). Most European countries also have rather broad hate speech laws, which risk being abused by Muslims who consider any criticism of Islam hate speech or far-right wingers who use it as proof that their views are being censored. Many of these civil protections were established after WWII for obvious reasons but have now become untenable. I am a strong believer in open borders within Europe - in fact I consider freedom of movement as important a human right as freedom of speech or freedom of religion - but it's also clear to me that we need a much stronger external border and much better cooperation between the different national intelligence agencies to make this work responsibly. The Schengen Area is really not that big, not even half the size of the US, so this shouldn't be an insurmountable task. But as it is we are woefully inadequate.