One police officer was killed and another seriously wounded in a Paris terrorist attack today. The attacker purposely targeted police. ISIS Claimed responsibility for the Champs-Elysees attack.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Paris, France that left a police officer dead along the Champs-Elysees after an attacker with an automatic weapon ambushed a police vehicle.
Amaq, the news agency for ISIS, claimed the attack on the famous Parisian promenade, according to SITE Intel Group, which monitors terrorist organizations.
“Through ‘Amaq, #ISIS claimed the attack on French police on Champs-Élysées in #Paris #France, identified attacker as Abu Yusuf al-Beljiki,” wrote SITE Intel Group on Twitter. A source told CNN the attacker was known to authorities for “radical Islamist activities.”
The gunman was killed at the scene. According to CNN, “a man emerged from the car and opened fire on the (police_ van with an ‘automatic weapon,’ killing one officer instantly” and the suspect “then ran away, managing to shoot and wound two other policemen. Other policemen engaged and shot and killed the attacker.”
Fillon Calls For Election Suspension
USNews reports France’s Fillon Calls for Election Campaign to Be Suspended After Paris Shooting.
French conservative politician Francois Fillon, a candidate in France’s presidential election, said on Thursday that campaigning should be suspended following the shooting in Paris in which a police officer was killed, and two others were wounded.
A first round of voting is scheduled to be held on Sunday in the election followed by a runoff vote on May 7 between the two leading candidates.
Election Impact?
There is no reason the election should be suspended but there is a reason Fillon wants a suspension.
Fillon is gaining ground in recent polls but he is still out of the money for a second round runoff.
The polls are already too close to call and this could change things.
If the latest polls are to be believed, Emanuel Macron is now flying high with support for Marine Le Pen down to 21%, Francois Fillon at 20%, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon at 19%.
Fillon and Macron appear to be gaining votes at the expense of Le Pen, assuming, of course, you place any faith in the polls. But even if you do place faith in the polls, this attack could change things.
Any final two pairing is still possible.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
In summary, there are four candidates with about 20% of the vote if the polls are to be believed.
None of these four have any ideas for solving France’s growing list of problems — all four policy platforms boil down to “I will steal from the other’s more than I steal from you”.
In the short term, its great to loot the other guy’s bank account first. But when he runs out of stuff to steal, you now must contend with a greedy corrupt government (as now), PLUS you have an angry neighbor with nothing left to lose. Instability now, PLUS greater instability later.
The clear and obvious winner of the French election is the UK.
No honor among government thieves.
Instability is the goal. Out of the chaos comes order… their order. Look at as a self-promotion scheme.
There was a guy in Germany in the 1930s that had the exact same thoughts… Adolf something.
Those who do not learn from history (ahem EUROPE), end up repeating it.
“Those who do not learn from history (ahem EUROPE), end up repeating it.”
Even knowing history, it is repeated, as it always benefits someone to repeat it. Everyone knew why Glass Steagall was created, yet it was dismantled anyway.
Bill Clinton selling papal indulgences to Sandy Weill… another example of not learning from history
Provided there was just one interpretation of history. The one that is being taught at school is not necessarily the only one.
Not so sure UK will benefit at all but one suspect looks to have come in from Belgium. No border checks etc and Verhofstadt was the PM in the past. Does he have any responsibility for allowing hot beds of radicalism to rise in Belgium/Brussels?
This won’t stop no matter who wins the election. More cockroaches than the French will be able to handle and coming in from abroad too.
EU has no response, French unable to stop it, Macron says get used to it.
Suspect you’re right. Even if Le pen loses no this time, this madness will continue unabated. Europe will eventually wake up, but likely too late to save herself.
Not so sure UK will benefit at all but one suspect looks to have come in from Belgium. No border checks etc and Verhofstadt was the PM in the past. Does he have any responsibility for allowing hot beds of radicalism to rise in Belgium/Brussels?
This won’t stop no matter who wins the election. More cockroaches than th1e French will be able to handle and coming in from abroad too.
EU has no response, French unable to stop it, Macron says get used to it.
Sorry, it was Valls who said get used to it, not Macron.
Agree – Schengen is not helping any of this.
Marcron and his ilk sound more and more hollow each day:
Emmanuel Macron, the popular independent candidate vying for the presidency, was quick to argue against any fear-mongering.
“We must not yield to fear today,” he said. “This is what our assailants are waiting for, and it’s their trap.”
“…..and it’s their trap.”
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are the French supposed to just wander around like sheep, waiting for someone to murder them?
Business (by extrapolation jobs and economic opportunity) needs a stable environment. Why would anyone invest in a “factory” when the two most likely scenarios are (1) the government will take it; (2) terrorists / rebel groups will blow it apart ??
Quoting @fish — “This won’t stop no matter who wins the election. More cockroaches than th1e French will be able to handle and coming in from abroad too. EU has no response, French unable to stop it, Macron says get used to it.”
The British don’t have to be able to outrun the angry bear, they just have to outrun the continent under the EU’s mismanagement.
No matter which of these four leading liars “wins” the French election, none of them offer stability that will attract business, jobs and economic well-being. In all four cases, a business would be better off finding for a more stable environment.
Existing business may or may not stay in place in France (e.g. be nationalized or blown up) — but economic growth is going to happen somewhere else. I agree with @fish that this will be the outcome regardless of which of the four leading candidates “win”
Or your staff could kidnap you and hold you ransom
The elections will be postponed until such time the terrorist attacks subside.
Credible sources say this is scheduled to happen around the 12th of never.
The religion of peace STRIKES AGAIN!
“Fillon Calls For Election Suspension”
The French would have to be terrible wimps to let their election be postponed by one or two terrorists. And it would invite more terrorism whenever there’s an election. Won’t happen.
Europe is dead but just doesn’t know it yet.
Man aggrandizes what nature gives him and has thus aggrandized the savagery of nature with the savagery of civilization.
Most people accept that as an improvement, though.
In the grand scheme of things this was not a cataclysmic event. Not like a semi-trailer mowing down dozens of innocent pedestrians. Calling for an election suspension is pure silliness. A political & strategic move on part of Fillion that should be disregarded. It’s a shame that he would exploit the cop’s life for his political benefit. Hopefully he will lose votes for his effort.
Even if Le Pen is elected – will she pull a Trump on us? No one is believable anymore. It’s all one big lie. I’ve been duped for the last time. I doubt that I’ll ever vote again.
I think Trump assumed (making an -ss out of you and me) that government spending and the underlying tax base that supports said spending were more or less in line… because that is how things were in the past.
But the scammer and con-artist Obama destroyed Uncle Sam’s balance sheet. Debt more than doubled, while base spending levels are completely out of whack with what the tax base can support (never mind whether the rich/poor should pay more or less — the combined amount is too high).
Uncle Sam must slash spending just to be viable, and of course, every two bit hustler (aka Congress) thinks those cuts should come from the other guy.
The politics of dividing a growing pie was yester-year.
Now we have the politics of a pie where 120% of the growth has already been allocated to debt service and empty promises.
G20 politics (in the USA and in Europe and in Japan) is now about fighting over which promises get reneged upon first.
I haven’t heard anyone admit this, and Trump seems to have been unaware of the severity before arriving in DC. The folks in DC (both parties) remain in denial.
Bernie Sander’s national socialist party (which is shortened as “nazi” in German) seems to be gaining momentum. That is disturbing
No matter your intention, voting makes you complicit in what the person you voted for does. It means you qualify that which you dislike because you are focused on what you accept or would like. I have never voted, am rarely in a position to vote, and would not vote except on a direct policy decision, such as a referendum.
What is more, once you vote your judgement, thought, emotion, become bound up in the result of that vote, and that will affect your independence of thought and action.
There is nothing unpatriotic in not voting, it is what you actually do that counts, it is where and how you place your attention and contribution amongst your fellows that will uphold and strengthen the values you cherish, that will knit what we call a nation. We cannot expect others to do that for us, in fact it really is not possible for them to. Just your contribution online will have done more than many others even attempt, for example. You know how hard it can be to find some sense or reason, some proper sentiment, in the world around, so sure you help keep some afloat.
G20 governments have spent 75 years racking up debts — both the literal sovereign debt kind and the unfunded welfare promises kind. Those promises cannot be kept, no matter who is in office. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
No matter who you vote for (or if you decide not to vote) — you and your neighbors are demanding to have your cake and eat it and use it as collateral for a loan. No intelligent person is going to take that job. You will always be forced to chose between compromised (and dumb) candidates unless and until you (and your neighbors) fix your expectations.
My USA high school civics teacher used to say: If you don’t vote, you forfeit your right to complain. I usually vote in the major elections, though sometimes my vote is not counted by the “state” because it is not for what California calls “a state approved candidate.” So often my vote for major candidates is the equivalent of not voting. Not sure what my high school civics teacher would have thought about it, but I think she would have been critical of California’s practice of using the law/rules for voiding votes, i.e. disenfranchisement. No doubt to prevent challenges to the state’s majority party.
You make perfect sense, as usual, Joel.
Even though I’m disappointed with Trump, if I had it to do all over again I would still fill out my ballot with a check mark next to his name – simply by virtue of the fact that his opponent was a complete looney-toon. My vote was a defensive vote. And there is nothing wrong with that. With Trump there was hope. Hillary only offered guaranteed despair.
Until lying politicians are forced to face perjury-like charges for breaking promises and breaching a contract with the people (after all, we give them our money and our votes in return for those promises) and do time in jail for their lies, nothing will change.
And since the liars are the ones who make the laws there really is no hope for change.
In the meantime let’s enjoy the sunshine and go fishing. F ’em.
A protest vote makes some sense, but I don’t agree with being threatened into voting. Also I don’t see why I should pass the world around me contractually to someone for four years , plus I’ll say what I think whether I vote or not, and if it is from a position of not voting or having any expectation then it is going to be less of complaining but more of an assertion of what I find with no sense of being in any way responsible for its existence that way. Call me cynical but the average person seems to get sold all the responsibility to pay someone to govern them, and I don’t need that.
Knowing how money is created, I don’t buy the ‘it is future unpayable debt’ story. Basically money is printed to buy out the now, the debt created is a piece of paper used to fool the electorate and stir up blame vs. righteous when in reality the money has already been used.
Sorry, I tried believing and found nothing there but BS, doesn’t stop me holding a preference of candidate etc., but the F. I am going to feel more bound by it than the candidate is to his own words.
Crysangle, very, very well said! You are obviously a gentleman possessed of formidable intellectual acumen and uncompromising integrity, both traits eminently worthy of enormous respect. My hat is off to you, sir!
We are but children at the mercy of the tides, unless we anchor ourselves with honesty and extend ourselves to others, transparent in our own meaning, how could we ever be saved ?
Distortion and misinterpretation are transient evolution , lies frame the truth and pay for the vanity of seeking their own reflection in it, certainty is infinitely longer than confusion.
Myself? I am not possessive and so I suppose it is my creator that is worthy of any praise, though I will humbly take any blame that is due.
Ultimately there is no duality though, we are all part of a living creation that far exceeds our intellectual abilities, but whose essence threads its way through to the most small and is known fully without the need of effort.
But don’t take my word for it 😉
And the media is busy headlining with: ‘Fears attack could influence election’ … that would hardly be my first though if I was running away from someone with an AK47 on the champs-elysees.
Talk about not seeing the wood for the trees…
Is Europe imploding? Here is a very interesting article about Europe’s share of World GDP with charts from 1900 till present.
The Imploding G7, If the European Union Were a Business, Its Investors Would Put It up for Sale.
http://koenraadt.info/essays/the-imploding-g7.html
I fear that the French have left the brie out in the hot sun too long for it to be of any nutritional value. But that is the state of the Fifth Republic. The coming election will change many things within France but will not change what needs to be changed. Even if France was to leave the EU and go back the the Franc it is almost too little to late. The French have become legends in their own minds and that is the pity of it. Out of all the candidates Le Pen offers to only real chance of shaking France out of her lethargy. The others, not so much. Sixty years of socialism have cost a people more than they know.
Hi Mish
I have been reading your blog for years and I find it fantastic ! Thanks. First time I am posting a comment, just to let you know there is some misunderstanding here (maybe in the translation): Fillin called for a suspension of the Campaign, not a suspension of the Election itself.
Eric. Reader form France
Thanks
Mish
Hey man, some dude died somewhere! We should suspend the world!