Paris

Went to bed with the news reporting 40 killed in Paris, and a concert hall of hostages taken. Woke up to 120 reported killed, and probably more will surface. So far, our friends in Paris have checked in as all on. Such a sad day for Paris.

On our last trip to Paris, we stayed in the neighborhood where many of the attacks were carried out. It is seen as a wealthier, trendier, younger part of Paris, and one of the massacres took place at a concert hall playing Eagles of Death Metal, an American indie country rock band.

I hope Paris doesn't change. I hope they won't change in the way that the US changed post 9/11. I hope that they tighten border controls into Europe, figure out where the fucking guns came from. And we all have to do something about the hellhole of war, misery, extremism, and medieval darkness that is growing out of Syria.

You can get to Stuttgart from Paris, by direct rail, in about three and a half hours. There are no border checks, no ID checks, no metal detectors, no stupid questions about strangers giving you packages. You walk off the street into Gare d'Est, buy a ticket at a kiosk and hop on the train, and you hop off in the middle of Stuttgart.

But I don't think Stuttgart will ever be a target. It's a big city but not symbolically a big city. The military base at Vaihingen could be a target, but since the military people don't come to the city much, I doubt anyone trying to hit then would strike the city. There are many immigrants here but there isn't the friction of Paris. The cohesive ideology of the city is to make a high quality product, save some money for a house, and take Fridays off to enjoy life. If Terrorists want to lash out against Germany, they're going to hit a city that most Americans have heard of.