This past weekend has been pretty terrible. But as we all know, the world must go on. One event that continued as planned was the democrat presidential debate.

During the debate, Bernie Sanders was asked if he still thought climate change was the biggest risk for national security. Sanders said yes and explained he also thinks that climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism.

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One thing is sure: the attacks on Charlie Hebdo raise many questions and uncertainty about how we will all move forward. 

Living in Paris, the last week has been tragic.

Wednesday’s attacks on the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo put the city into a state of mourning, many gathering in the evenings at Place de la République to pay their respects to the slain.

There are many things to say about last week’s events, many things to analyze. One thing is sure: there is no right answer, no right policy for moving forward. If we are to find an answer, it will only be a complex, multifaceted one. Because the Charlie Hebdo attacks are not the only attacks that took place in the last week. On the same day as the Charlie Hebdo attack, around four dozen were killed by a car bomb in Yemen. Several days later, an attack in Nigeria left so many dead the number was unknown. Amnesty has estimated that it is in the thousands.

Of course, we mourn things that we have a proximity to, be it geographical or personal. We can be in the place of an attack, or live close by. Or we can know someone in a place that has been attacked. We can have friends and family there. Or the place of attack can be a place that we have visited and loved, certainly the case when it comes to Paris.

For me, living in Paris meant watching a city work its way through trauma and fear. A tension hung over the city until the attackers were eventually killed last Friday. It was hard to concentrate on anything else.

When millions gathered in Paris on Sunday, I joined them. It was intended to be a march, but the mass of people made my own experience more of a “stand,” crammed into the street with thousands around me, so many that it was hard to move. People held signs, chanted and clapped. They sung “La Marseillaise.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if millions would come out for those slain Nigerians. Unfortunately, I think we all know the answer. For most of us our proximity, both geographical and personal, is nonexistent for the attacks that happen around the world on a regular basis, and so they don’t get the same reaction, the same coverage and the same attention that others like Charlie Hebdo do. But that of course doesn’t make them any less important. As Teju Cole wrote in the New Yorker, “we may not be able to attend each outrage in every corner of the world, but we should at least pause to consider how it is that mainstream opinion is so quickly decides that certain violent deaths are more meaningful, and more worthy of commemoration, than others.”

Personally, yesterday I gathered in the streets of Paris because it was all I knew how to do. After a week of tragedy, I was searching for answers, searching for some way to move forward. Gathering with the rest of the city was a way to do that. It was a personal way to take a stand against violence and racism. I do not believe hate is the answer, and if there’s anything that we can do to move forward it’s to focus on tolerance. I am sure that I stood next to people who didn’t have the same political leanings that I do, and probably wouldn’t choose the same policies moving forward. But at least for one day, we agreed on the fact that hate and terror are terrible things.

This tragedy will eventually fade from our minds, and unfortunately, we’ll go back to politics as usual. There has been talk of a French Patriot Act – similar to what was enacted post 9/11. There’s no denying that the far right in France will continue to rise, and many will make this tragedy into a black and white issue of the Western World versus everyone else.

But we live in a world of many shades of gray, and if we look to find answers in the midst of terror, we are sure to choose the simple ones, that will only have more detrimental effects down the line.

Let us all remember that human lives are all equally valuable, no matter where they come from or what they look like. Let us build a world of tolerance, because we all deserve to live without fear.

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There’s a lot of shock still over the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in France earlier this week. It’s no surprise that Jon Stewart and “The Daily Show” totally nail it.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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Removing shoes, getting scanned and patted down doesn’t cut it anymore amid tightened airport security following the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day. Now, we’re being told to “hold it” during the last hour of flight, and the flying public is understandably pissed off.

While there are plenty of green remedies for bladder infections, there is little to placate the anger and stress resulting from the ridiculously long lines and humiliating security steps all resulting from the human factor: the government and airport employees did not do their job to keep a potential bomber off of a commercial plane.

This, despite the fact the would-be bomber paid cash for his ticket, had no luggage, and was reported dangerous by his own father, a prominent Nigerian banker. Sure, we can sit still for an hour, but not for months to come when we are forced to pay the price of incompetence.

Use of restrooms is a health and human rights issue. My bladder hurts just thinking about it. It’s bad enough we can’t use the toilets in most stores where we shop and spend money, let alone on an airplane where we’re trapped. No Starbucks down the street or other place to go, instead.

Referred to as a “smokescreen” by CBS News, the tightened security restrictions are seen as a knee-jerk reaction to the attempted attack on Friday. Nigerian suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was  flying from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then the U.S. when he tried to ignite the highly explosive PETN substance he had hidden in a soft plastic container on his person as the Northwest Airlines prepared to land in Detroit.

Passengers arriving on international flights were treated like naughty children, ordered to stay put in their seats during the last hour and not use blankets to cover their laps or their babies. They had to refrain from opening overhead bins to get their stuff and keep their hands in clear view.

CBS Travel Correspondent Peter Greenberg argues the one-hour flight rules are merely a bad camouflage attempt for not dealing with the real issues of how the guy cleared security in Nigeria and twice in Amsterdam, and was still able to board the airliner.

“The real problem here is that, tomorrow, if someone tried to detonate a bomb on a plane and right before he detonated it, he sang, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would issue a rule tomorrow saying no singing on a plane.”

Therefore, if someone roots through their carry bags or socks or steps into the bathroom before trying to explode a plane, we the passengers should not be allowed to do those things because it is now deemed a security risk. Passengers are sounding off about the measures, including letters in the L.A. Times that argue Americans are tired of paying the price of failed screening and lapses in human intelligence.

“We are so inept that instead of proactively listing people like Abdulmutallab on no-fly lists, we must torture the traveling public by denying them the use of the restroom,” wrote William Josephs of Encino, Calif. “During recent years, I have given up flying almost entirely, especially since the nonsense with the shoes began. Liquids were next, and now, woe be unto the poor individual suffering from gastric distress on any descending airplane.”

Another letter said it is ironic that we are told to stay seated to keep the plane safe, while “in every flight since 9/11 it is the passengers, up and wandering about the cabin, who have provided the only effective defense against terrorism. It is clear that there is only one requirement for joining the management team at the TSA: You must have first failed an IQ test.”

Images: Los Angeles Times, CNN

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