Topic: Terrorist-o-meter goes up!

[chekovsulu]

BBC Breakfast says that the terror alert levels have gone up to SEVERE!  A terrorist attack in the Uk is now considered HIGHLY LIKELY!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!

Here's some links I found using Google:
http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?um=1&cf=all&ned=uk&cf=all&ncl=d8tG0sDq2u_HHpM0hqGgcynYW_50M
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/british-terror-alert-raised-to-severe-2028456.html

I'm not sure how this affects me, should I be worried about boarding trains?  I'm going to be taking a long train journey on Sunday, so I hope it doesn't affect me.  It's not critical, so I should be OK, we have tons of trains in this country.

Do you people take this seriously?  In other countries that use the special terrorist-o-meter system, do you take it seriously?  DO you find yourself becoming more suspicious as a result?

[smokester]

Your in or near the capital aren't you? 

When they up the alert level I am concerned but try not to let it make me paranoid.  However, I do do things that I believe, rightly or wrongly, might give me some added protection.  For example, when travelling on national rail trains I always get in the last carriage in the belief that a bomb would have to be placed towards the front of the train to have the desired effect. Also, if I have to go a few stops on the underground, I opt rather to take the bus which might put 5 or 10 minutes on the journey - but I have only done that when they have stationed armed police at every underground entrance.

[laama]

Looks like they want more money and rights to do what they want.

[chekovsulu]

Spoiler (hover to show)

I'm in Ealing!  The internet police'll never find out if I put it in spoilers!

I'm pretty certain I'll not die in a train, my Centauri instincts tell me so.  Although, I may just sit in the last carriage of the train tomorrow, just in case

I suppose you can't help take precautions.  And I suppose the terrorists are less likely to terrorise if everyone is more alert.

Looks like they want more money and rights to do what they want.

Yeah, they don't make it sound so bad here:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8476238.stm

[laama]

Shitty politics again,they should send in court and then jail in lifetime.

They want money and power more and more,and prize could be horrible.

[Skadi]

I suppose you can't help take precautions.  And I suppose the terrorists are less likely to terrorise if everyone is more alert.

And you can't stress out, and ruin each day either. You just have to live life and not worry. You could choke eating curry chicken also, and die before help gets there We still have to embrace each day, and be happy and bold each day. That's part of what terrorists want to achieve..taking peace away, and instilling fear and chaos even when they're doing nothing.

In the US they've really down played the 'threat level' thing the past couple of years.

[redlandslide]

Although, I may just sit in the last carriage of the train tomorrow, just in case

When you're sitting in that last carriage, have a look at all the worried faces of everyone in there. They're probably all in the last carriage for the same reason.

Terrorist threats don't impact on my life at all. The area of Liverpool I live in, there's nothing newsworthy to blow up (somehow I don't think the local Co-Op or the Dog & Gun post office would have the same impact as Tower Bridge or Heathrow airport) and besides, I've a feeling nobody here would notice an explosion anyway - not unless it was the betting shop that bit the dust. 

[smokester]

When you're sitting in that last carriage, have a look at all the worried faces of everyone in there. They're probably all in the last carriage for the same reason.

Terrorist threats don't impact on my life at all. The area of Liverpool I live in, there's nothing newsworthy to blow up (somehow I don't think the local Co-Op or the Dog & Gun post office would have the same impact as Tower Bridge or Heathrow airport) and besides, I've a feeling nobody here would notice an explosion anyway - not unless it was the betting shop that bit the dust. 

Funny thing is that in certain parts of the country that are a lot less cosmopolitan than Liverpool, they have made counter-terrorism part of their life after the IRA had threatened or bombed them.  I was in Birmingham in the early 90s and I couldn't find a pub (believe it of not).  All I could find was these rather secretive looking bars that had suited security on the doors.  After myself and 3 other tradesmen (we were there for the Interbuild exibition) got completely fed up we approached the doormen to see if we could get inside even though we were in overalls.  It turned out that these places were indeed your run of the mill pubs but ever since the "Birmingham bombings" all pubs had installed security and had obscured their entrances somewhat as a precaution - and that had occured almost 20 years previous.

I was also unfortunately in Manchester about a month after this and that must have been too close for comfort?

[redlandslide]

The Manchester bombing was geographically close, but I don't think anyone in Liverpool seriously felt threatened by an IRA bombing with the huge Irish community in the city.

I worked in a shopping centre at the time of 9/11 and the 7/7 London bombings, and small precautionary measures were put in place after major events like those, such as "being extra vigilant" for suspicious looking packages and removing all public bins from the floors of the centre (so bombs couldn't be slipped into them), but these are only in place for about 2 or 3 days then everything is back to normal. I've not met anyone from here who seriously thinks Liverpool is a viable terrorist target.

[smokester]

I worked in a shopping centre at the time of 9/11 and the 7/7 London bombings.

I actually worked for John Lewis for 9 years in Brent Cross shopping center.  We had supposedly legitimate warnings all the time and the staff there had to search each department systematically along with a team of volunteers to cover other areas.  It was quite a frightening procedure but the worst of all was searching the Luggage department as you had to search each and every case, bag, portmanteau etc, and it took the fella who had that responsibility hours to calm down after he had finished.

[Skadi]

and it took the fella who had that responsibility hours to calm down after he had finished.

 

[goldshirt*9]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i don't take all the warning too much to heart.
don't take me wrong its bad ,but if a bomb go's off next / near me then bingo i'm off to who knows where.

[laama]

And privacy meter goes down permanently.

[Robin-Graves]

^ Welcome to America.
 I got back yesterday from accross the pond ( I love it there more and more) and airport security in Glasgow was NUTS!
 Amsterdam wasnt as bad going ,,but comming back it was insane.
 Glasgow detained me ( again) for only an hour this time, and decided to run everything I had with me through security one piece at a time.
 Oh well, atleast I didnt have to take my shoes off like we do here in the U.S.
 But it was still a pain in the arse.

BTW,, It was cold and foggy there when it wasnt cold and raining/sleeting.
God I loved it!

[goldshirt*9]

you soon get fed up of the greyness / rain 
but you get to love the season change

[Robin-Graves]

Thats what im looking forward to.
 But,, the bad thing is,, im used to trees and hills,, southern Scotland doesnt have either one. lmao

[goldshirt*9]

your near to Cumbria or the Pennines

[Robin-Graves]

I was in Burnbank.
 Its about 40 minutes north of Glasgow.
Just outside Hamilton in South Lanarkshire.
Pretty much just across the line from Strathclyde.
 God Im talking baout it like home allready lmao.

[Geemonster]

BBC Breakfast says that the terror alert levels have gone up to SEVERE!  A terrorist attack in the Uk is now considered HIGHLY LIKELY!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!

Here's some links I found using Google:
http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?um=1&cf=all&ned=uk&cf=all&ncl=d8tG0sDq2u_HHpM0hqGgcynYW_50M
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/british-terror-alert-raised-to-severe-2028456.html

I'm not sure how this affects me, should I be worried about boarding trains?  I'm going to be taking a long train journey on Sunday, so I hope it doesn't affect me.  It's not critical, so I should be OK, we have tons of trains in this country.

Do you people take this seriously?  In other countries that use the special terrorist-o-meter system, do you take it seriously?  DO you find yourself becoming more suspicious as a result?

They just wanna keep us all scared and give them even more powers than they're already entitled to.

[Robin-Graves]

Just like America.

[Methiah]

Yes... it makes me wonder about the intelligence used to determine the threat level. i.e. is this WMD in Iraq level of intelligence or the real thing?

[laama]

Just like America.

It's fashion around world,more power and rights to police is only right way.

[Robin-Graves]

Yes... it makes me wonder about the intelligence used to determine the threat level. i.e. is this WMD in Iraq level of intelligence or the real thing?

There hasnt been much inteligence used on anything during this fiasco.

[Geemonster]

Yes... it makes me wonder about the intelligence used to determine the threat level. i.e. is this WMD in Iraq level of intelligence or the real thing?

WMD = Weapons of mass disappearance.

[smokester]

WMD = Weapons of mass disappearance.

Blair's big day in the dock tomorrow, no doubt he'll produce some holiday snaps of a few missiles and and offer them up as conclusive proof - let's just hope that someone at the inquiry has heard of photoshop..

[redlandslide]

Blair's big day in the dock tomorrow

He'll turn on the charm and have them eating out of his hands. By the end, they'll be apologising to him for having wasted his time. 

[goldshirt*9]

i cannot wait to see him squirm, sorry talk about how true and just the war was or is 

[Geemonster]

He should go to the war crimes tribunal along with Bush Cheyney and co.

[laama]

He should go to the war crimes tribunal along with Bush Cheyney and co.

Never gonna happen,they are "heroes" nowadays".

[Robin-Graves]

One man's hero is another mans villain. There are still people that think Bush was a good leader (idiots).  Real hero's are all dead

[Skadi]

Real hero's are all dead

I'm my own hero

[Geemonster]

A real hero is someone who does the right thing when no one's looking.

[Skadi]

Nicely stated Gee

[Geemonster]

Thanks

[Robin-Graves]

Heroes are the ones that do what has to be done because no one else has the guts to do it.

[smokester]

Heroes are the ones that do what has to be done because no one else has the guts to do it.

Fer golly's sake don't let Tony Blair hear you say that.

I would prefer my heroes to exhaust diplomatic possibilities before wading in without popular support.

[Skadi]

^ True. and what Robin said can apply to lots of every day heroes. People who question authority.. or stand up to bullies, act as advocates. And people who do jobs that I wouldn't have the guts to do, like be a firefighter and run into a burning building.

[Robin-Graves]

I remember when 9/11 happened. This one guy came from nowhere and started helping dig out survivors.
He wrote their names nown on a handkerchief he had.
When they asked him who he was he said he was a guy waking along and saw that someone needed help. They asked why he did it he said "It just felt like the thing that needed doing".
He never gave his name or anyhting,, then he broke down and cried for the ones that didnt make out alive.
 To me that was a hero.

[redlandslide]

I would prefer my heroes to exhaust diplomatic possibilities before wading in without popular support.

John Wayne never did that.

[Robin-Graves]

Neither did Dirty Harry Calahan

[laama]

Neither Charles Bronson.

[Robin-Graves]

Or Steve Valentine (long story   sordid ending   dont ask)

[HDAngel]

Just read in the paper today that intelligence says that there will be another terrorist attack in the US some time in the next three months.  In the past they have said that the San Francisco Bay Area is a highly targeted area because we are home base for research and development of military weapons by companies like NASA and Lockeed. And we are also the heart of R&D for computer technology in the US.  It's a stressful place to live. I can't wait to move. There is nothing of any importance to our economy where we are moving too. Shoot, the nearest grocery store is 35 miles from us.

But as far as all this terrorist stuff goes. The whole idea is to terrorize everyone. Is it working? You tell me.

We all live and die. Life goes on. Best any of us can do is enjoy each day, try to live out as many dreams as possible and die with few regrets.

[Robin-Graves]

The terrorists won. They did what they set out to do, they destroyed our way of life.

[laama]

They win long time ago,loss of privacy,more money and tools to multiple security organizations,whistle blowing buttons and phone lines etc. are all marks to degradation of western democracy.

Just as terrorist wish and this could be beginning of nightmare.

[Robin-Graves]

They got what they wanted. They dont have to bomb us anymore,, were destroying ourselves for them.

[laama]

They got what they wanted. They dont have to bomb us anymore,, were destroying ourselves for them.

QFT.

[Robin-Graves]

Atleast you guys dont have the Patriot Act.

[laama]

Atleast you guys dont have the Patriot Act.

Yet.

[Robin-Graves]

We used to be a free country. Now we are a police state.