OT: London terror attacks...

[Janie]

Anyone see these on tv this morning? I was actually awake at 4AM when it first came on our tv and was really reminded of 9/11, which I could see from my house. I didn't sleep all night after being glued to the TV. Hopefully anyone here who has family/freinds in London finds them well.

[almo]

What completely horrible news to wake up to. To quote a pink starfish, "...there is so much evil in the world..."

[PlantedTao]

Yeah - I was listening to NPR this morning - sounds pretty serious.
My heart goes out to all those in London and those who have family there.

It saddens me that people (a group of people) feel that the only way to get their point across is by killling innocent people who are just going about there lives trying to get by.

For me, this is truly a confusing time we live in and I don't see any solutions on the horizon.

[almo]

Yeah - I was listening to NPR this morning - sounds pretty serious.
My heart goes out to all those in London and those who have family there.

It saddens me that people (a group of people) feel that the only way to get their point across is by killling innocent people who are just going about there lives trying to get by.

For me, this is truly a confusing time we live in and I don't see any solutions on the horizon.

Remember the old days when all we had to worry about was mutually assured destruction?

[tomasito]

It is very sad indeed...!!! But even more sad, how the american media outlets exploiting this madness... they are just love destruction and suffering "it's all about rating" so they say. Kind of like a free advertisment for those looser lunatic terrorist.... I wanna live like Robinson Crusoe... alone in a big island. Where are the good old days?

[payn817]

This is exactly why i don't watch news (tv really). It is a sad world we live in and always has been, technology just brings it to us quicker and more often now. I had a recurring dream from an early age of aircraft flying overhead attacking us in the U.S. My mother called and woke me up on 9/11 and my heart stopped for a moment, I haven't had the dream since. That has scared me to a point that I no longer care for news. I am scared to know what is happening! Bless them and their families, it is hard enough to live without this kind of thing.

[opus]

I don't hate the media coverage ... it gives people with busy lives access to information, preventing the spread of misinformation and fear based on misinformation. I was able to turn the TV on at noon and see as much as I needed to see. I don't like the mindless chatter that the reporters fill the air with after awhile though, raising the obvious questions and jumping to premature conclusions. It's quite pointless.

What I don't like is the knee-jerk reactions here in America, making everything all about us. They've raised the alert level "only for mass transit" here in America, which makes no sense to me. We have no "credible threat" here. What makes us think it would happen the same way here? It would have to be some pretty stupid terrorists to pull off the same types of attacks several hours later. The whole element of surprise would be gone. The only rationale I can see for raising the alert level is to somehow reassure people who might be prone to panic, a'la Chicken Little ("The Sky Is Falling!"). I would hope that in any case, terror attacks or not, that there were already measures in place to try to prevent such things. But life is unpredictable, and there are no guarantees.

I was in London when the Tsunami hit. All the news coverage in Britain was about the affected area. When I got home, I learned that some of the coverage here was "Could it Happen to Us?" That just drives me nuts. Pay attention to the victims, take attention off yourself for a moment.


~stepping off soapbox~

My condolances go out to all those affected by today's events. The bus attack happened just yards from the place I usually stay when I go to London. I have friends there who may have been affected. My best wishes go out to everyone affected, whether I know them or not.

[iJoe]

i knew the french were upset over not getting the olympics. but this is going too far.