News Manchester Arena blast: 19 dead and about 50 hurt

[Notebook]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-40007886

Nineteen people have been killed and about 50 injured in a suspected terror attack at Manchester Arena.
The blast happened at 22:35 BST on Monday following a pop concert by the US singer Ariana Grande.
PM Theresa May said her thoughts were with those affected by "what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack".
Paramedics at the scene told the BBC they had treated some of the wounded for "shrapnel-like injuries".
British Transport Police said the explosion was in the arena's foyer.

 

[Donamy]

My prayers to the victims and families also.

 

[Notebook]

Being declared as a terrorist incident. Struck a new low going for a pop-concert, I think.
N.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Isn't this just before your parliamentary elections, Notebook? The timing of this attack is... concerning, especially given recent political events in major democratic countries.

 

[Notebook]

Yes, there is a General Election on 8th June. All campaigning has stopped, I would think for some time.
I don't know the performer, but it looks like she appeals to a very young audience. Guessing the terrorist knew that.

N.

 

[Xyon]

This is down the road from me, albeit that that road is a motorway, but it's still very close. That the audience was mostly comprised of young people was apparently intentional. I can't imagine the thought process behind something like that, but I can imagine the grief that it's resulted in. RIP

 

[n122vu]

Terrible. My thoughts & prayers go out to the victims and all affected.

 

[jgrillo2002]

Such a tragedy. And now you know why we cant have nice things.

 

[Interceptor]

This is horrible to have happen to our friends across the pond,my condolences to the victims,and their families.

 

[Ravenous]

Such a tragedy. And now you know why we cant have nice things.

Quite the opposite - we can have nice things. The bad guys want to stop us enjoying ourselves, stop living our normal lives, they want us to be afraid of going outside and doing normal things.

(Of course it makes normal people more determined to defy them.)

 

[Notebook]

To me this is unique in the UK. I grew up during the IRA bombing of the "mainland" and sort of accepted what was going on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_Great_Britain#1980s

This is, well I don't know how to describe it. Murdering children?

N.

 

[RisingFury]

Such a tragedy. And now you know why we cant have nice things.

Only if you give in to fear.

This is, well I don't know how to describe it. Murdering children?

N.

At the risk of sounding insensitive, US has periodic school shootings, South America has drug war, middle east is a hell hole and not to even mention Africa. The only thing that feels different is that this one hit you close to home.

 

[Notebook]

See my first sentence.

N.

 

[Andy44]

Committing shocking atrocities is the name of their game. They love the publicity they got for burning that Jordanian pilot alive, for beheading people on video, for throwing suspected homosexuals off of rooftops, of flying planeloads of innocent people into buildings full of innocent people, on and on and on.

The people who do this sort of thing are filthy animals and their way of thinking is a sickness.

This gives me that sad and angry feeling I had that awful September morning 16 years ago. Hang in there, Brits.

 

[Mojave]

Damn these savages.

 

[jgrillo2002]

IMHO We need to start sending troops there, Now! and I mean NOW! We will not tolerate their crap any longer.

 

[martins]

IMHO We need to start sending troops there, Now! and I mean NOW! We will not tolerate their crap any longer.

Are you paraphrasing a militant recruitment parole? Incidently, they didn't send anybody. The suspected perpetrator was born in Britain.

Edit: I realise that this post could sound frivolous. That is not the intention. What I want to say is that simplistic solutions that dish out revenge on "them" very easily lead to arguments that sound similar to the arguments that may be used to radicalise extremists in the first place.

 

[Donamy]

I don't believe he acted alone.

 

[Notebook]

Second man has been arrested.
UK threat-level has been raised to "critical", the highest. No explanation why.

N.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Hate to encroach on basement territory, but... isn't the current ruling coalition in Parliament led by the equivalent of the GOP in the US? If so, that'd be a pretty good reason why the uptick in threat level... they're tapping into people's xenophobia and Islamophobia just before the election.