How many people in the UK died of terrorist offences in the UK last year?
On average between 5 - 10 people die per year putting on their socks. I am more worried by socks.
However....how many terrorist incidents were there? The answer would surprise you once you add all the foiled jihadist plots...
...to all the pipe bombs left on window sills or doorways in Northern Ireland, or the terrorist punishment shootings, or the bomb scares, or the abandoned devices...
There's an average of at least one terrorist incident a day here in N.I. of some sort from one side of the "community" or another. It's been mere luck and excellent onging security efforts that have meant so few deaths.
However....how many terrorist incidents were there? The answer would surprise you once you add all the foiled jihadist plots...
...to all the pipe bombs left on window sills or doorways in Northern Ireland, or the terrorist punishment shootings, or the bomb scares, or the abandoned devices...
There's an average of at least one terrorist incident a day here in N.I. of some sort from one side of the "community" or another. It's been mere luck and excellent onging security efforts that have meant so few deaths.
The 'they only have to be lucky once' theory. Which has a valid point. It still does not worry me though, although I don't live in NI. Visited Lisburn and Belfast once and found it a strange experience.
The 'they only have to be lucky once' theory. Which has a valid point. It still does not worry me though, although I don't live in NI. Visited Lisburn and Belfast once and found it a strange experience.
Even if you're born and bred here, visiting Lisburn is a strange experience.
Not in my part of the country.
The thing about the Cuban thing is that it would have wiped pretty much all life on earth.
Not really, it would have killed millions, but it wouldn't have been the global extinction that you hear bandied about. If it had kicked off in the early to mid eighties, when both sides had many times the amount of nuclear weapons they had in 1962, then you could have had the end of civilization as we know it.
Nuclear war became much less likely once both sides realized it was not winnable.
How many people in the UK died of terrorist offences in the UK last year?
On average between 5 - 10 people die per year putting on their socks. I am more worried by socks.
Of course you're aware this fortunate figure is mostly due to the admirable efforts of our security services, as opposed to there being no threat.
You're not worried, because men and women are working their socks off to keep it that way.
How do we know that they are telling the truth when they say a plot has been stopped when a lot of the time we just have their word? These agencies exist only as long as there is terrorism or some other kind of enemy out there so it's not out of the question to wonder how many times there whether some of these threats are either exaggerated or completely fabricated. A story about how your agency stopped a deadly terror attack is great for when your arguing why they should be exempt from the next round of budget cuts for example.
How do we know that they are telling the truth when they say a plot has been stopped when a lot of the time we just have their word? These agencies exist only as long as there is terrorism or some other kind of enemy out there so it's not out of the question to wonder how many times there whether some of these threats are either exaggerated or completely fabricated. A story about how your agency stopped a deadly terror attack is great for when your arguing why they should be exempt from the next round of budget cuts for example.
Are you suggesting that young Muslims are not being radicalised, that firebrand clerics are not warping their minds, and it's all a conspiracy concocted by our own security services? That could have come straight out of a sermon from Finsbury Park Mosque.
However....how many terrorist incidents were there? The answer would surprise you once you add all the foiled jihadist plots...
...to all the pipe bombs left on window sills or doorways in Northern Ireland, or the terrorist punishment shootings, or the bomb scares, or the abandoned devices...
There's an average of at least one terrorist incident a day here in N.I. of some sort from one side of the "community" or another. It's been mere luck and excellent onging security efforts that have meant so few deaths.
Not living in NI i'm more likely to get run over walking to the local shop (to get a paper to read about terrorism). Since this thread started 36 hours or so ago 4 or 5 people would have died on our roads and more seriously injured. Yet this poll currently showing 20% are scared of terror attack whereas i bet 20% aren't scared of getting in a car tomorrow morning.
...... it was only yesterday i was 2-3 feet away from death. A bus went by on the road whilst i stood on the pavement!
Not living in NI i'm more likely to get run over walking to the local shop (to get a paper to read about terrorism). Since this thread started 36 hours or so ago 4 or 5 people would have died on our roads and more seriously injured. Yet this poll currently showing 20% are scared of terror attack whereas i bet 20% aren't scared of getting in a car tomorrow morning.
...... it was only yesterday i was 2-3 feet away from death. A bus went by on the road whilst i stood on the pavement!
Don't forget the risk from socks, don't even think about the deaths in baths.
Don't forget the risk from socks, don't even think about the deaths in baths.
I think it's bad taste trivialising the casualties of terror attacks in this way, and also being dismissive of those who foil the countless attempts at massacres, not just in this country, but globally.
I think it's bad taste trivialising the casualties of terror attacks in this way, and also being dismissive of those who foil the countless attempts at massacres, not just in this country, but globally.
Not trivialising anybody. Just the ludicrous over reaction.
Are you suggesting that young Muslims are not being radicalised, that firebrand clerics are not warping their minds, and it's all a conspiracy concocted by our own security services? That could have come straight out of a sermon from Finsbury Park Mosque.
No, those things definitely do happen but maybe not at the quantity the security services like to claim. When they tell us a terror plot has been uncovered and stopped we are being asked to just take their word for it. The word of an agency who relies on the continued existence of "terror threats" to justify it's own existence and funding, and who make a living out of lying manipulation and deceit. If people think that a terror attack has been foiled, that's the intelligence agencies jobs secure for the immediate future and their budgets won't be slashed and might even be increased. Can you not see how at times they might be tempted to exaggerate a threat and also why I can't trust "the word" of people whose profession is to avoid telling the truth?
I think it's bad taste trivialising the casualties of terror attacks in this way, and also being dismissive of those who foil the countless attempts at massacres, not just in this country, but globally.
Nobody is trivialising. You are officially more likely to get killed as a cyclist in London than you are by terrorists. This is a fact.
It's a very rare occurence here, so no it doesn't scare me. If something is going to happen and I'm going to get caught up in it, it's pretty much out of my control anyway, so I'm not going to worry too much about it.
Comments
However....how many terrorist incidents were there? The answer would surprise you once you add all the foiled jihadist plots...
...to all the pipe bombs left on window sills or doorways in Northern Ireland, or the terrorist punishment shootings, or the bomb scares, or the abandoned devices...
There's an average of at least one terrorist incident a day here in N.I. of some sort from one side of the "community" or another. It's been mere luck and excellent onging security efforts that have meant so few deaths.
The 'they only have to be lucky once' theory. Which has a valid point. It still does not worry me though, although I don't live in NI. Visited Lisburn and Belfast once and found it a strange experience.
Even if you're born and bred here, visiting Lisburn is a strange experience.
Ah, fair enough then!
Not really, it would have killed millions, but it wouldn't have been the global extinction that you hear bandied about. If it had kicked off in the early to mid eighties, when both sides had many times the amount of nuclear weapons they had in 1962, then you could have had the end of civilization as we know it.
Nuclear war became much less likely once both sides realized it was not winnable.
Of course you're aware this fortunate figure is mostly due to the admirable efforts of our security services, as opposed to there being no threat.
http://news.sky.com/story/1379349/forty-terror-plots-foiled-since-7-7-attacks
You're not worried, because men and women are working their socks off to keep it that way.
How do we know that they are telling the truth when they say a plot has been stopped when a lot of the time we just have their word? These agencies exist only as long as there is terrorism or some other kind of enemy out there so it's not out of the question to wonder how many times there whether some of these threats are either exaggerated or completely fabricated. A story about how your agency stopped a deadly terror attack is great for when your arguing why they should be exempt from the next round of budget cuts for example.
Are you suggesting that young Muslims are not being radicalised, that firebrand clerics are not warping their minds, and it's all a conspiracy concocted by our own security services? That could have come straight out of a sermon from Finsbury Park Mosque.
Not living in NI i'm more likely to get run over walking to the local shop (to get a paper to read about terrorism). Since this thread started 36 hours or so ago 4 or 5 people would have died on our roads and more seriously injured. Yet this poll currently showing 20% are scared of terror attack whereas i bet 20% aren't scared of getting in a car tomorrow morning.
...... it was only yesterday i was 2-3 feet away from death. A bus went by on the road whilst i stood on the pavement!
Don't forget the risk from socks, don't even think about the deaths in baths.
I think it's bad taste trivialising the casualties of terror attacks in this way, and also being dismissive of those who foil the countless attempts at massacres, not just in this country, but globally.
Not trivialising anybody. Just the ludicrous over reaction.
No, those things definitely do happen but maybe not at the quantity the security services like to claim. When they tell us a terror plot has been uncovered and stopped we are being asked to just take their word for it. The word of an agency who relies on the continued existence of "terror threats" to justify it's own existence and funding, and who make a living out of lying manipulation and deceit. If people think that a terror attack has been foiled, that's the intelligence agencies jobs secure for the immediate future and their budgets won't be slashed and might even be increased. Can you not see how at times they might be tempted to exaggerate a threat and also why I can't trust "the word" of people whose profession is to avoid telling the truth?
Nobody is trivialising. You are officially more likely to get killed as a cyclist in London than you are by terrorists. This is a fact.