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For the first time in 10 years, the Prime Minister said the terror threat had been raised to the highest possible level, from severe to critical, meaning an attack is "expected imminently".
[...] Mrs May also announced that troops would replace police officers at set-piece events including sports venues and concerts.
It will be the first time since 2003 – when the Government reacted to a plot to bring down an airliner – that troops are deployed on the streets.
[...] It is the first time Britain has been on maximum terrorist alert since 2007, when a blazing car loaded with gas canisters was driven into Glasgow Airport.
Source: The Telegraph
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Soldiers Deployed in UK as Threat Level Raised to Critical
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The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an
open doorway with an open mind.
-- E. B. White
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @03:54PM (18 children)
Does plastic explosive go off if it is shot?? I'm sure the bombers will use the best explosives possible so they do not accidentally explode!
Perhaps they can't afford to rig a deadman switch and can be shot in the head?
Warning to fat people and those with baggy jackets... oh, and never wear a backpack again.
On a serious note, I wonder how gullible people in the UK are if they can't see how May is exploiting the situation... we'll probably have enough info to get an idea if it helped her or not. I can't imagine the USA being smart enough to delay elections; republicans want low voter turn out and democrats want high voter turn out and both would change the weather if they could. (republicans pray for rain etc. They bus in old cowards so weather doesn't impact them.)
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday May 24 2017, @04:04PM
Bombers will use the explosives they can get their hands on. They are reckless and don't care for life.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Grishnakh on Wednesday May 24 2017, @04:19PM (4 children)
Does plastic explosive go off if it is shot??
According to me knowledge, gained entirely from watching Hollywood movies and TV shows, the answer is no: it has to be electrically detonated, usually with a wristwatch.
Similarly, I know for a fact that a car will automatically explode any time it rolls over, or even if it goes over a cliff (as soon as all 4 wheels leave the ground, long before it hits the ground below). I also know that someone shot with a handgun will fly backwards about 20 feet.
On a serious note, I wonder how gullible people in the UK are if they can't see how May is exploiting the situation...
Well, they voted for Brexit, so they're obviously pretty damn gullible.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:32PM (1 child)
Any nation which opens its floodgates to Islamic scum deserves what it gets.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 25 2017, @05:25AM
Reactionary whacko Alex Jones, having just gotten his White House press credentials, showed what a class act he is by blaming the victims in Manchester. [google.com]
So, did you get your shtick from him or did he get his from you?
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by gidds on Thursday May 25 2017, @12:44PM (1 child)
Only 37.5% of registered voters voted for Brexit.
I'm one of the 34.7% who voted against it.
(And 27.8% didn't bother to vote.)
Yes, there are a lot of pretty damn gullible people here (or, more charitably, people who have very different expectations from me as to likely outcomes), but there are plenty more who aren't. Unfortunately, due to the way it was set up — and the political reactions and manoeuvring since — we all have to suffer the results :-(
[sig redacted]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday May 25 2017, @04:11PM
Yes, there are a lot of pretty damn gullible people here (or, more charitably, people who have very different expectations from me as to likely outcomes), but there are plenty more who aren't.
This is objectively wrong, proven by your own numbers. 37.5% voted for Brexit, and only 34.7% voted against it. That means there are more who are gullible. The 27.8% who didn't bother to vote can be added to the gullible list, or at least ignored since they didn't even bother to study the issue and cast a vote.
In short, there were a minority (barely over 1/3) of British voters who were opposed to Brexit.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday May 24 2017, @04:35PM (4 children)
In the U.S. we have this thing where politicians don't get to decide when to hold elections to benefit them the most; we have them on a set fucking schedule.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by fliptop on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:25PM (2 children)
That's not entirely true, where I live the school board routinely has levy votes that are purposely scheduled on a day when most people will not show up. Of course the schools are closed during voting b/c a lot of schools are where you go to vote. If you work for the schools and like that levy money, it's pretty nice to have off that day.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday May 24 2017, @06:07PM (1 child)
Okay, on an individual community level there are probably exceptions. It would be news to me if anybody was doing it state-level and above.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday May 25 2017, @04:18PM
Yep. It's only local elections where they have any variance; state and national elections are always on Election Day in November. There sometimes are special elections at the state level, but they're rare.
From Wikipedia:
"Many state and local government offices are also elected on Election Day as a matter of convenience and cost saving, although a handful of states hold elections for state offices (such as governor) during odd-numbered "off years", or during other even-numbered "midterm years", and may hold special elections for offices that have become vacant."
(Score: 2) by quacking duck on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:35PM
The significant downside to set election dates is that electioneering starts months if not more than a year before the actual election day. I knew this would happen when Canada went the same way in 2009; the last federal election in 2015 was 11 weeks, far longer and more tiring in terms of wasted airwaves and brain matter than the previously normal 5 or so weeks, which was just short enough that it didn't dull or kill voter interest entirely. On the other hand, the longer period meant world events tipped public sentiment against the Conservatives who'd ruled for a decade.
Also: a set schedule doesn't mean the party in power can't use it to their benefit. They just hold off their key promises until the year of, or before, the election. This has worked for Ontario's provincial elections where the Liberals have maintained power since 2003, after passing a mandate for fixed election dates in 2005.
So, while I like some parts of set election dates, I still prefer the flexible election dates.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Wednesday May 24 2017, @04:49PM
Mythbusters tried it. Even high velocity rounds don't do anything.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:22PM (4 children)
Some of them are so stable, they can be shot, and otherwise abused, and they won't explode. The most (in)famous plastic explosive, C-4, is detonated with blasting caps. Others are only detonated with an electrical charge.
But, that's really all beside the point. Mankind has been making explosives for more than a thousand years. Some sulfur, some saltpeter, and some charcoal, are all you need to make an explosive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:57PM (2 children)
You don't even need that. Everything needed to make extremely powerful explosive devices is already in the vast majority of homes, and no one would bat an eye if you didn't have same, and went out and bought what is required.
The best thing about terrorists is that thinking clearly is beyond them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:14PM (1 child)
You probably went to school and studied Physics or Chemistry. In the UK that means you can be convicted of "having information likely to be of use to terrorists" - a description that probably also includes train time tables, and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
Posting anonymously, as I studied both subjects, although I don't own a train time table - IME the trains don't keep to them anyway, and, even more worrying: to protect my liberty, I rely on Google's spelling correction.
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:36PM
No. I quit school in my teens. Which isn't to say that I didn't study, of course. I've never stopped, and I'm in my 60s. I might know a thing or two by now.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:39PM
Flour, closed container, candle. Explosive. No high tech required. In some circumstances the combination can be catastrophic.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @08:00PM
Former combat engineer here:
You need heat and pressure to set it off if it is military grade. You could light it on fire and cook your dinner over it, just don't try to stomp the fire out.