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Birling Gap beach was evacuated on Sunday [August 27] after people reported breathing difficulties, stinging eyes and vomiting when a "mist" appeared.
Sussex Police said on Monday morning the gas cloud appeared to have cleared.
Agencies are investigating the cause and have not ruled out either on-shore or off-shore locations.
In the past, chemicals have drifted across from European industrial units, but Sussex Police said: "Weather models suggest that an onshore source in northern France is very unlikely."
The Coastguard said it was working with its French counterparts and looking into vessels that were in the area at the time.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it was "extremely unlikely" the substance involved was chlorine.
First it was a sonic attack on US diplomats in Cuba, now potentially a chemical attack on British beach goers. What gives?
(Score: 1) by stox on Thursday August 31 2017, @10:11AM (1 child)
Just sayin...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 01 2017, @12:15AM
Yep, it was the dude on the airplane spraying chem trails. [youtube.com]
Oh, I'm sorry, you well informed "nerds" dismiss such evidence with disdain. [youtube.com]
Next you'll be telling me that "crop dusting" is a hoax, and "cloud seeding don't real". I suppose Weather Modification Associations [youtube.com] don't exist in your phone book either?
(Score: 4, Informative) by driverless on Thursday August 31 2017, @10:34AM (3 children)
There are hundreds if not thousands of tons of WWI and some WWII chemical weapons shells and drums busy corroding away in various oceans, it's only a matter of time before some of them release into a populated area.
OTOH if the mist had a garlic smell then it could well be the French.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday August 31 2017, @03:41PM (1 child)
Good point. I wonder if a few old shells finally rusted through and popped releasing some chemicals which bubbled up to the surface and drifted about.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Thursday August 31 2017, @06:13PM
I'm betting on one of the many many chem carriers going through the Channel deciding to do some discreet cleanup at night, and the byproducts (either as-is, or after sun or sea exposure) drifting towards the land.
There were a few high-profile cases of ships caught in French or UK territorial waters with mile-long oil slicks trailing them, but go prove I just cleaned my chemical powder tanks...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 01 2017, @12:20AM
Oh come on. They got stingy eyes and short of breath, not occultic super powers and a desire to invade Poland. [history.com]
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Thursday August 31 2017, @11:50AM
The hat business is about to take off.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday August 31 2017, @11:52AM
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian/20170830/281719794719128 [pressreader.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by BenJeremy on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:00PM (1 child)
I wish it was as laughably bad as Under The Dome was, but quite frankly it doesn't ever get there. The characters are all just hatable jerks I cannot care about. I only watch to in the hopeful event the mist claims all of them in horribly painful and drawn out death.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:21PM
I can't speak to the TV show, but I thought the movie was good. Great ending.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:50PM (1 child)
Who?
Why! That's consistent with a sonic screwdriver targeted attack. Or, perhaps... maybe... some (fungal? [aspergillus.org.uk]) ear infection? No, can't be, it must be a super-secret sonic weapon [livescience.com]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by VortexCortex on Friday September 01 2017, @12:23AM
That is not the Sonic you are looking for. [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:50PM
https://derelictcomic.tumblr.com/post/159477625048 [tumblr.com]
(Comic is sometimes NSFW.)
(Score: 0, Interesting) by VLM on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:41PM (11 children)
How could muslim amateurs do this, and why do this instead of the now traditional and commonplace knife/truck attacks?
It might actually not be muslims although it seems strange to hear of a mass casualty event from Europe that wasn't caused by muslims. Its theoretically possible although unlikely.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by n1 on Thursday August 31 2017, @03:15PM (4 children)
The problem now is the trolls who find a way to talk about mMuslims and or foreigners in any and every subject are indistinguishable from people who genuinely believe that other social/religious/ethnic groups are to blame for all societies ills, much like the communists of previous generations.
so desperate to push their narrative they will seek confirmation bias and correlation in the strangest of places. if it does not work out, we just move on to the next opportunity to fear and blame the external evil.
grenfell tower fire was but weeks ago and killed more than any terror attack in the UK, the death toll is not even final yet.
I expect this immature attitude on social media, but I expect better here.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @04:13PM
I presume you haven't been paying attention for over a year now, 2016 was a watershed year for SN and Trump's win emboldened the more prejudiced around here. Tolerance is out, racism is in, and we get to see what that means when people like VLM post their trollish fears and get modded up for it. I like to believe they are actually propaganda shills, but it seems unlikely so many are or that they would bother with a low traffic site.
I'm sure that in VLM's mind there is a significant chance this was a muslim terrorist attack and so he explores that possibility without question. Yay FUD! I'm so glad we literally turned the US into a police state (patriot act, etc.) to make VLM feel more secure, those freedoms weren't doing much for anybody anyway amirite?
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Thursday August 31 2017, @05:06PM (1 child)
> grenfell tower fire was but weeks ago and killed more than any terror attack in the UK
Really? I know grenfell death toll is not final yet but where / when was it confirmed to be more than 270 (most recent figures I can find are 80) ?
The problem now is that there are trolls spouting utter rubbish, and anti-trolls also spouting utter rubbish - question is which are you?
(Score: 2) by n1 on Thursday August 31 2017, @05:20PM
I'll be honest, i forgot about Lockerbie... My thought process was very much in a post-9/11 world of terror.
That said, Lockerbie was an international terror incident, as the target was an American airline with the majority of passengers being from the US, and the official story has the bomb found it's way onto the plane in it's origin airport in Germany. The event happened to take place in UK airspace, but was not the actual target.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Thursday August 31 2017, @10:13PM
I no longer expect better. Like the other poster said, Trump has revealed the ugly in people. Sadly, I see it more everyday. I'm not surprised that VLM is sounding more like EH every single day.
Wish I could say it was just VLM, but a good number of the people I know and care about use stupid fucking words like cuck now. It's so disappointing because I've read VLM for quite some time and he is not some unsophisticated hate filled redneck. He knows better, but is filled with that ugly hate and bullshit.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @06:39PM
Didn't you see the movies? Terrists always go for the elaborate, genius-but-evil, cackling-in-underground-lair-batshit Rube-Goldberg-esque attacks! If they can't buy a nuke on the black market to bury under concrete on an island in the Florida keys, they'll settle for no less than one tier down on the ladder of WMD. Learn your ABC!
Of course it was the terrists, the cloud in question was probably VX or at least Sarin and everyone is gonna die. PANIC!!!111
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday August 31 2017, @08:59PM (3 children)
First off, all terrorist attacks are always unlikely. Mundane threats like ladders are much more likely to kill you.
Secondly, many terrorist attacks in Europe have been by Christians, from Anders Breivik's shooting of 69 teenagers to the IRA bombings of London to the various ETA (Basque separatist) attacks in Spain.
Third, you're basically saying "It might not be the fault of Muslims, but I'm going to blame them anyways until I hear otherwise." That's not fact-based thinking, that's simple prejudice.
Fourth, just because 1 Muslim does something doesn't mean the rest of them are to blame. Just like how 1 white guy blowing up a building in Oklahoma City doesn't mean all white guys should be rounded up and tortured or something.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 01 2017, @12:38AM (1 child)
Anonymous mathematician reveals that 25% of the evil SOB's on earth are MUSLIM!!
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday September 01 2017, @02:51AM
Quite true. And about 32% of the world's SOBs are Christians, 15% have no religion, 15% are Hindus, and 7% are Buddhists.
That's of course because just about any religious viewpoint has SOBs who adhere to it. Even ones you might not expect: My local Amish community had an elder who was eventually put on trial for him and his crew assaulting and cutting the beards of Amish men who weren't obeying his every command. The only religions that don't have violent SOBs of some kind are those that are absolute pacifists like the Quakers and the Jains, and even they have other ways of being SOBs.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 01 2017, @05:20AM
Fifth: the area was cordoned off as soon add word reached authorities. Unlike some VLM's in the USA, no one this side of the pond is worried about this being a terrorist attack for the very simple fact that it is neither an attack nor terror. Only one person (if memory serves) went to hospital for observation. No one else was more than inconvenienced.
Now after recent events, I will give ant would-be terrorists in the UK a lot more credit than this. Calling what amounts to a mild inconvenience a terrorist attack is rather ignorant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @11:07PM
Awesome invocation of Poe's Law. I really can't tell if this is sarcasm or not.