Hopefully there is no impending attack and being an island should make it pretty defendable. Can't imagine all those isis guys swimming the channel. I am worried for the future of mainland Europe though.

Lots of tricky questions coming into focus. Info gathering v privacy, religious freedoms etc etc.

Take care people.

I wonder how many times they've messed with this "threat level" since 9/11, and yet nothing has come of it (apart from the London bombings, which seem to have been isolated). I must admit that, despite not being a "conspiracy" type, I do wonder if we're being manipulated with these threat levels. 

I hope everything will be OK.  I haven't heard that they've raised it here, but they do get a bit nervous around 9/11.  

Texas has put out a warning to the boarder guard as well, they say that they have picked up a lot of internet chatter.

The US Feds are amazing to me. No major breeches since 9/11. Its almost a miracle. They must know what theyre doing. But then you start thinking about it and getting paranoid. And paranoids have real enemies too (quote- Delmore Schwartz). You just know the Feds must have set up the Tor network themselves to monitor all the low level criminality and establish known crime networks. Is it worthwhile? Very tricky and maybe too tough for even the coffeehouse!
 
I bet they have their bead on just about all 80k ISIS members, and their connections to USA, UK and others.
 
Its all happening folks and we get to watch it and be worried about it.

 
In related news...

craigb (ITYRN) Not even un funny.

Disapointed in a future possible mod.

Sad.

Cheers,
J

sharke
I wonder how many times they've messed with this "threat level" since 9/11, and yet nothing has come of it (apart from the London bombings, which seem to have been isolated). I must admit that, despite not being a "conspiracy" type, I do wonder if we're being manipulated with these threat levels. 

Absolutely. It's about fear and control and giving government the facility and "need" to snoop into everyone's business because "it's for your own safety " Also, the same statement that announced it also said that people shouldn't worry as there is no evidence to suggest that any attacks are planned, so WTF ??
 
Recently, having endured the usual pre-flight check in farce at a major UK airport, there was a whiteboard and marker pens where travellers were asked to leave comments on what they thought of the security procedures. I wanted to write that the terrorists have already won, but decided against it as it would probably end up with me in a small room with a big man with rubber gloves, so it wasn't worth it, but that's the way I see it.

If I were a mod here I have to lock this "political" fred.

I honestly don't mind them being on a higher alert. It seems weird to me that anyone wouldn't want that right now.

I fly a lot and I am perfectly fine with extra caution.

My guess is that they have thwarted many plans that the general public doesn't know about. They can't disclose everything, because then the terrorists would know how to work around it. I know that a couple of years after 9/11, one was stopped in Dallas, a terrorist with a van full of explosives. I'm kind of glad they were aware enough to stop that one here locally.