Topic: Incident at Manchester Arena

[Chakan]

ISIS claim responsibility.

[Fordy]

My first child is due in the next 12 weeks and I've never been more scared starting to be a parent.

I fear for my children  and the kids today bringing- this is just awful.

[Zeb]

Their tweet says 'suspected attacker' - not sure who are they referring to, the bomber or the arrested guy.

Police here are saying to sit on the name for the moment. They've just caved his front door in, and are still putting through doors all over Manchester.

Burnham's called for a vigil at town hall for 6. Shall be there. Poor families having to deal with this.

[PIPA23]

I literally cant believe what I am fooking reading here;

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/fake-news-circulating-after-manchester-13078056

People making up 'fake missing friends' to gain attention on social media?!?! 

What the fuck is wrong with you twats, are you so fucked in the head that you would sit down and even think to do this, all because you want a few likes or retweets!?!

Is the world not that screwed already without people resorting to this.

social media are poison to the people, more than help...

[Fordy]

As a Muslim, it really baffles me, it puts people like me at a challenge and an understandable risk almost every day because of stupid acts like these.

Those who commit this are heartless pieces of shit, I don't even comprehend how they think.

I hear this all the time mate but as I am not Muslim but I don't see much counter action to this awful crimes. I don't see enough Muslims trying to prove that or talk out about these awful actions.

Don't see enough if I am honest... just words  after and then it's too late.

Words after then it goes quite again then something happens then words - are the Muslim community really doing enough?

[PIPA23]

Its a girl whos picture was being retweeted all over Twitter last night  because her parents hadn't heard from her.

Its heartbreaking.

my heart breaks and my head hurts from all the news... can´t watch it anymore.. i don´t know how i will work today.. we need the goverment to give answers, solutions....

im sick of prayers and hashtags.... we need action or face the world nobody want´s to live in.

[lionel_messias]

Yeah, I have to agree I think we are all sick of prayers and hashtags and facebook frames.

The death of this poor 8 year old, should be the final straw.

[paul211b]

Yeah, I have to agree I think we are all sick of prayers and hashtags and facebook frames.

The death of this poor 8 year old, should be the final straw.

Unfortunately if someone is willing to give their life to achieve their goal there is not much you can do about.
Needs to be rooted out at the source the Muslim community as a whole needs to do a lot more.  I see stats after the Paris attacks and a surprising amount of people share the cause, or shocking at least understand why!

Will read in a few days comments from the bombers friends that he has been strange last few years, radicalised etc etc.  Too late now!

[Red_Irishman]

Fucking awful this is. Deeply saddened by this

[Purple Red]

An 8-year-old girl.

There are no words.

[rob1966]

I fear for my children  and the kids today bringing- this is just awful.

My parents where born just aver 60 odd million people had been killed, my two grandfathers fought in the desert, grandad Evans was blown upstairs by the german bomb that destroyed the other side of the street, nana Evans had not long left the house with 3 of my aunties when a direct hit blew it to bits. I grew up with the IRA. I don't fear for my two sons.

[ToneLa]

Fear is giving in to the motives of terrorists. I know it's hard. Just do what you'd normally do x

[reddebs]

Just found out the 8yr old lives near my niece and another victim was an ex pupil at mine and my kids school.

RIP to all those who perished and condolences to those left behind whose lives will never be the same again 😔

[Alan_X]

It may feel like it, but it isn't.

We have a small number of extremist sub-groups of religions who are intent on making us feel small and victimised and alone. Yet the reaction to last night's mindless violence shows us exactly the opposite. At the very core of British society is a wamth and a generosity and a togetherness in times of crisis that we should all be incredibly proud of.

That there is such largely harmonious integration of religion, race, sexuality and political preference in this country is huge testament to the majority of the general public, and something we forget and thus fail to celebrate as often as we should.

The very best - and currently most vital - retaliation to this atrocity, is to go out and celebrate that togetherness and drink in the culture and sights and sounds in this country that is not the exception, but indeed the norm.

Spot on.

[SP]

I hear this all the time mate but as I am not Muslim but I don't see much counter action to this awful crimes. I don't see enough Muslims trying to prove that or talk out about these awful actions.

Don't see enough if I am honest... just words  after and then it's too late.

Words after then it goes quite again then something happens then words - are the Muslim community really doing enough?

Do the Liverpool community do enough "counter action" against the gangs in the city? Muslims are not an amorphous block of people. Why would you hear much about the counter-terrorism operations other than in the aftermath of an attack - that is how the media cycle works. And when actionable intelligence does come from the community, it is unlikely to be broadcast. Continuing co-operation relies on discretion.

There is a nasty undertone to the expectation that the Muslim community do more. It is a favoured "respectable" attack line of some decidedly unpleasant characters.

If you want to make changes to help the situation, it would be far more productive to limit the disaster porn rolling news coverage. They found one sap, and got wall to wall coverage globally. You ask why people commit these atrocities? The brutal answer is because they work to achieve the twisted agenda of the terrorist.

There is often comparison to the Blitz spirit in times of a terrorist attack. The crucial difference is that the media then downplayed the threat and the terror. Today, we will get days and days of coverage of the victims. The more heinous the crime, the greater the coverage. The media is set up to reward the greatest horror. The actual news of events last night could probably be reported in a couple of minutes, but there is air time to fill.

[Phil M]

Is it really necessary for the BBC and Sky websites to have a graphic image (albeit pixelated) showing bodies on the floor from the incident on their main page of the story?

I just find that really unnecessary and insensitive to the victims and their families.

[Fruity]

I literally cant believe what I am fooking reading here;

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/fake-news-circulating-after-manchester-13078056

People making up 'fake missing friends' to gain attention on social media?!?! 

What the fuck is wrong with you twats, are you so fucked in the head that you would sit down and even think to do this, all because you want a few likes or retweets!?!

Is the world not that screwed already without people resorting to this.

Something has to be done about social media in general. People cannot be trusted to behave themselves and the anonymity only makes it worse. It makes everyone want to be popular and some will go to extremes to do so. It's about who has got the most friends, tweets, shares, likes etc etc. It's one big competition.
Add to that the fact you can find enough info out there to become an extremist or radicalised, and then find more info on how to create a bomb. The internet is not policed to anywhere near the levels of normal society and something has to be done about it.

If it weren't for Rawk I would hardly be on it.

[zero zero]

My first child is due in the next 12 weeks and I've never been more scared starting to be a parent.

I know these things can get us rattled, but we shouldn't let, even a horrific event like this, lose our sense of proportion.

eg. Road Accidents: A total of 25,160 people were killed or seriously injured (KSI casualties) in the year ending September 2016 (latest figures I got hold of).


Congratulations, btw 

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Been checking around, there have been calls in a few areas NOT to name the bomber and his allies.

I agree, as SP posted earlier, the media coverage is pretty much what makes something like this worthwhile for them. Kill it, and you take back a measure of power.

[Andy82lfc]

Is it really necessary for the BBC and Sky websites to have a graphic image (albeit pixelated) showing bodies on the floor from the incident on their main page of the story?

I just find that really unnecessary and insensitive to the victims and their families.

They don't give a fuck, sensitivity went out the window a long time ago, like SP said above, all it is to them is a game of keeping the audiences watching and listening.

I had a reporter call me after the Westminster attack asking for any photos or footage I had of people looking 'happy' in the area from my work, for a segment which was titled 'we are taking back our bridge' - I shit you not.

There was a bit of a parody earlier of a bbc journalist interviewing a guy nearby who said after hearing the explosion 'my journalistic instincts kicked in' and he rushed to the scene getting as much information from people running from the area as possible. He worked in a local radio station but obviously felt this was his chance at a big break and instead of staying well away from the area as police told us, he went straight there, didn't offer help but tried to record as much of it as possible. Where is your head at sticking a voice recorder at people running from a disaster instead of trying to help?

Then you get the trolls on social media sharing fake pictures, they are at the top end of the scale but social and normal media as a whole is built around this, getting as much attention as possible and this is what people are lowered to.

Sorry to moan on, there's more important things at hand, but can't help despise the leeches and hangers on to these tragic events.

[scouseman]

Is it really necessary for the BBC and Sky websites to have a graphic image (albeit pixelated) showing bodies on the floor from the incident on their main page of the story?

I just find that really unnecessary and insensitive to the victims and their families.

its the same on the daily mail online as well

[mattybeard]

Is it really necessary for the BBC and Sky websites to have a graphic image (albeit pixelated) showing bodies on the floor from the incident on their main page of the story?

I just find that really unnecessary and insensitive to the victims and their families.

Especially when apparently its an old image from a training exercise.

[TepidT2O]

There is little that I can do to help this dreadful situation

So I did the little I could do and gave a little money to support the victims and their families.

It would be nice if others could too.

Link below.


https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/westandtogethermanchester

[AndyMuller]

I'm not being funny but if and when people who are connected to the idiot that carried this out are arrested and sentenced nothing changes. They would do a few years in prison, get out and live in the same place they got arrested in and even if the country then plans to deport them they would challenge this costing the taxpayers millions.

I just don't see how a few years i prison would stop these maniacs from plotting these atrocities.

Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk

[Statto Red]

Been checking around, there have been calls in a few areas NOT to name the bomber and his allies.

I agree, as SP posted earlier, the media coverage is pretty much what makes something like this worthwhile for them. Kill it, and you take back a measure of power.

Yep, as could tip off acquaintances who then go to ground, & also saw what happened in the Westminster Attack when C4 News named the person without checking there facts, as it turned out to be the wrong person they named, as he was in Prison.

[DivisiveNewSigning]

The problem nowadays is that people don't even need access to these events and to get through security, they just have to wait around for people to come out. I'd like to think that venues around the world were extremely cautious of loiterers - but my gut feeling is that event security is going to need an enormous wholesale re-think.

@Cliff Bastin. I know things changed and they started to give warnings, but the people of Warrington will never forget what the IRA did. Terrorism is terrorism whether or not one of the c*nts uses a bomb remotely or as a suicide attack.

Lots of comments about "what more can the Muslim community do?" I grew up neighbouring several Muslim families. Although they were a little closed off and private, they were lovely people and I can never see them condoning (or hiding) acts like this. If you want to bark up this particular tree, you need to at least direct it at houses full of multiple young, single males. As per their culture, and from personal experience, if they don't have a family by a certain age it strikes as extremely suspicious.

An 8 year-old blown up, though, for fucks sake. Something needs to change and NOW.

[Magix]

Been checking around, there have been calls in a few areas NOT to name the bomber and his allies.

I agree, as SP posted earlier, the media coverage is pretty much what makes something like this worthwhile for them. Kill it, and you take back a measure of power.

I support this in principle but I wonder how would this play out in actuality. Do we apply this broadly, omitting the names of any and all local acts of terrorism (whether it's committed by radical Islamists or not)?

[[new username under construction]]

So is this going to be another bloke from a Watch list that they knew about already?

[SP]

The problem nowadays is that people don't even need access to these events and to get through security, they just have to wait around for people to come out. I'd like to think that venues around the world were extremely cautious of loiterers - but my gut feeling is that event security is going to need an enormous wholesale re-think.

It is insoluble. At some point the thousands in the crowd will transition from a "secure" area to an "insecure" area. Once they do they are vulnerable to a determined attacker. But then the lunchtime queue at M&S in an office area, a bus stop or any other number of areas is also vulnerable. You cannot secure everywhere. There may have been security failings, but they would not have prevented this attack - maybe just shifted it a little further from the building.

But in terms of odds, you are far more likely to be hit by a car or choke than be a victim of terrorism.

[Zeb]

So is this going to be another bloke from a Watch list that they knew about already?

Probably. But clearly not in the top 50 or so risks for them to be able to track every hour of the day. There's been a lot of successes for counter-terrorism in Manchester over the past ten years. Sadly this one got through. Sadly that's why our terrorism threat level never drops from 'severe' - " an attack is highly likely".

[DivisiveNewSigning]

There may have been security failings, but they would not have prevented this attack - maybe just shifted it a little further from the building.

Sorry if my comments were misconstrued. I wasn't attacking security teams at all, I'm well aware they do a damn fine job. For every atrocity I'm sure there are dozens and dozens of attacks that are thwarted that we don't even hear about.

Sadly if some sick c*nt is determined enough to do something like this it's extremely hard to prevent. I wouldn't dare to be any kind of expert but it's clear that some changes must be made however.

[Purple Red]

Been checking around, there have been calls in a few areas NOT to name the bomber and his allies.

I agree, as SP posted earlier, the media coverage is pretty much what makes something like this worthwhile for them. Kill it, and you take back a measure of power.

You can't not report events of this magnitude but I agree that it must be done in a more responsible way. Reporting of atrocities need to be clear, concise, productive and with sensationalism. Only calm, logical action can ever hope to defeat terrorism - the media need to realise they are part of this too.

[SP]

I support this in principle but I wonder how would this play out in actuality. Do we apply this broadly, omitting the names of any and all local acts of terrorism (whether it's committed by radical Islamists or not)?

It is the same principle that some profilers want to apply to school shootings in the States. There they occur in clusters as further perpetrators are inspired by the reporting of previous attacks. John Douglas outlines it in this book. At times it feels like the media are playing the world's most depressing four yorkshiremen sketch.

It is depressing that the media can cover disaster to a depth their political coverage never reaches. 

[Dr. Beaker]

After the Bataclan Theatre attack, a 'Prey for Paris' mass was held at Notre Dame. Here is the incomparable Olivier Latry playing the Marseillaise, with one of his trademark improvised intro's filled with pure gothic terror. I wish we had a piece of music that could bring us all together in a positive way, rather than that emabarrassing 'god save the queen' nonsense. People must have walked out of Notre Dame ready to take the bastards on with their bare hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN19Zq3Bfuo

[ToneLa]

That just giving campaign is up to £265,348

The show of support is boss and the amount of care shown by real people is heartbreaking in a GOOD way 

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/westandtogethermanchester

[TepidT2O]

That just giving campaign is up to £265,348

The show of support is boss and the amount of care shown by real people is heartbreaking in a GOOD way 

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/westandtogethermanchester

Please all, do give something if you can.

Let's make some good come of this.

[Groundskeeper Willie]

The explosion was in the foyer and not inside the arena. Its a public place so its literally like attacking someone as they leave a venue.

 The reports are wide of the mark. The bomb was triggered outside the venue in a public passage between Victoria railway station and the arena. It's a place where many people meet after a concert before getting trains out of Manchester

Thanks for that. That makes it nearly impossible to prevent.

[Lfsea]

Been retweeting, trying to help and following this since about 1am and haven't had any sleep, so going to turn it all off for an hour otherwise it's going to break me.

Feeling very blessed that I have that privilege and there are hundreds out there that, because of what happened yesterday, do not.

[ohweloveyerbaldyhead]

Horrifying what's happened, resonates even more so close to home. Can't even imagine what the families are going through.

Sadly events like this bring out the very worst in what is an ever increasingly worrying society; from Twitter trolls and fake missing people, to racism, xenophobia and religious intolerance. Worrying times indeed.

[HarryLabrador]

This news is just so utterly dreadful. I have been speechless and depressed and so saddened for the families who have lost their loved ones.

On Thursday my daughter and I are going to watch the Vienna Festival Ballet. Not long after this we are going to Elton John's concert. I am just a tad concerned after last night's disgusting and horrific, and I hasten to add, cowardly action by a despicable excuse for a human being.

RIP