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chloe
01-23-2010, 12:24 AM
UK raises its terror threat level to `severe'
January 22nd, 2010 @ 10:17pm
<!-- ===================[ STORY BODY : RICH TEXT ]================= -->By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press Writer


LONDON (AP) - Britain raised its terror threat alert to the second-highest level Friday, one of several recent moves the country has made to increase vigilance against international terrorists after a Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Europe-U.S. flight.

The threat level was raised from "substantial" _ where it had stood since July to indicate a strong possibility of a terrorist attack _ to "severe," meaning such an attack is considered highly likely.

In making the announcement, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the raised security level means that Britain is heightening its vigilance. But he stressed that there was no intelligence suggesting an attack is imminent.
"The highest security alert is `critical,' and that means an attack is imminent, and we are not at that level," he said on British television.

Johnson declined to say what intelligence the change was based on, or whether the move was related to the failed Christmas bombing attempt, when U.S. authorities say a young Nigerian named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear during a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Abdulmutallab, who allegedly had links to extremists based in Yemen, had studied as a university student in London.
"It shouldn't be thought to be linked to Detroit, or anywhere else for that matter," Johnson said. "We never say what the intelligence is."

He said the decision to raise the threat level was made by the U.K.'s Joint Terrorism Analysis Center. He said the center kept the security threat level under constant review and made its judgments based on a range of factors, including the "intent and capabilities of international terrorist groups in the U.K. and overseas."

Friday's changes came days after Britain suspended direct flights to Yemen's capital in response to the growing threat from al-Qaida-affiliated militants based in that country. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said his government also was creating a new terrorist no-fly list, and targeting specific airline passengers for tougher security checks.

The measures followed a discussion between Brown and President Barack Obama on Tuesday. They match similar moves made by U.S. authorities last week to enhance security at airports and on planes, as intelligence officials warned that al-Qaida's branch in Yemen was continuing to plot attacks on the United States.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=235&sid=9431115

Noir
01-23-2010, 12:32 AM
The same always happens, this is more of a PR exercise than anything else.

chloe
01-23-2010, 12:39 AM
The same always happens, this is more of a PR exercise than anything else.

you look a little sad in your pic today Noir.....perhaps you need a cheer up song from the Binkster and me:cool:

Noir
01-23-2010, 05:52 AM
you look a little sad in your pic today Noir.....perhaps you need a cheer up song from the Binkster and me:cool:

Indeey always get told I look sad in pics for some reason =/

I memo once when I was on a pretty extreme Christain board (which I was later banned from for "trolling" i.e. Asking questions lol) and I put up a pic in the PYP thread and one guy/girl said "Yes, you look sad in this picture, very sad, it is easy to see you are soulless" so I said "how can that be? I've got Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles on my iPod" but they never replied =/

But yes, I do think little beatbox rap from yourself and the binkstar would cheer me up incalculably ^.^

DragonStryk72
01-23-2010, 07:32 AM
Indeey always get told I look sad in pics for some reason =/

I memo once when I was on a pretty extreme Christain board (which I was later banned from for "trolling" i.e. Asking questions lol) and I put up a pic in the PYP thread and one guy/girl said "Yes, you look sad in this picture, very sad, it is easy to see you are soulless" so I said "how can that be? I've got Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles on my iPod" but they never replied =/

But yes, I do think little beatbox rap from yourself and the binkstar would cheer me up incalculably ^.^

try smiling, at least a slight grin, works wonders.

Okay, so here's my problem with this whole system, both in the US and anywhere it's being done really: What the hell am I supposed to do about? I mean really, when the threat level goes up, what should I do? If there even anything that would be effective that wasn't doing before I knew what the threat level was? The only thing this does is make the populace more paranoid, meaning that this whole bullshit thing is just another control mechanism by governments that are trying to ram through programs that would never be accepted otherwise.

chloe
01-23-2010, 07:40 AM
try smiling, at least a slight grin, works wonders.

Okay, so here's my problem with this whole system, both in the US and anywhere it's being done really: What the hell am I supposed to do about? I mean really, when the threat level goes up, what should I do? If there even anything that would be effective that wasn't doing before I knew what the threat level was? The only thing this does is make the populace more paranoid, meaning that this whole bullshit thing is just another control mechanism by governments that are trying to ram through programs that would never be accepted otherwise.

I like your sig

DragonStryk72
01-23-2010, 07:52 AM
I like your sig

thanks, I saw the quote, and it fit quite well.