the media...

... I'm really annoyed at how the media are portraying the two car bombs in London yesterday. As far as I can see, everything worked as it should: A member of the emergency services was vigilant, noticed something was wrong and reported it; the second car had been towed away on parking violations and was therefore no longer in a crowded place. Both devices were gotten to before they exploded.

In a major international city, this is what's meant to happen. The police are not going to get a heads-up on every person who wants to kill people with bombs and it is ridiculous to think that they should. What should happen is that people are vigilant, report things they see, and the emergency services deal with these things in a calm and professional way.

This is what happened, but rather than herald it as a success, the media (and the Government) seem determined to use it as a way of scaring people. The only person who sounded sensible about it all was Ken - I just hope he gets re-elected next year...

OK - rant over now, I'm going to watch the final ep of Doctor Who (and then spend the rest of the evening dissecting it on message boards!).