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Geocaching Shuts Down British Town
DaveAtWorkAnnoyingly writes "Many geocachers will be thinking twice when planting their treasure in an urban space as one geocacher found out in England after the police cordoned off the center of a small West Yorkshire town and the Bomb Squad was called in. From the article: 'It was a normal busy Friday morning in the small West Yorkshire market town of Wetherby when someone working in a café spotted a man acting a bit suspiciously on the street. He appeared to have a small plastic box in his hand and after fiddling with the container he bent down and hid it under a flower box standing on the pavement. He then walked off, talking to somebody on his phone.'"
On my daily walks with the dog i one day spotted something in a silver box near the path and found it was a small aluminium box. I personally did not think that it could be related to geocaching at all and called the local polica station and asked them what to do, as in this case it was me who was afraid to touch or open it because i thought this is a bomb ... Well, one of the first things this police officer said was
"i bet this is one of those geocaching boxes, that is not uncommon these days" :-)
So i asked him: "shall i really open it"
officer: "yes, open it"
"and what if it is a bomb and i blow up?"
officer: "then i will keep my ears shut!"
of course there was nothing interesting in this box and no bomb at all. but i really had to laugh about this quite cool and funny officer
Lord "not Gargamel's Cat!" Azrael
It used to be common but even when it was we never used to freak out like people do now. Unless a suspicious package was left at a prime target like Euston station people didn't feel the need to react like that. Having been in said station when it was evacuated for just that very reason the reaction was for people to calmly make there way out the station. Now people would probably run screaming for the exit.
Why the difference? The government needed to keep a sense off sturdy resilence because there was an actual threat. Sensible and observent was what they needed people to be. Now the threat is mostly manufactured for political purposes. What is required is for the people to be afraid and obedient so the government can act as they will without challenge.
I was in a pub in central London one autumn Saturday afternoon in 1992. Police hassled us to leave quickly, i.e. "freaking out", and I remember thinking, "Hey, what's the fuss?" The next week, a bomb left in the same pub killed one (barman) and injured 4 others. Also what's changed is that coded warnings and the expectation of a reductions in casualties are now not expected.
Totally agreed however, that most security theatre is useless and serves mainly as a way for the ruling classes to completely isolate themselves from the rest of us (literally) poor buggers. But don't hide things under litter bins then expect people to have short memories.
It seems to me terrorists used to have some more ulterior goals (ransom, release of prisoners, independence, publicity) not just invoke fear. That is why up to 9/11 they expected hijackers to land and make their demands, not just ram them into buildings. This whole "it'll cost us a million to do and a billion for you do defend against" seems more like a style of guerrilla or economic warfare, trying to make the US crumble under its own weight like the Soviet Union did.
I mean, it doesn't seem to me that al-Qaeda has much they'd really like to talk about, we're infidels and for the most part they'd just like us to die or throw ourselves to the ground and beg for Allah's mercy or something like that. It's not exactly like videos of them slitting captured people's throats are meant to bring us to the negotiation table. And the more they seem like homicidal maniacs, the less I feel like leaving that cancer to spread.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Again, the UK has HAD real bombing campaigns by the IRA, etc.
I still remember how the IRA in the old days woudl "dispose" of a bomb in a litter bin in a station, which woudl then blow up. This is why most railway statiosn in the UK dont haev bins, and when they do, its just a clear bag on a frame, so that the contents can be observed.
If a member of the public sees a person hiding a metal box in the ground in a shady way, then walking away talking on the phone, it is not inconcivable to assume that the person is doing somethgin wrong. I certainly would.
Closing off an area is only prudent, what if it WAS a bomb... and people got hurt....
Controlled blowing up the package is often the right thing, remember these things may have booby traps and tamper protection. and if all there is is a closed metal box, woudl you risk opening it?
As the parent says, the UK, is no stranger to these things, and its the way it works. There are plenty of signs urging the public to be vigilent, and report suspect packages, etc. And this was true even before 9/11
Have a nice day!
Ok, I have had a though about my above comment, and sat down and thought. Actually, the whole "the terrorists have won" concept is very new.
The UK, has been subject to terrorism far longer than 9/11. We had the IRA trying it on and succeeding very often. Sure their methods were different than the current fundamentalists, as well as their reasons.
Prior to 9/11 and even Tony Blair and New Labour, the governments view was very simple. Get on with your life and dont succumb to fear, otherwise the Terrorists have won. Sure the media often whip up frenzy, but the message from the authorities was very clear.
As part of the policy then, processes were created about how to report suspicious packages and then for the police to handle them. These processes were NOT designed to create fear, but to REDUCE fear, by giving confidence that we all can report suspcious behaviour without fear, and also deal with it in a systematic way. the main message alwasy was to not let fear of these people ruin your life or freedom to live, and the UK was often well priased for its balenced, tationalistic and confident way of working. Hence despite the UK having MORE threat of bombings then compared to the present, the impression people got was that the UK was safer then than now.
So what has changed? Well since Labour came in power in 1997, two things started happening. The first thing was that the Government started not just pandering to the media, but also even helping the media in their whipping up of frenzy.
Look at the way Princess Diana's death was handled by the government and the media.
The second thing that happend was the the new government developed a view that the "government should make laws and have processes to fend off threats" IT pandered to the "think of the children" policy. IT gave the impression that people were no longer ressponsible for controlling parts of their life, and instead there shoudl be support groups/laws and insitutions to do best. It empowered people whilst also taking away responsibility.
This gave short term comfort, but in the long term, it caused more anxiety, as people fear what they cant control. this itself create more laws to solve the problems.
Then along came 9/11. and the later london bombings. Instead of ensuring that the prominent message was "get on with your life, dont let these idiots win", instead people were crying for MORE laws, and rules, and procedures, and allowing the fires of fear to be fueled ever more strongly, leading to a vicous circle.
There are people who follow the old way of thinking, but a huge younger generation (as well as some older) who follow the post 9/11 way fo thinking.
If we continue to think in the "new" way, then the terrorists have one. Instead we shoudl understand how we can work with autorities, but do so not on the concept of fear, but rational behaviour.
Have a nice day!