[Closed] Explosions heard at Manchester Arena

Amongst the horror, some comfort to be found in the acts of those who instantly reacted by trying to help.

One thing that made me smile - many mentions of offers of... tea.

"There's been a bloody terrorist attack! Quick, put the kettle on!"

Keep calm. Carry on. 😉

I'll echo the sentiments and condolences to all those affected, both forum members and the greater public.
I'm from the other side of the Pennines but have been to the arena, taking my then 8yo to a show.
I just hope that those who escaped physically unscathed do not carry with them the images of what they may have seen, and what they have gone through, without seeking some support.
I cannot, and don't wish to, imagine the scenes that some people will have experienced.
How the emergency services cope with what they must have been greeted with running into that, to help others, is staggering.

Stood in Albert Square last night listening to Longfella's poem, surrounded by my fellow's, thinking of my kids, was one of the most moving moments of my life. Shed a few tears along with lots of strangers around me.

Through utter tragedy, the spirit of decent honest hard working people shines through.

Choose love, Manchester!

Heard it this morning Dave. Here it is. Beautiful! Powerful! Sums it up perfectly. This Place. Choose Love!!

Still feeling pretty torn up about this this morning. There are young kids at my daughter's school with reported life-changing injuries. So awful.

And that will be the picture across the whole north of England, not just the city itself - thousands of kids came from the surrounding counties, including mine.

Let's hope United give the whole city something to smile about by winning tonight, even though I support the other lot.

infidel - Member
CBS are reporting the name of the bomber. US security services releasing more info currently than ours - wonder why? (Genuine question that)

Amber Rudd is apparently not happy that the US leaked the intelligence.

Ms Rudd said: "The British police have been very clear that they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity, the element of surprise.

"So it is irritating when it gets released from other sources and I have been very clear with our friends that that should not happen again."

Asked whether US conduct had compromised the investigation into the Manchester Arena attack, she said: "I wouldn’t go that far but I can say they are perfectly clear about the situation and that it shouldn’t happen again."

Thanks for sharing Binners. I'm a long way removed over here and I don't think anyone I know was there, but I'm still shaken. It's brought tears to my eyes a lot over the past couple of days. My sincerest condolences for you and your workplace.

It's brought back a lot of memories of the IRA, but at least those ****s had the decency to ring up first.

Binners - I too have shared your friend Jane's artwork. Thank her for me please. I am a former Manchester resident and touching base with Salford colleagues yesterday brought home how close it is for many of us.

So why was this needed?

F***ing religion...

Or did I miss the intended irony?

No irony. Religion is humanity's scourge - the cause of more strife and pain across the ages than anything else under the control of humanity.

Friend on Facebook that is a student at Salford Uni just shared an email that every student there has received. Apparently the attacker was a student at the university.

who gives a shit about him. i dont care who he was, where he came form, where he lived/grew up or studied.
i couldnt care less about him....he doesnt merit anyones thoughts....he's an evil scumbag
we shouldnt be wasting our time on him....if only the media would do this but instead they foolishly give him more column inches on top of the atrocity he is responsible for
as far as i'm concerned they can scoop up whats left of him and put it in a bin somewhere....he doesn't deserve a burial or cremation....let him rot

what we should be doing is concentrating on the victims....celebrate their lives before they were tragically cut short, concentrate on those who were injured and those who survived....
let us celebrate the bravery of the emergency services and the love and generosity of those who helped from the taxi drivers who gave free lifts to the residents who opened up their homes to those who needed them
let us celebrate all that is good that has come from this city and its wider community in how it has tackled and responded to this horror
concentrate on the survivors and the loved ones left behind by those who perished....our thoughts and prayers should be for them

as for the bomber...he can go f*** himself in hell
if theres any divine justice his dick will have been blown off so he wont be able to cash in his claim to his 72 virgins or whatever shit that had been put into his mind by the BS proapganda he took his inspiration from....not that he'll get any in hell

the cause of more strife and pain across the ages than anything else under the control of humanity

Wrong and ignorant. Stop.

I nearly bought a paper today something I have not done since it came out they hacked Milly dowlers phone.

Because I wanted to know more about this man, in a bid to try and understand how some one could do this.

I also want to see faces of the people whose lives he cruely ended. I cried yesterday at the thought of the little girl who died and the mothers pain of not knowing where here daughter was, I hoped she would turn up alive but deep down was thinking the worse, which sadly today was proven to be the case.

Something as simple as going to a concert would have and should have been a wonderful and exciting event for these kids, and the source of precious life long memories for both them and their parents.

It made me reflect on what a wonderful time childhood is and that this was an attack on innocents.

I hope this man is reported matter of factly, nothing more and nothing less as demonising him may appeal to such a person capable of such an act.

I hope this man is reported matter of factly, nothing more and nothing less as demonising him may appeal to such a person capable of such an act.

He was simply a coward, scum, a nobody.

Just had an example of the brave new world of solidarity that this tragedy has brought about.

My scouse mate, and Anfield season ticket holder, has just got in touch to see if I fancy going to the pub tonight to watch the Europa Cup Final? He then announced he'll be supporting United! 😯

Choose love, people! 😀

😀

who gives a shit about him. i dont care who he was, where he came form, where he lived/grew up or studied.

It matters, there was a reason he did what he did, what was that reason, was it those around him, the bigger world. IF you want it to happen again carry on as before. If you want it to not happen again then we all need to understand why. It is not for us to pour over every detail and certainly not for the media to intrude as they do. Yet we all need to understand what led someone to kill themselves and others.

😀 @ binners

Binners, shared the picture on fb, lots of likes, how about selling prints and profits go to charities involved with supporting the kids affected?

Just a thought, tell your colleague thank you for sharing.

On the train this morning there was a group of Muslims talking about this, the kindest point they made about the bomber was "that he was wrong in the head". They went on to discuss the problems of getting through to people like that.

Edit: +1 to mrmo

molgrips - Member 

the cause of more strife and pain across the ages than anything else under the control of humanity

Wrong and ignorant. Stop.

It's an opinion, and one that I somewhat agree with. So much suffering in the name of religion, or the hatred of religion, over thousands of years.

Meanwhile Trump poncing around Jerusalem banging on about evils of religious terrorism in a very place that has spawned so much hatred for each other's religion.

And yes I acknowledge that vast majority of religions condemn the terrorists, and rightly so. Still though, without religion in the first place there would be far less for fanatics/extremists to get so upset and angry about. In my opinion.

Still though, without religion in the first place there would be far less for fanatics/extremists to get so upset and angry about.

I'm pretty sure we'd find something else to fight about. The two largest conflicts in history had little to do with religion.

"There's been a bloody terrorist attack! Quick, put the kettle on!"

Keep calm. Carry on.

When the going gets tough, the tough make tea.

without religion in the first place

I think humans are wired up to create religion of some sort, it's existence is unavoidable. where there is doubt and fear, religion unifies people. unfortunately humans are also wired up to abuse religion and those that blindly follow it.

[quote=binners said]Just had an example of the brave new world of solidarity that this tragedy has brought about.
My scouse mate, and Anfield season ticket holder, has just got in touch to see if I fancy going to the pub tonight to watch the Europa Cup Final? He then announced he'll be supporting United!
Choose love, people!

He'll soon snap out of it.

zokes - Still not a customer 
The two largest conflicts in history had little to do with religion.

Aside from a certain person/group with a hatred for a certain religion, depending if you look at it as a race hate or religious hate. Or both.

Humans are wired to belong to social groups, and I guess inventing religions is one expression of that. Unfortunately, belonging to a group often involves some form of conflict with different groups.

My scouse mate, and Anfield season ticket holder, has just got in touch to see if I fancy going to the pub tonight to watch the Europa Cup Final? He then announced he'll be supporting United!

Genuine 😆

I tip my hat to the gent.

We're in unchartered waters! 😀

Binners, shared the picture on fb, lots of likes, how about selling prints and profits go to charities involved with supporting the kids affected?

Janes picture seems to have taken on a life of its own. Thanks for all the compliments. I'll pass them on. I'll ask her about prints. Thanks for the suggestion twistedpencil

It matters, there was a reason he did what he did, what was that reason, was it those around him, the bigger world. IF you want it to happen again carry on as before. If you want it to not happen again then we all need to understand why. It is not for us to pour over every detail and certainly not for the media to intrude as they do. Yet we all need to understand what led someone to kill themselves and others.

while i do agree with you there thats something that the authorities need to concentrate on...my comment was directed more towards the media

as a community we need to be more cohesive and inclusive with people of all religions, nationalities and races...when we can become tolerent towards each other and demonstrate that we are truly united together under te banner of the human race....people like him and those that inspired him will find it very difficult to find a way in to spread their poisonous hatred

On the train this morning there was a group of Muslims talking about this, the kindest point they made about the bomber was "that he was wrong in the head".

Just heard on the telly that Abedi's ex-school mates described him as "gullible and short-tempered"...

Ideal putty for religious radicalisation.

Still though, without religion in the first place there would be far less for fanatics/extremists to get so upset and angry about. In my opinion.

It's a convenient excuse, without religion they'd find something else to be a bit explody in the name of. Cheese or Eastenders or something.

<mod>
Regardless, as Drac has said, this isn't the time or the place. if you want Yet Another STW Religion Thread, go create it somewhere else.
</mod>

I feel a little guilty in writing this as I cannot imagine how those who were directly involved are feeling, I just hope that they are getting all the support that they need.

I commute via Manchester Victoria every day and I have a little girl who has attended the MEN Arena so this particular attack is close to home. The thought that someone could target innocent children in this way is beyond comprehension.

I hope this attack only strengthens links between all communities.

.my comment was directed more towards the media

Agreed, however the media can't say nothing because it is news, and there is a need for the public to understand why it happened.

as a community we need to be more cohesive and inclusive with people of all religions, nationalities and races...when we can become tolerent towards each other and demonstrate that we are truly united together under te banner of the human race....people like him and those that inspired him will find it very difficult to find a way in to spread their poisonous hatred

Which is why the crap being spouted by some is not helpful, brown, white, christian, muslim, agnostic, for most means nothing. So to single out any group only causes issues. If an individual of any background is an issue then that INDIVIDUAL needs to be dealt with, and needs to be understood. Further, to a large part the INDIVIDUAL isn't really the issue, more the people directly around them are the issue, afterall how many people kill themselves for no reason?

I can't go into detail as her name hasn't been released yet but I've had awful news this morning.

Maty - nothing wrong with relating to it.

Bregante - shit. When you can talk, and if you want to, we'll listen.

What will be the Coroner's verdict on the bomber? "Suicide while the balance of the mind was disturbed"?

The bomber was born an ordinary child just like the rest of us but he was probably weak-minded or was being coerced or even blackmailed by whoever set him up with the materials. How do we know his family wasn't being threatened in Libya? Those who brainwashed him and set him up share the blame equally, if not more. Their cynical use of a weak-willed boy is an equally disgusting crime and unfortunately the same people will be lining others up for the same fate.

matydubz - Member 
The thought that someone could target innocent children in this way is beyond comprehension.

This very much ^^^. Baffling.

Doesn't baffle me sadly. I wish it did really.

Killing children has a bigger psychological impact than killing adults.

Softer target, innocents, defenceless, while life in front of them.

If you want to do something really nasty it's the first port of call.

That's a reason not how someone could go ahead and do it. We as all understand the reason why they chose the target.

The bomber was born an ordinary child just like the rest of us but he was probably weak-minded or was being coerced or even blackmailed by whoever set him up with the materials. How do we know his family wasn't being threatened in Libya? Those who brainwashed him and set him up share the blame equally, if not more. Their cynical use of a weak-willed boy is an equally disgusting crime and unfortunately the same people will be lining others up for the same fate

Exactly. Be good to get perspective from the recovering radicalised on how their minds can be changed to think that bombing people is the right thing to do/what God wants etc,.

Exactly. Be good to get perspective from the recovering radicalised on how their minds can be changed to think that bombing people is the right thing to do/what God wants etc,.

On a very slightly different theme, what makes a soldier kill another human being, after all it is their job. Every(?) child learns quite early that hurting others is wrong. Somewhere, somehow people can be "reprogrammed", i would assume that it dependent on the person as too how easy or hard.

I've posted this on UKClimbing but... disaffection is a problem that the mosques have to address; I read an article about a young Englishman who converted to Islam. He was badly disappointed at the content of the Friday sermons; instead of giving guidance on the role of muslims in modern Britain the mullahs harped on about the length of the beard and how much ankle a woman was allowed to show. I have raised this with Sudanese friends but they don't seem capable of taking a broad view of their religion and how it can fit with a modern lifestyle; they just repeat the old mantras. Presumably it's easy to brainwash people who are as gullible and unquestioning as that.

Bombing innocent kids can never be justified, no matter what reasons some people think they may have. I just wish even some of the coverage, scrutiny, mourning and outrage shown in this country was also shown whenever children are needlessly killed by bombs elsewhere around the world, all too often in incidents we as a country are connected to.

Plenty of psychological studies show that it is pretty easy to convince one human to hurt another.

Plenty of psychological studies show that it is pretty easy to convince one human to hurt another

Yep, use WW2/Hitler for some case studies...