Juan Cole on the London car bomb threat: book a flight to London

i just checked in to my hotel in the n.e. part of the state in a smaller town where i will be teaching this evening and tomorrow... while driving over, i stopped a couple of times, once for gas, and the other for coffee... in both places, tv's in the cashier areas were on and tuned to the news which was showing breathless reporters describing the london car bomb threat... i couldn't help but think back to the end of april when an explosive device was discovered outside a women's health clinic in austin, texas, where abortions are performed... THAT story barely made a dent in the national newscasts, although it was at least as big a threat as the discovery in london...

juan cole doesn't seem too thrilled with the london coverage either...

As I write, London police are using a robot to investigate a parked car near Buckingham Palace. The operation comes hours after a car was discovered packed with explosives and ready to detonate outside a nightclub in Picadilly Circus.

The proper response of Americans to these events? Book a vacation in London immediately and make sure to visit Picadilly Circus.

Whoever planned this operation at the height of the tourist season is trying to hurt the UK economy.

Britain is perfectly safe, in fact the murder rate there, including political violence, is one-fourth that of the US. A ticket to the UK can be found inexpensively and there are reasonable places to stay, and as urban historians have pointed out, London is a giant toy that is endless fun to play with.

i've walked all over central london on numerous visits and i hope to be able to do it again soon... if austin, texas, had any attraction for me whatsoever, i would happily walk around there too... i am simply not going to buy in to the fear-mongering that our media so eagerly attempt to shove down our throats...

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