Blogging from the UK

I am in London this month for school, so I have a unique perspective on what’s going on back home, seeing it from across the pond. Also there is first hand experience on the current events in England.

For instance, the failed car bomb outside Tiger Tiger nightclub—I nearly went there that night, but opted for something closer. The next morning, the streets around my school in Trafalgar Sq. were blocked off to preserve the crime scene, it was blocks away.

The Brits have taken the attempts in stride, but it’s clear the attack is ever present in the back of Londoners’ minds; just as it's clear that radical Islamic fundamentalism is prevalent in a deadly way here.

I suppose some solace can be taken in the speed with which law enforcement tracked down five of the plotters, no doubt aided by the presence of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras on nearly every London street corner. The cameras are Orwellian, for sure, but proved their value. It’s a useful reminder that the relationship between safety and civil liberties is indeed one of balance, where conflicting goals are weighed against each other. Each has its place.