Thread: Just when things had been quiet for a while....

Yea, well it just happened a few hours ago, but it is all over the TV. I don't think any place in the world can ever fully be free of terrorist bullshit no matter what they do. You can't stop a bunch of fanatics, from keeping their skewed views on the world.

Yea, I heard about the car bomb, if things keep going like this, there won't be much left of the city by the end of the day.

Maybe we all have a better grasp of what happened today in Jakarta.
If you're a fan of CNN's "coverage", you might be thinking why you subscribe to their "news" channel. In one word...hopeless.

Sadly security around Bali seems to have slipped back to the complacency stage that was evident post 2002 and pre 2005. Anyone who thinks Bali security is up to scratch is dreaming...

Huh? Say what? I was present at the bombing in Jimbaran. I was amazed the next morning going into a supermarket in Sanur (Hardy's). Absolutely no "security checks" whatsoever. I thought that was a bit strange, but what would I know? Even today, (oops...yesterday), the "security" there is about as useless as one could imagine. I wonder if I go there tomorrow, would anything have changed? Personally, I doubt it.

The two bombed hotels in Jakarta supposedly had the best, tightest security measures possible. Obviously, not "secure" enough. I was moderately entertained by an interview with the head of security for all the Marriott hotels, worldwide. He was in the Marriott at the time, on the 23rd floor. He didn't hear the bomb go off. The interviewer asked him what went wrong, what new measures would he take in the future, etc?

Count me as a "cynic", (someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing), but I hoped his first answer would have been "I'm looking for a new job".

It's not his fault - when the Indonesian government(s), to this date, have not outlawed JI outright, it makes you wonder why? Certain big-mouthed "Islamic clerics" should have been behind bars years ago. For example..the so-called "spiritual head" of JI in Indonesia (Mr Bashir in Solo). Why it's not illegal, to this day, to be a card-holding member of JI baffles me. Hopefully, that might change soon.

- I have NEVER seen any security checks whatsoever at the Gilimanuk - Ketapang ferry terminals. Sadly, anything is possible.....

I have, but nothing to get confident about. "Security" and "complacency" in Bali are nearly the same thing, unless you live in a tightly controlled village where the satpam stay both vigilant and awake.

I guess that part of the Jakarta bombers' statement to the rest of us is: "Your top security-protected hotels are not beyond our reach. Think again, Infidel."

Or whatever these whackos think at all, if they even have brains.

Another attack on Bali is probably on the cards.
I hope that these latest atrocities in Jakarta give the Balinese another wake-up call!

:evil: