Michel, I am absolutely on your wavelength. But to be fair, there is a difference between staying in bed and playing ball on the edge of a cliff. We all measure various dangers daily, and act accordingly. Different people have different tolerance for risk, which is perfectly reasonable.

The most dangerous day of the year to drive is July 4th,
The second most dangerous day is July 3rd.

So be sure not to drive anywhere today or tomorrow.

Didn't think either day was especially dangerous

Considering risk, dangerous times on the road will be when a) it is crowded and b) those crowds of drivers are more likely to be careless because of drink, drugs, destractions, rush, tiredness at the end of the day etc. Bad weather tends to make many drivers more cautious, so probably is less an issue than the other things.

in the US that is - because of the independance day holiday.

Im also being sarcastic.
Driving is one of the leading cause of deaths in all age groups. I personally, think it is silly to cancel a trip because of a terrorist scare. You are FAR more likely to be killed driving to the airport, or flying in the airplane, or getting hit by a bus looking the wrong way on the streets of London -- than you are to be blown up in a terrorist attack.

And if you are blown up - at least you were living your life - instead of hiding out at home, afraid to go anywhere for fear of being blown up.

tomasso,
agreed. From my perspective, if someone is travelling to Western Europe, I would rate that in my "low risk" area, with today's risk profile in mind. Not sure what would change that to "high risk".

News media tend to give us the "fire and brimstone" headlines....cars are burning in Paris...youths rioting, football hoolligans are running wild at stadiums, etc...and then you add-in that the french are rude, English food is bad,pickpockets are everywhere in European capitals, etc..

How do you assuage (my word of the day) people's fears? You can throw statistics out, you can hear from people living there, but I guess like you said a decision will be based on that person's capability to quantify and understand the risks. I live in a large city, so I see, hear, know what can go wrong...so I'm a bit more prepared, myabe a little less, not naive, but maybe more cynical.

I went to Africa year and half ago. We were the only white people travelling to the "end of the road" in Ghana. At first I was, not worried, but thinking "they know I'm a tourist and that I have money, they could rob us and leave us in the middle of nowhere" but kept going and soon realized it was nowhere near the true reality...a friendlier country than I would ever have imagined. If I had based any of my decisions to go to Africa by what TV led me to believe....

Statistics can only help so much. No one knows if these three attempted attacks are the start of a wave of hundreds of serious attacks, or if there will be several quiescent years in Europe (although I consider that unlikely).

"We were the only white people travelling to the "end of the road" in Ghana... ...and soon realized it was nowhere near the true reality...a friendlier country than I would ever have imagined"

Michel, funny you should mention that. I just read an article in the paper regarding a just-released study by the Pew Research Center. Ghana is third, only to Kenya and the Ivory Coast, in its' high regard for America and Americans! They show an 80% approval rating behind Ivory Coast's 88 and Kenya's 87. Just found it ironic regarding your fears. :) I'd love to know how that compares to their regard for Europeans. :) :) :)

"I'd love to know how that compares to their regard for Europeans."

About the same probably - as a British person who has lived in Kenya and Zambia for four years and a year respectively, I cannot fault the people. I (nor any of my family or friends) never encountered any hostility even when venturing to the outermost areas.

Having said that, during my time in Kenya there were two terrorist attacks against US interests in the country. Not everything is as clear-cut as 'approval-ratings' would suggest..

Ghana's high regard for America probably has something to do with their beating us 2-1 in the World Cup ;-).

I have no intention of going into London in July, but it has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with tourism. Just too crowded. But at least it won't be as hot as it was last year.

MM is right, when your time is up, it's up. And anti-Americanism can crop up in unexpected ways. When our Greek-American neighbors back in the U.S. decided to visit their relatives in Crete, they wrote them a nice warm letter about coming to see the family farm. Only their Greek was pretty rusty and somehow their intent to "visit" the family farm came out as coming to "take over" the farm. Their arrival was met with a dozen men waving pitchforks, shouting angrily and a tractor blocking the drive. Oops.

The misunderstanding was cleared up quickly and everything went smoothly after that.

BTilke: your story should be mandatory reading for everybody (in all countries) who is involved in international relations.

Ghana of course didn't beat the USA fairly in that game referred to...there was a non existant penalty called by this piece of slimey German referee named Marcus Merk..obviously paid off to see the USA got eliminated from the World Cup.....by far the worst call in what was an obscenely officiated World Cup. (or was it the penalty call against Australia to make sure the Italians advanced???)

We went to London twice just after the last subway bombings and right after the airplane scare. (Not on purpose, we love London and it just happened to be when we had planned trips.) We had a great time. There are many bigger dangers (high cholesterol, traffic accidents, global warming) than a possible terrorist attack out there. I also live in NYC, so maybe I just accept that some dangers can't be avoided. Please have fun whatever you chose.

Radio is now saying that they think they've captured all of the cell that planned the attacks, and that the security level will be lowered from 'critical'.

Ghana...I guess I've been cured of my, hard to admit, assumption that poverty necessarily leads to crime. While there, only had one instance where some kids were asking for pens and money. That's it..apart from learning to haggle! It was also weird to be walking down the dirt road that was the main street of a village and having people walking by us say "you are welcome" as their greeting. Wow.

Also has a stable government and fairly open press. Did not see any soccer stadiums, just kids playing in dirt fields...makes you wonder how they can produce world class players.

Mike

I find crossing a road on foot very dangerous for non-Brits. Almost had my foot ran over twice because I checked for on-coming traffic looking the wrong direction.

People want to feel in control of their lives, nothing wrong with that. And no matter how long the odds, the fact is that terrorism does happen, and it is not, for all practical purposes, either predictable or controllable by the average person. This makes it a particularly difficult pill for many to swallow, so I do not fault anyone who might decide to cancel.

That said, I would concentrate on controlling what you can in life, as opposed to avoiding what you can't control.

The interesting thing is, I note you have said, if <i> anything </i> happens to your kids. 'Anything' is a big category. Some hazards might actually have a lower risk of occurrence in a city like London than in your own home town (I've never seen a mosquito in London, for example - and mosquitoes can carry diseases of as great a harm as a terrorist's bomb.)

The thing is, you can never know what hazards you <i> decreased </i> your risk of encountering by going to London over the given period of time, as opposed to the hazards for which your going meant increased risk. By going, you increase some risks - but you likely decrease some risk, as well. That our human tendency is to notice those risks that increase but not those that decrease does not, in and of itself, constitute proof that on balance, a particular place is is more or less risky than another.

Still, I don't say, with a dismissive air, oh, just put aside your fears and go. I do say, do something about those fears that you can. Teach your kids how to find the fire exits in a hotel, and while you're at it, where to find the exits in movie theatres at home. Warn them about looking both ways when crossing the street, and so on. For it is precisely *because* life is full of perils that passive avoidance is a poor strategy for coping with them. Your kids need, and deserve, better than this. Who better than you to help them get a full complement of skills, the kind that can best be acquired and practiced by their going out and exploring the world - now, while you are still in a position to influence them.

Perhaps the question should be &quot;anyone cancelling July trip to US&quot;.

After all there are an awful lot of foreign doctors in the US

Sue, there definitely are mosquitoes in London! And there have been for well over a century (and probably far longer than that).

London Times:
A new species of mosquito is evolving on the London Underground in a development that has astonished scientists.

The insects are believed to be the descendants of mosquitoes which colonised the tunnels a hundred years ago when the Tube was being dug.

When they went below ground they were bird-biting pests. But over a century, deprived of their normal diet, the mosquitoes have evolved new feeding behaviour, dining on mammals including rats and mice - and human beings. They now plague maintenance workers.

Kate Byne and Richard Nichols of Queen Mary and Westfield College in London have carried out tests to see if the Tube's mosquitoes, which have been named molestus, are now different from Culex pipiens, the bird-biting species which entered the Underground last century.

To their amazement they found that it was almost impossible to mate those living above ground with those in the subterranean world, indicating that the genetic differences are now so great that the ones underground are well on their way to becoming separate species.

This usually happens only when species are isolated for thousands rather than tens of years.

The team, whose findings are reported in BBC Wildlife magazine, have also found genetic differences between mosquitoes on different Tube lines.

They believe this is due to the draughts dispersing the insects along but not between lines. During the Second World War the insects attacked Londoners sheltering from Hitler's bombs.
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I was bitten by mosquitoes more last summer, during the heat wave, when there were some stagnant bits of water about (mosquitoes need very little stagnant water to breed...they would breed in our bird bath if we didn't keep changing the water) than this year, with the frequent rains and windy conditions.

But mosquitoes are prevalent almost everywhere we travel so skeeters in London are the least of our concerns.

My best friend hitch hiked alone around India for 6 weeks a fortnight after Indira Ghandi was assassinated; flew into Viena on the flight before the Red Brigade bombed the airport; was on a flight home from NYC, having eaten at &quot;Windows on the World&quot; the night before 9/11; sailed in the Sydney to Hobart the year something like half the fleet was capsized/retired &amp; several sailors were drowned.
Did he wilfully endanger himself? No but he probably wouldn't have changed his plans, either.

Ordered his lunch on Monday at his favourite restaurant &amp; dropped dead.

He wasn't old or sick &amp; he was far too busy &amp; having too much fun to die now.
But he did. Just like that.

I'm glad he had his adventures &amp; lived his life while he could.

BTW: He was blind.

Blimey, the tube seems to have it's own little ecosystem, what with the scorpions at Ongar (RIP) and the mutant tube mice that exist on a diet of McDonalds wrappers, and have never seen the light of day.

Do you think someone should tell David Attenborough?