London Terrorism, Inappropriate Tweets and TV Programming

Seven people were killed and 48 injured during last night's terrorist attack on London Bridge and in Borough Market. Within 8 minutes, the three perpetrators were themselves shot dead. It is not thought that the attack was directly related to the previous ones.

Political campaigning was put on hold for the day out of respect. It will resume tomorrow and the election will take place on Thursday. No doubt, security will feature more strongly in all parties' announcements till then.

President Trump tweeted his offer of assistance in reaction and then apparently misinterpreted a comment by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, within a detailed and sympathetic response to the terrorist incident, “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. No reason to be alarmed — one of the things the police and all of us need to do is make sure we’re as safe as we possibly can be.”

Trump tweeted "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!"" which was not received very well in the UK press.

As ever, the important thing is not to let these acts disrupt our lives - because that is their prime purpose.

In that vein, I made some seed bars to provide slightly healthier snacks. The recipe was half a cup of sesame seeds, finely ground (raw tahini), half a cup of lightly chopped pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, a tablespoon of muesli, 20 g maple syrup. These were mixed with 40 g of melted cacao butter and pressed into a tin lined with foil and placed in fridge to set. They are OK, just lacking something. Experimenting with spreading either nutella (nutty chocolate), damson jam (sugar) or vegemite (salt) revealed that the jam option was the best so far. Will have to adapt the next batch. Roasting may also add more flavour.

Watched the One Love Manchester concert in aid of the Manchester bombing. Great event by Ariana Grande and a rich line-up of singers, from crooners to groaners. I'd never heard of Ariana before, so learnt something new. An enjoyable three hours whilst reading - the only tears were on the faces of teens overcome by seeing their heroine and others in action.

Afterwards, watched The Expendables 2 on channel 5 to avoid the continued news on the terror attack. Paradoxically, this featured lethal knife action by heroes as well as general massacres of opponents with a variety of weapons. Rather a conflicting message here - and with hindsight inappropriate after last night's events.

Out of curiosity, checked for knife proof vests on Amazon - they come under "Sports and Outdoors", at between £56.99 and £520.25. If you want one, remember to add postage cost. Giving it a miss.