Bombings in London

[Rangerforever]

I think Tony Blair is calling for cool heads obviously.

Biased, but I'm sure the Brits will not react like the Yanks would.

The three lads I've spoken to are pretty pissed but there is so much confusion right now as to who/what is responsible.
The joy of winning the Olympics is gone and most people are gutted more than really angry right now they tell me.

Captain:
I hear you man but just to let you know I felt the same way when innocent people were butchered in Inniskillen (sp?).

Terrorism is terrorism to me personally.

And it will always be Great to me.

 

[Gurps]

What occured is a tragedy, and no innocent lives should ever suffer in the struggle for "justice."

However, I found it quite funny that George Bush had the nerve to state that it was a crime to kill innocent civilians to achieve your goals.

Oh how ironic, then again, thousands of Iraqi civilains are not considered people, neither by the American government, nor the mainstream media.

What has happened is horrible, but it occurs everyday in all corners of the world. Only when it occurs to people whom look like the leaders of the richest countries in the world does it become a crime.

Whether it is a child in London, or a orphaned kid on the streets of Afghanistan who has lost his parents due to the war on terror,

a life is a life.

When everyone in the world realizes that, only then will terror stop.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

I think Tony Blair is calling for cool heads obviously.

Biased, but I'm sure the Brits will not react like the Yanks would.

The three lads I've spoken to are pretty pissed but there is so much confusion right now as to who/what is responsible.
The joy of winning the Olympics is gone and most people are gutted more than really angry right now they tell me.

Captain:
I hear you man but just to let you know I felt the same way when innocent people were butchered in Inniskillen (sp?).

Terrorism is terrorism to me personally.

And it will always be Great to me.

RF,

If you put a blanket on organizations like that, then terrorism is terrorism. However, there have been many situations in the north of Ireland where WARNINGS have been ignored by the British ON PURPOSE. That tragedy you referred to, and it is just that, a tragedy like today, happened to be one of them. I guess certain groups can be viewed as Freedom Fighters in ones eyes and terrorists in another's eyes. It certainly is a fine line, RF.

BTW, as long as it's GREAT with you, it's great with me.


Hail Hail

 

[max blink]

Regs and all:

Thanks for checking up on me, the wife and I are fine and [are horrified] by yesterday's events. I was just arriving at work yesterday when the first bomb went off, so everyone in my office was following the news on the internet. I travel through Paddington station, and it turns out I took the tube through Edgeware Road station about 20 minutes before the bomb went off there, albeit on the Bakerloo line when the bomb was on the Hammersmith and City line.

There was a lot of hysteria and confusion about what was going on, first they said that it was just a "power surge", but then a representative from the National Grid said "Don't you Tube guys go blaming us, everything is fine with the power supply." There were many false reports of suspected bombs in major locations like Leicester Square, and sirens went by my building ([off] the Strand near Charing Cross) all day, so I just stayed inside until the all-clear was given in the late afternoon.

Here I am in the office again this morning, and London is still empty (even for a Friday in July). It's very strange.

max

 

[Keeper]

How was it getting home that afternoon, Max?

 

[max blink]

Keeper:

It was actually fine, London has an uncanny ability to disperse people even in the worst of times. Kinda like after the million-strong Iraq war protest march two years ago, an hour after it was over the streets were covered with garbage, but it was like "Where the hell did everybody go?".

People we just a bit more patient than they usually are with the post-work commute yesterday, and all of the people walking through London (no buses or tubes) to get home seemed to be quite relaxed given the trauma of the day. [There] was more security in London than I've ever seen before (and I've been to the New Den for a football match, so that's saying something)

Everyone here tends to say that yesterday was somehow expected given the warnings , that they got through all the IRA bombings in the 80s and 90s, the Blitz in WWII, etc.... so why not these attacks?

max

 

[Reccos]

Well we know that Fastshow is fine as I can see he is reading this thread as I type.

Some good posts and good insights into how the average member of the British public think and don't react like the American fear biting dog (other than the moronic Tony Blair who supports Bush in Iraq with the lives of British soldiers and now civilians).

Gurps couldn't have said it better. My sentiments exactly. This kind of stuff is unfortunately a daily occurrence with some many nuts and crazies out there.

 

[Fastshow]

A very surreal Thursday indeed. I arrived at my office in The City outside Aldgate tube about five minutes before all the nonsense kicked off. Had it not been for my unflinching heroism and impressive bravery in the face of such normality I suspect I'd have arrived at Aldgate at precisely the same time.

The building security at my office, in response to the uncertainty and near-panic that was sweeping through the office by 9:10, was that we should draw the blinds in our offices. This meant we could no longer see out. Which meant the secretaries (and closet homosexuals) couldn't ogle the firemen on Fenchurch Street. Which almost caused a riot.

Initially we were told it was a power surge on the Underground and that, as wotsit said earlier, the national grid was responsible. This resulted in the national grid issuing a helpful statement saying, for all intents and purposes, "Don't blame this on us, everything is running smoothly this morning, which in itself is surreal enough, and this isn't our fault."

Everyone in my building was bent in front of their computer monitors pressing refresh on their browsers every five seconds on Sky or BBC news. It was important to maintain normality and, since all anyone ever does in my office is press refresh on their browsers every five seconds, I can report that it was just another day at the office in that respect. Even terrorists can't make the bone idle get their fingers out and do some work. We found one of the best sources of up-to-the-minute news to be the Millwall FC supporter's forum. It was a surprise to me that any of them could read or write too. Despite the odd hoax (like the suggestion that snipers had shot a man with a bomb walking in to Morgan Stanley Chase and that they'd signed Gerrard), their information not only came far faster than the news websites but had the added benefit of unbridled racism, colourful language (you can write "f*uck" on that website, for instance, without having to resort to the cleverness of asterixes) and members challenging one another to rucks outside the French Man & Horn, Bermondsey. Tremendous reading. Sadly for Millwall, however, yesterday's events have meant the cancellation of their upcoming "friendly" with the Iranian National side. The Shah will be well pissed off about losing out on that nice little earner and thorough kicking.

An interesting aspect of it all was to see who, among my mates, was prone to over-reaction and silly American-style hysteria. Some didn't find my response to their, "Are you okay?" text the slightest bit amusing. I told them I had a slight cold and that I'd hurt my knee Wednesday night at football. Bloody amateur dramaticists. I saw very few people in The City whose behaviour could be described as anything but perfectly normal. In the traffic-free ambience of The City, the sun shone and people went about their way trying to find a way out of Central London and home. It brought a tear to a glass eye to see a lad who was so pissed he must have been drinking since February stagger up the middle of Cheapside singing something that might have been U2's shockingly awful "Beautiful Day". I say it might have been because it did, for once, almost sound nice, even musical. You may try to take our liberty but until you try to piss about with our Special Brew we'll carry on regardless, praise Allah.

Despite the truly horrific scenes underground and at Tavistock Square, scenes that make you wonder if there even is a God to be pretending to fight for, London got on with things as London always does. It would have been nice of these modern terrorists to have given some notice, though. The cheeky, craic-loving, Guinness-swilling scallywags of everyone's favourite terrorists The IRA at least had the decency to give warning before they murdered innocent people.

And if there can possibly be a silver lining in this unprecedented act of cowardice and depravity it's that at least we stopped hearing about bloody Africa and Bob twatface Geldof for five minutes. If that c*unt and the likes of Pete Doherty and Elton f*ucking John totted up all the wonga they've shoved up their noses in charlie over the years every flaming African would be driving a 3-Series BMW.

It was business as usual on the golf course this afternoon, you'd really never have known anything had happened. Though, as we pick up the pieces of our wonderful city, our hyperbole and our lives on the day after 7/7, sadly my golf remains truly, truly shite.



God bless the families of those who perished.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

The IRA at least had the decency to give warning before they murdered innocent people.

God bless all the families indeed.



Yes, warnings were given to avoid such tragedies and when acknowledged, they certainly cut them down. Unfortunately, that didn't/doesn't always happen.


Fasty, I'm glad you're okay and as previously stated, let's hope this NEVER happens again ANYWHERE. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be.

 

[Rangerforever]

So, Fasty, are you trying to tell me that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory isn't about chocolate?
I see...

Glad to see as the more things change, the more they stay the same mate.

Good to also see you're OK as I don't think I could have dealt with any more of KNVB's blubbering on my shoulder stating in a broken breath forced cry 'He was the greatest you know' and the wailing sob that would follow.

Chat in week lads and three cheers for London,

RF