Olympics, London and terrorists

sje · July 2005

I read article this on the NYTimes site {reg req}:

Url is fixed! (daveb)

that London has just withstood seven coordinated assumed terrorist explosions on subways and busses during rush hour this morning, a day after it was awarded the 2012 Olympics. There is also an important political summit to determine how to help developing countries going on in Scotland.

I am absolutely THRILLED that New York wasn't awarded the Olympics, for many reasons, this is one of them. Sickening. Now the people of London are the focus of terrorist psychopaths. How much security can stave off attacks while the Olympics are in progress? Any amount?

My thoughts and deep sympathy go out to our friends across the pond.

anonymous · July 2005

7 bombs on the 7th day of the 7th month.

don't think al-queda cares about the olympics that are happening in 8 years...it's all about the G8.

sje · July 2005

Sorry for the long URL, if one of the mods wants to fix...please do!

It's more than a coincidence that it came one day after the Olympics announcement, no? Not that there's any logic involved.

rhodamine · July 2005

sje wrote: It's more than a coincidence that it came one day after the Olympics announcement, no?

im fairly certain thats more of a coincidence than not, as id imagine the g8 has al quaeda up in arms alot more than sports

my friend in london just posted this to citynoise:

http://www.citynoise.org/article/1601

anonymous · July 2005

Subject: Not to be an asshole but

This sentence:

"There is also an important political summit to determine how to help developing countries going on in Scotland. "

Shows a remarkable lack of understanding of our world and what happens in it.

And I agree with other posters, this bombing had NOTHING to do with the Olympics.

Once again:

"Not that there's any logic involved."

How can you justify that? Call them crazy, call them murderers or terrorists or whatever, but don't deny the tactical and strategic intelligence of the folks who pulled off this bombing, and the Madrid bombing, and the WTC/Pentagon.

rhodamine · July 2005

Subject: Re: Not to be an asshole but

ah wrote: "Not that there's any logic involved."

How can you justify that?

uh, cause logic indicates the execution of valid reasoning through a series of meditated events.

sure, these events were meditated and planned, but as 99.9% of the world wouldnt consider their ends very valid or justified, it renders them illogical.

not that im trying to start a philosophy 101 argument here, but i gotta stand with sje on this one.

on another note, when i arrived there on my commute, i saw that the cops and bomb-dogs were called out to newark penn station today, probably in the event of copycats...

sje · July 2005

ah, interesting interpretation, although I would counter that's it's my writing skills that are lacking, more so than "a remarkable lack of understanding of our world and what happens in it", that's a bit broad.

I'm an extremely visual person, and when translating to words, almost always fail to adequately describe my thoughts but I do keep trying. Thanks for the interpretation, though! Next time I'll cut and paste directly from the article.

rhodamine · July 2005

sje wrote: a remarkable lack of understanding of our world and what happens in it

lol. i think that im just gonna get a big fat cup of coffee, sit back, and see how many more gross generalizations get posted to this messageboard this morning. yay teh intarnets!

sje · July 2005

ah, from today's NY Times:

"Mr. Blair said it was "particularly barbaric" that the attackers had struck on a day when the leaders assembled here were taking up proposals to do more to fight poverty and disease in Africa and to find some consensus on how to address global warming."

Ok now?

t-fal · July 2005

i hope anyone who has friends or family in london has been able to make contact with them, and that all is ok!

i also think this has more to do with g8 than the olympics, i bet yesterdays announcement however was just icing on the cake for whomever did this.

i contacted one of my best friends who has lived his whole life in london, and he said people were remarkably calm and helpful to each other. but also, that this could be due to the history of IRA bombings over the last 30 years.

medusa · July 2005

The British have a long, proud tradition of remaining calm under stressful circumstances.

I recall from Modern European History that during the retreat from Dunkirk in WWII the British queued up to wait for boats. My teacher, at least, felt it was their ability to queue that helped lessen the lives lost during the retreat.

They really are good a queueing. No one ever pushes ahead or jumps in line.

My thoughts as well go out to all affected by the attacks.

emily · July 2005

The British have a long, proud tradition of remaining calm under stressful circumstances.

And let's not forget the Blitz.

medusa · July 2005

EmilyM wrote: And let's not forget the Blitz.

So true. They are a reserved-type people and that can cause a certain amount of personal-emotional misery, but it comes in very handy in a crisis.

t-fal · July 2005

nearly every one of my friends over there ended up retreating to a pub at some point during the day today... just like in shaun of the dead. but without the zombies of course.

Olympics, London and terrorists

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