Blair is on again at G8

[mandragora]

He's flanked by Bush and Chirac, with the other leaders fanning out. I'm glad to see the rallying round - the squabble with Chirac is overshadowed by today.

Have just learned am due in court tomorrow. Luckily, it's a north London court, so if need be I'll drive there if public transport is still not running. I can't get the file, so will have to wing tomorrow's hearing. The office are faxing through the basics but the file is too big to take everything. I expect the opposition to be sympathetic and let me read their papers. That's what happens in situations like this.

The courts are still running, although obviously lots of clients won't be turning up.

The police are trying to downplay it as much as possible. They're saying that you wouldn't notice anything unusual unless you're in the affected areas.

Mainline trains are running.

Comments

[filenotch.livejournal.com]

Let me chime in on the "good to know you're okay" front.

Thanks for the updates. We're getting the (radio) news interspersed with conjecture on the next Supreme Court nominee and a local story about a foster mother who beat a toddler every day for two weeks and seemed surprised that he died. It took me many minutes this morning to find out what city it was, London or Glasgow.

And isn't it wierd how life goes on?

[britta54.livejournal.com]

Thank god you're okay.

I just heard and am appalled.

My thoughts are with you and I hope things improve quickly.

It's not even dawn here yet so I'm not exactly articulate but I am relieved to know you're still among us.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the comment. Glad to know that the bombing of one of the world's major cities ranks up there in the US with conjecture about the Supreme Court nominee. *snerk*

And isn't it wierd how life goes on?

Thankfully, it does. And in London, well, we're used to it. There was the Blitz and then there was the IRA. We'll carry on, hopefully with the minimum amount of fuss.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks for the message, hon. We're expecting a lot of disruption to travel over the next few days but we'll get through this. We always do.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Glad you're all right.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Many thanks for the message.

[filenotch.livejournal.com]

Well, I did get the BBC broadcast at 9:00 AM EDT, but by that point it was into human interest stories and conjecture.

And this will affect our SC nominee, which wil have long term affects on the shifting of American political/religious culture.

I read recently the phrase Christianist, used as a counter to Islamist. We're becoming a Christianist country, even though we have more Moslems than Episcopalians (our CofE offshoot). This will not help.

Many years ago, around the first Intifada, I read an article in the Atlantic Monthly about the use of bombs as rhetorical devices. It interwove the IRA, Palestinians Basque and others. It was before the use of the phrase "F-bomb," but it seemed that the central thesis of the article applies. The bombings are used as the uiltimate in hate speech, the ultimate "Fuck you." What is such language designed to do? Either provoke a response of "No, fuck you!" or establish dominance when the target doesn't respond.

Gah. Who needs this kind of philosophizing when people are dead and wounded.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Shit! I hadn't even thought that it would affect the SC nomination. Let me officially express my displeasure at the thought that any US politician *dares* to use this to advance their campaign.

London wasn't bombed because we're (nominally) a Christian country. It might have been bombed because Britain sent troops to Iraq (much to the displeasure of most of us), but it's nothing to do with religion. Rather it's to do with old hatreds and resentment, some of it justified. Sadly.

[filenotch.livejournal.com]

Rather it's to do with old hatreds and resentment, some of it justified. Sadly.

We forget that, over here, that Britain ruled the Middle East for so many years, leaving the odd national borders behind. Holmes' friend Watson was wounded in Afganistan, after all.

The old wounds are yours, and the new ones are ours, and they're saying "Fuck You."

And on top of that, Islam is about 700 years younger than Christianity, and what were we doing 700 years ago? Having Crusades.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's rather my thinking about Islam, as well. It's a young religion compared to most and, yet, it's rather less destructive than Christianity was at the same age.

British policy is sadly to blame for a large part of the fucked-up situation in the Middle East. We don't forget it, we can't forget it.