Aftershocks and Afterthoughts

The scenes from London are terrible, but it seems things could have been a whole lot worse. For one, note how many eyewitnesses claim to be in the cars next to the ones that were bombed - flying glass and smoke inhalation sound like the majority of their injuries. Those were some well-built carriages, man.

Rudy Giuliani, harbinger of doom. Learning from bagpipers, it seems, Rudy will soon be taking money NOT to make any speaking appearances: "Rudolph Giuliani, the mayor of New York at the time of the September 11, 2001, attacks, was visiting London at the time of today's attacks." And to add to the list of celebrity suspects, weren't Bob Geldof and Bono threatening to disrupt the G8 meeting? (I'll go to any lengths to shut those two up!)

What impressed me most today was the relative lack of panic (in the streets of London). Everybody regrouped and took it in stride (and no DJs were hanged). It occurred to me that Londoners, through the historical Darwinism of Luftwaffe blitzkrieg, IRA bombings, and everyday dealings with millions of annoying tourists, are pretty damn hard to faze.

Terror Again

News of explosions in London. Unfortunately, yewitness reports and pictures from the scene indicate that the current death toll of 2 will soon rise dramatically.

I guess it could be expected; The world's attention is on the G8 summit, it's been a while since the last big hit, there was an Olympic announcement yesterday, and Britain is - if anything - overdue, given its involvement in Iraq. But I wonder if the sleeper cells weren't waiting for the Olympic announcement? New York, Madrid, Moscow, Paris and London are all G8 cities and big targets with easily-accessible transit systems, ripe for backpack bombings.

I'm surprised by the current lack of info and documentation of this attack. The BBC has some camera-phone photos up, but London is one of the world's most snap-happy cities. Between that and the comments from the police chief, it lends an air of eerie calm to the whole situation, but then, I don't have a TV...

London's police chief Sir Ian Blair said there had been 'many casualties' but it was too early to put a figure to those killed or injured...

Sir Ian urged people to stay where they were and not to call emergency services unless it was a life-threatening situation.

He reassured the public that an emergency plan was in place and the situation was 'steadily coming under control'.

He'd Kill To Be That Famous

Thinking about Presidential assassinations, it occurred to me that I'd never heard for what cause James Garfield was murdered. Turns out it was a political statement on behalf of the Monster Raving Loony Party. Charles Guiteau sounded like a real piece of work:

Born in Freeport, Illinois, Guiteau was routinely beaten by his father as a child and left home at an early age. He inherited $1000 from his grandfather as a young man and went to law school, where he promptly flunked out. Undeterred he used his money to start a law firm in Chicago based on ludicrously fraudulent recommendations from virtually every prominent American family he could think of. After every case he handled resulted in enraged clients and judicial criticism, he went wandering and ended up at the controversial Oneida Community, where he joined an obscure religious sect, and reportedly spent all his time in sexual abandon. He was eventually expelled from the community for his all too obvious mental irregularities and then devoted himself to theology.

He published a book on the subject called The Truth which was almost entirely plagiarism of the words of others. After that embarrassment, Guiteau took an interest in politics. He repeatedly gave rambling unsolicited campaign speeches on Garfield's behalf during the election months, and believed himself to be solely responsible for Garfield's victory. He insisted on being awarded an ambassadorship for his vital assistance, and when he was ignored by the White House he went into seclusion and prayer, and believed that God had commanded him to kill the president. Guiteau bought an expensive .44 caliber collector's revolver which was ornately engraved with precious metals, because he wanted it to look good as a museum exhibit after the assassination. He shot Garfield in the back as he was boarding a train in Washington, DC.

Bravo, Dude!

I fucking hate podcasts. HATE them. Except for this one, which made me laugh and impressed me with its anti-podcast-yness.

And anyone who thinks that, because it was created by my best friend, that will affect my opinion, obviously doesn't know me. Ask any of my many *friends - they'll vouch for me!

*now-former