London

[Spriggan]

Who knows, maybe it's because of people like this that makes the British a little hostile to Americans.

*********
London was the scene of carnage on Thursday after a series of deadly blasts but American R&B crooner Omarion, who suffered no injury or inconvenience, wants people to pray for him.

Asked why anyone should pray for him, [his publicist]said, "He wasn't hurt or anything, but just the fact that he was there and all that."
******************

Ugg..that's like when the Tsunami hit Asia and Star Jones said "I was in Thailand the week before,I thank god it didn't happen a week earlier."

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Who is that guy anyway?

[Spriggan]

Ya I had never heard of him either.  From the article:
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Omarion was the teenaged lead singer of the chart-topping band B2K before going solo. The 20-year-old's first solo album "O" debuted at No. 1 of Billboard charts earlier this year.

*******

[Entsuropi]

So they have started removing bins from transport hubs (stations, etc) and asking people not to leave luggage in bus luggage racks if they can.

We're back to what it was like 10 years ago, basically.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

funny. They started putting bins BACK into the metro stations here. THey're supposedly bomb proof now. This pleases me, because everyone dumped their newspapers in the recycle bin, and they were always full. Which meant I could read the comics for free just by grabbing a handful of what was on top

[Fellfrosch]

Sure, but who reads newspaper comics anymore?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I don't, for two reasons. I won't pay for it, and they suck. Unfortunately, comics are like crack for me. Being sucky isn't usually enough reason, on it's own, to stop me from reading it. If I can grab 'em free while commuting, I"ll read them.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

So the brits think the bombers came from near Ents neck of the woods,... Yorkshire specifically.

[Chimera]

Ent, you're not the unibomber are you?   :-/

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

no, the unibomber was caught.

[Chimera]

The unibombers protege, then.

[42]

Deja vu.

[Entsuropi]

Dear bombers:

Go away. Don't make us napalm your homes.

[House of Mustard]

Here's a great quote from the Prime Minister of Australia (who was meeting with Blair at the time of the attacks).  Read the whole thing -- it's worth it.

PRIME MIN. HOWARD: Could I start by saying the prime minister and I were having a discussion when we heard about it. My first reaction was to get some more information. And I really don't want to add to what the prime minister has said. It's a matter for the police and a matter for the British authorities to talk in detail about what has happened here.

Can I just say very directly, Paul, on the issue of the policies of my government and indeed the policies of the British and American governments on Iraq, that the first point of reference is that once a country allows its foreign policy to be determined by terrorism, it's given the game away, to use the vernacular. And no Australian government that I lead will ever have policies determined by terrorism or terrorist threats, and no self-respecting government of any political stripe in Australia would allow that to happen.

Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq.

And I remind you that the 11th of September occurred before the operation in Iraq.

Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people by implication suggesting we shouldn't have done that?

When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan?

When Sergio de Mello was murdered in Iraq -- a brave man, a distinguished international diplomat, a person immensely respected for his work in the United Nations -- when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that de Mello had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations administrator in East Timor.

Now I don't know the mind of the terrorists. By definition, you can't put yourself in the mind of a successful suicide bomber. I can only look at objective facts, and the objective facts are as I've cited. The objective evidence is that Australia was a terrorist target long before the operation in Iraq. And indeed, all the evidence, as distinct from the suppositions, suggests to me that this is about hatred of a way of life, this is about the perverted use of principles of the great world religion that, at its root, preaches peace and cooperation. And I think we lose sight of the challenge we have if we allow ourselves to see these attacks in the context of particular circumstances rather than the abuse through a perverted ideology of people and their murder.

PRIME MIN. BLAIR: And I agree 100 percent with that. (Laughter.)

I applaud JP and all the other Aussies for having leaders like this.

[Entsuropi]

Yes. Very important are his points about the pre-iraq war attacks. It's wierd that when you bring it up to those who say terrorism is a result of western aggression, and quote USS Cole, 9/11 and other events, they just flail about and say it doesn't matter. (Or, in the case of someone today, declare that military bases maintained by the UK and US in middle eastern countries are oppressive to those peoples. What?).

BTW, JP hates his Prime Minister.