Weirderer!

I know that I've posted three comments now that have simply not arrived! Anyone else getting weirdness happening?

IE! Urgh!

Because I'm actually working in an office for a couple of weeks I'm using IE and I've just looked at this blog in a different version (it looks okay(ish)) at home at a higher resolution).

It's horrible! I'll try and sort it tonight or over the next few nights.

Not afraid!

Anyone who hasn't visited the earlier link yet won't get this - basically that site is displaying images from loads of people, they have one thing in common - they say that people are not afraid. It's a response to the terrorist outrages in London and seems to be one of the positive aspects rather than a lot of the race hate being strutted elsewhere. Some of the images are very funny and others are very touching. Great image on ScaryCheri's blog too :-)

Click this logo

The fete

No Red Arrows, no sail past by HMS Hermes, no parachute displays but a good time was had by all. There were hot dogs and burgers, bric-a-brac and cakes, pony rides and a coconut shy, tombolas and a bouncy castle, refreshments and a shooting gallery, plants and books for sale. The purpose is to raise money to install central heating in the village hall so that winter events need not be attended wearing woolly jumpers and thick coats.

Well done everyone involved in arranging the fete and thanks for a smashing afternoon - even the weather worked out nicely!

Letter to the terrorists

The London Bombings continue to generate an amazing about of verbage. Sadly a good deal of it is rascist, sectrarian bigotry and a good deal of that is being written in the US. Right wing sites are also wondering whether Britain will "wimp out as Spain did" and withdraw troops from Iraq. For those who missed it Britain had already committed to withdrawing troops and leaving the south of Iraq to the Iraqi forces - our troops will then be redeployed to Afghanistan. Sadly many of the people writing this rubbish are unable to see parallels between bombing a packed tube train and firebombing abortion clinics - both are reprehensible acts of terrorism and murder but suggesting that all Muslims or all Christians are evil based on such a small sample is simply stupid. I have no plans to link to any of the blogs carrying this drivel - sadly it's easy enough to find without any further links.

What I do offer though is a link to The London News Review where an open letter to the terrorists has been published. It uses intemperate language so don't follow that link if you are easily shocked but I'm sure it somes up how many feel right now. I particularly like the paragraph

Because if this is a message to Tony Blair, we've got news for you. We don't much like our government ourselves, or what they do in our name. But, listen very clearly. We'll deal with that ourselves. We're London, and we've got our own way of doing things, and it doesn't involve tossing bombs around where innocent people are going about their lives.

My only change would be to use the word Britain instead of London.

Reminder

Just to remind everyone that it's Bishopsbourne Fete tomorrow. 14:00 onwards with great attractions for young and old. Please don't forget the parking difficulties once past the pub, try parking near the church. There isn't a "park & ride" facility but feel free to park in Bridge or Canterbury and walk.

Thanks.

London

According to the BBC site the death toll from the bombs stands at 38. According to The Sun it's 53. I suppose you pays your money and takes your choice but I prefer to think that the Beeb are correct now. Sadly The Sun may be correct by the morning as a number of those injured are in a critical condition. Either way this is given to be, according to the BBC, the largest death toll from a single terrorist attack in Britain.

No real surprise that these atrocities have attracted a great deal of discussion across the blogosphere. I like this quote

So thanks then, terrorists. You've just succeeded in bringing the families of millions of Londoners that bit closer together, giving them an increased love of their city and an enhanced appreciation of their way of life.

from Clagnut and he refers to Adactio where this comes from

The terrorists responsible for these attacks are clearly not only a bunch of murdering bastards, they are a bunch of murdering bastards who don't know their history. London made it through the blitz and through years of IRA bombings. Londoners react to explosions not with fear and terror but with resolution and bravery.

For an interesting perspective and a comprehensive review of a range of new sources try Crossing the rubicon. In common with a few US based posts this one appears to forget the recent history of terrorism in this country

I hope this country will wake up to a taste of Middle East terror in its own back yard. Time will tell. (Quoted on that blog from an email)

For those with a poor memory, and in support of the quote above - this year is the 60th anniversary of the ending of WW2, a period when London and much of Britain was subjected to sustained bombing. From the late 1970s until very recently there was a sustained terrorist threat from the IRA and many cities and towns still bear the scars of outrages committed there - Warrington, Manchester, Guildford, Birmingham and Omagh to name a few. In London there was the Harrods bomb in 1983. None of this means that the British are happy about being subject to terrorist attack or that as "old hands" anyone feels comfortable about it but it's sadly not a new experience and a bomb is a bomb whatever the motivation of the murderer who planted it.

Of course there are also messages suggesting that it's all our own fault for committing troops to Iraq but I find it difficult to believe that the people on the Circle Line train really had much to do with sending troops to war.

Some interesting reflections on John Naughton's blog particularly Random thoughts and Quote of the day which is the rousing speech given by Ken Livingstone.

Above all else my thoughts are with those grieving tonight and those injured in this horrendous assault on each of us.


Tag: London Bombings

London bomb blasts

In case anyone hasn't caught the news - there have been a series of explosions in London and the police now believe that at least one was caused by a suicide bomber. Check out the BBC site for the latest details.

You can't

.... you can't start a fire without a spark. [Springsteen B, "Dancing in the dark]

I feel I've been blogsquatting all over the place with comments about live8 so I thought I'd try and bring it all together here. If you want to read the other stuff I've written it's at Black Star Journal and My heart is in Accra and assorted other places.

The cynics, and there are many, are quibbling over why there were few African artists at the Hyde Park gig - easy really, it was about attracting attention rather than record sales for artists who are unknown outside a small market place. They ask if all the artists taking part knew enough about African issues - I doubt it, I doubt that Maria Carey knows that there is a world outside the red carpet and the hospitality tent. They question the motives of Geldof; he's trying to resurrect his musical career - get a life! If that was his motivation it'd make raising Lazarus look like an everday occurance. They suggest that the audience were there for the music not the issues - that's a maybe, but better that they were there than nobody listened? People think of Africa as a basket-case and it's a complex situation that can't be summed up in a sound-bite - no issue about that, but six weeks ago who thought about Africa at all?

Africa is a continent made up of 53 countries. It was carved up by the old European empires - France, Britain, Holland, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Belgium. They ignored existing borders and created a patchwork of "nations" that bore little relationship to the practical realities. Over time the developed world has raped the continent, it had an abundance of natural resources but has been subjugated in the desire for this wealth. Gold, diamonds, oil, etc have flowed from the African continent with little regard to how we came by these riches. Every country in the developed world has benefitted from this.

Twenty years ago we put our hands in our pockets for Live Aid and stumped up a few quid to feed starving children and we saved some lives but it wasn't enough. Today, now, as you read this, a child dies every three seconds. Now the cynics get tense about that too but it's approachable - a sound bite for the digital age. Every three seconds, click your fingers, every three seconds, that's a life. It's obscene but it's approachable. We can encapsulate the idea that a life is lost every three seconds even if we can't really deal with the reality of losing a child, a father, a son, a wife, a daughter, a brother, a sister to something that might have been avoided. A swift reality check - in the UK in 2004 there are roughly ten (yes 10) lives lost each day in road accidents. In England and Wales there are approximately 240,000 deaths each year - do the sums, about a week's worth of avoidable deaths in Africa.

The purpose of Live8 was to grab attention - it was the biggest advertising hoarding the world has ever seen. From here it's up to us. We can sink back into the comfort of apathy or we can go out and try to understand some more about what Africa is all about. We can stand on the sidelines and scoff at the efforts so far or we can engage and make a difference. What we cannot do is ignore it - that's what Live8 means. I don't intend to let my children grow up in a world where accepting that children die because they contract diarrhoea is permissable. I don't want to envisage a world where I have to explain to my children that we tried twice, with Live Aid and Live8 and we still screwed up.

I suppose the message is - by all means be critical but be engaged, the people who stand back and don't get involved, those only able to say what was wrong, should think again. We are where we are - do something to move the situation forward - that's the task at hand and standing back and wringing your hands serves no purpose.

Live8 engaged people - make them listen.

Ingerlish

I'm sure that ScaryCheri won't mind me highlighting her desire to learn Ingerlish like wot it's spoked here. Check out her new wurd. Mebbe the Ingerlish posse can offer some more terms that would fit well in Nu Joisey patois? And perlease read the rest of her blog 'cos it's good :-) (But don't let her flog ya a rockin chair - it'll be covered in gravy!)

Oh dear :-)

Click on the image to see a larger version :-)

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!

London 2012! The Olympics!

G8

Live8 moves to Scotland as the G8 leaders arrive in Edinburgh tomorrow. Whether a million people march on Edingburgh or only a hundred it's to be hoped that the men who can change the world don't forget that in this wired world far more people than ever before are aware of their actions. I think it's interesting that this time out, 20 years after Live Aid, that the Internet - the web wasn't even a twinkle in Tim Berners-Lee's eye when Freddie and Queen rocked Wembley - really has the potential to impose on our democratically elected leaders some pressure. That they may chose not to deal with the problems of chronic poverty in parts of Africa or global warming but it's probably the first time their deliberations have been subject to such scrutiny. Would that have been possible without the combined weight of political activism and the web? Sure there have been anti-globalization protests at each of the G8 meetings for as long as I can remember but this is different - this time people from around the world are watching for afar. Let's just hope that the political will to make positive changes can match the aparent public will for change to happen.

Whoops - nearly missed it!

Happy Independence Day to everyone on the other side of the pond.

African perspectives

Live8 discussion continues and beneath the hype and glitz of the concerts real people are engaging in discussion about what support different parts of Africa might need. Some of it makes uncomfortable reading - it's a very complex situation and any suggestion that 53 separate countries need some sort of "blanket" solution is simply wrong-headed. Check out Ethan Zuckerman's blog for informed discussion with eloquent voices from around the world. The Black Star Journal is engaged in a dialogue with Ethan - an example of some deep reflection across the blogosphere. On Jewels in the jungle Black River Eagle, somebody else with practical experience in Africa, is also posting reasoned analysis of the situation as well as a fantastic blogroll of sites dealing with specific areas and from a range of authors. Finally, from another part of our tiny world, Rezwan in Bangladesh - an area described as part of the Third World, asks the question that most cynics seem unable to answer

If events like these never happened, how could we wake up a large number of people?

Do not follow this link

And if you do follow this link don't press the red button!

Voices again

The photo is Birhan Woldu 20 years ago when featured in the Live Aid video and when the nuns looking after her thought she may only have 15 minutes left to live.

I've been roaming the wired world for a few more voices talking about live8.

From Bangalore - "Thinking without a box" talks about the Green Day performance in Berlin. While Zuffar offers some thoughts on the TV coverage before having a private bonfire with said TV. Keith Scott is a missionary in Burkina Faso and his beautifully presented "Under the acacias" blog looks at the events in Edinburgh rather than rock music and "Time being" offers "what they want in fourteen words", a Canadian perspective. Check out Victoria's blog which includes some great personal reflection:

As I was watching the Live 8 concert yesterday, it hit me so hard. I was thinking. I have everything in the world. And I'm still complaining all the time. Food, water, everything I need. But look at those children and people in Africa, they die every 3 seconds due to extreme poverty.

and TV New Zealand highlights the impact of the Internet on the Live8 campaign. So the conversations continue and they have to keep going - don't let the conversation stop until the changes have happened.

The fat lady hasn't cleared her throat yet

I suppose because this is a far more media-savvy time and because Liv8 is a political demonstration rather than a simple fundraiser it should be no surprise that the pressure is still on. Check out the letter from Geldof and co to the world leaders. The long walk to justice continues!

And on the way there is some fine stuff to see on the web! Sharon Cobb is a journo in Nashville and has suggested that this is "Worldstock" while Samual Bilibit reflects on watching Live8 from the Philippines, itself a country heavily in debt. In Victoria, Australia Lauren talks about the failure of free to air TV companies in her neck of the woods to gain rights to show Live8 - two hours (including adverts) is all that was available outside pay-per-view. And Portension highlight a fantastic development which might promise great changes in the way shelter is delivered to refugees.

The photo is of Sir Bob and Birhan Woldu, a woman alive because of Live Aid. Let's not lose sight of what it's all about.

Funny stuff

While wandering the blogosphere reading live8 postings I hit upon this - Why George Bush must invade Spain. While writing this the BBC coverage of the Philly gig has just finished - what an anticlimax! I love Stevie Wonder but surely they could have done better than finishing like that? "Higher ground" would have made a more appropriate close or some kind of finale with a few of the other acts on stage too?