The 7th July 2005 Memorial Plaque at Russell Square Station
This plaque is in the foyer of Russell Square Station
Meomorial Plaque at Russell Square Station
It sets exactly the right tone.
The Rebuilt and the New
I took this picture on Bishopsgate in the City of London today.
St. Ethelburga’s and the Gherkin
In the foreground is St. Ethelburga’s Church, which was rebuilt after the IRA bombing of 1993. The Gherkin is shown behind the church. That building was built on the site of the Baltic Exchange, which was also substantially damaged by the IRA in 1992.
Popbitch on Libya
You can always rely on Popbitch to come up with an unusual take on the most serious of stories. This was in today’s edition.
Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has requested to be returned from Libya to prison in Scotland for his safety…
I wouldn’t think it’s true, but it could easily be argued that even the most violent prison in Scotland will be much safer than Libya.
Should We Fear the Result of the Irish General Election?
Today, Eire goes to the polls to try to find a new government to ease them out of their troubles.
Will the result help or will it hinder? I’m no political commentator, but there are so many factors at work in the whole of Ireland, that it would take someone with real charisma and vision to sort out the mess he will inherit.
The Irish seem to be doing too, what they always do in times of trouble and that is emigrate. Surely, in some ways this will make matters worse, especially if jobs are exported as well, which will of course reduce tax revenues. An interesting aside to the emigration, is that an estate agent in London told me, that quite a few houses in London are being sold to the Irish. He wondered where they were getting the money from?
Which leads me to another question. Will a new government investigate some of the murkier financial tales of the last couple of decades? An Irish friend once described Charlie Haughey, as a man without any visible means of support. In this case, I suspect that sleeping dogs are best left to sleep long and deep. But there may be other scandals, that need to be fully investigated.
And then too, there is the question of terrorism. Incidents have happened in the last few months in the north and where will this resurgence lead? In the UK, we’re so obsessed with other issues, that some commentators, feel we may have lost sight of our oldest terrorist threat.
A strong leader in Ireland would be a great help in reducing this danger, throughout the British Isles. Let’s hope they get one!
But I fear that they won’t!
America Puts Guns Before Fighting Crime and Terrorism
The story of Steven Greenoe is a classic farce and it shows how the United States love of the gun, gets in the way of fighting crime and terrorism around the world. Afer the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, surely the country should do something to curb guns, which seem to be at the cause of much of the world’s troubles.
I recommend all United States politicians read my Abba Eban quote.
7/7 Inquest Reporting
This article entitled “Doctors truggled after 7/7 bomb” is almost unfair. It criticises the fact that no medical equipment was available outside the BMA, where the bomb was detonated on the number 30 bus.
Doctors at the British Medical Association struggled to treat victims of the 7/7 bus bombing because there was no medical equipment at their headquarters, the inquests have heard.
Instead they used table cloths, jackets and ties as bandages for the wounded.
The hearings were told the doctors utilised “bits of bus” including windows as makeshift stretchers.
So should we ask suicide bombers to explode their devices in approved places, where doctors, paramedics and equipment are all readily available?
I don’t know how I’d react in such a situation, but I suspect all those doctors who struggled, are now much better doctors!
Amazing People
There have been some amazing stories in the papers about the aftermath of the Lonon bombings, but surely there is none to compare with that of the Hyman family, who have setup the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust in memory of Miriam, who died on the number 30 bus in Tavistock Square.
This is the statement on the front of the Trust’s website.
Miriam was one of the fifty-two people killed in the London bombings of 7/7/05. Her family and friends set up the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust in May 2008 and equipped the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre within the L V Prasad Eye Institute in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. This is a living memorial; a place of hope, healing and rehabilitation for children who need eye care services, irrespective of the ability to pay.
The suffering that follows violent terrorism is intense, extensive, avoidable and cannot be justified in any circumstances. In addition to its work in India, the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust is seeking to address this by promoting social cohesion and good citizenship primarily, but not exclusively, through schools.
Let’s hope they succeed in their aims.
My Fourth Christmas Alone
That sounds bad, but the previous three were very good. In the first I actually helped out with the pensioners’ Christmas Dinner in Bury St. Edmunds and I think, if I’d been here a month or so, I’d have done something similar this year. In the intervening two years, I’ve spent it with either friends or family and today I shall be having lunch with my son and his friends.
One thing C and I always used to dread over Christmas was waking up to some really bad news, like the invasion of Afghanistan by the Russians, Cyclone Tracy, Taeyokale Hotel fire in Seoul or the Indian Ocean tsunami. The last was Boxing Day, but you get my jist.
So today we wake up to the news that a suicide bomber has killed dozens in an aid queue in Pakistan. As he died, the bastard who did it, didn’t even get any satisfaction to know that he done what he intended. But if that is what religion is about, then, I’m on a better track in saying that outside of the humanity and downright goodness shown by most of the world’s great religions, the rest is all about bigotry and hate and is best avoided and certainly to be actively discouraged.
I think in part C and I’s apprehension about Christmas were caused by some of our own little disasters. I think we ran out of gas at least twice, as we forgot to order it and on one Christmas the electric AGA died. That won’t happen this year, as if my son’s cooker fails, he can put everything in a car and get here in ten minutes. He claims to know how my cooker works and I can muddle through, so dinner might be late but it will happen.
We did have a couple of frosty Christmases though concerning C’s mother, who at times could be a bit difficult. I think I appreciate her problems more now, that I’m widowed myself. One Christmas she was staying with us and the film on Christmas Eve was Five Easy Pieces. She didn’t speak to us for forty-eight hours after that! She was also with us when the AGA failed and that had a similar result.
The best Christmas in some ways we had with C’s mother was when she collapsed in our flat in the Barbican with heart trouble. We felt really guilty, as she was taken into Bart’s Hospital, where they did a great job in sorting her out and giving her perhaps another ten years more of life, than she would have got otherwise. She also enjoyed being in Hospital over Christmas, as they looked after her so well and she could tell everybody about all of the myriad medical problems she’d suffered with in her life.
Should We Nominate Inept Suicide Bombers for Darwin Awards?
The Swedish suicide bomber, Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, seems to have been particularly inept, just as I hope most killers and would be terrorists are!
If like Taimour, they kill no-one else, then surely they have made themselves eligible for a Darwin Award, by removing themselves from the gene pool. Sadly, he did injure a couple of innocent people, so this probably means he’s ineligible for an award.
The Anonymous Widower 