Australian TV has come through, kind of, a week late - giving a full extra three and a half hours of Live8, Channel 9 is, new coverage that wasn't part of the 'best of' package it felt we got last week. Of course, the context, especially from Hyde Park, is completely different to last week, but still, is good to see Joss Stone and Robbie Williams and even the big acts that were on last week doing more than one song each.
OK, the scoop on the London bombings, updated from the first few hours as I last posted on Thursday, was that there were four bombs, three on the Underground, one on a bus. All could have been placed at Kings Cross station, two Circle Line trains and a Piccadilly Line one, and the No 30 Hackney to Marble Arch bus. The death toll thus far is 49, with more bodies, possibly 21, on the Piccadilly train, and possibly more victims to be discovered at the bus bombing (ick, if they haven't discovered them yet, can just imagine what condition the remains would be in).
This is a good, though disturbing, piece on the recovery effort on the Piccadilly Line - the bomb went off in a single train tunnel with only six inches clearance between the train and the walls - so the emergency workers and forensic staff and whoever else has to go down there has to go in and out through the front or back of the train. And the heat from the explosion is still captured in the blast zone to an extent - and just think of the conditions of the bodies hmm. Not nice thoughts.
All the Tube bombs went off within seconds of each other, not the twenty five minute timeframe that was originally thought - the two or three bomb remains they have found indicate it could have been ten pounds (five kilos) of explosives, easy enough to hide in a large book or small rucksack, no sign that any of the explosions were by suicide bombers, they have found timer materials. So the bombers (or even lone bomber, if all the bombs were planted at Kings Cross) could still be wandering the streets of London, if they didn't catch the Eurostar or go out to Heathrow straight away. Scary thought - and when they tracked the cell down in Madrid they blew themselves and the police up rather than be caught - how can we get through to these people? Even the thought that someone who has trained themselves up in Iraq came to Britain to put the bombs together.
And of course, the Blitz and IRA campaigns are brought out, with the stereotypical British bulldog spirit evoked as well, even by the Queen in a speech at one of the hospitals - well, she didn't use the exact phrase. And didn't Ken Livingstone sound like Churchill the other day? This was not against the presidents or prime ministers, this was against the working class of London - blacks, whites, Muslim and Christian etc - hurrah for Red Ken. All joking aside though, he did very well, and much better than George Galloway, basically blaming the bombing on British participation in Iraq, and being the only dissenting voice in the House of Commons - we are all thinking it George, but there's no need to say it out loud...
Although when you are thinking of it, playing the odds, even if the death toll does near 100, and the Met doesn't think it will get there, out of a city of eight million, and even with say a thousand casualties, playing the odds, just hoping you aren't the unlucky bastard whose number comes up. Just being honest in the thinking beyond the initial shock of it happening.
More tomorrow
Pauly
OK, the scoop on the London bombings, updated from the first few hours as I last posted on Thursday, was that there were four bombs, three on the Underground, one on a bus. All could have been placed at Kings Cross station, two Circle Line trains and a Piccadilly Line one, and the No 30 Hackney to Marble Arch bus. The death toll thus far is 49, with more bodies, possibly 21, on the Piccadilly train, and possibly more victims to be discovered at the bus bombing (ick, if they haven't discovered them yet, can just imagine what condition the remains would be in).
This is a good, though disturbing, piece on the recovery effort on the Piccadilly Line - the bomb went off in a single train tunnel with only six inches clearance between the train and the walls - so the emergency workers and forensic staff and whoever else has to go down there has to go in and out through the front or back of the train. And the heat from the explosion is still captured in the blast zone to an extent - and just think of the conditions of the bodies hmm. Not nice thoughts.
All the Tube bombs went off within seconds of each other, not the twenty five minute timeframe that was originally thought - the two or three bomb remains they have found indicate it could have been ten pounds (five kilos) of explosives, easy enough to hide in a large book or small rucksack, no sign that any of the explosions were by suicide bombers, they have found timer materials. So the bombers (or even lone bomber, if all the bombs were planted at Kings Cross) could still be wandering the streets of London, if they didn't catch the Eurostar or go out to Heathrow straight away. Scary thought - and when they tracked the cell down in Madrid they blew themselves and the police up rather than be caught - how can we get through to these people? Even the thought that someone who has trained themselves up in Iraq came to Britain to put the bombs together.
And of course, the Blitz and IRA campaigns are brought out, with the stereotypical British bulldog spirit evoked as well, even by the Queen in a speech at one of the hospitals - well, she didn't use the exact phrase. And didn't Ken Livingstone sound like Churchill the other day? This was not against the presidents or prime ministers, this was against the working class of London - blacks, whites, Muslim and Christian etc - hurrah for Red Ken. All joking aside though, he did very well, and much better than George Galloway, basically blaming the bombing on British participation in Iraq, and being the only dissenting voice in the House of Commons - we are all thinking it George, but there's no need to say it out loud...
Although when you are thinking of it, playing the odds, even if the death toll does near 100, and the Met doesn't think it will get there, out of a city of eight million, and even with say a thousand casualties, playing the odds, just hoping you aren't the unlucky bastard whose number comes up. Just being honest in the thinking beyond the initial shock of it happening.
More tomorrow
Pauly
No comments:
Post a Comment