I seem to have an unhealthy amount of cynicism curdling my grey matter in relation to Thursday's bombings and I've already trashed a couple of posts that I felt were too close to the bone or offensive. Hence the lack of verbiage over the last few days. I don't know why.
Perhaps it's a mild form of proxy post-traumatic stress disorder. I was due to travel into London (and use the Tube line affected) on Thursday morning but changed my plans in the days leading up. And I did catch myself imagining me in a parallel universe somewhere, not having a good day.
I've also been travelling to Northern Ireland on business for over ten years and had the opportunity to witness, first hand, the social effects of omnipresent terrorism. The small things; like why you were advised not to run in the street in Belfast even if you are going to miss your train or bus - and particularly if an armoured personnel carrier was trundling down the street towards you, complete with an armed and jumpy 18 year old sticking out the top.
Or when you were in a public meeting place or hall and the hall announcer came over the tannoy, you became aware of the need to listen quite intently. Particularly if a bomb had gone off nearby earlier in the week. Or being teased with local Celtic gallows humour about staying in the "most bombed hotel in Europe". The once ever freshly rebuilt Europa Hotel on Great Victoria Street in case you're wondering.
I suppose I'm confused and annoyed by Thursday and by terrorism in general. What little I can bring myself to release for public consumption - for me, most of the mainstream media coverage since Thursday creates an atmosphere where it's as if terrorism didn't exist before 9/11, and we Brits finally lost our collective mad-bomber virginity on Thursday. I can even picture Blair getting a patronising pat on the back from Bush, welcoming him to the club.
Whether exaggerated or subverted by the overblown nature of most 24hr news reporting or not, the general public reaction feels over-baked too. Including, I should say, my own Churchill quotation post on Thursday night.
Even apparently insignificant acts like the renaming of the Flickr group pool from "London Bombings" to "7/7" suggest a general 'getting with the programme', back of hand pressed against forehead, self-help group-think. Our 9/11, apparently.
It is truly heart breaking that 50 people lost their lives on Thursday and awful that many more will carry with them physical and psychological scars for the remainder of their lives.
But twenty-eight people (including children) were killed by an act of terrorism in Omagh in 1998. This was the worst of many atrocities that blighted the Irish problem for thirty years. But since they occurred before the age of camera phones, 24 hour news and, alas, 9/11, they all don't seem to count today. Not I should stress, that anyone is keeping score.
Actually upon reflection, I think the problem here really is the elephant choking volume and breadth and depth of media coverage that's available in 2005. From "Breaking News" graphic overload replete with appropriate whooshing sounds, to the multiple news channels all vying for the best coverage, insight and punditry to the camera phones and Flickr groups. Welcome to the new history.
As for the perpetrators; I don't have the words.
* If this offended you (either materially or in a literary sense because it made no bloody sense), please accept my sincere apologies.
Perhaps it's a mild form of proxy post-traumatic stress disorder. I was due to travel into London (and use the Tube line affected) on Thursday morning but changed my plans in the days leading up. And I did catch myself imagining me in a parallel universe somewhere, not having a good day.
I've also been travelling to Northern Ireland on business for over ten years and had the opportunity to witness, first hand, the social effects of omnipresent terrorism. The small things; like why you were advised not to run in the street in Belfast even if you are going to miss your train or bus - and particularly if an armoured personnel carrier was trundling down the street towards you, complete with an armed and jumpy 18 year old sticking out the top.
Or when you were in a public meeting place or hall and the hall announcer came over the tannoy, you became aware of the need to listen quite intently. Particularly if a bomb had gone off nearby earlier in the week. Or being teased with local Celtic gallows humour about staying in the "most bombed hotel in Europe". The once ever freshly rebuilt Europa Hotel on Great Victoria Street in case you're wondering.
I suppose I'm confused and annoyed by Thursday and by terrorism in general. What little I can bring myself to release for public consumption - for me, most of the mainstream media coverage since Thursday creates an atmosphere where it's as if terrorism didn't exist before 9/11, and we Brits finally lost our collective mad-bomber virginity on Thursday. I can even picture Blair getting a patronising pat on the back from Bush, welcoming him to the club.
Whether exaggerated or subverted by the overblown nature of most 24hr news reporting or not, the general public reaction feels over-baked too. Including, I should say, my own Churchill quotation post on Thursday night.
Even apparently insignificant acts like the renaming of the Flickr group pool from "London Bombings" to "7/7" suggest a general 'getting with the programme', back of hand pressed against forehead, self-help group-think. Our 9/11, apparently.
It is truly heart breaking that 50 people lost their lives on Thursday and awful that many more will carry with them physical and psychological scars for the remainder of their lives.
But twenty-eight people (including children) were killed by an act of terrorism in Omagh in 1998. This was the worst of many atrocities that blighted the Irish problem for thirty years. But since they occurred before the age of camera phones, 24 hour news and, alas, 9/11, they all don't seem to count today. Not I should stress, that anyone is keeping score.
Actually upon reflection, I think the problem here really is the elephant choking volume and breadth and depth of media coverage that's available in 2005. From "Breaking News" graphic overload replete with appropriate whooshing sounds, to the multiple news channels all vying for the best coverage, insight and punditry to the camera phones and Flickr groups. Welcome to the new history.
As for the perpetrators; I don't have the words.
* If this offended you (either materially or in a literary sense because it made no bloody sense), please accept my sincere apologies.