What's going on outside in the square mile?

Thanks!

There's always one dick-weed that needs to joke about the suffering of others.

Ken Livingstone's speech was a bit OTT

Still can't use my mobile to contact anyone, though I'v had emails from Shelley and my brother,who was due to go to the West End this morning on a job, but it was cancelled last night. My office is in Docklands, a couple of miles south of Aldgate where one of the bombs went off. It's usually very quiet during the day, but today we can hear sirens going past every 5 to 10 minutes. Local radio continues to bring eye witness reports, and reports from local hospitals. Has anyone been able to get onto the BBC website? I cant get it at all, though other news sites seem unaffected.

bbc website very slow all day

I'm having no trouble getting to BBC:UK from the states.

bbc punt all their bandwidth over to the news site so the rest of their site will be veeeeerrrrrry slow, the news site has been pretty fast for me. Vodaphone are giving priority to emergency calls on their network, which, together with the increase in traffic, will bugger up their customers, and every one else as well.

Sky news Uk is quite good

From the Boston Globe Today: LONDON --Three blasts rocked the London subway and one tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, sending bloodied victims fleeing in what a shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair called "barbaric" terrorist attacks. A U.S. law enforcement official said at least 40 people were killed and London hospitals reported more than 300 injured. The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity because British officials have yet to make public the death toll. U.S. authorities learned of the number from their British counterparts, according to the official

Gardiner, based on this thread I would describe you as a prick. It's comments like the one you made that summarise how out of touch many people on this website are/have become. If you want to make some comments based on occupation and age group, hang out with some Rotarians.

ope Benedict XVI today said he deplored the “terrorist attacks” in London, calling them “barbaric acts against humanity”, and said he was praying for the families of the victims. In a telegram sent to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, archbishop of Westminster, Benedict said he was deeply saddened to learn of the news and was spiritually close to all those who were grieving. “Deeply saddened by the news of the terrorist attacks in central London, the Holy Father offers his fervent prayers for the victims and for all those who mourn,” the telegram said. “While he deplores these barbaric acts against humanity, he asks you to convey to the families of the injured his spiritual closeness at this time of grief.” “Upon the people of Great Britain, he invokes the consolation that only God can give in such circumstances,” said the telegram, signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Pope even.

Reliable but unofficial source puts fatalities at 45

That's nothing Radiodenver. Just after 9/11 I heard someone say 'So who said they couldn't make the 'Big Apple' crumble.

They picked a pretty silly time to do it, whoever "they" were. It surely makes more stark the fact that the only big "just cause" atm is the plight of Africa. This shit just looks like pricks taking a potshot from jihad HQ. If it was muslim extremists then they'll lose the few sympathisers that were won over during the illegal war. Only other groups I can think of with previous timing experience are ETA (no chance) and the rah who are more concerned now with dealing drugs on the Lisburn Rd. Let's just hope that intolerance toward Muslims doesn't reach its apex.

My friend beat Fatalky to the Olympic bid joke. Bang go our chances etc. etc. Isn't anybody going to make a crack about ID cards? I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pretend I'm all shocked just because London is closer to me than all the other places that get bombed every week.

I am not shocked nor suprised. I just don't want to have to bury any of my friends just yet. Mind you if fatalities rise to say 60, given that the tube carries 3 million a day its unlikely statistically to be anyone I know. But they've got to be somebody's friends and family.

Perhaps you should both attend one of the funeral services for the dead and test your jokes out in person on the people coping with the death of their loved one.

Poor old Sir Iain Blair (Met Commisioner) was on the Today program, not two hours before, bigging up the "worldwide gold standard" anti-terrorism effectiveness of his police force. He also repeated the common phalacy that "postcard locations" are a terrorism target. As with 9/11, big national symbols have again been ignored in favour of financial infrastructure. If you wanted to play conspiracy theories, you'd have to reckon it was all orchestrated by people selling shorts in the stock market. As for Al Quaeda, it seems very unlikely they even functions as an organisation anymore (if they ever did), more likely to be a unrelated fundamentalist cell - though somebody funded it. One message on a web-site after the fact is harldy proof of anything. You have to wonder if they only picked the date because half the Met are in Scotland. I'd also heard the olympic joke before I saw it here, and I laughed.

If I died, I wouldn't mind people having a laugh about the circumstances those just weren't even funny though. Except maybe "bang go our chances"

"Perhaps you should both attend one of the funeral services for the dead and test your jokes out in person on the people coping with the death of their loved one." Black humour's a traditional British defence mechanism.

Oh, Radiodenver. How sincere and deeply poignant your remark is. I'm sure it will warm all those families' hearts to know you're using them to make a cheap shot. Humour is a way of coping with things blah blah blah (You've heard it before, right?) But then, so is pious, tiresome and utterly prattish indignation, I guess. So maybe I should just let you get on with it.

If you're basing it on this thread, you're basing it on every thread he's ever contributed to. He always comes out with that kind of thing. Heaven knows how he got a job here, what with his hatred of 'unemployables'. Radio - you are not Popeye the Sailor Man. You are Model Number 216, strutting the moral catwalk. Except that outraged indignation against levity is so 2001.

Shame on the Met, not so much for failing to prevent the unfortunate casualties, but for bragging about their gold top prevention measures. I reckon Dangermouse would be better suited to stopping international terrorism (at least his boss had a cracking moustache).

Hen & Fatalky, I've made no cheap shots. I've made a statement or two concerning people taking cheap shots. Everybody uses black humor, me included. You're free to flap your ignorant gums all you like. I'll comment as I see fit as well. I seriously doubt you've ever been affected by senseless violence. I hope you never are. I suggest you save your cheap shots for then if that happens.

I think the general attitude in the city is "Business as usual". I am really glad that the response *so far* doesn't include "mourning sickness". Last thing I want to see is piles of mouldy teddies and flowers, cluttering the streets and the bounderies of good taste. Two minutes silence is ok...let's not extend it to 5 or 20 - 2 is a traditional adequete gesture. I hope we'll just pick ourselves up, brush off the dust and carry on.

I think the funniest joke ever was after attacks on New York Have you heard the IRA tried to imitate the attacks but on Canary Wharf? Rumours are one man's been killed and the hang-glider's f****d

Hen, if you ever decide on a career as a suicide bomber, I'll happily give you a character reference. [%sig%]

sorry...I couldn't help laughing at that one

Blog from Baghdad: So how do you like it eh? And we're innocent too. You get a miniscule fraction of the murder you've rained down on us, and you start whingeing.

Thank you David Floyd: At least you get it. Some years ago I was about 30 yards from the Camden High St. IRA bomb that went off, blinding a Swedish woman I believe. And no I didn't think 'fucking Irish' I had sympathy with their cause. Mind you I had an Irish girlfriend at the time and had a crash course in Irish history. When are we going to stop interfering in other countries? Sorry did I say interfering: attacking other countries.

When i heard about it i went 'uh nuh' and held my head. It is dreadful. If we devalue one human life then we devalue the existence of humanity. Thats what i think, anyway. In my moments of clearness i will certainly be scunnered by this. Killing people isn't an effin game. Im sorry.

Perhaps the press shouldn't have been telling everyone that police officers from London were being sent to the G8, as Dan pointed out, many of the city's cops were out of town (1100 I believe). The best time to commit a crime is when the cops are on a day-trip.

I think the publicity of G8 was what they were after...having the world's eyes and media on the UK

Oh dear me Jude: Jokes about the Irish being stupid tut tut. Sorry that's the influence of the Irish girlfriend. I remember when I first met her I told an Irish being stupid joke. If looks could have killed. Actually it was the knife in the hand that could have killed. Mind you the Irish tell jokes about the tinkers, the Israelis tell jokes about the Kurds. 'How does a kurd scratch his left ear?' Puts right arm over head and scratches.

The love of my life is Irish! A Limerick man!

I have to say, I heard a version of the French being pissed off about the Olympics joke at work today and laughed quite a bit. I don't think having a little bit of levity means anyone is being inconsiderate of the gravity of the situation, RD. We all know that people have died.

The crazy thing is, that they can't win and we can't beat them. Now - if they ever get some computer geeks on board, and start shutting down computer networks in banks and the city and financial systems around the world.........then we'll start talking to them.

I love to go swimm'n with bow-legged women. Hen, btw...you make very clever use of very limited thoughts. Keep up the lame-ness. It'll serve you well as you drift further into your own convoluted thoughts and further out of the social mainstream. "he used to cut the grass...he was a very nice boy"

Bloodshed seems to be the only thing they understand, whoever 'they' turn out to be...

i'm ok btw i work a couple of miles from liverpool st, mrs_t left this morning to go and see her parents in lincolnshire, i thought she was leaving liverpool st at 8.30, so even though i couldn;t get hold of her (he doesn't have a mobile) i was pretty sure she'd got away safely, she eventually rang me at about 10.30, turned out she'd got a train from kings cross just before the bomb went off there... i'm lucky enough to be able to walk to work so the transport chaos didn't delay my journey home... sad sad day

"Heaven knows how he got a job here, what with his hatred of 'unemployables'." I think you'll find that far from being a blanket jibe at all inhabitants of western capitalism's bottom tier, Stephen's comments may in fact have been intended for a specific individual. It's just a hunch.

It was my mother's 75th birthday treat yesteday. Tickets to the opera and a stop over in a Hyde Park hotel. It was so lovely yesterday when we stumbled into Trafalgar Sq. just as they announced the win. Horrible morning watching the news in our hotel room. Managed to get back without too much trouble by walking to Vauxhall where the trains were still running. Surreal morning though. All polite efficiency and hotel muzak as we waited to check out as a quietly spoken, soot streaked business man waited to check in. [%sig%]

I hope your Mum has a treat anyway...don't let them stop it, even if it can't be quite to your original plans.

I'm just about to email my brother. He's usually travelling through there at those times. Lives in sawth landan mate. Hope he's ok.

"Hen, if you ever decide on a career as a suicide bomber, I'll happily give you a character reference." I don't think they accept references from people with a history of fuckwittery, Hoxy.

Man, that was a lame insult. It's hard to insult someone who you know nothing about apart from the fact that their name usually appears over a paragraph or two of cowcrap. Maybe I should have said something really adult and clever like "If Hitler was still around, he'd be your best friend, and why don't you give suicide bomber references to all the families of the children he killed?" And then shaken my head at his youthful naivety and muttered about how things were better in my day.

Alternatly, you may consider taking your head out of your ass and cleaning the shit from your ears.

Oo, why don't you just try saying that to the daughters of the families your buddies mutiliated by their own gravestones, American Satan-lover! Seriously though, Denver - idiots like you are the reason people like me get apathetic. Somehow you manage to take a genuinely tragic situation and turn it into a farcical grave-sincerity match. There's not the slightest shred of sincerity to the shite that you and other commentators come out with when you hear about these things - it's just soundbite after self-righteous soundbite. Why don't you try just shutting up for a change and just *feeling* for the people involved, rather than pondering your next pompous little speech.

Thanks Jude - yes she loved Rigoletto (cried at the end so it must've been good). But being an ex-Londoner who'd been through the Blitz - she was a nightmare to move. If you’ve ever read Catch 22 then Arfy was just what I was dealing with. Mum all the tubes are shut. That's all right dear, I'm sure we can just pop on a bus. Mum, I'd rather we didn't get a bus either. Oh I’m sure they’ll be all right now. No really, Mum, I think we should walk if we can. Oh I'm sure they're only going for that area, dear, we can get on a bus from South Ken. Mum, can’t we just walk to Victoria! Oh, all right then. Get to Victoria mainline station and it's cordoned off. Five inches away from the cordon is a flight of steps. My mother sits on it. Um, Mum, shouldn’t we maybe try and find a coffee shop a little bit away from here or something? Oh [theatrical sigh] all right then. Walk round the corner to what transpires to be the back entrance to the pub she was sitting on the steps of. Give in to mother’s subliminal demand for a sit-down and go in. Get to order two coffees from the one beleaguered barman and find a seat to plan our walk home with our A-Z.Police appear through the station end doors and tell us to move away from the windows and if at all possible, evacuate. Mother: Well, I’ll need to spend a penny [steely stare to daughter]. I’m waiting for my mum, I gesture to the perplexed police, pointing towards the Ladies. ‘Ok…’ they nod in resignation. Eons later mother strides out, ‘I’m washing my hands bomb or no bomb!’ she says. Oh good grief. [%sig%]