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07 July 2005

Londoners: please check in. Let us know you're okay, and tell us what's happening.
post by: taz at: 05:09 | 94 comments
Better info in this BBC story.
posted by taz 07 July | 05:13
Wow. Thanks, taz.

*waits patiently for London roll call to complete*
posted by Frisbee Girl 07 July | 05:22
*worries* I'm keeping all of you Londoners in my thoughts.
posted by LeeJay 07 July | 05:25
Oh, no.

Thoughts and prayers.
posted by puddinghead 07 July | 05:27
Well this Londoner is OK. I was wondering why I could hear so many sirens today (our home is near a road that leads to Kings Cross).

I've been off work this week but I think I'd better check with my office as many people would have been travelling at that time.
posted by dodgygeezer 07 July | 05:30
dodgygeezer - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all of your coworkers are OK.
posted by LeeJay 07 July | 05:36
My God, ABC just cut into programming to report this. It must be bad. The report looks bad. I will be thinking of our Londoners, too.
posted by halonine 07 July | 05:42
Possibly three buses now. And another possible explosion just reported.
posted by LeeJay 07 July | 05:50
This looks very bad indeed. Fortunately us Londoners are scarily used to bomb attacks and it seems that this is being dealt with calmly. All we can hope is that there will be no further blasts.
posted by dodgygeezer 07 July | 05:59
Bombs in 3 buses in Russel Square and a tube train between Kings Cross and Aldgate East Station is what has just been reported here. Also at least one suspicious package in another train.
posted by dg 07 July | 06:17
dammit(NYT link) it took them no time at all to skew the article, it's like watching a news feed, the article is just growing.
posted by ethylene 07 July | 06:21
dodgy and dg, so nice to see your posts. Thanks.

Guh. What sickness.
posted by Frisbee Girl 07 July | 06:21
i hate this crap
posted by ethylene 07 July | 06:24
Frisbee Girl, I an in Australia. But thanks.
posted by dg 07 July | 06:25
I just heard, what a mess. :( Thanks for posting this taz I was just about to. Everyone ok?
posted by dabitch 07 July | 06:35
Who else is from that area? Seanyboy? Anyone else?
posted by dg 07 July | 06:37
.
posted by mmahaffie 07 July | 06:39
I've got BBC News 24 on at the moment and they're currently looping the same footage - no news is good news so let's hope it keeps looping.

I've e-mailed a colleague however it's unlikely she'll have any news in the circumstances since most phones lines are out.

In all the footage and reports everyone is very calm - you can say many things about us Brits but at least we're good in a crisis. I actually feel quite proud.
posted by dodgygeezer 07 July | 06:40
yes thank you
please lets not panic yet
i have to say i'm thankful to find this out on the internet and not have to see the histrionics of tv personalities
the spin could get very odd
posted by ethylene 07 July | 06:43
Interesting, dodgygeezer - I noticed that, too. That stiff upper lip never fails, does it? In this situation, that is an asset, I think.
posted by dg 07 July | 06:44
dg, friends and family are convinced that I was a Border Collie in a previous life because of my need to do periodic head counts and check ins. That said, regardless of where homebase might be, one never knows where others may be on business or holiday and I imagine that I'm not alone in preferring to be doubly assured as opposed to concerned and uncertain, ya know?
posted by Frisbee Girl 07 July | 06:49
Hope everyone is OK.
Glued to 5 Live at the mo. Blair to make statement in 6 mins.
posted by seanyboy 07 July | 06:54
Blair just made his prompted statement. "resonably clear that it's a terrorist.." something or other. The words "resonably clear" stuck with me.
posted by dabitch 07 July | 07:07
I fucking hate these terrorists. I got through to my brother on landline but still am trying to get through to my nephew and one of my best friends on sms. Can anyone confirm sms is working in central London?
posted by Tarrama 07 July | 07:09
ok, i'm sorry if this offends anyone but i hate this i hate this
did no one else think about the timing of where the world would be watching this time?
goddammit
posted by ethylene 07 July | 07:12
Tarrama - should be fine, i'd recommend to keep sending every half an hour until you get a response
posted by dodgygeezer 07 July | 07:19
Thanks,I'll keep trying. I am glad you are ok dodgygeezer.
posted by Tarrama 07 July | 07:23
They said on the news here that mobile networks have been disabled to prevent further explosions (remember the Madrid bombs were mobile phone remote controlled). Perhaps try once and don't clog the que of signals, assuming they log them and want to be able to go through all these mobile-messages/ring attempts in order to track down a suspects phone in the future. just a thought, maybe they don't log signals who knows.
posted by dabitch 07 July | 07:36
Here on Fleet Street it's pretty quiet. Saw some Emergency Support vehicles heading east, presumably to Liverpool Street. Took a walk to Covent Garden. Never seen it so empty on a lunchtime.

Just waiting to hear back from a couple of friends then going home.

This was so predictable. The moment Blair got into bed with Bush, London's Tube became a big fat juicy target.
posted by veedubya 07 July | 08:13
My best friend's siblings are in London and there's no sign of them :(

http://www.livejournal.com/community/london_070705 has a list of people willing to pass messages on for Londoners to those in other countries.
posted by divabat 07 July | 08:33
don't panic
please
i am about to perform an act of mass distraction
posted by ethylene 07 July | 08:42
My hopes, wishes and thoughts are with everyone in London. Good to hear from you dodgygeezer, hope everyone at the office is ok too.
posted by omiewise 07 July | 08:46
Pretty_Generic is ok, fyi.
posted by Wedge 07 July | 09:01
Fuck. Everyone in London, I hope you are yours are OK. I'm off to email my friends.
posted by gaspode 07 July | 09:03
not making light of anything, just must excuse myself from the newsfeed
i expect to see all of you later
posted by ethylene 07 July | 09:06
My thoughts are with you all right now. Keep the information coming. Stay safe.
posted by safetyfork 07 July | 09:07
I hope everybody's okay, but I know they aren't. I'd settle for "shaken, but alright," or "bearing up." Too often that stiff upper lip is flecked with grime and blood. Stand fast, London. Find your strength and your compassion together.

It doesn't matter, but I love you guys here. I hope you are all safe today. Even the ones who aren't in London.

And ethylene, I'm having trouble following you. I'm really not sniping here, and I really would like to know what you have to say. Please be clear. Thanks.
posted by Hugh Janus 07 July | 09:10
The Guardian newsblog has the latest including Flickr photostreams.

I'm sorry, Londoners. Please be well, everyone.
posted by Tacky O. Assis 07 July | 09:13
Although we haven't heard from my neice (in London), I had a fun conversation with her mother (in Sydney) a little while ago. I'd rung her to see if Virginia had called.

When she said no, I said that's evidence of 2 possible things:
1. that she went out on the town and is now horizontal nursing a hangover from the Olympics announcement; or:
2. she's working her butt off nursing other people at her hospital.

Her mother said it's the first time she was wishing a drunken hangover on her daughter. Heh.
posted by peacay 07 July | 09:18
Good luck, Londoners.
posted by shane 07 July | 09:23
(It's tough to find much to say that's helpful...)
posted by shane 07 July | 09:23
I have 3 exes living in London -- have heard from 2 of them, and one was lying in bed hungover, having decided to blow off work today -- and it was his train that was attacked. I hate hearing stuff like that. but very happy to hear he is fine, albeit snuggling with aspirin and gatorade
posted by gaspode 07 July | 09:25
gaspode I'm tempted to ask why your 3 exes are on another continent but I might save that for an AskMe thead
;- )
posted by peacay 07 July | 09:42
QED, peacay -- two are kiwis, hence they live in London. You should know the drill. (one is a pom).

heh, I leave them scattered far and wide...
posted by gaspode 07 July | 09:51
Plep checked in in the mf thread - I was thinking about him.
posted by iconomy 07 July | 10:05
Hope all the London MeFolk are all right.
posted by jonmc 07 July | 10:09
I heard from my friend now I am waiting and hoping that my nephew is also safe.

My friend has only been in London for a week and just started a new job on Monday. She had a panic attack when travelling to work on the tube for the first time, when it was packed with people during the rush hour. Just not used to being underground and packed in like sardines. Apart from being worried she was hurt, I kept thinking she might be trapped down there and terrified.

If you have friends or loved ones in London I hope they all come home safe to you.

posted by Tarrama 07 July | 10:10
comment from londoner
posted by ethylene 07 July | 10:18
I'm still tracking down friends. I'm not surprised by the calm and stoic behavior of the Brits on the ground. A less flappable group of people has never existed. My thoughts and prayers are with the whole of the island.
posted by PsychoKitty 07 July | 10:25
bah. i hope everyone is ok. i just went off on the mefi thread because that threads breath smelled like FOX news. fearmongering. newspeople people barely blinked when they put sarin in the japanese subways. the cable networks are frothing at the mouths. of course it's terrible. it's also not that big a deal. shit getting blown to fuck and people being massacred in numerous locations around the world every day, and we don't have teeth-gnashing circlejerks about THAT.
posted by quonsar 07 July | 10:48
I'm very glad to be hearing from most of our people, here and mefi and mofi. I cannot really express my feelings, so won't even try; I'll just say that London has been through just about everything that can be imagined, and each time rises up stronger. This is a terrible event, but in terms of history and character, just a wee pimple in juxtaposition to the will and fortitude of the people of London.
posted by taz 07 July | 10:51
hah! looks like jrun is going to kill the heavy breathing on mefi.
posted by quonsar 07 July | 10:56
i hope everyone's ok...awful...
posted by amberglow 07 July | 11:01
Prayers to all that need them.
posted by Dagobert 07 July | 11:01
This is horrible.
posted by carter 07 July | 11:02
Quonsar, take some friendly advice from someone who's been there and learn to keep the mouth shut. I mean this is a very sincere way.
posted by AlexReynolds 07 July | 11:22
Either he doesn't know how or doesn't want to.

If it's the former, he has my pity: the latter, he has my contempt.
posted by Dagobert 07 July | 11:27
On the other hand if it weren't for quonsar's comment in the MeFi thread, the censorship taking place there would be a good deal harder to detect. You can tell q's comment was there because of the responses it provoked. The assumption is that nothing else has been deleted, but since you don't really know, the thread is useless. As is any thread there for any but the most trivial purpose.
posted by George_Spiggott 07 July | 11:33
All good thoughts being sent to London right now. I'm still trying to track down a couple of friends.....
posted by scody 07 July | 11:35
You can tell q's comment was there because of the responses it provoked.

But the comment itself is no longer on record, which does no one any good but him. Strange how censorship works, sometimes.
posted by AlexReynolds 07 July | 11:36
That's right, George_, but his second comment is excellent and I hope it stands. I suppose it will be lost in the cacophony.
posted by gsb 07 July | 11:37
doesn't do me any "good" at all. i'm not ashamed of it. alex, have you noticed what a dumb fuck rather ignorant lad you are?
posted by quonsar 07 July | 11:38
about q's comment. you might think that people all over london are talking about little else and that we're all raw and emotional about the whole thing. that really isn't the case. while we feel badly for those injured and send our sympathy to the families of those who've died it's still business as usual around here. i guess we're just practical people and accept (as much as you can accept things such as this) that terrorism is a part of living in a major city. so let's get some perspective - this isn't our 9/11, it won't change our world - it's just another bunch of arseholes trying to scare us. it didn't work for the IRA and won't work for these guys. so q's comment doesn't bother me so much - maybe it was too soon considering that some people were still missing friends and family - but still, not so bad really.

ParisHilton on the other hand can suck my dick. Send a hundred more troops to Iraq? He might as well have asked us to pray to god for forgiveness.
posted by dodgygeezer 07 July | 11:40
Element LINK_TITLE is undefined in LINK_DETAIL.

god, i love that site!
posted by quonsar 07 July | 11:46
doesn't do me any "good" at all. i'm not ashamed of it. alex, have you noticed what a dumb fuck you are?

Now that you ask, I now realize what a dumb fuck I am for offering you sincere advice, yes. I'd join the line with the rest of the fawning sycophants, tossing poesies at the latest nugget of wisdom to issue forth from your golden keyboard, but I have better things to do. Good luck with everything.
posted by AlexReynolds 07 July | 11:47
Is it true that thousands of London's cops had been sent up to Edinburgh for the G8 Summit?

dodgy, many of us were the same way here in the city after 9/11--people don't get that we still had to go to work the next day and live our lives, etc.

(i so hate that it was the tube--being stuck in the dark way underground--and no subway anywhere is safe)
posted by amberglow 07 July | 11:48
Jesus Alex! I'll just assume I'm being called called a "fawning sycophant", so I take it back, quonsar's comment [over there] was really stoopid.

How's that for censorship.
posted by gsb 07 July | 11:55
Is it true that thousands of London's cops had been sent up to Edinburgh for the G8 Summit?
Apparently, although I don't buy that this was part of the master plan. If the police don't have a tip-off then what can they do to stop it?
posted by dodgygeezer 07 July | 12:00
Ah, rats. Keep cool while waiting for news. The critical period is the first hour after the attack, the "golden hour" for rescue workers. I expect to hear stories of bystanders (what we call "convergent responders") performing miracles of rescue right at the scene.

I know this is hard folks, but welcome to my world. Shutting down the cell network was quick work, I'll bet they were ready for that.

Don't get freaked. You are still at more risk from pets that you know than from terrorists.
posted by warbaby 07 July | 12:01
Even with a tip, they can't stop it, unless they shut it all down for every tip.

I think maybe it's like crime--when the GOP Convention was in town, people were saying that it was the perfect time to rob and murder because every cop in town was by Penn Station and not in their usual neighborhoods.
posted by amberglow 07 July | 12:04
Terrorism is crime. It's not war.
posted by warbaby 07 July | 12:08
I think maybe it's like crime--when the GOP Convention was in town, people were saying that it was the perfect time to rob and murder because every cop in town was by Penn Station and not in their usual neighborhoods.

I heard the same thing during the Live8 show in Philadelphia last weekend, that crime would go up with all the security concentrated on the Art Museum area of the city. But the crime blotters didn't reflect the huge spike that was expected. I don't have the statistics on hand, but my impression is that violent crime occurs more or less independent of individual, specific events and more closely ties itself to larger trends, like economics, war or other long-term activities.
posted by AlexReynolds 07 July | 12:11
Peacay, have you heard how your niece is yet?
posted by matildaben 07 July | 12:15
I don't know...if i was planning something, i'd do it when i knew less cops were around.
posted by amberglow 07 July | 12:20
Best friend's siblings have been found.
posted by divabat 07 July | 12:21
dodgy, many of us were the same way here in the city after 9/11--people don't get that we still had to go to work the next day and live our lives, etc.

well, that's just not true - most people went back to work the following monday. But that was at a time when we truly had no idea how to handle the situation. If we had a terror attack in NY now, I'd bet we would go back to work the next day...

Thoughts with everyone from here, too... have heard from most of my londoners & they're okay. Still waiting for the check in from one friend, who does live near king's cross...
posted by mdn 07 July | 12:23
matildaben, thanks for your concerns but it's like..very late here. Odds are of course that she's ok. I won't start worrying until she hasn't been heard from tomorrow (err.. later today yikes)
posted by peacay 07 July | 12:27
Best thoughts to all of you across the pond. This is a horrible, horrible thing.

That said....

I think maybe it's like crime--when the GOP Convention was in town, people were saying that it was the perfect time to rob and murder because every cop in town was by Penn Station and not in their usual neighborhoods.
posted by amberglow 07 July | 12:04


I really hate my inner cynic for immediately hog-tying my inner sympathizer. Really, really hate it. But, the wheels are turning.

There are two major "coincidences" here that may indeed just be coincidences. One is, as y'all have pointed out, that many of London's finest were busy elsewhere.

The other -- and I hate myself for bringing it up -- is that Bush was very conveniently at hand. I won't spin a conspiracy theory out of this (don't have to; others will soon enough), but at the very least I think this is extraordinarily bad news for those of us who want the war to end. These horrible attacks play to Bush's advantage.

Sorry to politically hijack the thread, but I had to get it off my chest.

Again, best to all of you.
posted by mudpuppie 07 July | 12:38
It's not a hijack--it's natural to wonder why this day and not last month or last year, etc.


most people went back to work the following monday.

Everyone i know had to go to work the day after, and in all industries with unmissable deadlines/international business/hospitality/etc they went.
I don't know anyone who took the whole week off. And judging from midtown the day after and all that week, most people were at work. Downtown was another story, of course.
posted by amberglow 07 July | 12:43
Mudpuppie Darlin,
As has been mentioned elsewhere and is actually fairly clear once you step back a bit, there are three sides in this conflict, Bush and Co., Al Quaeda as a movement (not a Bond villian) and the rest of us who do not wish to die in the service of either of their shitty and sociopathic ideologies. Everything Bush does is good for Al Q, everything Al Q does is good for Bush, those with power conspire constantly against those without power, there really isn't anything hidden or even sneaky about it.

I'm sorry London, all my love, you some tough motherfuckers and I applaud your strength and will.

posted by Divine_Wino 07 July | 12:55
you know, i don't recall seeing a single jrun error on 9/11.
posted by quonsar 07 July | 13:03
9/11 changed everything.
posted by AlexReynolds 07 July | 13:05
Everything Bush does is good for Al Q, everything Al Q does is good for Bush...


True enough, Wino.
posted by mudpuppie 07 July | 13:17
My sympathies to Londoners.

Amberglow, people who worked below Fourteenth Street had the whole week off. I certainly did. My boy, who worked on lower Broadway, had two weeks out. So some people didn't go right back.
posted by dame 07 July | 13:18
nice to see the americans seem more flustered than the brits here.
stiff upper lip, chaps. thinking of you.
posted by andrew cooke 07 July | 13:23
mudpuppie
I hope you don't think from my tone that I was pretending to instruct you in something, just observing. At this point in the state of world affairs (when something like this happens) I feel less rage and confusion and more of just a general sense of helplessness which is actually nice but dangerous, which passes and then the rage and the confusion again.

Dame and Amberglow,

I went back to work in the LES/Chinatown after one day, sneaking into the city from Brooklyn because I was working for a rare book dealer (and I needed the job bad) who was without a doubt the most vile and shitty boss I have ever had. I still wish he would swell up and burst and I quit soon after.
posted by Divine_Wino 07 July | 13:30
I'm sorry London, all my love, you some tough motherfuckers and I applaud your strength and will.

Divine_Wino says it better than I can. I hope all of our MeFite family, their friends and families make it through safe and sound.
posted by deborah 07 July | 13:57
BBC America is showing only the news, if anyone gets that channel.
posted by amberglow 07 July | 14:10
This was so predictable. The moment Blair got into bed with Bush, London's Tube became a big fat juicy target.

Eh, London's been a big, fat juicy target for years. All public transport is a big, fat, juicy soft target because it's impossible by nature to keep people away from it. Tokyo, Barcelona, now London. The question was never why and never contingent upon politics, it was only when and who.

My niece's SIL is unaccounted for, she lives in the Russell Square area (one of my favorite parts of London, and where my family always stays when we visit) and though there's no reason to believe she was in the Tube or on the bus, no calls nor SMS are getting a response and she didn't make it into work.

I'm just ready for a bunch of these cowardly thugs to be caught and dealt with.
posted by Dreama 07 July | 14:44
you know, i don't recall seeing a single jrun error on 9/11.
posted by quonsar 07 July | 13:03

9/11 changed everything.
posted by AlexReynolds 07 July | 13:05
LOL! i take it all back alex!
posted by quonsar 07 July | 15:00
well, amberglow, people might have been in the office (I honestly don't remember), but it's not as if 'things were back to normal' the next day - remember every single channel, including the home shopping network and the weather channel, yadda yadda, were either offline or feeding news? I know TV programs didn't start getting back to normal until the end of the week. I lived in chinatown and no one was at work in my neighborhood, but I stayed with a relative on 215th street, and they were home watching constant news for at least a couple days (remember there were no ads, even?). I'm sure some people had to get back to things more quickly than others, but new york in general was really not back to normal for at least a week or two - wall street was officially closed down until the following week so anyone in finance / banking had nothing to do anyway...
posted by mdn 07 July | 15:44
The pub we went to today had coasters labeled "The Tube: Safe and Reliable". Also, there's an article in today's Evening Standard headlined LONDON AS A BOMBSITE - it's about a new map of damage done during the WW2 blitz.
posted by Pretty_Generic 07 July | 16:37
Thanks to all in London piping up to let us know you are safe, and to echo what others have said, you have my admiration, sympathy, and best wishes.
posted by melissa may 07 July | 21:18
Looks like I was kind of right on 2 fronts. My neice DID have a hangover and despite having the bombing day off, got paged to go work nursing at a London hospital. So the poor thing carried a headache through 12 hours of hard work.
She's still a bit freaked and more than a little homesick but I think she's coming back to Oz in 2months or less anyway.
posted by peacay 08 July | 08:54
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