Vet visit, and odd thoughts on the London attacks.

[curiouswombat]

We took the cat to the vet today - between the three of us we actually managed to get him into his carrying box without loss of limb! He's having a few problems with his teeth - he has a wobbly fang, a couple of other rotten teeth, and some infection in his mouth, so he has to go in on Thursday for extractions, scaling and polishing, under anaesthetic of course. And he is currently on antibiotics - having had trouble giving him these in the past I was dreading it, but they are minute, and he ate it quite happily in a piece of chicken penang!

I have been heartened by the coverage of the London bombings - seems an odd thing to say, but it's true. There are some wonderful quotes on LJ - elisi and booster17 particulary have some excellent links on their journals. So many people in interviews etc. are basically saying 'Terrorist attacks? Call those effective terrorist attacks? We've been attacked by the bloody professionals for years mate, didn't bother us, so why should we give a shit about you idiots?' As terrorist attacks they seem to have failed dismally, as no-one seems to have been terrorised! Two of my favourites from the link via booster17 are

To quote an old Londoner who lived through the blitz and got caught up in the Canary Wharf explosion: "I've been blown up by a better class of bastard than this!"

and:
"We took on the Romans, the Saxons, the Danes, the French, William Wallace, the Black Plague, the Roundheads, the Great Fire, Napoleon, the Nazis, and the Blitz, and we're still here. You terrorists are bloody amateurs."

I have to say one of my own personal reactions was very much along these lines - even seeing the terrible effect of the explosion on the bus I found myself thinking 'How bloody inefficient as a piece of terrorism is that? Have your explosion right outside the headquarters of the BMA?' (British Medical Association) The doctors were out of the building and setting up a casualty clearing/triage station in their courtyard within minutes, giving instant medical attention, and therefore saving the lives of many of the seriously injured. Terrorising doctors by injuring people on their doorstep? Not very effective.

I am so saddened for anyone who was involved, I prayed last night, and will tonight etc. for the injured, and the families of the dead. I know that many of the people in close proximity to the explosions will be traumatised, and I don't belittle this. But I rejoice at the ability of the people of Britain, and London in particular to, in so many words and gestures, tell the terrorists to get stuffed.

Comments

[keswindhover.livejournal.com]

I am so saddened for anyone who was involved, I prayed last night, and will tonight etc. for the injured, and the families of the dead. I know that many of the people in close proximity to the explosions will be traumatised, and I don't belittle this. But I rejoice at the ability of the people of Britain, and London in particular to, in so many words and gestures, tell the terrorists to get stuffed.

Nicely put. I don't pretend it wasn'ta terrible thing, but it hasn't brought London to its knees or anything like it.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Nicely put

Thank you.

but it hasn't brought London to its knees or anything like it.

Abso - bloody - lutely!

Bombing the British has never brought them to their knees - and the resulting disruption was probably not dissimilar to a tube strike I would guess, although of course I wasn't there.

[caliente-uk.livejournal.com]

But I rejoice at the ability of the people of Britain, and London in particular to, in so many words and gestures, tell the terrorists to get stuffed.

And so say all of us! Wonderful post.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much.

[maddeinin.livejournal.com]

I rejoice at the ability of the people of Britain, and London in particular to, in so many words and gestures, tell the terrorists to get stuffed.

Exactly. Yesterday was horrible, but it's amazing how much better all those interviews make you feel.

Also: poor kitty! I bet he'll feel a lot happier without all the ouchies in his mouth though. It's amazing how much a cat's demeanor can change after you've fixed something like that, even if you haven't noticed a change for the worse because it's been so gradual.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how much a cat's demeanor can change after you've fixed something like that,
He's such a big softy, he's not been grouchy at all unless you actually poke him in the mouth. Although he has been a bit clingy recently, for him, maybe that's been because of the sore mouth.

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

Very nicely put - I love it when people can put into words what I am feeling but unable to express so eloquently.

The BBC website had a link to the text purporting to be from the terrorists, which included something about creating panic in Britain North, South, East and West, and all I could think was that I'd seldom seen such a lack of panic in the face of such an attack.

There was a chap on the news this morning and they asked him why he had come into London to work today, and he said that if he hadn't, the terrorists would have won. That's exactly my feeling.

My heart goes out to all those affected by this, but it also swells in pride at the way people have reacted to this.

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

Me again, forgot to say that I hope the op goes OK for your cat. My mum and dad's cat ended up with no teeth at all, bless him, and he just couldn't get on with dentures. *g*

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

My Mum had an elderly Bull Terrier who could give intruders a nasy suck!!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I though the same thing about the 'statement'. If they want to see the UK panic North, South, East and West they should just have arranged about 2" of snow!!

I just gakked this icon - I love it!! (from jslayeruk who has allowed copying.)

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

they should just have arranged about 2" of snow!!

That much!!!

The icon is great - thanks for the info, I'm going to steal it for myself, as copying is allowed.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

just take it from mine - I actually got it from brisingamen following a link from someone else - brisingamen has started to collect the tea icons, creditting and saying which are shareable.

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

The're great. Everything stops for tea, but not for terrorism. And now I won't be able to get 'tea' songs out of my head all day. I do like a nice cup of tea.

[kathyh]

If they want to see the UK panic North, South, East and West they should just have arranged about 2" of snow!!

That made me laugh out loud and it's so very true. Speaking as a former London commuter through the IRA bomb attacks of the 1980s and early 1990s the sight of a covering of snow was much more terrifying than any bomb alert.

Brilliant icon.

[bedawyn.livejournal.com]

I have to say part of my immediate reaction on reading about the bombings was to be pleased and grateful and relieved -- not that it happened, but that it was unusual enough to draw such immediate media attention in the States. Because I remembered a time when bombings in London were fairly regular, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard of one, and this emphasized their absence in recent years. It was nice to think that people were able to enjoy that absence long enough for it to become the norm. We rarely see news stories exclaiming that something hasn't happened recently -- but sometimes it's worth noticing just that.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It was nice to think that people were able to enjoy that absence long enough for it to become the norm.
Bombings throughout the UK were not unusual from my teens onwards - although personally I was only caught up in one alert. Germany (eg Munich Olympics, and Bader-Meinhoff etc.), Italy, Greece, and other European countries are no strangers to such attacks either. The absence of such attacks has been greatly appreciated, although we are aware that in recent years a number of attacks have been planned, but thwarted by the security services.

I saw a post somewhere in which an American had said she would rather be someone who ran around screaming OMG and flapping when there is a bomb in another country than someone who lived in the bombed city and was 'blase' about bodies on the sidewalk. Many people, me included, told her we were insulted/upset by her words - it is not being blase - it is a firmly held belief that only by being calm and refusing to be terrorised that the uselessness of such attacks may finally come home to the heads of the organisations. As it did to most of the IRA.

Of course the only reason I mentioned her nationality was because she did herself - I do not want to imply that any of my American friends would be so unfeeling - but I have also just read the (e-mailed via LJ) reply to a comment I had made about the lack of panic in the Londoners affected, wherin someone from Oregon said that actually he thought the attacks on London had been carried out purely for their effect on the American audience!!!

He must have realised how unfeeling that sounded, because when I went to the LJ page to express my suprise(!) he had deleted it! Good job I don't think you are all the same!!!

[bedawyn.livejournal.com]

I doubt it was intended to be unfeeling; the idea doesn't seem entirely out of bounds to me, simply because the Americans are the ones running around going OMG. That's the effect they've achieved; if they were aiming for some other effect, well, they weren't too successful. And what other effect would have helped their "cause" anyway? An important meeting where Bush is being the bad guy and everyone else is more or less united under Blair trying to get needful things done that will help you (as well as everyone else), and you do something that's going to distract Blair and bolster Bush. I mean, that makes a whole lot of sense. If the goal was to pressure Blair to back off his support of Bush, the timing was all wrong. So what was the goal? Trying to see things from the strategic view of the terrorists, I just can't imagine what they thought they were going to accomplish. The only ones I can see getting any benefit from this, even (especially!) if they had managed to "terrorize" the country, is Bush's Republicans. (I will bite back the rest of that thought, as it's too early in the morning for conspiracy theories.)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

My mother has her own conspiracy theory - she reckons some of the masked and hooded protestors at Gleneagles were damaging cars etc. to create a distraction, and cause extra police to be drafted north to cope, leaving London less well policed than usual.

I don't think she has it quite right - but perhaps the timing coincides with the G8 meeting not for any reason to do with GWB but it is the first time that they have not been apprehended because there were extra police sent from other forces to help police in Scotland.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

On Channel 4, just the night before, they showed a documentary about how parts of London ground totally to a halt after a snowfall a couple of years ago, with people being stuck in their cars overnight etc. It was a total contrast to see all services falling into place, alternate transport apparently coming into play, and no traffic jams so bad that people were having to sleep in their cars following the explosions.

[jerusha]

It's amazing to see the resiliency and strength that people show in times of trial. It's definitely inspiring.

Good luck to your kitty. He sounds like he's a very stubborn fellow.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It's definitely inspiring.

Some of those quotes really are, aren't they?

It's the old Blitz Spirit thing! Although it isn't by any means only those who can remember that time who are reacting that way. I think the older generation are quietly proud that the younger ones behave the same way.