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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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I have just had my attention drawn to this rather startling claim:
Preliminary reports from a source inside the Pentagon indicate that one of the operatives involved in this morning’s bombings in London was recently released from the prison at Guantanamo.
The link is to a US website called ‘Northeast Intelligence Network’. Are they really high-level security operatives or just a bunch of wannabes? And is this ‘Pentagon source’ actually some filing clerk with ‘Deep Throat’ pretensions? Even assuming that these people are the genuine article, how can they possibly know this after just a few hours? As far as I can tell, there is no mention anywhere in the UK press about the identity of the suspects at all.
On the other hand, the British security services are notorious for a culture of secrecy and, if the story is true, it is typical of them to bury it, at least for a while (and in some cases for years).
I lean towards the view that this is fabrication, the chaff from the grinding wheel of the rumour-mill. But can anybody else shed any light?
We Samizdatistas have not managed anything so far by way of photo-blogging of yesterday’s dramas. However, those wanting to get a pictorially illustrated feeling of what it was like might like to take a look at Adam Tinworth’s blog, starting here, and scrolling upwards.
That is one Adam’s photos, which has a nice stiff upper lip feel to it, I think. I also liked the one of people crowding into Dixons, just to watch the tellies in there, to find out what was going on.
With regard to my title above, I suspect that 7/7 is more likely to end up being the name we give to yesterday’s bomb attacks than David’s 07/07. Either way, a small thing to be thankful for is that it happened on the Xth day of the Xth month, so to speak, and we do not have to get involved in transatlantic bickering/explaining about which comes first, the day or the month.
Rebecca MacKinnon blogs about her communication with Ethan Gutmann, author of Losing the New China: A Story of American Commerce, Desire and Betrayal.
One of the chapters is about Cisco’s business in China and the extent to which they actively supply Chinese law enforcement with censorship and surveillance technology. Cisco denies, Gutman responds by making available Cisco brochure from the China Information Infrastucture Expo 2002. There is also a very sound argument about why this matters and why Cisco (or anyone else) should not be allowed to get away with profiting from assisting the state to surpress the freedom of individuals. That is the kind of ‘social responsibility’ I can support.
As you know, the Chinese authorities don’t want to block the web. They want Chinese users to practice self-censorship. Surveillance, and the awareness of surveillance leads to self-censorship and that’s where Cisco comes in. Cisco has built the structure for the national PSB [Public Security Bureau] database, and as of June 2003, it is already resident in every province of China, except Sichuan. Police can access a suspect’s political history, imaging information, the lot, and read their email at will. Cisco calls it “Policenet”.
This is the scary stuff of Panopticon. The real deal that the combination of the totalitarian nature of the Chinese government and technology has made possible. The argument that if Cisco does not follow the ‘demand’ created by the Chinese authorities, someone else will, does not hold – it absolves businesses (and those individuals responsible for them) from the physical and moral consequences of their actions.
via Instapundit
The day has been long, too long.
When we were finally released from the offices in the City, we headed for a public house and a pint, a token of commemoration and resistance.
The best way to remember those who are not coming home tonight is to have a drink amongst friends.
Story here about how mobile phones were felled by the terror blasts, with a huge upsurge in traffic. Not a great day for the mobile system.
I am still feeling pretty shaky after what happened this morning. I was on the Central Line tube train and got off at St Paul’s at 08:45, just two stops before Liverpool Street station, near where one of the attacks took place. Like most Londoners I will be walking into work tomorrow. Many will stay at home, advised to do so by the police and their own employers. I regularly use the King’s Cross tube station and may want to give the underground metro system a miss for a while.
The atmosphere is pretty strange this evening. As I walked along the River Thames on my way home I noticed a lot of pubs were packed, as people no doubt wanted a drink and a chat and see a friendly face. Traffic is way down, but there are still lots of police cars, ambulances and unmarked cars with blue flashing lights zooming about. Most people I see appear calm and pretty resilient about it all. I suppose it will take a while for things to sink in.
Mobile phones were knocked out, and I was not able to get in touch with my other half, my family or friends for several hours. The Internet has worked well.
No doubt much ink is going to be spilled in the next few days about the ramifications, the likely political fallout, the civil liberties implications, and all the other stuff we scribble about. All I want to add now is my condolences to those who have lost loved ones or been injured in these terrible attacks. And spare a thought for the doctors, nurses and other emergency workers dealing with the human wreckage caused by these scum.
I woke this morning to the sad news posted here by Brian and David and there is little I can add from far off Manhattan. Maybe I will be moved to pontificate later, but for now I will continue on with life as planned.
Last night was not a session bar night. I only have one more night in New York before becoming buried in R&D work again and The Scratcher is a must visit. It is my Manhattan local of eight years standing. Until a few years ago it was also the site of the Wednesday session so I can at least claim a figleaf on its inclusion in the five day crawl.
The bar has always been more a trendy den of iniquity than a trad place. The staff are Irish and Scottish; the clientele are an eclectic mix of models, actresses, musicians, filmmakers and young professionals during the pre-midnight hours. As the clock ticks into the morning hours the american percentage falls precipitously until in the wee hours, by the sound of the surrounding accents, one could as well be in a London or Dublin pub as New York.
The secretive outer aspect of the Scratcher.
Photo: D.Amon, all rights reserved
The staff are good people and include a number of musicians who work here when not gigging or touring. The owner is a big supporter of music and this is one of the ways he helps the New York music scene.
Brendan O’Shea, like several other staff bartenders has been here since the late nineties. It is a nice feeling to come back to a place year after year and have a nod and a smile as you walk in the door.
Brendan at work… or perhaps play?
Photo: D.Amon, all rights reserved
Some of the staff I would call friend as well. If you drop into my New York local I ask that you tip really well. If you misbehave Natalie will tell on you and I will personally ban you from Samizdata!
Natalie at work covering the family bills.
Photo: D.Amon, all rights reserved
If you are looking for intellectual chatter, come after midnight or early on a weekday night and you are bound to find someone to go on at length about just about anything. If you come by during the weekend night madness, pick up a model and end up bonking your mutual brains out in the interchangeable sex loos, just remember where you heard about this marvelous little place. There is something for everyone here.
The official casualty roll from this morning’s attack now stands at 37 dead and 700 injured to varying degrees.
It now appears that there were four separate explosions, three of them on undergound trains at Aldgate, Kings Cross, Edgware Road and one on a bus in Woburn Place near to Russell Square.
The BBC website is carrying some photographs of the chaos, many of them taken on the spot with camera-phones.
The German magazine ‘Spiegel On-line’ is reporting that something calling itself ‘The Secret Organisation of Al-Qaeda in Europe’ has claimed reponsibility for this morning’s attacks on London.
Allegedly the triumphal claim was made on a website. The article does not link to the website but does include an apparent screenshot of the relevant posting.
This is all unsubtantiated and could be complete bunkum. Who knows?
UPDATE: I have just had a call from a friend who has been stuck down in Aldgate all day. He was on his way to work when the attack occured but was unscathed. Apparently the police are now allowing people to travel home from Central London. The cops he has spoken to have told him that the death toll is now 45 but this is unconfirmed.
For anyone who may be worried about relatives or friends in Central London, the Police Casualty Bureau hotline number is now open on 0870 1566 344.
UPDATE: 33 fatalities now confirmed. I hope this figure does not inflate but I rather fear that it may.
Things look pretty normal round here but then I am stuck in the North London ‘burbs and the carnage is all concentrated around Central London and the West End.
My mobile telephone appears to be working just fine but the public transport network has been shut down entirely.
The MSM is still reporting 2 fatalities which seems mercifully low given the timing, location and nature of the attacks. Maybe this figure will rise as the day passes, but I profoundly hope that it doesn’t.
Tony Blair is winging his way back to London from the G8 summit in Edinburgh and George Bush is about to make a statement.
More later.
UPDATE: Unconfirmed reports that death toll has risen to 10.
ANOTHER UPDATE: The MSM is now reporting ‘many fatalities’ but no numbers. Either they genuinely don’t know or do know and won’t say.
The entire London Underground network is closed following explosions at
Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Edgware Road, Old Street and Russell Square. This
is presently being blamed on a “power surge”. Curious.
Update: A bus has exploded in Russell Square and there are reports of two more buses having been bombed elsewhere in London. Looks like it is a terrorist attack.
(Note: This is one of the regular Samizdatistas blogging from the Canary Wharf office district in London – anonymously because he is at work).
Update:Sky News is reporting “90 casualties” at Aldgate. Transport unions are reporting “some fatalities”. The Home Secretary has referred to “terrible casualties”. There are apparently two trains trapped underground at Edgware Road. I have heard a hearsay report that three unexploded bombs were found at King’s Cross.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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