Month: December 2008

Quite right. The minute we start to live in fear the terrorists have won. I took my hat off to those who were back in that cafe the next day toasting the dead but carrying on.

Heh heh heh – if McCain had managed to get advantage of a Florida ballot, the world would be a much scarier place …

it’s hard to know when it’s the right time to let out a deep breath and move forward

and that time is different for everyone

here in NY after 9/11 there were a lot of folks that were afraid to take the subway for a long time

I had a mini meltdown in the tunnel a few days after it was finally opened, just suddenly hit me how fragile we all are

but we do all need to keep moving, more than death and destruction what terrorists want is long term fear and inaction

I also pray that calm minds will prevail and I am so glad that Obama is our new leader

I shudder to think what McCain would do with this situation

Peace my friend

Last Thursday saw one of the more spectacular terrorist atrocities of recent years, when armed groups attacked several locations in Mumbai, India.

Let’s take a moment to remember the at least 188 dead as a result of the attacks.

The dust seems to be settling now, with the aftershocks and repercussions starting to be felt. This has the potential to be an extremely scary event as it’s putting a red hot poker into the sensitive relations between India and Pakistan, 2 countries armed with nukes … There’s a thread left by the terrorists that could allow an excuse for increasing the tension between India and Pakistan and I really do hope sanity prevails here.

There’s a potential for the guns of 20 to turn into 2 million, if the two governments allow the terrorists to decide their foreign policy for them. Hopefully sanity will prevail. I’m more interested in the cultural aspect, in particular what happens with the sport 🙂

India should be hosting a cricket Champions League at the moment, which was rightfully called off. If the terrorists had struck just a day or two later, they’d have caught some of the teams taking part. A week or so earlier and the England international team would have been staying in one of the hotels that was attacked. With so many dead, it was the right thing to do to call off the Champions League, this should be a time for mourning.

I was thinking that it would be wrong for the England team to go back to India to play a couple of Test Matches here. Same logic again, time for mourning. The big concern is over the safety of the players, which should really be expanded to looking out for the safety of the media covering the games and the supporters going out to watch them. I’m starting to come around to a different point of view though, dominated by the thought :

Why should we allow terrorists to tell us what to do ?

A period of mourning was needed but those times should ALWAYS come to an end. The dead should be remembered but it’s key to remember to live life. What better time to turn the corner and say to the world : “We Are Not Afraid !” and get the game on. I really do hope that England do go out there and show what they’ve got. I’m sure they’ll be well looked after, although the atmosphere could be somewhat of a prison camp with the level of security they’ll have. Which could be a good thing, as it’ll hopefully focus the players on playing the game.

We’ll see what happens over the next week or so. It’s still up in the air as to whether England’s cricket team goes back to India and a few players will probably avoid the tour. That’s their choice. (Should note that one who I’m a big fan of probably won’t go – but that’s cos his wife has a kiddie due very soon)

Thank goodness you cleared that up as I was going to ask! 😀

I love reading Heinlein. He is one of the best sci-fi writers IMHO. Thanks for the menshun 🙂

that last PS had me roaring with laughter!!

love Gloria – the cats hide when I sing along

I am adding so many books to my list!! Oy!

This one comes courtesy of Bobkat’s House and Dianne at Forks Of The Moment :-).

The rules :
Pass it on to 5 other bloggers and tell them to open the nearest book to page 46. Write out the fifth sentence on that page and also the next 2 to 5 sentences. The closest book, not the coolest, or the one you think will sound the best. THE CLOSEST !!!

Here we go – book is The Door Into Summer by Robert A Heinlein, the Gollancz edition which were slightly bigger than average, so it sticks out a little from the pile of books I have queued up for the A to Z challenge. Therefore da closest 🙂

Leave it in the car ? Suppose I was hauled in for assault and battery; it wouldn’t be smart to have it in the car when the car was towed in and impounded.
I could mail it to myself, but I had been getting my mail lately from general delivery at the G.P.O., while shifting from hotel to hotel as often as they found out I was keeping a cat.
I had better mail it to someone I could trust.
But that was a mighty short list.
Then I remembered someone I could trust.

Not read this one before but that little snippet has me interested enough to probably gobble this one up as The Next Book after my next one. I’m currently reading Heinlein’s Farnham’s Freehold but I like to space out my authors a bit. So my next book will be someone other than Heinlein, quite possibly Polar City Blues by Katherine Kerr.

I don’t tag people but if you read this and have a blog, have a go and let people know that you’ve joined in 🙂 And don’t forget the button !

PS Current album on iTunes is Gloria Estefan’s Cuts Both Ways, so the neighbours are getting treated to Cat Karaoke as I attempt to sing along.
PS2 Just peeked at the page 46 in Farnham’s Freehold, which was on the other side of the room. Not particularly inspiring, think Door Into Summer was a far better page 46 🙂
PS3 Despite what the piccy suggests, I have never worn stockings and suspenders. Honest guv. Never worn heels either !