The Purple Pinup Guru Platform

When purple things are pulsating on your mind, I'm the one whose clock you want to clean. Aiding is Sparky, the Astral Plane Zen Pup Dog from his mountain stronghold on the Northernmost Island of the Happy Ninja Island chain, this blog will also act as a journal to my wacky antics at an entertainment company and the progress of my self published comic book, The Deposit Man which only appears when I damn well feel like it. Real Soon Now.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

PP GURU:

REAL LIFE STRANGE STIRRINGS BELOW THE PP GURU's BELT - THE SPECIAL GETTING SOUSED AT TANTALIZING TARA's PARTY EDITION!!

Meanwhile at Stately PP Guru Manor:


But wait- what is this? The PP Guru is not at his post monitoring the world activities at Central PP Guru Command Center:

Nor does it seem that he is not under the desk that leads to the secret entrance of the PP Guru's Pit of Prophylactic Pleasures!



Nor is the hare up his ass. Oh Silly Bunny- where can the PP Guru possibly be?



Not here cavorting with known felons who have been turned into bronze statues...


Clink!

But- What's this (is the PP Guru experiencing deja vu again) ? Can it possibly be-? Oh yes indeedy, there are definitely some strange stirrings going on under the PP Guru's belt when he's been deployed to cover....



his favorite all time gal pal at her most amazing 29th birthday party hosted by the one and only Tantalizing Tara of Titanium Turbo-charged Tapioca Torpedos.

Here she is in all her alluring vampy glory:

We pause for this station break.

Touchstone Pictures presents Academy Award Winner Jennifer Connolly (is that really Tantalizing Tara's immaculate twin sister? - Oh shit - sorry, the PP Guru didn't mean to interrupt the station break) in a haunting, chilling, film about a young mother who goes to extreme lengths to solve a mystery and protect her daughter in 'Dark Water - brought to you by the creators of the Japanese version of the "The Ring" and is directed by Walter Salles. This psychological thriller also features a stellar cast, including Academy Award®-nominees John C. Reilly, Tim Roth, and Pete Postlethwaite, as well as Dougray Scott, Fat Ass Camryn Manheim and newcomer Ariel Gade. If you are feeling no compassion whatsoever for Tsunami relief victims, then you are sure to love this film. Be sure to check out the film's website here for more details and theaters and showtimes.

The PP GURU stepped out in charcoal style and joined Tantalizing Tara with family and friends at party thrown for her by the proprietors of Silver Lake Wine in...well, where else could it be but in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles?

The PP Guru at first got the directions all screwed up and ended up crashing his scooter powered by Three-Prong Nagual reps of Castaneda horse power right into the mossy foam depths of Golden Pond. The crawling maggoted remains of Henry Fonda's putrefied corpse gave him the first clue that he made a wrong turn somewhere.

Fucking Mapquest.

Well eventually, the PP Guru made the shindig before....ANYONE else did. All Tantalizing Tara had to say was right next door to here.

I'm sure one of Tantalizing Tara's best friends, ATE ( pronounced aht-ay) didn't see that coming.

OUATE12? Neither did Van Halen.

Nor probably did her other friend, Quinn - who is busy here invoking the dystopian spirit of Anthony Burgess - without going into a painful rendition of 'Singing in the Rain'.

And everyone knows that Wendy isn't really blitzed - it just looks that way. The camera adds about ten pounds of sobriety, you know....

Meanwhile, outside activities were kept to a mininium once Tantalizing Tara's mother started to demonstrate her prestige Taek Won Do prowess and high flying kicks that she picked up during her time in Saigon when she behind the barracks of a POW camp - with a half a wine glass in her hand!! Not even a drop was sacrificed. This was witnessed under blurry eye conditions by the PP Guru himself. Tantalizing Tara Mom's kick nearly knocked his freshly lit cigarette down his esophagus with his whole entire throat with it.

And in the next shot, we're beginning to see sheer total pandemonium about to be set in motion. What had happened is that everyone was given three different glasses of wine. The kind folks of Silver Lake Wine started everyone off with a smooth white wine- now before the PP Guru goes any further, let him warn you - he isn't going to go into specifics of what names of the wines they are - cause, you know, there's only so much crotchrot jargon the PP Guru can hold in his feeble little head- but if Tantalizing Tara is reading this- perhaps she can volunteer to tell everyone in the comment section of what types of wine were being talked about.

The knowledgable Silver Lake Wine staff who poured the wine went into a whole big spiel concerning the origins of the wine- where it was made and bottled and how many cases were made. The second one was a red wine fermented up in the state of Oregon- and that it costs abbout 25 bucks for a bottle because they were only 747 cases made in that year and the PP Guru was dismayed to discover that he had gotten the end of the bottle and in his glass was a special suprise waiting for him - the waxy junk they use to seal the bottle up. The PP Guru got a little scared for a second there as he thought that he was going to suffer from Paris Hilton revenge. They can keep that bottle of wine- the PP Guru doesn't need to chew on wax for $ 25.00- the PP Guru was more impressed with the red wine which was served last that happened to be bottled in Sonoma County and retailed for less than $10. Nonetheless, sometimes the stories behind these wine take a little while to recite - as you can see.

We pause for another station break:

When an experimental space voyage goes incredibly ape-shit, four people are changed dramatically by cosmic rays. Reed Richards, (Ioan Gruffudd) inventor and leader of the group gains the ability to stretch his body, and thinks it's cool to call his speedo Mr. Fantastic. His girlfriend, Sue Storm (played by Jessica Alba's hot incredible ass) gains the ability to turn invisible, creates force fields and has the uncanny ability to hide panty shields, calls herself the Invisible Woman. Her younger brother Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) gains the ability to control fire, including covering his own body with flame and profoundly displays his heat seeking moisture missle throughout the coarse of the movie while becoming the Human Torch. Pilot Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) is turned into a super-strong rock creature calling himself Thing and uses his super rock hard erection powers on blind sculptress Alicia Masters (Hot sista' Kerry Washington) . Together, they use their unique powers to explore the strange aspects of the world, and to foil the evil plans of Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon). The new film released by Twentieth Century Fox is playing in theaters everywhere. To find out theaters and showtime info - here

But certainly the highlight of this party was ...

mmm ... cupcakes.

Oops - the PP Guru meant these kind of cupcakes. The ones with the white icing and decorated with the roving alien eyes (was this some sort of subjugated publicity for War of the Worlds? The PP Guru doesn't really know) had contained a sweet red velvet cake- which really made for a really swell bowel movement experience for the PP Guru the very next day.

uhm ...


mmmmm.....cupcakes.


And finally, the PP Guru was flustered with utter contempt and seething animosity for when Deposit Man writer Cary Coatney came and crashed the party. Oh give the PP Guru a freakin' break already!! Tantalizing Tara should have called in the bouncers and had them haul his inebriated carcass from the premises. The PP Guru swears he's such a rubbery faced lush whose time has long come and gone. Deposit Man?- phahhhhh- who really reads that liberal crap anyway? The lout follows the PP Guru everywhere he goes. And the PP Guru is sick and tired and dragging around a appendage all the time

Here, Cary Coatney take that!! Get your dirty little diddling digits off his favorite gal pal!!

<>Now the PP Guru can finally go home in peace. Thanks to Tantalizing Tara for a such wonderful drink up. As bumbled and stumbled through the twenty-seventh story window of the Ghost Bar to ~ Coat

Friday, July 08, 2005

SPARKY: The Rove Factor?

Time magazine talked to Bush's guru for Plame story —

“... Initially, Fitzgerald's focus was on Novak's sourcing, since Novak was the first to out Plame. But according to Luskin, Rove's lawyer, Rove spoke to Cooper three or four days before Novak's column appeared. Luskin told NEWSWEEK that Rove "never knowingly disclosed classified information" and that "he did not tell any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA." Luskin declined, however, to discuss any other details. He did say that Rove himself had testified before the grand jury "two or three times" and signed a waiver authorizing reporters to testify about their conversations with him. "He has answered every question that has been put to him about his conversations with Cooper and anybody else," Luskin said. But one of the two lawyers representing a witness sympathetic to the White House told NEWSWEEK that there was growing "concern" in the White House that the prosecutor is interested in Rove. Fitzgerald declined to comment. ... ”

Lawrence O'Donnell: The One Very Good Reason Karl Rove Might Be Indicted

Thu Jul 7, 3:11 AM ET

Two years ago, when I first read the federal law protecting the identities of covert agents, my reaction was the same as everyone else who reads it -- this is not an easy law to break. That’s what I said on Hardball then in my first public discussion of the outing of Valerie Plame, and that’s what I said on CNN the other night. Let’s walk through the pieces that would have to fall into place for Karl Rove to have committed a crime when he revealed Plame’s identity to Matt Cooper.

First, and most obviously, Valerie Plame had to be a covert agent when Rove exposed her to Cooper. It’s not obvious that she was. The law has a specific definition of covert agent that she might not fit -- an overseas posting in the last five years, for example. But it’s hard to believe the prosecutor didn’t begin the grand jury session with a CIA witness certifying that Plame was a covert agent. If the prosecutor couldn’t establish that, why bother moving on to the next witness?

Second, Rove had to know she was a covert agent. Cooper’s article refers to Plame as “a CIA official.” Most CIA officials are not covert agents.

Third, Rove had to know that the CIA was taking “affirmative measures” to hide her identity. Doesn’t seem like the kind of thing a political operative would or should know.

Fourth, Rove had to be “authorized” to have classified information about covert agents or at least this one covert agent. Doesn’t seem like the kind of security clearance a political operative would or should have.

I’ll be surprised if all four of those elements of the crime line up perfectly for a Rove indictment. Surprised, not shocked. There is one very good reason to think they might. It is buried in one of the handful of federal court opinions that have come down in the last year ordering Matt Cooper and Judy Miller to testify or go to jail.

In February, Circuit Judge David Tatel joined his colleagues’ order to Cooper and Miller despite his own, very lonely finding that indeed there is a federal privilege for reporters that can shield them from being compelled to testify to grand juries and give up sources. He based his finding on Rule 501 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which authorizes federal courts to develop new privileges “in the light of reason and experience.” Tatel actually found that reason and experience “support recognition of a privilege for reporters’ confidential sources.” But Tatel still ordered Cooper and Miller to testify because he found that the privilege had to give way to “the gravity of the suspected crime.”

Judge Tatel’s opinion has eight blank pages in the middle of it where he discusses the secret information the prosecutor has supplied only to the judges to convince them that the testimony he is demanding is worth sending reporters to jail to get. The gravity of the suspected crime is presumably very well developed in those redacted pages. Later, Tatel refers to “[h]aving carefully scrutinized [the prosecutor’s] voluminous classified filings.”

Some of us have theorized that the prosecutor may have given up the leak case in favor of a perjury case, but Tatel still refers to it simply as a case “which involves the alleged exposure of a covert agent.” Tatel wrote a 41-page opinion in which he seemed eager to make new law -- a federal reporters’ shield law -- but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to do it in this particular case. In his final paragraph, he says he “might have” let Cooper and Miller off the hook “[w]ere the leak at issue in this case less harmful to national security.”

Tatel’s colleagues are at least as impressed with the prosecutor’s secret filings as he is. One simply said “Special Counsel’s showing decides the case.”

All the judges who have seen the prosecutor’s secret evidence firmly believe he is pursuing a very serious crime, and they have done everything they can to help him get an indictment.



The EVIL GOP Rat Bastard: Karl Rove

All I can add is:

DEAL WITH IT!: A rogue's gallery of the Radical Right

Our cards expose the men and women most responsible for the Radical Right's take over of the Republican Party and their political influence under George Bush. Spades are the major politicians responsible for much of the grief we are now enduring. Diamonds are the crony capitalists, tax subsidized corporations, and regulatory allies that underwrite these politicians. Clubs are the media bullies that have done so much to degrade and distort political understanding and debate. Hearts are the so-called "moral leaders" of the Republican Right. Some are court justices, some want to be, and some abuse their status in other ways.

Click on the card faces to see "rap sheets" and links that expose just how much harm these people have done to our country.

At the bottom of each card are letters and dollar signs. These symbolize dark powers associated with the people or corporations on the cards. Go to game rules to see how to use them in card games.

Icons and their meaning:
  • $: Personal enrichment at taxpayer expense or "sharp" business practices.
  • CH: Chicken Hawk, a person advocating others fight in wars while avoiding service themselves.
  • L: Lying, persistent "misspeaking", or saying things easily shown to be incorrect.
  • J: Convicted felon, committed a probable felony but not charged almost certainly due to political connections, or convicted and then pardoned by George Bush, Sr.
  • B: Bullying others
  • CS: Is opposed to the separation of church and state, or blatantly mingles the two.
  • CW: "Class War" - Bush's term, not ours.
====================

KARL ROVE: joker

(CH, L, CW)

The image “http://www.deal-with-it.org/jokers/images/rove01.gif” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

Karl Rove is sometimes described as "Bush's Brain" meaning that he supplies the strategies and tactics by which George W. Bush has risen from unsuccessful businessman to President. Because Rove prefers to stay in the background, publicly, and confine himself to behind-the-scenes maneuvering, we do not have as many delicious and corrupt quotes as we do for more in-your-face types. But Rove is a major player, and his strategies play on what is worst in the American psyche for their success.

John DiIulio, former Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, wrote "Karl is enormously powerful, maybe the single most powerful person in the modern post-Hoover era ever to occupy a political advisor post near the Oval Office." After Republicans won the midterm elections, another senior White House official told Ron Suskind of Esquire, "Karl just went from prime minister to king. Amazing . . . and a little scary. Now no one will speak candidly about him or take him on or contradict him. Pure power, no real accountability."

See:
http://ronsuskind.com/writing/esquire/esq_rove_0103.html

Rove is also a textbook case of Lord Acton's adage that power corrupts. His influence is a large part of the reason why under its anti-government rhetoric, federal spending is rising, the power of government is growing, deficits are out of control, and "conservative" leaders are either becoming disenchanted or proving themselves utterly without integrity.

Intellectually, Rove talks excitedly of Alexander Tocqueville and James Madison. Politically he undercuts them at every step. Madison and Tocqueville saw the size and diversity of the US as a source of both creativity and a safeguard against tyranny. It would be difficult, Madison argued, for a majority to unite on any platform that wasn't good for the country as a whole. Tocqueville praised the local initiatives that transformed American society with vitality and creativity. According to Nicholas Lemann, Rove apparently thinks he is inspired by the work of these men.

See:
http://bnfp.org/neighborhood/Lemann_Rove_NYM.htm

Politically Rove works hard undermining the principles of both. This becomes clear when we consider his third hero, one he no longer acknowledges: Mark Hanna. Hanna was key in putting together the Republican coalition that made William McKinley president, and crushed the Democrats for many years to come. Hanna did so by many means, none of which had much to do with limited government, and most of which had top do with the effectiveness of power and money. Suskind writes that he has talked to people long associated with Rove, "one of whom said, 'Some kids want to grow up to be president. Karl wanted to grow up to be Mark Hanna. We'd talk about it all the time.'"

To the extent there is a clear purpose in the Bush administration's attempt to build America's first national political machine, (link to the conservative article) the strategy is probably Rove's. It requires stitching together a coalition based on access to governmental favors and payments to avoid being punished by those in power, combined with unprecedented control over hiring. Ethics, the public good, constitutional principles, and loyalty are valuable only so long as they contribute to holding power. It is the exact opposite of Madison and Tocqueville's visions of a free society, and it is apparently Rove's vision of America.

It requires ruthlessness, and Rove has it. Suskind writes of waiting outside Rove's office for an interview. "Inside, Rove was talking to an aide about some political stratagem in some state that had gone awry and a political operative who had displeased him. . . . 'We will fuck him. Do you hear me? We will fuck him. We will ruin him. Like no one has ever fucked him!' As a reporter, you get around-curse words, anger, passionate intensity are not notable events-but the ferocity, the bellicosity, the violent imputations were, well, shocking. This went on without a break for a minute or two. Then the aide slipped out looking a bit ashen, and Rove, his face ruddy from the exertions of the past few moments, looked at me and smiled a gentle, Clarence-the-Angel smile. 'Come on in.'"

See:
http://ronsuskind.com/writing/esquire/esq_rove_0103.html

John McCain
Stories of Rove's ruthlessness are legion. Consider the South Carolina 2000 Presidential primary. The South Carolina Presidential primary in 2000 is a case in point. John McCain threatened to defeat George Bush, as he had in New Hampshire. Suddenly, as Ron Suskind describes it, "Bush loyalists began distributing parking-lot handouts and making telephone 'push polls' and fomenting whisper campaigns that McCain had fathered a black baby by a prostitute, his wife was a drug addict, and that he had become unstable due to his years in a Vietnamese prison camp.

The McCains had adopted a baby from a Mother Teresa orphanage in Bangladesh. "Bridget, now eleven years old, waved along with the rest of the McCain brood from stages across the state, a dark-skinned child inadvertently providing a photo op for slander." McCain lost.

See:
http://www.ronsuskind.com/writing/esquire/esq_rove_0103.html

The nature of his job is that we will never know whether Rove was responsible or not. Similar uncertainty exists for other claims about his dirty and dishonest politics. What we can know for sure is that Rove is a master political strategist, and that his candidates win while very dirty politics is played in their favor.

Valerie Plame
George Bush says he knows Karl Rove is innocent. Since Bush has made a point of not trying himself to find out the identity of the leakers of the identity of an undercover CIA agent working on weapons of mass destruction issues, we can only wonder how he knows. One thing which seems beyond doubt is that after the initial leak, Rove did his best to further attacks on Plame as part of his operation against former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who displeased the Bush administration by doing something they did not: tell the truth.

Rove reportedly told journalist Chris Matthews, and maybe others, that Wilson's wife and her undercover status were "fair game." Newsweek's account has not been denied by Rove or the White House. Such is the stuff of Karl Rove's "patriotism" when it stands between him and vengeance against those who have displeased him, and even against their families.

See:
Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, Oct. 13, 2003, http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/10/1651996.php

It is apparently illegal for Rove to have acted in this manner, and we can only hope that someone other than former Rove employer John Ashcroft will investigate these felonies.

See:
http://www.house.gov/abercrombie/fa.Iraqwatch.htm

The failure of many (not all) "conservative" leaders to condemn this kind of behavior says volumes about the utter moral bankruptcy of the Radical Right, and their betrayal of all who they seeks to manipulate by their claims to having traditional values, or indeed, any values at all besides power and greed. But if they were not morally bankrupt and in power, this website would have no reason to exist. Here is a true divide, one separating genuine conservatives from the radical right. Historians will deal harshly with those who sell their souls for a little power and wealth, Karl Rove among them.

Department of Homeland Security and 9-11
After 9-11 it became increasingly clear the attacks could have been prevented had the administration been on top of things. One potentially very embarrassing piece of information was Colleen Rowley's testimony to the Senate on the FBI's failure to take any action on her memo about a potential 9-11 style attack. On the very same day Rowley was to testify, the administration announced their plan for a Homeland Security Department, capturing the headlines.

The cynicism and ruthlessness was breathtaking. Till then the administration had opposed such a department when Joe Lieberman had proposed it, eight months ealier. Afterwards, when the Senate tried to turn the administration's hastily improvised bill into something more coherent, they were attacked by a draft dodging George Bush as not sufficiently committed to the security of the United States. This despite the rather impressive record (link to page on military service) of military service by many leading democrats and the utter lack of any service at all by almost all leading members of the Bush administration. The hypocrisy was breathtaking - and effective.

See:
http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2002/06/tapped-s-06-03.html

The debasing of democracy
But unfortunately there is more. Rove reportedly learned from Michael Deaver, Ronald Reagan's campaign advisor, how to manipulate the media. Television is poor at giving facts and great at presenting simple images. This need not be misleading, but it certainly can be. James Moore, author of Bush's Brain, a book on Rove, observed that Rove "once told a consultant that we interviewed . . . that you should run every political campaign as though people were watching television with the sound turned down. And toward that end, you rely heavily on imagery and not very much on substance."

See:
http://www.alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=16080

The Bush administration has been masterful at presenting Bush with in memorable ways, knowing that images stay in our minds far longer than words. This distracts us not only from the dirty campaign tricks Rove and his underlings pull on political opponents, it distracts us from Bush's own lies. It is truly amazing to anyone who actually reads the news with any care that Bush still carries an image of integrity and morality.

But words speak far more quietly than images to the trusting human mind. There is the famous image of Bush with Mt. Rushmore in the background and with his face being in virtually the same the same perspective as Teddy Roosevelt, suggesting some symbolic similarity between the two.

See:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020815.html

The March 10, 2003 issue of Newsweek has a large photo of Bush and Jesus, their bodies at the same angle, with the suggestion that Jesus' hand is resting on Bush's shoulder. It is difficult to think this was accidental.

Bush's flight onto the deck of the Kittyhawk, while arriving as freight, led to memorable photographs of a supposedly militarily competent President. Already Tom DeLay is saying Bush landed the aircraft himself, and many will believe him since they do remember Bush in his flight suit on an aircraft carrier.

See:
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/975100/posts

There is an ominous dimension to these tactics, one as dirty as the politics Rove is suspected of playing during campaigns. Bush will get photo credit for some new initiative, such as leaving "no child behind" and then, when the cameras are absent, fail to fund the legislation. Check our accounts of his failure to follow through on any of his big promises to the American people, especially education.

There is an old term for this: demagoguery. The cynical manipulation of the public to support policies far different from what the politician promises or claims. Demagogues have destroyed democratic government because a democracy needs, at a minimum, some clarity over the issues, some minimal level of truth, some means by which citizens can know for whom to support. The manipulations of images, outright lies, and dumbing down of elections can work — Rove has proven this. But it is unlikely to lead to a democratic outcome.

Rove claims to believe in the principles of Madison and Tocqueville, admirable men. But by subjecting every principle to winning, his tactics are undermining the very principles they held to be essential for a free people to survive.

Summing up his conclusions about Rove's character, Suskind wrote: "In any event, it's clear, when I think of my encounter with Rove, why this particular old friend of his, and scores of others-many of whom spoke of the essential good nature of this man who was a teammate on some campaign or other-don't want their names mentioned, ever."

See:
John DiIulio's article: http://www.gregwythe.com/~gregsopi/archives/002687.php

See also:
http://www.alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=16080

The image “http://www.ilovekarlrove.com/archives/poster_chalk.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

When the shit hits the fan, why do the monkeys that caused it appear more strong and appealing to the zombie masses?

People mock Sparky for this - but the way to get criminals like Saddam Hussein is to arrest them, not subject the people of their countries to unnecessary war. Isn't it obvious?

We need an empowered International Court of Law to arrest powerful criminals.

We'll come back to this later I'm sure - Sparky o&o

Thursday, July 07, 2005

SPARKY: BLAIR AND BUSH SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED WHEN ISLAMISTS BITE BACK ...

Feel funny they didn't target leadership but hurt innocents? Let's see some followup on the Downing Street Memos and the rush to war that occurred before 9/11/2001. And maybe some socially backward asshats won't mock the innocents who lives were lost in the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami as many could see in the Yahoo news comments on the tragedy.

Here's a run down from the Wikipedia:

7 July 2005 London bombings

The image “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Londone_evacuation.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
From Flickr with perimission of photographer - Evacuation of King's Cross

All times are in British Summer Time (BST), which is 1 hour ahead of UTC (UTC+1 / GMT+1)

A series of four bomb explosions struck London's transport system during the morning rush hour on Thursday, July 7, 2005. Three Underground trains were hit within half an hour, and a bus was hit 30 minutes later. At least 38 people were confirmed dead as a result of the attack, with the number of injured reported as high as 700. This number was expected to rise as authorities surveyed the impact of the blasts.

The incidents led to the complete shut-down of the London Underground network and many roads near the affected stations were closed, severely snarling road traffic. Mainline services into many London stations terminated outside the city for most of the day, though all but King's Cross had fully re-opened by 17:30. The city's bus network was shut down in the central zone (Zone 1) until approximately 16:00.

This is the deadliest single act of terrorism within the United Kingdom since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie (which killed 270 people).

The image “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/London_Underground_Closed.png/800px-London_Underground_Closed.png” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
Stations closed or affected by the July 7th 2005 Bombings

Home Secretary Charles Clarke told the House of Commons that four blasts had been confirmed: three explosions took place on the London Underground in central London and one on a London Buses Dennis Trident ALX400 red double-decker bus, in London's rush hour.

Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said that explosions were probably the result of a "major terrorist attack" but did not wish to speculate on the organisation involved. The bombings came while the UK hosted the first full day of the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, and a day after London won the bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
The image “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9d/Trapped_underground.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
People trapped in the underground. Photo credit: Adam Stacey. From moblog.co.uk


London Underground

The image “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Euston_cordoned_off_070705.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

Euston Station cordoned off
The image “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Russell_square_ushering.jpg/800px-Russell_square_ushering.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
Russell Square cordoned off


Londons Russell square (at the corner of Wobum Street looking at Bernard Street (left)) Wo cordoned off

The number of explosions was smaller than first thought, since some blasts occurred on trains that were between stations. The wounded emerged from both stations, giving the impression that there were incidents at each.

Double-decker bus

Casualties

Location Deaths
Aldgate East / Liverpool Street 7
King's Cross / Russell Square 21
Edgware Road Station 7
Bus in Tavistock Square 2
Various hospitals
(after the events)
1
Total 38

Senior official sources have confirmed that at least 38 people have been killed. This toll may rise when the number of deaths resulting from the Tavistock Square bus bombing is known.[2] These bombings are the second-most deadly peacetime terrorist attacks ever in the United Kingdom, after Lockerbie (the 1998 Omagh bombing killed 29 people, the 1974 Birmingham pub bombing killed 21 and the 1999 London nail bombings killed three and injured 160), and the deadliest attack in London itself since the Second World War.


At least 90 injuries were reported from Aldgate East Station alone. Ninety-five of the injured were taken by bus to the Royal London Hospital where they were treated; seventeen were in critical condition. Many others were being treated at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. Individuals who were wounded and walking were treated at the scene; an eyewitness reported that they were “operating on injured people on the concourse at Liverpool Street station.” [3] Paramedics were sent down into the tube system to search for more casualties. St. John Ambulance was called out to assist the London Ambulance Service [4], and hospitals had to call in off-duty staff, plus doctors from as far afield as Hampshire and Oxfordshire.

Recent reports state that 300 people (208 at Royal London Hospital alone [5]) are being treated in hospital and 150 of those are in a serious condition. Many are foreign nationals. Police reported the total number of wounded reached as high as 700 people, but not all of these have necessarily received treatment.

Other events

Additional reports indicate that there have been unspecified incidents at Brighton, Luton, and Swindon. These stations have been closed and there has been no official confirmation of the nature of the incidents, if any actually occurred. BBC World reported that the stations had been evacuated due to "security incidents". East Croydon station was closed due to a suspect package, but was later re-opened.

In Brighton there was a controlled explosion of a suspicious briefcase at approximately 12:55 local time in a telephone box outside of Brighton station. The briefcase was later found to be harmless, and the station was re-opened. [6]

There were reports of Victoria Station being cordoned off by police amid reports of a "suspicious package" on a bus near the station. The station has also been re-opened since, according to the BBC.

There have been reports of a controlled explosion at Coventry bus station.

Two controlled explosions have been carried out on a Lothian Buses double-decker on Princes Street in the centre of Edinburgh at around 17:30 BST, neither contained explosives.[7]

In Poole, the train station was also closed in response to the discovery of a suspicious package. Staff and customers were locked in the supermarket building opposite. The package was later detonated by Police in a controlled explosion [8]

Vodafone reported that its mobile phone network reached capacity at about 10:00 on the day of the incident, and it was forced to initiate emergency procedures to prioritise emergency calls. Other mobile phone networks have also reported failures. The BBC had speculated that the phone system has been closed by the security services to prevent the possibility of mobile phones being used to trigger bombs. BBC later reported that mobile networks were running again.

For most of the day, London's mass transit system was effectively paralysed, significantly because of the complete closure of the underground system and the Zone 1 closure of the bus networks, as well as evacuation of Russell Square.

Prime Minister of France Dominique de Villepin announced that France had increased its level of terror alert to red, the second-highest level, in response to the events in London. [9] Meanwhile, Berlin transport officials indicated that security alert levels for the public transport system of the German capital had been raised to yellow, the second of three levels. [10]

In the United States, transit authorities in New York City and Washington, D.C. have raised their alert level to orange, the second highest level.

Cause

The first reports suggested that a power surge in the Underground power grid had caused explosions in power circuits. However, this was later ruled out by the National Grid, the power suppliers. Commentators suggested that the explanation had arisen because of bomb damage to power lines along the tracks; the rapid series of power failures caused by the explosions looked similar, from the point of view of a control room operator, to a cascading series of circuit breaker operations that would result from a major power surge. One eyewitness reported:

I was in the midst of this when it happened. The Metropolitan line was halted, then the Jubilee. The train driver announced a "power surge on the combine", which is probably a prearranged message to prevent panic in an emergency. Trains were then brought into the nearest station and the passengers requested to evacuate. The tube staff were very calm and efficient, and I didn't see any panic. There was definitely a sense that something unusual had happened, and people were mostly silent as we filed out to the sound of recorded evacuation messages. [11]

At approximately 11:10 UTC 7 July 2005, BBC News reported that a website known to be operated by associates of Al Qaeda had been located with a 200 word statement claiming responsibility for the attacks. German magazine Der Spiegel [12] reported that a group named 'Secret Organisation – al?Qaeda in Europe' had posted a claim of responsibility on the "al-Qala'a" internet forum, which has been a source for genuine claims in the past. The letter also warned other governments involved in Iraq (mentioning specifically Denmark and Italy) to leave Iraq and Afghanistan. A Saudi commentator in London, however, noted that the Arabic of the statement was grammatically poor, and that a Qur'anic quotation was incorrect, which was not typical of Al Qaeda.

Arab sources monitoring terrorist networks have told BBC News that it is highly likely to be an Al Qaeda attack. Unconfirmed reports indicate that an Islamist website has carried a statement by a European group allied to Al-Qaida which claims responsibility for the attacks.

The attacks bear similarities to the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings and suggest an attack in the style of Al-Qaeda, security analysts said. “The first thing that's very obvious is the synchronized nature of the attacks, and that's pretty classic for al Qaeda or al Qaeda-related organizations,” Budapest-based security analyst Sebestyen Gorka told Reuters.

The London Metropolitan Police Chief, Sir Ian Blair, stated that he believed that the explosions were "probably a major terrorist attack". He also indicated that police had found indications of explosives at one of the blast sites [13]. Police investigators so far are unsure whether the blasts involved planted explosives or suicide bombers.

Late in the day, it was reported that two unexploded bombs along with evidence of timing devices were found. [14] This information was not yet confirmed in any news conference as of midnight, however.

Responsibility

German online news magazine Spiegel Online (website of magazine Der Spiegel) [15] and BBC Monitoring have both reported that a group named 'Secret Organisation – al-Qaeda in Europe' has posted an announcement claiming responsibility on the Al-Qal3ah (The Castle) forums [16], [17]. The announcement claims the attacks are a response due to the British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Al-Qaeda involvement is considered likely, as it follows their pattern:

  • bombs were detonated essentially simultaneously
  • no warnings were given
  • the bombs were detonated early in the day to catch the news
  • the bombs were detonated at a time and location designed to inflict maximum death and injury to a civilian population

Translated statement


On 7 July, a person using the name "Nur al-Iman" and identified as a "new guest", posted to Qal3ah with a statement issued by "The Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organisation in Europe". In the statement, the group claims responsibility for the London "raid". The following is a translated text of the statement:

In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and undaunted fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him.
Nation of Islam and Arab nation: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The heroic mujahideen [holy warriors] have carried out a blessed raid in London. Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.
We have repeatedly warned the British government and people. We have fulfilled our promise and carried out our blessed military raid in Britain after our mujahideen exerted strenuous efforts over a long period of time to ensure the success of the raid.
We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all the crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. He who warns is excused.
Allah says: "If ye will aid (the cause of) Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly." [ Qur'an Sura 47:7] USC parallel Qur'an (Translation of Yusuf Ali)

The image “http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/Al_Qaeda_responsible.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
screen capture of Nur al-Iman's claim of responsibility
One translator from US network MSNBC expressed scepticism at the legitimacy of this claim, claiming there is a "mistake" in the quoted verse from the Qur'an. [18] The verse, as quoted in the letter, is missing the beginning of the original Qur'anic verse, which begins with "Ya ayyuhal Lathee (O you who believe!) ..." That is to say, the verse is quoted only partially, which may or may not be a mistake.

The second paragraph of this statement provides a hint that something went wrong in al Qaeda's plot. The author claims that "Britain is burning with fear... in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters." However, when seen on a map, it becomes clear that two explosions occured in the north, while none occured in the south. Also, while eyewitnesses claim to have "seen a man explode" on the bus which was attacked, no evidence of suicide attacks has appeared on the tube explosions. All this points to the fact that the bomber on the bus was in the act of transporting his bomb to a southern tube station, where it could have inflicted more damage. However, it detonated before he could arrive at his target. This scenario explains the discrepancies between the online statement and the actual events, as well as showing that the attack was not as perfectly coordinated as previously believed.

Response

There have been many responses to the attacks from around the world. See: Response to the 2005 London bombings.

Economic impact

There were limited immediate economic effects, as measured by financial market activity. The pound fell 0.89 cents to a 19-month low against the U.S. dollar. Stock markets fell less than some had feared.

The FTSE 100 Index fell by about 200 points in the two hours after the first attack. This was its biggest fall since the start of the Iraq war. However, by the time it closed the market had recovered to just 71.3 points (1.36%) down on the previous day's three-year closing high. Markets in France, Germany, Holland and Spain also closed about 1% down on the day. [19]

U.S. market indexes actually rose slightly during the day, possibly because the dollar index rose sharply against the European currencies.

Message from dispatch

As the London Underground service was disrupted, a series of messages were sent to bus drivers about how they should proceed. The first message told drivers to accept ticket holders between several stations due to power lines, which is not an uncommon message and is usually sent when there is disruption of normal service. The second message was a repeat of the first message, but with different stations included. The third message said "Call from Centrecom: All tube stations are closed. Please accept anyone who wishes to board and there are no fare charges. Anyone who attempts to pay £1.20, tell them there is no charge". The fourth message said: "Call from Centrecom. All buses are not to enter Zone 1 Central London. Please terminate at Zone 2/1 and do not enter central London". The fifth and final message said: "Call from Centrecom. Can all buses please pull over whenever safe to do so and please check the bus for any lost property. Make sure all passengers have their belongings. If there is any lost property on the bus, please evacuate the bus and tell people to stand away from the bus and proceed to call Centrecom. Do not use the radio, do not use a mobile, but call us on a landline."

Timeline

All times are in British Summer Time (BST) which is 1 hour ahead of UTC (UTC+1 / GMT+1).

  • 08:51: Initial reports of an incident between Liverpool Street and Aldgate East tube stations, either an explosion or a collision between trains. The reports from the two stations were initially thought to relate to two separate incidents.
  • 08:56: Explosion on train between Kings' Cross and Russell Square. Eyewitnesses report explosion appeared to come from outside the train.
  • 09:17: Explosion on train at Edgware Road station.
  • 09:28: Tube operator Metronet says the incident was caused by some sort of power surge.
  • 09:33: Reports of an incident at Edgware Road tube station. Reports that passengers on a train hit by an explosion attempted to break windows with umbrellas in order to escape.
  • 09:46: British Transport Police announce there had been more explosions at Kings' Cross, Old Street, Moorgate, and Russell Square.
  • 09:47: Explosion on number 30 bus traveling between Hackney and Marble Arch at Upper Woburn Place/Tavistock Square.
  • 09:49: Whole London Underground system shut down.
  • 10:00: National Grid announce there had been no problem with power surges.
  • 10:40: First report of fatalities, government source speaks of 20 dead.
  • 11:08: Bus services suspended across central London.
  • 11:10: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair confirms fears that it is a coordinated terror attack, but appeals for calm, asking people not to travel to London or make unnecessary calls to the emergency services.
  • 12:05: Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks out on the incident, calling the attacks a coordinated series of "barbaric" terrorist attacks.
  • 17:30: Having flown back from Scotland, Prime Minister Tony Blair emerges from a meeting in Downing Street and urges the public not to "be terrorised"
  • 18:13: Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Paddick confirms 37 fatalities: two in the bus explosion at Upper Woburn Place/Tavistock Square, seven at Liverpool Street/Aldgate East, seven at Edgware Road, and twenty-one in the Kings Cross/Russell Square blast, as well as around seven hundred injuries, with roughly three hundred of those being transported by ambulance to London hospitals.
  • 21:40: The Metropolitan Police announce that a person injured in one of the blasts has since died in hospital care, bringing the number of confirmed fatalities to 38.

Contact instructions

  • Casualty Hotline (Metropolitan Police): 0870 156 6344 (UK) +44 870 156 6344 (International)
  • Metropolitan Police: 020 7766 6020 (UK) +44 20 7766 6020 (International)
  • British Transport Police: 020 8358 0101 (UK) +44 20 8358 0101 (International)
  • Those outside the UK should see the list of Foreign Ministry contact details.

Do not call the London emergency services line unless you are reporting "life-threatening" circumstances.

See also:


External links and references

News articles

Live streams

Photographs

Survivor lists Web pages collecting survivor notifications

Missing Persons lists Web pages collecting missing person notifications

Theological reflection

LONDON BOMBS ARE FALLING DOWN...FALLING DOWN....FALLING DOWN


Not much time for the PP Guru to retool a summer repeat - but who would want do that with all this crappola going down in London?. The PP Guru wasn't going to say anything at first - but he just can't get over that smuginess on the face of Diet Coke Dubya Douchebag's press conference in front of the G-8 summit in Scotland. He said we were going to help track these killers down...again? Wait, didn't President DDD Douchebag say the exact same thing way back on 9/11/01 when he proclaimed that Osama Bin Laden's tampon asshat face was to be plastered on every WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE poster in the Middle East? And how that did all go? - yeah, that's right, the trail went colder than last week's old Mac n' Chesse- in Iraq.

Well- the PP Guru was busy getting e-mailing acquiantances that he knows in London. London happens to be one of the happiest places on Earth for the PP Guru - well, at least it was until today. The PP Guru knows his fellow Britons are prone to terrorist attacks - it's just that DDD Douchebag makes it out to the press to think that's it happened again for the very first time. The PP Guru has been to London nine years ago and was susceptable to all it's hollow IRA threats before- he even witnessed pandemonium first hand one time when some schmuck threw in a smokebomb in a LU Tube station over at Picadilly Circus and paramedics and police came swooping out of nowhere to help quell the situation.

Nonetheless - the PP Guru heard back from two representives of his favorite prog bands, Marillion and Arena to tell the PP Guru not to worry:

Marillion just released this press release:

"The world's gone mad. Whoever bombs buses or tube-trains is prepared to kill and hurt ordinary people irrespective of their race, nationality or religion. And yet someonehas done this today in London.The band send their best wishes and love to anyone caught up in today's outrage, and sincere condolences to those who have lost friends or family.

Marillion"


And Clive Nolan, keyboard player for Arena and Pendragon wrote back to the PP Guru to strengthen his confidence that the situation is not entirely lost to extreme Islam terrorism:

PP Guru:

Clive-

Everything Ok over there with you guys over @ Verglas? Those dirty rotten scoundrels - I hate seeing one of the best cities in the world undergo such utter bulls**t all politics and religious beliefs aside. One of the PP Guru's ex-roommate's daughter has grandparents and a uncle out in London - so I'm hoping to hear from them on whether or not they're all right.

Maybe the PP Guru shouldn't have sent those Deposit Man books- who knows who's working behind customs these days.


Clive:

"Yes... we're fine!

It'll take more than four bombs to bring London down, I suspect.....

Thanks for checking in....;)"


Well, basically that's all the PP Guru has to say about the situation. Not too much other than to take a time out and reflect from the reel of the shock. It just sucks that this could possibly jeporadize travel plans for those Brits coming out to the San Diego Comic Con International tomorrow.

The PP Guru will resume with his investigative report of Tantalizing Tara's party tomorrow.

~

Coat