a day for the history books, and the blogs

As with most mornings I turn to the television to help me wake up. As usual, when I turn on the TV, the first station to come up is CN-8. I noted that the Yoga Zone show was wrapping up with meditation. Pressing on the remote, the television flips to the station I viewed last night (still stored in its memory). The BBC World News - no coverage the G8 summit, just large white letters against a red backdrop across the bottom of the screen - the headline 'London Blasts.' I only got the briefest of discussions of the events before WXPN cut away from the BBC broadcast. Since then I have been following the news on NBC's Today Show before heading into the blog world to see if I could find any useful information that I could dig my teeth into. Remember that this coordinated terrorist attack is only one of so many important events taking place today: the opening of the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in Scotland is the second; and at the track of Hurricane Dennis as it sets its sights on the Eastern tip of Jamaica.

The situation is still confused, and eerily reminiscent of the election-oriented transportation attacks in Madrid last year. For those of you who wish to read eyewitness accounts of the events in London and Scotland, I recommend the GuardianUnlimited's NewsBlog which provides continually updates news on the myriad impacts. Apparently "the complete air of unreality" that has set in at the Gleneagles meeting. Guardian reporter Ewen MacAskill reports that "the summit, at least at this point, has been completely overshadowed." The world leaders continue to go through the motions of discussing climate change and debt relief, acting under the assumption that by breaking off the summit early will be seen as giving in to the terrorists. Prime Minister Blair is heading down to London to oversee relief there, but plans to come back to Scotland this evening. For obvious reason, the protests outside the resort have been somewhat muted today. Given the seriousness of topics on the G8 agenda this year, this coordinated attack in London is a real setback for all of us. A new cultural divide has emerged, and only time will tell whether the ripple effects of the London Transport Attack of July 7, 2005 will outstrip the coordinated Live 8 Concerts of July 2, 2005.

Update, 8:02 pm EDT
One London commuter's account of being trapped underground.
The camera phone shots of a young man who works in London's Financial District.