London Attacks

[JohnS]

Here's hoping that all our English forum members and their families are safe and sound. Go get the b*stards!

[inGobwetrust]

Here, here! We know that England is strong and resolute. Too bad Spain doesn't have the same backbone.

[JohnS]

When I was in London in 2002, I stayed in Tavistock where the bus was bombed, so it feels personal to me.

[Ti Designs]

I realized how out of the loop I am when I read this post but had no clue what had happened. Unless I go out looking, which is rare, I have no source of news - and I haven't seen a tour stage since 2003 (for those asking about the spoiler posts). My disintrest in the news came not from the steady stream of bad news that is local and world news, but the even worse knee jerk reactions to it. 9-11 was the final straw for me. There were plenty of victoms in 9-11, I was a victom OF 9-11, as almost everybody was at some level. Our fearless (clueless) leaders decided that we needed the appearance of security, so then started spending money at an unsustainable rate, and they made getting anywhere or doing anything a royal pain. The week after 9-11, the line to the gate of the local air force base was a 2 mile long traffic jam while they checked each person entering the base. The mountain bike trails that enter the base from the other side were unrestricted... Parking in Boston got worse (if possible) as each car was checked upon entering the garage. One has to ask just how much checking an untrained security guard could do with a flashlight. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but most cars are equipped with a gas tank which if only part full of gas is also part full of gas fumes which are explosive... There's no security there, just the illusion of it.

My own battle with the security idiots got me to take a closer look at the measures they put in place. Having a death certificate on file, they assumed I'm not the person I was born as, so I must be a terrorist. I was interviewed by the FBI, they pulled my phone records, they asked why I called my mother on mothers day... It was me vs. a federal act known as the 9-11 act, which may be the single dumbest knee jerk reaction I've ever seen. We all know you can't take tweezers on a plane, but the full list of regulations is staggering. It would be funny if not for the fact that I wasn't a US citizen for a few weeks 'cause they no longer take documents at face value. Yeh, I must be a terrorist, I assumed my identity 15 years ago and I've worked in a bike shop the whole time - your bike could blow up at any time.

So now we're at a heightened state of security alert, which could be worse than the terrorist attacks. I'm sure that somewhere, somebody is securing their house agains chemical attack with plastic wrap and duct tape in response to this code orange. My response is to go back to ignoring the news for a while...

[Kevin]

Ti,

I agree that our post 9/11 world of security is overkill. No matter how much money we spend we will not be able to create a 100% safe world. The terrorists pick the place and the time, it is impossible to have security everywhere all the time. By making us all paranoid, the terrorists have already won. With that said, it is unfortunate when we have an attack like the one in London.

Kevin

[Kevan]

of London. I love that town.

[JohnS]

I realized how out of the loop I am when I read this post but had no clue what had happened. Unless I go out looking, which is rare, I have no source of news - and I haven't seen a tour stage since 2003 (for those asking about the spoiler posts). My disintrest in the news came not from the steady stream of bad news that is local and world news, but the even worse knee jerk reactions to it. 9-11 was the final straw for me. There were plenty of victoms in 9-11, I was a victom OF 9-11, as almost everybody was at some level. Our fearless (clueless) leaders decided that we needed the appearance of security, so then started spending money at an unsustainable rate, and they made getting anywhere or doing anything a royal pain. The week after 9-11, the line to the gate of the local air force base was a 2 mile long traffic jam while they checked each person entering the base. The mountain bike trails that enter the base from the other side were unrestricted... Parking in Boston got worse (if possible) as each car was checked upon entering the garage. One has to ask just how much checking an untrained security guard could do with a flashlight. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but most cars are equipped with a gas tank which if only part full of gas is also part full of gas fumes which are explosive... There's no security there, just the illusion of it.

My own battle with the security idiots got me to take a closer look at the measures they put in place. Having a death certificate on file, they assumed I'm not the person I was born as, so I must be a terrorist. I was interviewed by the FBI, they pulled my phone records, they asked why I called my mother on mothers day... It was me vs. a federal act known as the 9-11 act, which may be the single dumbest knee jerk reaction I've ever seen. We all know you can't take tweezers on a plane, but the full list of regulations is staggering. It would be funny if not for the fact that I wasn't a US citizen for a few weeks 'cause they no longer take documents at face value. Yeh, I must be a terrorist, I assumed my identity 15 years ago and I've worked in a bike shop the whole time - your bike could blow up at any time.

So now we're at a heightened state of security alert, which could be worse than the terrorist attacks. I'm sure that somewhere, somebody is securing their house agains chemical attack with plastic wrap and duct tape in response to this code orange. My response is to go back to ignoring the news for a while...
The world just doesn't go away if you try to ignore it. There's more to life than bicycles.