Blogger from America

I'm off to visit the second greatest city in the world (although beloved HK is a strong contender) tomorrow so no updates here for a little while. However, slack time and wifi hotspots permitting, there may be one or two here.

Shame

Probably only right after the last post to make mention of yesterday's announcement that no one would be charged with the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes in the wake of last year's tube and bus bombings.

When I originally blogged the incident I was almost in awe of the response, how un-British, safe in the assumption that this really was a thwarted attempt at a suicide bombing. The truth slowly emerged... even making it to the desk of the Met Police Commissioner... eventually.

Maybe it's right that no one person has been singled out for blame however hard this may be on the de Menezes family, maybe not. What a monumental and tragic cock-up though: how does such a break down in operational procedures and communication happen? In the heat of the moment, in the aftermath of a terror attack I suppose. But not only is that no excuse, how very un-British.

Silence on Oxford Street

It didn't actually feel strange travelling into or being in central London today, one year on. Hope that's a good, positive state of mind.

In fact you wouldn't have known that it was anything other than an ordinary day unless you'd been near one of the memorial sites or until midday when a seemingly universally respected two minute silence started.

Starbucks baristas left their coffee machines, passing pedestrians stopped in their tracks and the traffic down Oxford Street ground to a halt. It was as though someone had pulled the plug on London and things just stopped.

A growl of diesel engines and a smattering of polite applause signalled the end and life simply returned to normal.