No Words Are Enough

I think probably everyone who rides public transportation and also has a grasp of world politics and current events, especially in regards to developing nations and extremism of all sorts, has thought to himself at least once or twice that an attack on a subway or bus would be quite easy to carry out, especially if the attacker is willing to die for his cause. The dark,narrow tunnels become a trap. The puff of air as a train enters or leaves the station drives particles-- possibly bacterial or viral-- far down the line. One need look no further than the Sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway or the book "The Cobra Effect" for examples.

But anyone who has a halfway pragmatic view of the world considers the low probability of actually being involved in any attack, finds the risk to be miniscule, and steps into the car without major thought.

Yesterday, for the first (and, let us hope, only) time, I drove into work. It had nothing to do with the attacks in London; I had been requested to drive in so that I could run some errands for Felix in the afternoon that would require a car. Many of my fellow commuters apparently decided that the trains were not safe and drove as well. It took me a full hour to reach the office less than 6 miles away. I hear that there were police armed with semiautomatic weapons riding on the Metro.

Oh, London. My heart goes out to you. I'm glad, so very glad, that Death, who lives not far from the scene of one of the explosions, is unharmed. I'm so very sad for all of those whose lives were devastated by these senseless, horrible attacks. And I'm angry as hell at those who think that innocent commuters are an appropriate target for attack. I can understand being willing to die for what you believe in. I do not understand the willingness to kill indiscriminately for any belief.