The Weather In Oldham

[poliphilo]

We took Nakisha to the madrassa last night and there were daffodils in bloom on the central reservation of Ashton Road. I was surprised and excited to see them but Nakisha- speaking with the wisdom of experience- said that they'd been there for days. I told her I don't get out much. There was cherry blossom at the roundabout.

Some people have moved into the house three doors down who play strange unIslamic music. I asked Nakisha if she knows who they are and she said she thinks they're Italians because they say "Ciao" a lot. Italians! That's really exotic for round here.

We talked about the bombings in Boston. Ailz had been in a taxi that afternoon and the Pakistani driver said the Muslims will be blamed as a matter of course. He quoted a Koranic text which says if you take one life you kill the whole of mankind.

Comments

[sambeth.livejournal.com]

My mother has told me three times that there are more primroses than usual this year. I don't know what to do with this information, so I'm passing it on to you.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't know either, but it's all good- I'm sure it is.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Our street is 50% Pakistani. We used to have a few Eastern Europeans but they were of the generation that arrived in the 1940s and they're dying out. There's a fair bit of rented property and the nationalities come and go.

The more we learn about the Boston bombing the more I think the perp is going to turn out to be someone like Timothy McVeigh.

Racism is so stupid.....

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Lots of folks other than those of us with Italian in the make up use 'ciao' these days, so who knows?

It looks as if the Boston bombing is being blamed on local nutter or nutters atm so I hope the taxi driver is in for a surprise although his quote is spot on for me as a Quaker!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The music sounds like Mediterranean music....

I think the Boston bombing was the work of a domestic terrorist. An Islamist group would have claimed responsibility straight away.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

The cheesy speculating pundits over here are being careful to say "It's too early to tell, but it's possible this is the work of [the extremists of their political opposition / their particular bugbears]." Within 30 minutes of the attack, some alleged experts were proffering the Tea Party as the likely suspects. Someone else was voicing the dread AQ word.

I'm waiting for it to become illegal to purchase a pressure cooker without a permit. I don't use one, but I'll buy an illicit one on the black market just for spite.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Ooh!

I've got one so I must be a wicked, evil terrorist cook!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Pressure cookers frighten me.

Whoever the perp is they're trying to evade capture. If this were the work of a political group you'd expect them to have claimed responsibility by now.

[algabal.livejournal.com]

Terrorist attacks are incredibly rare in the U.S. In response to these events, the US has created a de facto separate 'justice' system for Muslims, shredded our bill of rights, and created a national surveillance state. That says a lot about the supposedly 'resilient' nature of the American people. More like scared children.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Something similar has happened over here, even though- what with the Irish wars- you'd have thought we'd become hardened to terror.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

The daffodils have been out here for a couple weeks, but it's only been in the past week or so that I've noticed quite an uptick in the presence of the local rabbits, around the route I tend to frequent. My usual spot from September 2012 and earlier remains regrettably vacant, but I'm now seeing them back in their original location from May-August 2011, as well as another field around the other side, and even along the pathway in a couple spots, which yielded this shot, amongst others, as they merrily went about their business. I gradually crept closer, successful in not worrying them, though I probably did finally overstep my welcome with a rather overdue nose blowing. (All too often, especially if it's windy, if I'm stuck unable to move much while training the camera on them, my nose and eyes will take that as an exercise in just how healthy the respective glands are)

And the trees are indeed finally beginning to bud, the tightly constrained leaves opening up, loosening into the sky. ^_^

I was chatting with someone in the streets of Melaka around Sep 12 2001, and hoping that the US would be restrained in its response, and refrain from hasty overreaction, but rather try to seek out the specific individual(s) and bring them to justice. I was also worried that that would prove not to be so.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's a great shot. Congratulations on getting that little chap in mid-flight.

I know from experience just how difficult it is to get worthwhile pictures of rabbits- even domestic ones.

[chochiyo-sama.livejournal.com]

Remarkably, I haven't heard anyone opining that "teh MOOSLIMS" are to blame for the Boston Bombing. It is quite refreshing to me, as I have heard a lot of anti-muslim rhetoric around here in the past. Having had scores of wonderful Muslim adolescents in my classes, I have a completely different perspective. I wish people would just KNOW each other. It makes such a difference.

Most people around here (in Minnesota) do believe it is domestic terrorism. The theory I have heard most is that it is some gun-nut who believes that the current legislative efforts to ban assault weapons and require background checks is a government plot to get his guns and gut the second amendment. I have heard the theory that the tea party is behind it as well, but I think that is nonsense.

There's been a rash of ricin bearing letters sent to politicians of both parties, so I think the chances of it being some uni-bomber clone are good.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

If it were the work of a political sect like Al Quaeda they'd have claimed credit by now. After all, they do such things to advance a cause and gain publicity. The fact that there's been no such claim suggests that the perp is on the run and doing his best to dodge the police.

[charliemc.livejournal.com]

While I think we're trying not to jump to conclusions (except for much of the media!), most people I've talked to do seem to believe it's domestic -- because not jumping to take 'credit' seems to indicate that...

I also think the date -- April 15 -- speaks volumes, being our Tax Day in the U.S.

All of that said, I guess we won't know until they catch the person(s) -- if they do. (sigh)