Abu Muqawama retains its autonomy and the views and beliefs expressed within the blog do not reflect those of CNAS.
Two years ago, Londonstani convinced me to move to the Baker's Arms in between Walthamstow and Leyton, East London, to study counter-terrorism and counter-isurgency. Today, two of my former neighbors were finally convicted on charges relating to the 2006 transatlantic bombing plot. All the same, I really miss Walthamstow. Southeast DC, where I now live, is all about petty crime. When criminals in Walthamstow dream, by contrast, they dream big. Also, there is a beautiful side to Walthamstow I miss.
Update: A few readers took me to task for describing the crime in SE DC as "petty". This last weekend, a dude went after another man on my street with an ax. Right there on the street in front of everyone. Still, compared with blowing up airliners, this is petty crime. Also, some good-natured British readers described me as a "foreigner" or "tourist" living in East/east London. The former is true, but the great thing about the 'Stow is that, hell, half the borough is foreign-born! On the Victoria line early in the morning, it was me, the Poles, the Algerians, the Pakistanis and a few middle class English from Walthamstow Village. Oh, nostalgia...
As an E9 resident (Hackney Wick), I too can vouch for the undying beauty of east London - enhanced, no doubt, by the nearby warehouse district raves that pulsate all night. I also thought I may have seen a hoodie-wearing Abu M in the crowd two weeks ago at the West Ham/Millwall scuffle at Upton Park. Say it aint so, abu?
On another note, the 2012 Olympic site construction next door is proceeding ahead of schedule, giving any forlorn plotters still at liberty the chance to strike a little closer to home in several years time.
If by "petty crime" you mean murder, home invasion, and drugs...but yes, petty compared to blowing up a dozen transatlantic flights.
Move to Georgetown. We're dealing with a local terrorist right now... the Cuddler.
Apparently I went to primary (middle) school with them, but I never heard of them.
Big up da saarth east laandan man dem- erm apart from those pesky terrorists that is
But I'm not complaining, 'cause I have a job and all, which, these days......
"When criminals in Walthamstow dream, by contrast, they dream big" That's *terrible*. And, for some reason, made me think of the following poem in Mint (via ultrabrown)
http://www.livemint.com/2009/09/04213744/War-poetry.html
Distant Gods
by Anjum Hasan
"When the bombs go off and there is blood all over the TV,
he'll be sitting in some human corner of the world,
drinking his tea, stunned by the impersonal reach
of his act, just as you are by how far this screaming thing
has travelled - translated by distance into helplessness
at being dumb witness again to the guts-spilled-open
suffering of random strangers.
And this is how we realise the world's grown-up -
by knowing that the act of twisting a knife
inside the warm heart of your enemy on a summer night
is far too local a measure of your loathing, while to kill people
you do not know and will never see is to speak a language
of the universe that can be relayed on the TV."
Chilling. Awful.
(Oh, btw, that slide show is fab.)
It pleases me immensely when foreigners share my love of the best bit of the best city in the world, but it's east London, or the East End, not East London: that's a city in South Africa. Sorry for the pedantry, but it seems like transatlantic visitors get this wrong a lot (Cory Doctorow did too a while back, and this isn't your first time) and it really marks you out, just like asking for directions to Lychester Square or Loogaborooga Junction, or, in the opposite direction, struggling to say Hoboken without sounding like you're talking about Barbie's homeless pal.
SE DC has petty crime? Are you being serious? That's like murder central.
Shout out to Bow E3....
Shout out to Bow E3....
Last night a dude on my street went after another with an ax. Right there on the street. Compared with blowing up airliners, this is petty crime.
Wow. SE DC? No kidding. You are one policy wonk whom I will never accuse of being an elitist. Is this some kind of field work or are you just adventuresome? I recently lived in DC's west end (I guess it's considered part of Foggy Bottom), just over the bridge from Georgetown. When I first moved there, I asked a long-time Georgetown resident where the nearest subway stop was in Georgetown. "Oh we don't have one," he said, "they wanted to expand metro to Georgetown a while back, but we opposed it." I asked why. "Because all of the homeless, criminals, panhandlers, and druggies from the rest of the city would have easy access to us." Ah, the beautiful people. Good for you for not being one of them.
Just don't let your fuel gauge go below a quarter of a tank. A few years ago, while traveling through DC, I accidentally took an exit into SE, spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get back to the interstate and discovered that there was no on-ramp. Then I realized that I was low on gas and filled up at one of the shadiest looking gas stations that I have ever been to. Bullet-proof glass, bars, nervous looking cashier, and lots shady-looking people who appeared to be under the influence of various mood-altering substances staring at me - the only white guy in sight. Lucky for me, I was also transporting a Glock model 23 (my understanding was that this was legal, so long as it was in a locked case in my trunk and I did not stop for anything other than a vehicle emergency - almost out of gas after a wrong turn seems to qualify). Several individuals approached as I was gassing up. I popped my truck, unlocked the gun case, popped in a mag (did not load a round) and then holstered the firearm gangsta-style under my belt, closed the trunk, and resumed filling up. The fellows turned and walked back in the direction that they came. I was somewhat comforted in knowing that I was probably illegally carrying a firearm, but I was also a bit discomforted in pondering the legal nightmare that would ensue if I had to use it. That's the last time I ever ventured into SE, other than direct trips to DIA.
Predators are OK, transatlantic bombing plots aren't - will someone explain that for me? It seems like it's all a matter of who you are, and whether it's someone on your side that dies...
Or is that the point of the song?
Paraphrasing Fnord's statement regarding Germans explains my point of view: "For understandable reasons, the aggressive use of military force is ... seen as treason when employed in anything but self-defense."
Same reasons, I think, with recognition that it comes from one's individual philosophy, informed by recent discourse: Never again should states be allowed to commit crimes against humanity in pursuit of national interests."
Let me get this straight, 607. You were the only white guy in sight, so you grabbed your heat? Wow. I imagine traveling to Africa might be a little...disconcerting for you.
Well, I wasn't trying to write a novel, so I omitted some details, such as what the group of five military-aged males said as they changed their route and made a straight line towards me as soon as they laid eyes on me - but I suspect that profanity is frowned upon here. There were also several other "indicators" that I stopped at the wrong gas station. But good job on plucking that one detail out of a lengthy paragraph and RUNNING with it. Go Rebels.
...was tellin' da troof
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC-q3houri4
Killing people so they can vote?
Just wrong.
Comment by Visito747 on September 7, 2009 - 7:27pm
"Predators are OK, transatlantic bombing plots aren't - will someone explain that for me? It seems like it's all a matter of who you are, and whether it's someone on your side that dies... "
The transatlantic plot was intended to kill up to 10000 civilians.
How's anyone gonna explain the difference between that and a predator strike to you if you aren't capable of discerning any difference yourself.
Nothing like a reference to DC residency to bring out both ends of the urban-living commentariat. We get everything from "I don't know how you can leave your house without packing heat!" to "if you think that's bad, you should live in __________ like I do/did/am going to!"
SE DC has petty crime? Are you being serious? That's like murder central.
Murder central indeed! But somehow I don't think Ex lives in Anacostia. Are people being murdered daily at Tortilla Coast, or in the RFK parking lot? Because those places are in SE DC, also.
Last night a dude on my street went after another with an ax. Right there on the street.
If it makes you feel better, a friend of mine moved out of her house in Columbia Heights after a dude tried to chop down her front door with an ax in broad daylight. And they have a Target, a Best Buy, and an organic pizza joint!
Just don't let your fuel gauge go below a quarter of a tank.
What about when I'm parked at my own house? Does that count?
Seriously, everybody, get over yourselves. Live where you feel comfortable and let everybody else do the same.
For any long-time DC residents on the thread, just a heads up: taxation WITH representation ain't so great either.
When I lived in DC (NE, Brookland-CUA, 87-92), a friend who had relatives in Anacostia gave me a guided tour. Most of it was quite OK if not prosperous, and some parts had absolutely beautiful houses, once you moved uphill a bit. But stuck between them like mold in cheese were these horrid absentee landlord apartment buildings, and even worse was the public housing, which looked like Southern prisons from a movie. Dodgy f---s there. And the main complaint of the law abiding majority is that they can't get the police presence they need. The police complaint was that the dodgy f---s kept slitting each other's throats for $20 rocks. I can well believe visitor extraordinare's story, though he could have happened upon another gas station 5 blocks away that would have been fine. Even NE where I was could be very block-by-block.
Anonymous Howard
I beg to differ sir - the crowds at Leyton Orient are oft heard to chant "East, east, east London!!!"
They can't all be talking about South Africa?
Kilo, the Predators for me are a symbol of "war for national interests" - and the comparison for me is not the numbers killed per targeted strike, but the numbers killed by those wars, in particular, wars over the last few decades in the region which includes Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, etc.
I'm not advocating or supporting the targeting of civilians, instead saying that to believe our wars don't harm civilians, haven't done so in extraordinarily high numbers, is illogical. To believe that we can continue in such activity without suffering consequences is suicidally illogical.
visitor 747
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