Peter Taylor - Just waiting to happen

Tariq Ali - The price of occupation

Robin Cook - The war against terror cannot be won by military means

Tony Benn - In the name of security

According to an NYT story, the London subway bombs worked on mechanical timers, not cellphones like in Madrid.

But investigators say there are enough similarities between the two incidents to bear a close look.

'Red Ken' would be Ken Livingstone, mayor of London and once Labour Party Leader Tony Blair's bete noir. He was reacting to the London bombings. He was quoted in The Guardian:

This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful. It was not aimed at presidents or prime ministers. It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old.

This was a disquieting lede in an NYT story:

The bombings in London today knocked the summit meeting that had just gotten under way here off of its carefully scripted focus on global warming and African poverty and turned it into a forum for (U.S.) President (George W.) Bush and other world leaders to express their unity in confronting terrorism.

University of Ottawa professor Mark Salter was on CTV this morning, commenting in the wake of this morning's terrible bombings in London.

He made the point that we who live in the West may have ...   more »

London, England's subway system has been hit by at least four blasts. The latest estimate is 38 dead and about 700 wounded.

A previously unknown Islamist organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement on a known Islamist website. However, they can't yet be confirmed.

 "The organization calls itself the Secret Organization Group of al-Qaeda [literally the base] of Jihad Organization in Europe," the BBC said. It has a translation of the statement available.

For full coverage, go to BBC Online or CTV News Online. Here's some special sections:

BBC - The London attacks

The Guardian - The terrorism threat to Britain

The Times of London - London bombs

Tom Popyk put up links to a number of blogs and British online news sites at CanadianJournalist.ca.

NYT reporter Judith Miller is in a U.S. federal prison tonight for refusing to name sources for a story she never published.

This Der Speigel article, reprinted in Salon, argues that monetary aid to Africa is part of the problem, not the solution.

Veteran tech journalist John Battelle is working on a book about Google, but when he hits a block, it's off to the blog. And he thinks a better book will be the end result.

From the NYT:

Who said you can't make money giving away news and opinions on the Internet? Apparently not Jim Romenesko, who runs a popular site devoted to comings and goings in the news media. According to tax records filed by his employer, the Poynter Institute, Mr. Romenesko received $169,187 in salary and other compensation in 2003, making him Poynter's highest-paid nonexecutive.

The income picture for other bloggers and Web columnists is less rosy. Some blog for the fun of it - that is, free. Others generate income through advertising, while others cut deals for, say, free rent. True to form, bloggers have plenty of opinions about Mr. Romenesko's pay. On Mediacrity (which promises "occasional rants on goofs, bias and hypocrisy in the media"), some bloggers congratulated Mr. Romenesko, while others bemoaned how little they made.

The NYT looks at the citizen journalism trend.

Finland is feeling the sting of French President Jacque Chirac's under-the-breath slap at the cuisine of their country.

From a Guardian story:

On aid, France and Britain are likely to use unpublished figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to put pressure on the US, Canada and Japan to be more generous. Projections show that of the $46bn (£26bn) aid increase between 2004 and 2010, the EU has pledged $38bn.

The US and Japan - the world's two biggest economies - together with Canada and smaller developed countries such as Switzerland, Australia and Norway, are to provide $8bn extra between them.

OK: My words, not theirs. :)

According to the Guardian, the wealthiest countries are spending a whopping $3 US per head more on aid for sub-Saharan Africa than they were 15 years ago.

And Canada, our home and native land? We -- along with Japan and France -- spend less on sub-Saharan Africa aid than we did in 1990. The figures come from the UN.

Here's a round-up of stuff I didn't have time to post Monday morning:

Jacques Chirac, president of France, was overheard dissing English food to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany.

NYT columnist Nicholas Kristoff talks about the stunning progress made by Portland, Or. in cutting greenhouse emissions -- and the benefits that has spawned.

The BBC's John Simpson says based on the 30-year track record of the summits, don't expect any big breakthroughs from the G8 leaders in Africa.

But do expect to see some evidence of the fault lines between them -- not just on Africa, but the other biggie: climate change.

The Globe and Mail is reporting that the federal government will not engage in a last-minute change of heart in terms of upping aid to Africa.

Wow, 229! Makes us feel like pups up here at a mere 138! :)

Anyways, have a great day, and thanks for (in no particular order): Baseball, hot dogs, jazz, blues, country, rock 'n roll, bluegrass, Stax Volt, New York City, constitutionally protected freedom of speech, Jon Stewart and the Daily Show (which includes at least one Soviet Canuckistani infiltrator), Hunter H. Thompson, the Onion, Martin Scorcese, Michael Moore and much more than my fatigued brain can list right now.

Thanks for being a great country to visit. The friendliness, hospitality and generosity of spirit I've experienced on trips to the U.S. have left an indelible positive mark on me.

I may have issues with your current administration, but to my mind, the sins of the government shouldn't be visited on the people.

Enjoy the fireworks tonight!

The NYT's globalization cheerleader Thomas L. Friedman has a cure for what ails Old Europe: A taste of Irish medicine.

Did you know PM PM is spending two days there before he goes to the G8 summit in Gleneagles?

"For those who've been reading the press for the last two months, who question why we should even try, why we should accept the nullicy of cynicism, why we should listen to the voices of defeat, I'll tell you why."

And then he brought out a survivor of the 1984-85 Ethiopian famine - Birhan Woldu. Geldof said she was minutes from death as a three-year-old when she appeared in a famous video about the famine.

"Don't let them tell us this doesn't work," Geldof shouted.

Here are Birhan's words (translated):

"Hello from Africa! We Africans love you very much!

"It's a great honour to be here ... on the Live 8 stage. Please continue to support the Live 8, and we love you very much. Goodbye!"

Birhan is going to be an agriculturalist.

"Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice ...

"When poverty persists, there is no true freedom."

Nelson Mandela at Live 8 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

You can see video of his speech at this CTV.ca story.

* Mandela's prisoner number at Robben Island, where he was held for 25 years.

Every three seconds, a child in an impoverished African country dies from causes related to extreme poverty.

Will Smith led the global Live 8 concert-goers and those watching on TV in a finger-snapping session to drive that point home.

It doesn't have to be that way. That's the reason for Live 8 and, in this country, Make Poverty History. There's things you can do to help there, and it won't cost you a a dime.

Hi folks: Here's what you found overwhelmingly compelling on this blog last month. I'll also list some posts that I'd hoped would have been more compelling:

This, unfortunately, is a workday for me (ah, the joys of the 24/7 Internet news business!).

But I would hope that my fellow Canadians are otherwise having a great day today -- and that they take some time out of the revelry to appreciate the fact they live in one of the world's more peaceful and inclusive countries.

While I'm sure everyone knows the national anthem, here's a refresher. If you're curious as to how we wound up with the Maple Leaf as a flag, read this.

CTV.ca has a Canada Day quiz, but I would really urge you to go off-line and get a beer and a burger (veggie where applicable), throw a frisbee around and watch fireworks tonight -- or some variation on that agenda.