The IRA's Declaration and the stupidity of our leaders

"The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign" So begins the IRA's Statement that was released at 12:46 yesterday. This, if they are to be believed, is the end to a long and bloody campaign. And the moment that it comes could not have been better.
Now, Bush and Blair have an example of how to go about fighting terrorism. Not with a barrel of gun, but with Diplomacy. Fighting the terrorists will only lead to more violence, more bloodshed and more death. We cannot afford this. In Ireland, we spent too long using the Army to fight the IRA, but then we did it right and the IRA has disarmed. The War on Terror looks to go the same way. Why don't we learn from history and get it right first time?

Australia beat England by 7 wickets

I spent most of the day sitting in Lord's cricket ground in the heat getting a slight tan and watching England perform rather poorly.
England got 223 for 8 which wasn't nearly enough and allowed australia to stroll to 224 with 7 odd overs to spare and 3 wickets lost.
Interesting parts were:
Flintoff getting 87 to take England to a reasonable score before getting caught out very easily.
Lee took 5 wickets
Ponting got a century before being dismissed for 111 with a catch from Pieterson.
Some Australians trying to get a mexican wave going (I think they had a little too much Fosters).
An Australian fielder stopped the ball but touched the boundry rope at the same time. In cricket, this coutns as a 4 but the Umpire took several minutes conferring with the third Umpire. Throughout this time the crowd had been shouting "Four" and every time that fielder stopped the ball, even if it was ten yards from the boundry, everyone shouted "Four".
We got a preview of the fly-past that happened today. All the planes flew near Lord's and a Lancaster and two Spitfires actually flew over the ground.

The mood in London

I went up to London yesterday. 1 day after the attacks and everything (with the exception of the tube) is back to normal. Peopel are going to work and wandering around the streets as if nothing had happened. People may have apeared a little subdued, but let's be fair, it was raining. The only disappointment was that the people who were supposed to be perfroming in Embankment Gardens didn't show up. They were probably too scared, as many Americans in London have been (my Dad's secretary for one). Generally it was good, and I hope that the cricket at Lord's is still on, I shall be very angry if they cancel that.

We are not afraid

I don't need to tell you what happened today, I'm sure that you all know by now about the attack on central London. I have a message for you:
Do Not Panic
That is the desire of every terrorist leader in the world, for us to panic and become weak. After this attack we must do what many in America (and 1930s Germany) failed to do. We must keep a leash on our leaders. We must not allow them to use this attack as an excuse to create a Police State in Britain. It has already been happening in America but it must not be allowed to happen here. We have got off lightly, 33 dead is very low and the terrorists are likely to move on, having hit Britain, and not continue to attack us.
Also, we must cease our attacks on their nations, instead we must talk with them. Dialogue has solved the Irish problem, the old enemy has been replaced by a new one, let us get it right first time, rather than fight for years before realising that it is the wrong way.
Remember, we lived with the IRA for almost a century and we survived. We must let the terrorists know:
We Are Not Afraid.