http://www.cnn.com/...in.blasts/index.html

Perhaps I should re-think purchasing an Orbea Mitis 3 (with campy centaur in that smoke color)?

Na. It's too cool of a bike.

Too bad for Spain (especially the good people of Basque to be associated).

Man, I do like that bike.

Burns

I was a very worried for a moment. My brother is currently in San Sebastion on a two week business trip. He flys home this weekend. Looks like this was in Madrid only? Turned on the TV but couldn't find anything.

Yeah, terrible. Heard the news this afternoon from a friend that lives one block away from one of the bombed stations. Luckily he was on a day off, or it would have been his regular commute time....

Coincidentally, earlier this week an underground station here in Nurenberg was closed by the police due to an "undisclosed threat"...

P.S. Thanks for the help in France anyway.

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Ricardo Wickert | Team Magnesium Pur - Germany | My sporadically updated blog: The Thin Grad Line | My team-issued TT bike: Trek Speed Concept 9

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CNN Reported Al Qaida has claimed responsibility

Terrorism is the work of the cowardly and the desperate.

Cowardice is easy to defeat. Desperation is more difficult.

I think the government may have been unwise to immediately give credit (blame) for the bombing. That sends a message to the perpetraitors that they have succeeded.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

elections in spain are in 2 days...
initially the Aznar gov. did well with dealing with ETA so saying it's ETA would give them an edge for saturday.
But most spanish didn't want them to follow GWB in Iraq...now that AQ has claimed the attack, they have lost the elections.

>CNN Reported Al Qaida has claimed responsibility

I don't see that on CNN.com nor on Al Jazeera. ETA remains the prime suspect (maybe it wasn't, but there's plenty of precedent...)

It's things like this that make that NZ bike couple seem really f$@&ing trivial.

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Spain has an excellent and improving anti-terrorist unit that works in connection with other international units. The perpetraitors of this have just effectively committed suicide. The Spainish have no compunctions about amputating the head of the snake, or about killing a fly with a sledgehammer.

I predict they will move quickly with little concern for precision.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

it was on www.yahoo.com

http://story.news.yahoo.com/...ity_spain_qaeda_dc_2

http://story.news.yahoo.com/...urity_spain_qaeda_dc

I hope you're right about the perpetrators, but fear that may be a little optimistic. While the Spanish anti-terrorists are no doubt highly capable and now highly motivated, I have to wonder if they're going to prove any more effective at hunting down the actual perpetrators than we have been.

Moving quickly with little regard for precision is not desirable. We don't yet know, but it's possible the Spanish govt has already moved too fast in assigning blame to the ETA- what if the letter from Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades is genuine?

My sympathy to the Spanish, and my hopes that they will find those responsible asap.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I attended a lecture a couple of weeks ago (I know what you're saying--TRI_BRI2 went to a lecture?) given by a Yale professor of military history on militant Islam. She stated that the goal of militant Islam is to recapture "at least" ALL of the territory formerly held by Islamic regimes. That would include (most of) Spain. So--it is not a stretch to envision the hand of Al Qaeda in this, even to the point of allying with the Basque separatists (the enemy of my enemy is my friend).

Other interesting points--(1) Out of 1.2 billion Islamic people, only about 1-2 million are "Islamists"--i.e., people who think Islam is the only true religion and that it should be in political power. Out of that number, about 1-200,000 are "militant"--i.e., willing to take up arms for the cause of Islamism. (2) Al Qaeda is primarily the funding and coordinating arm of militant Islam. Most of the actual attacks are carried out by groups such as Islamic Jihad. (3) Militant Islam believes that they defeated the world's other superpower--the USSR--alone. They see no reason, therefore, that they cannot defeat the US. (4) Anti-insurgency or anti-guerillia wars have been fought successfully in the past. To defeat them, we need to take away their land (primarily Afghanistan, but now spreading into Algeria, Morocco, etc.), take away their time (to organize and train) by keeping up the attack wherever they mass, and take away their money (Saudis have donated over $30B to Al Qaeda, but supposedly now have cut that off) and, convince the othe 1 billion Muslims that they must not tolerate the militants.

Anyway--my thoughts and prayers are with the victims, family, and friends in Spain.

It would appear you are right. Al-Qaeda has sent an e-mail to a London news agency claiming responsibility.

I suspect this may be linked to the increase in the pace of operations in Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan.

I expect significant developments in the region within 90 days.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I thought Bush was waiting until July 4th to capture Osma? That's 114 days away. ;-)

Seriously sad what happened in Spain. My heart goes out the them.

Floor Talk
Late rollover in equities is coinciding with news reports regarding this morning's bombings in Spain (i.e., Al Qaeda reported to be claiming responsibility for train bombings; France to raise terror alert). However, the reality of the situation is that traders/investors never were interested in taking this market home with them tonight. As noted in the 10:05 comment, the trade today was to play the morning bounce, then sell or short into early resistance. Market received an unexpected midday kick from NSM's earnings report and a variety of positive intraday commentary on key names (such as technical call by Morgan Stanley to buy Intel). But after those catalysts wore off, traders/investors began booking profits. The Al Qaeda news and French terror alert reports simply expedited their move to the exits.

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"You're guaranteed to miss 100% of the shots you never take" - Wayne Gretzky

Remember when GWB called the fight against terrorism a "crusade" a couple of years ago? And remember the outrage over it? Supposedly it was an insensitive thing to say because, in the Middle East, they still remember the Crusades, and they're still upset over their land being invaded hundreds of years ago.

That whole thing still pisses me off. I guess they can remember the Crusades, but we're all supposed to forget that Muslim Arabs nearly overran the whole of Europe at one point.

As for successfully waging an anti-insurgency or anti-guerilla war. . .maybe, but it isn't our strong point. Besides, the war on Islamic terrorism is not your "typical" campaign against insurgents. There's a whole different dynamic at work. ( The situation in Iraq, on the other hand, looks to me like a textbook case of a guerilla war; it's a whole different beast than the war on terror )

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

I was in Spain about a month ago on vacation and passed through that station several times. It's like Madrid's "Grand Central Station." It's a hub for Renfre's (Spanish rail company) cross country and international lines, as well as regional lines. It has a MAdrid metro station adjacent to it. It's also the major station you come into if you take the metro into town from the airport. At 7:30 am on a Thursday, that place must have been full of tens of thousands of people. I can only imagine how horrible this was (and continues to be).

Scary to think I was there just a few weeks ago.

I've read a little about ETA, and understand that their m.o. is to warn the police, etc before they set off a bomb. This limits the human toll while allowing them to cause physical damage and "get their point across." Not that that fact makes them any better. My point is that, considering the horrible human toll of this attack, I'm not surprised that authorities now are getting in messages from Al Qaeda claiming responsibility.

Just a cowardly act. Perpetrated by people brainwashed by cowards of a higher degree who twist religion and politics and hatred into a sickening and self-defeating view of the world.

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I also doubt it was ETA...

last news say that the bombs were scheduled to explode at the railway station to kill as many as during the WTC...
fortunately, the train that was really loaded with bombs was 10' late and it was the one suppose to hit Atocha station (which is PACKED at this time of the year)...

bunch of cowards...

definitely looks like Al Qaeda style!

This is where my Marine family tends to come out. My father who is a retired Marine (one of many in the family) states it best as "Kill 'em all, their god will sort it out"...with emphasis on "Their god".

Many good things have come from the GWB plan, Pakistan and India talking peace, other mid east nations getting rid of weapons, Iran letting inspectors in...the list is long. In the end we can all wish for a more peaceful earth - that being said, there will always be some out there who resist change and dont want peace. We need to deal with then harshly (kill them).

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

I think it was the Barristas.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

C'mon man, move on!!!

Here's the solution - Saeco coffee machine in the shop (don't know if they're good but I guess they're cool?), offer free coffee to anybody who comes in during a bike ride and as a bonus you now brew your own and don't need to go to Starbucks.

More customers in the store, you and your staff nuked out on coffee, no strange encounters with Barristas, what more could you want?

And on a serious note, I feel sorry that there are people in this world filled with so much hate that they could even contemplate an act like that in Madrid. It's horrendous.

Happy to report that my brother is fine. Wasn't too worried since he's been in San Sebastion not Madrid. He flys home this weekend, but I'm not sure if it's from Madrid or not. Imagine the airport security will be unbelievable.