I happened to be awake when the bombing occured, which was approximately around 4am EST (9am London Time) this morning.  I think this is a good time to break my vacation.

Drudge is on the case, as he has posted that Scotland Yard received the threat, and informed Israel of it.  At first it was thought to be a power surge, but officials in London have comfirmed that explosions came from the buses themselves, not from their vicinities, which all but guarantees bombs. 

Sky News, Rupert Murdoch's network, has reported as many as 20 people are dead and 90 injured.  BBC World News has stated that their employees have confirmed as many as five.  The transportation system has been shut down, and oil prices are dropping like a rock.

Tony Blair and London officials are expected to have a press conference in the next 10 minutes.  I will liveblog it the whole way.

7:08:  Blair's speaking.  He said it's "reasonably clear" that these were terrorist attacks.  He plans to leave the G8 to find out the extent of the damage and help coordinate the cleanup and investigation efforts and return to Denmark this evening.  The meeting will continue in his absence.  He calls the terrorism "barbaric" and he believes it was designed to target the opening of the G8 meeting.  Blair did seem kind of shaken at the time.

Video is starting to come in.  I'm watching NBC, and people that have been seriously bandaged up are being helped out of the area.  This isn't pretty.

7:16:  There are people still trapped in the damaged trains.  I don't know if all of the people have been moved from the subway; I'm trying to get confirmation that the subway has been completely cleared.

On NBC, Couric is asking whether Al Qaeda #2 Ayman Al-Zawahiri was referring to this in his last message a few weeks ago.  It is possible.  Drudge is still reporting on the Scotland Yard/Israel story, but there has been no confirmation, link, or any kind of elaboration on his part.

7:30:  Instapundit's awake, and he's got a ton of news.  First, KJ Lopez of NRO's The Corner was awake this morning as well....doh!  That woman never sleeps.  There has been a message on a terrorist website that has been decoded and seems to take responsibility for the attacks, however they're not sure whether it's genuine.

7:40: There's also a UK blogs aggregator, which can give you a number of first-hand accounts of what's going on in the country.

To confirm:  There have been six explosions:  five of them were underground in the subway, and only ONE was on the bus.  My initial report was as many as three buses had been destroyed, but they've confirmed only one.

7:42:  Just as I posted this, Andrew Stuttaford of NRO is getting an email from a friend that as many as three buses could have been bombed.  Edgeware Road in London has been closed off, and it is pandemonium in that area.

7:50:  Let me say this:  more than likely this wasn't in response to the London Olympics.  First, as Couric has said on NBC (and I have to give her props; she's done a helluva job this morning), terrorists have gone after the London subways in the past, and London police broke up a terrorist clique last month that targeted the subways.  Second, this is too coordinated to be planned and executed less than 24 hours after the announcement.  Third, why in the world would someone target the Olympic site six years prior to the actual event?  Makes no sense.

These terrorists were simply in the right place at the right time.  Or, the wrong place at the wrong time, depending on how you look at it.

7:55:  Two things have been confirmed.  First, Drudge's assertion that Israeli officials were contacted by Scotland Yard were repeated by the Associated Press.  As such, former Israeli PR Benjamin Netanyahu has decided against going to an economic conference, which happened to be where one of the buses exploded.

Hold on...one of the Security ministers spoke before the House of Commons.  He is Charles Clarke.  He confirms only four attacks, and he encouraged people to go to their homes and not travel.

The other thing that has been confirmed is the message on a islamic website celebrating the attacks.  Still no word on the actual persons behind it, though.

I've taken a two-week vacation since Game 7 of the NBA Finals.  I was getting burned out, have taken on new responsibilities in my personal life, and interest in this blog is low at the moment.   Now is the time to do it before college football season gets started, which is something I am getting stoked for as the days go by.

I will resume blogging early Monday morning, July 11th.  I should have a post up by the time some of you early risers wake up.  Until then, enjoy your summer.

Alright let's get it going!  I'm hyped.  This has been a great series and could go either way.

This will be the first time a Game 7 has been played for the NBA title.  I hope both teams are ready to give it their all.  All eyes are on Chauncey Billups and Tim Duncan to lead.  The X Factors are Manu Ginobili and Richard Hamilton.  Who will be the role player that will step up tonight?

We start coverage in a few minutes.

8:45:  I know I know...I'm a TNT mark, but the thought of ABC broadcasting Game 7 of the Finals is really a letdown.  It would have been great to see Kenny and Charles break down the game and emphasize the thought process going into the playoffs and the emotion that these guys will come out with.  That's something you won't get out of Bill Walton and Greg Anthony, as both have been terrible analysts as the playoffs have progressed.

8:54:  Ahmad Rashad is interviewing David Robinson.  The Admiral talked about the last time the Spurs played in a Game 7, and emphasized the worries that pop up in the players' minds once they get to that point.  However, the objectives are still the same, and if you accomplish them, you're going to win.  Robinson's been disappointed with Duncan's demeanor, as it seems as if he's been unsure of himself.  I agree with the Duncan comments.

9:04:  Al and Hubie take over, and Hubie states the key factor is how much Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince can contribute.  That's very true.  The Spurs need to hit their free throws, as they're only 59% for the series.

Tafoya talked to Popovich earlier, and he said they need to come out to play ball with some energy, and they need to be strong with their half-court defense.  They then went to Stuart Scott (ugh) and all he did was talk about the mood in the locker room and whether Rasheed Wallace was nervous.  Scott is becoming more and more of a joke.

Brooks and Dunn are singing the national anthem.  Not bad.

9:12:  Starting lineups.  I get a kick out of hearing them play the old Undertaker theme for Detroit's entrance.  The Pistons look pretty focused...or are they nervous?

You would have thought the Spurs front office would have had the jumbotron video updated before the biggest game of the year.  Hell they still had Robinson on the video, and he's been retired for two years.  Massenberg and Nesterovic too.

9:19:  Tipoff starts, and Duncan starts it off with a nice kiss on the glass.  Sheed comes back on the other end and hits a baby hook over Duncan, and thats followed by a nice mid-range basket by Ginobili.  No defensive plays so far.  6-4 Detroit.

9:21:  Ben Wallace already has four points, as he hit a mid-range jumper from off the baseline, and then caught the ball while slashing the lane.  He's been impressive in this series, as he's shot 60% from the field.

Ginobili is getting warmed up as well, and Larry Brown may have to have Prince switch off with Rip Hamilton or someone else.  10-6 Pistons.

9:29:  The refs aren't playing games tonight, as they are calling every hand check.  I don't really like that rule, but it it's a rule, then call it.  I just can't stand the inconsistency of calls between games.

I noticed an entry posted on Booker Rising by Craig DeLuz, where Julian Bond, NAACP Chairman, called on the California NAACP to pull a resolution calling for the organization's support of gay marriage, which was to be voted on at the annual national convention next month.  As DeLuz states, Bond probably wanted it pulled not because he changed his mind on the issue but due to the potential embarrassment if the resolution fails. 

However, I want to go a dwell on the decision to pull the resolution a little further than that.  This was a lose-lose situation for the NAACP that was sure to hurt the organization and polarize it from two different factions: the far-left and the black relgious right. 

If the resolution had failed, Bond would not only have been embarrassed and looked as if he was truly out of the loop in regards to black support (which he is), but he would also face the wrath of the white gay rights advocates which would have been calling for reform within the organization and pressured other left-wing organizations not to work with the NAACP, leaving the organization marginalized on the left side of the political spectrum.

But the resolution passing would have had dire consequences to the organization.  Black churches all over the country would have sharply rebuked the NAACP.   Considering the political importances of churches within black politics, in which a number of local NAACP chapters still meet at churches to this day, there's no doubt that the organization would be forced to do an about-face.  Add the fact that the black community is overwhelmingly anti-gay, and it would be the mortal wound that ends the organization.

In Washington politics, the media has taken notice of the "reincarnation", so to speak, of the Religious Right, which consists of pastors and Christian organizations using their popularity in order to coerce politicians to support their causes and endorse some that are in line with their views.  Much less has been written about the Black Religious Right, which have the potential to have more of an impact than their white counterparts, as they have more of a grassroots approach within the black community.  The articles have focused primarily on how it could affect the presidential election, but not on how they could affect the positions of black politicians in key issues.

As their influence strengthens and their popularity grows, black politicial figures will face a dilemma.  They will have to choose between the white leftist special interest groups that place money in their reelection campaigns and PACS and the churches that help scoop up enough people to vote for them on Election Day.  Both sides are becoming more and more partisan in tone and aren't willing to compromise on certain values and principles that are sure to clash. 

Sooner or later, those black politicians that have been enjoying easy reelection victories are going to find the cash getting smaller and the margins of victory even closer as both sides scrutinize them more each election year.

Hey; maybe they'll actually have to face legitimate opposition in their gerrymandered districts!  Imagine that.

Alright, let's get this going.

"Heartbreak" takes us into the official coverage.  I'm sure the Pistons know how a heart breaks.  Ha.

They have some female chorus doing the National Anthem tonight.  Best rendition of the series.  Some of them look pretty good too.

Alright folks, this is it.  The end.  The finale.  Turn out the lights, the party's over.

I predicted the Spurs would win in 6, and damn if they aren't going to do it tonight.  They have the momentum after snatching a victory away from Detroit in Game 5, and now they come home to dominate once more.

I expect Tim Duncan to redeem himself in a dominant fashion in this game.  He will push the envelope in this game, and will close with an exclamation mark.  Ginobili had a decent Game 5, and he should have another one.  However Parker had disappeared after scoring 14 points in the first half on Sunday night.  What happened to him?  And it was obvious that he had no clue on how to stop Chauncey Billups, as he scored a series-high 34 points.

Meanwhile, Detroit's energy was probably sapped due to Robert Horry's performance.  Billups looked like a basset hound at the press conference after the game.  I don't blame him, because as I said in Game 1, he can't do everything.  Someone's got to help.  Ben Wallace is playing his ass off, but nobody else is willing to step up with him.  And Rasheed Wallace hasn't had a good game yet in this series.

Detroit will also have to bring back that defense that placed a hurting on Ginobili and kept Parker from getting an easy shot.  They will also have to stop biting on the slash, because San Antonio is only getting it to the open man behind the arc for the three.  Bowen and Horry aren't missing those shots like they did the earlier games in Detroit.  That means someone will have to step up and guard the lane 1-on-1, and Big Ben will probably camp out in the paint on the defensive end the whole night.

Well, that's what I think, anyway.  See you tonight.

The Senate had to resort to a cloture vote in order to end debate on the Bolton nomination, and it failed by a vote of 54-38.  It wasn't surprising, since Sen. Barbara Boxer had announced she was going to block his nomination late last month, so there shouldn't have been a doubt in anyone's mind that the Democrats were going to anything they could to keep Bolton from getting confirmed.

Once again, the obstructionists continue to hold up progress on anything the Republicans, and thus most Americans, support.  The documents they've demanded is a weak excuse for filibustering the nomination.  The truth is, the Democrats still can't believe the voters have not only voted to give the Republicans majority support in the Senate but in the House as well.  You would have thought they would have learned a lesson after the whippings they receieved in 2000, 2002, and 2004, but they seem content in their contrarian methods anyway. 

It also exposes the internationalist principles rooted within the Democratic Party.  Just as they were willing to oppose the War in Iraq for the fact that the snoots at the U.N. Headquarters opposed it, they know John Bolton represents a dire threat against the eurocentric status quo inside of the U.N. and thus they must oppose him.  After the Oil For Food and Congo sex scandals, the Democrats are still not willing to stand up, hold the United Nations accountable, and admit there is systematic problems inside the international body.  They are more than willing to allow the articles to be buried inside of newspapers and make hollow promises to call for change.  Bush nor Bolton are willing to do that, and thus in the eyes of the internationalists, Bolton must be stopped.

Some have wondered why President Bush and the Republicans are making all of this fuss over John Bolton, as it's relatively easy for Bush to nominate someone else.  My question is why shouldn't Bolton receive an up or down vote?  The Democrats have no standing to dictate who Bush nominates and who he doesn't.  Every senator has one vote, but the Democrats want to make their minority votes count more than the majority.  If the Democrats insist on acting like spoiled children who are mad that they can't get their way, then Bush should give Bolton a recess appointment, and continue to do so until the Democrats decide they're ready to act like adults again.

When I wrote about Jesse Helms last week, I described him as one of the last politicians to apologize for his racist actions before and after the Civil Rights Movement.

Well I was wrong, as there is another senator who is in denial over his past bigoted ways.  Robert Byrd is writing his memoirs, called "Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields", in which he discusses his involvement in the Ku Klux Klan:

The 770-page book is the latest in a long series of attempts by the 87-year-old Democratic patriarch to try to explain an event early in his life that threatens to define him nearly as much as his achievements in the Senate. In it, Byrd says he viewed the Klan as a useful platform from which to launch his political career. He described it essentially as a fraternal group of elites -- doctors, lawyers, clergy, judges and other "upstanding people" who at no time engaged in or preached violence against blacks, Jews or Catholics, who historically were targets of the Klan.

Thus, Byrd tries to make it seem as if it was just a bunch of successful good ole boys who had a fetish for white sheets and hoods.  It's amazing that even today, with him being a bastion of American leftism, that he cannot be honest about what the Klan was and his activities in it.  To explain it as if it were a local chapter of the chamber of commerce serves as a slap in the face to the many people and families the Klan targeted and terrorized.

While Byrd asked for forgiveness for his involvement in the Klan, his candycoating of his time in it and the people who were with him negates that apology.  What he truly is sorry for is that it became public.  After all, it was the Klan who encouraged him to get involved with politics, and he wrote a letter urging the growth of the Klan the very same year he won his first election as a state representative in 1946. 

Indeed, he has characterized the Klan identity as an "albatross" around his neck, as if it only a mere burden to his political career instead of a legitimate concern to America.  But more than likely, that isn't the case, at least in the early part of it:

Stunned Democratic state party officials, including then-Gov. Okey L. Patteson, urged him to drop out of the race [after the 1946 letter was made public]. Byrd survived the ensuing political firestorm, won the general election and went on to serve six years in the House before winning his Senate seat in 1958. During his Senate campaign, he told a newspaper reporter that he personally felt the Klan had been incorrectly blamed for many acts committed by others.

Is it possible that he gained popularity because of his connections to the Klan?  While I'm not inferring West Virginia was completely racist, it's not hard to believe that 1950's West Virginia would be indifferent to a senator being a former Klansman.  I'm sure people in that area knew several prominent figures - as Byrd said himself - who were involved in the Klan.  Besides, it wasn't like Byrd did anything during the 50's and 60's to prove anyone wrong.

But don't hold your breath for any so-called black leaders or civil rights leaders to call Byrd out for his KKK fence-straddling.  Since he was against the War on Iraq, he's one of them.  Besides, he still wields so much influence in Congress that no politician would dare criticize him.  Maybe if he would have written his memoirs during the impeachment, where he was very critical of Clinton's deeds and the attitude of the Democrats during that time, they would have been more vocal.  And as you probably heard earlier this week, Ralph Nader gets that treatment as well.

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UPDATE:  To my knowledge, Byrd never apologized or addressed his obstruction of civil rights legislation.  Does he plan to address that in his book?

Well, so far Bill Walton has sounded like an idiot ("Tim Duncan is a shell of his former self), "Heartbreak" has played 10 times already, and Stuart Scott has looked like a fool trying to talk slang ("The Pistons have sipped LB's Kool-Aid").

Just some quick words.  First, San Antonio needs to recapture that heart and fearlessness that they played with in Game 1&2.  They have no choice but to push the envelope, as a third straight loss would almost seal the deal to them losing the NBA Championship.