Piece Of Art

How much more of a copycat could this be? Another Thursday in London, three explosions in the subway, one on a bus.

For immediate release - For wide dissemination COPYCAT EFFECT WILL SPREAD TRANSIT BOMBINGS ACROSS EUROPE An international expert in behavioral contagion, Loren Coleman, author of The Copycat Effect (Paraview Pocket Books - Simon and Schuster, 2004), says the floodgates will now open to copycat acts of suicide bombers targeting mass transit systems and public gathering locations (e.g. malls) in Europe and North America. Such incidents as the 7/7 London, 3/11 Madrid, and 9/11 terror attacks serve as “celebrity events” that become models copied by vulnerable Islamic extremists. The shift from airplanes into building, to soft targets in the mass transit sphere, now appears complete, says Coleman who is predicting we will see copycat bombings within three months. The news that the deadly London subway and bus bombings were caused by suicide bombers will have an immediate impact on the ranks of potential suicide bombers. More will come forward to die for their “cause.” Coleman, who foresa...

Reports from London are of series of subway and double-decker bus explosions this morning. Al Qaeda? G8 is meeting in Edinburgh and the announcement for the 2012 Olympics being held in London was made yesterday. Is there a twlight language angle here? If the reports are confirmed, apparently there were four explosions taking place on 7-7-2005 (with 2 + 5 = 7). Needless to say, al Qaeda has shown a deep interest in numerical symbolism, with attention to "elevens" in their past attacks, with the 9/11 incidents most discussed, as well as terrorist explosions occurring in the Philippines, Bali, and Madrid. Is there something going on with "sevens" too? Such as with Flight 77 being one of the planes hijacked on 9/11?

The motion picture A Clockwork Orange was a blockbuster by Stanley Kubrick when it came out in 1972. The controversary about the impact of the graphic violence in the plot, however, lives on. As an article in UK's Camden Gazette notes today, a play based on the story is stirring up thoughts about its effect, especially since 12-year-olds are part of the production. The article overviews the plot: " A Clockwork Orange sees teenage misfit Alex and his cronies delighting in 'ultra-violence,' dishing out beatings and sexual attacks before Alex is made to participate in a brutal Government-backed scheme to force him to be good." The copycat effect that followed in the wake of the film was very real. As the Camden Gazette mentions: "The film version was withdrawn by Kubrick in 1973 after allegations of copycat killings and violence. It was not re-released until 2000 - a year after Kubrick's death." See The Copycat Effect , pages 221 and 224, for mo...