I’ve been trying to follow up on the second wave of London bombings - and to my chagrin and surprise, apart from outrage in Brazil, it’s more difficult than I would have thought.

Salon’s piece (subscription required, but don’t bother as it’s really not that good) on the new London jogger - those urbanites, mostly men, who have taken up running to work rather than taking public transportation - did make a good point, though. Much has been made in the last three weeks of the moxie displayed by the British during wave after wave of Nazi attack, especially during the Luftwaffe’s blitzkreig assaults. Here’s the kicker, though - I only wish I had thought of this sooner: Very few Londoners were alive during World War II.

There was no comparison that I can recall between 9/11 and the steadfast, romanticized let’s-get-’em attitude displayed by the American populace during WWII, so what’s the point in making such comparisons to Londoners? As far as I can tell, it’s the same reason the attacks aren’t getting stateside coverage: A general lack of constant reminders about the event. During late 2001, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing long faces and furtive glances, but since we’re not directly affected this time, we as Americans gave the story a (maybe) four-day half-life in the public eye. Quick explanations were given - ‘Londoners survived Nazism; they’ll pull through’ - when such a simplistic explanation would never be given for attacks on American soil.

Not that I’m a blameless party, either. My attention has been held rapt on two cover stories in today’s Chicago Tribune, for example: the fact that Chicago may be building a twisting skyscraper and the fact that wine sales may have surpassed beer in what I’ll call the Sideways effect. So much for thinking globally.

Image ripped off wholesale from Salon, since without a subscription you wouldn’t see it. I won’t make a habit of ripping off images, tho.