z2

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8612825.stm

I don't know how Poland's government is structured, but this seems pretty crazy to lose so many government officials at once.

by pilot error too. totally preventable... a shame.

Sad news.

Quantum P: Besides the emotional shock, the crash meant the loss of several officials in homeland security/safety-related deparments.. that's very concerning, but the country's not completely floored.

I think a caretaker cabinet is in control during a period of mourning, until there are new appointments and elections. There's a council of ministers and a prime-minister (somewhat comparable to the speaker of the house). I don't believe there's a vice-president, but there are people capable of the job.

I hope the European Union will provide the necessary support and perhaps an investigation. It's a young democracy and well.. I'm not so confident in the democratic aspirations of another superpower nearby.

i'll be sure to find out firsthand what the local mood is about this in the next few days, things didn't seem too different while i was out and about yesterday but i have noticed a lot of flags suddenly hanging from house windows the past day or so. i think everyone's still in shock, tomorrow's a day of mourning

the big question is why so many dignitaries were all on one aeroplane at the same time! security, people, what gives. pretty sure it was just a tragic accident and nothing to do with kgb conspiracy, but that hasn't stopped most of europe speculating over that

this is september 11th all over again

depends on how you weigh the value of human lives.

This news event would have been much more exciting if the UK Cabinet had been on the plane when it crashed.

well there hasn't been any weeping in the streets, just black ribbons and flags at half-mast all week, and some disquiet at the president being buried at the wawel in krakow because he wasn't the most popular guy

that's my news update. enjoy.

isn't there a huge volcanic cloud over europe? nadir are you too far east? I bet you're getting nice sunsets.

Nadir is our man on the inside

yeah, an icelandic volcano barfed all over the continent, but i'm too far east here for it to really matter and i've no engagements with or connected with aeroplanes right now, so it has not directly affected me at all! it'll blow over (literal) in a couple of weeks

Im still here

with 40 hours of recordings from Polish television during mourning

asiekierka is our other man on the inside

REPORTS:
Media tries to tell us it's not Russians.
When they feel like it they show people saying it was Russians.
Then they try to make us believe it's not Russians again.

And of course for the first 2 days of mourning there was no proper TV service, only information.