Boston Explosion

[JRNYMAN]

One of those killed was 8 years old....


FUCKING BASTARDS!

Is one innocent death more tragic than another? It pisses me off how people differentiate life lost from life lost. Front page headlines after Newtown were" 20 children killed! 20 children killed" and then way back in section Z on page 346: "6 teachers killed"

Now it's 8 year old killed! 8 year old killed!

Our culture is driven completely by idealized emotion.

Are you fucking serious with that question/statement?! Show me ANY culture, religion, faith, ideology, etc. that doesn't hold the life or in this case, senseless, unnecessary, tragic death of an innocent, defenseless child in higher regard than that of any other sector of their respective society. You can't and won't. We as adults make the decision to bring a child into this world. A world rife with so very many issues, crime, oppression, famine, disease, etc., none of which these children are responsible for nor are they given a choice. It is therefore our moral obligation and duty before our respective God(s) to protect them and provide them with at least a fighting chance of surviving in a place where, depending on one's geographic location, the odds may be stacked hopelessly against them.
You can't believe we hold the life of one higher than the life of another?! If that life happens to be the life of a child, you're God damned right we do and anyone who doesn't has far deeper issues than this discussion can or will ever rectify.

[JRNYMAN]

One of those killed was 8 years old....


FUCKING BASTARDS!

Is one innocent death more tragic than another? It pisses me off how people differentiate life lost from life lost. Front page headlines after Newtown were" 20 children killed! 20 children killed" and then way back in section Z on page 346: "6 teachers killed"

Now it's 8 year old killed! 8 year old killed!

Our culture is driven completely by idealized emotion.

Are you fucking serious with that question/statement?! Show me ANY culture, religion, faith, ideology, etc. that doesn't hold the life or in this case, senseless, unnecessary, tragic death of an innocent, defenseless child in higher regard than that of any other sector of their respective society. You can't and won't. We as adults make the decision to bring a child into this world. A world rife with so very many issues, crime, oppression, famine, disease, etc., none of which these children are responsible for nor are they given a choice. It is therefore our moral obligation and duty before our respective God(s) to protect them and provide them with at least a fighting chance of surviving in a place where, depending on one's geographic location, the odds may be stacked hopelessly against them.
You can't believe we hold the life of one higher than the life of another?! If that life happens to be the life of a child, you're God damned right we do and anyone who doesn't has far deeper issues than this discussion can or will ever rectify.

And just one more thought on your logic...
The act by which the children of Newtown and today in Boston these kids were executed was not committed by another child. There was no level playing field here. Those acts were purposely executed by an adult who arguably has more wisdom, knowledge, abilities to defend themselves than that of the child or children who become acceptable collateral damage in their attempt to deliver a message.
Are you really THAT antisocial and cold-hearted that you sincerely believe a child's life is not more precious than that of an adult?

[RPM]

One of those killed was 8 years old....


FUCKING BASTARDS!

Is one innocent death more tragic than another? It pisses me off how people differentiate life lost from life lost. Front page headlines after Newtown were" 20 children killed! 20 children killed" and then way back in section Z on page 346: "6 teachers killed"

Now it's 8 year old killed! 8 year old killed!

Our culture is driven completely by idealized emotion.

So your pissed off people are more upset when defenseless children are killed more than adults?
Are you on drugs or just a complete moron?

[Archetype]

One of those killed was 8 years old....


FUCKING BASTARDS!

Is one innocent death more tragic than another? It pisses me off how people differentiate life lost from life lost. Front page headlines after Newtown were" 20 children killed! 20 children killed" and then way back in section Z on page 346: "6 teachers killed"

Now it's 8 year old killed! 8 year old killed!

Our culture is driven completely by idealized emotion.

So your pissed off people are more upset when defenseless children are killed more than adults?
Are you on drugs or just a complete moron?

If a bomb unexpectedly goes off next to you and you aren't in a war zone, or a man is aiming a rifle at you and you have nowhere to go, how is a child any more defenseless than you are? Life is life, unless you're hyper emotional.

[The_Noble_Cause]

Blaming Obama for this recent bombing in Boston is like Blaming Bush for the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Given that this horrible event occurred just hours ago, nobody knows anything. Can't you at least wait until the smoke clears and the body bags are off the street, before spouting off like a dumbass? Just what exactly is your security clearance? How the fuck would you know whether or not gov't officials (at any level) received prior warning about this tragedy?

Yeah, we all know who blamed Bush for that?

And they were right, too. In the weeks ahead, whatever evidence comes out should be objectively scrutinized. Partisan apologists like you be damned.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB147/
http://http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp ... Mar24.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opini ... html?_r=2&

[Don]

I think you all are in the wrong on this one. A unnecessary death should carry the same weight regardless if it was child belonging to wealthy family or a 40 year old homeless man.

No one here has the right to value one over the other. You aren't family members of the victims, you can't judge the measure of loss for the relatives because of the age of the deceased.

If your wife had her skull caved in, should the guy whose kid bled to death get more sympathy or media notice? Should the widower simply suck it up because his spouse was closer to a natural expiration date anyway?

[collingwood]

Sorry to hear about this tragedy in Boston

People going about their day enjoying the Marathon and some assholes do this to other human beings

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to all those affected.

I'll be going to Boston later in the year, so I'll pay my respects when I'm there.

[Ehwmatt]

John from Boston check in please. Hope it's all good. Who else from Boston here?

[Archetype]

I think you all are in the wrong on this one. A unnecessary death should carry the same weight regardless if it was child belonging to wealthy family or a 40 year old homeless man.

No one here has the right to value one over the other. You aren't family members of the victims, you can't judge the measure of loss for the relatives because of the age of the deceased.

If your wife had her skull caved in, should the guy whose kid bled to death get more sympathy or media notice? Should the widower simply suck it up because his spouse was closer to a natural expiration date anyway?

This is exactly what I'm trying to say. Thanks for saying it with a better use of examples. All you ever hear about is the 20 children killed at Newton. You never hear about the teachers. Is anyone here willing to say that those teachers' wives/husbands/children/parents/siblings sit at home and say to themselves "oh, well at least they had grown into adulthood, so their totally unnecessary death isn't tragic so let's just ignore them in the media."

Senseless and unnecessary death is 100% tragic, whether the victim was 8 years old or 80 years old. I refuse to differentiate and place more value over one or the other. Both cases are as awful as it gets.

To those hurling insults at me and things like that, you're saying a lot more about yourselves than you are about me.

[conversationpc]

I think you all are in the wrong on this one. A unnecessary death should carry the same weight regardless if it was child belonging to wealthy family or a 40 year old homeless man.

No one here has the right to value one over the other. You aren't family members of the victims, you can't judge the measure of loss for the relatives because of the age of the deceased.

If your wife had her skull caved in, should the guy whose kid bled to death get more sympathy or media notice? Should the widower simply suck it up because his spouse was closer to a natural expiration date anyway?

I think it's natural for people to be more shocked and sympathetic any time a child or baby is killed than they are when an adult has this kind of thing happen to them. It doesn't lessen the tragedy that is any lost life but it's just a natural reaction because it's innate in us as adults that we are protective of our young ones.

[RPM]

Is one innocent death more tragic than another? It pisses me off how people differentiate life lost from life lost. Front page headlines after Newtown were" 20 children killed! 20 children killed" and then way back in section Z on page 346: "6 teachers killed"

Now it's 8 year old killed! 8 year old killed!

Our culture is driven completely by idealized emotion.[/quote]

So your pissed off people are more upset when defenseless children are killed more than adults?
Are you on drugs or just a complete moron?[/quote]

If a bomb unexpectedly goes off next to you and you aren't in a war zone, or a man is aiming a rifle at you and you have nowhere to go, how is a child any more defenseless than you are? Life is life, unless you're hyper emotional.[/quote]

Of course it's all bad, and I agree to the families of the teachers there pain is equal, if that was your point
Then I can see that, as adults it is our responsibility to protect children so I think its natural to feel a deeper
Sense of disgust and anger at there loss.

[JRNYMAN]

I think when it comes to children, I'm uber-protective mostly because of their inability to not only have made the decision to be where they were when their life was taken but also in 999 out of 1,000 cases, a child doesn't possess the ability to have done something - anything - that somehow could be seen as them deserving what they got. They are the epitome of innocence and it's because of that fact that we as adults have the inherent responsibility of protecting and rescuing/saving them first no matter the risk to ourselves or the possibility of an adult's life ending as a result of putting the child ahead of them.
This is all hypothetical and those of us who replied negatively to you Archetype, at least for me anyway... were just caught off guard by reading that someone doesn't hold life - all lives - in equal regards when compared to a child's.

Don, you make some good points and certainly it will come down to the relatives as to which life is more paramount if at all. I just had never explored that possibility or even fathomed that it existed. I've always subscribed to the "protect the children first" theory - especially after becoming a parent and a youth mentor for the decade+ I did it.

[Don]

For Americans, children will always be the ones our sympathies fall on first but as been stated by some here, it's more to do with western conditioning.
I was in Goma in 1994 as a part of a U.N relief effort. The Tutsi's were retaliating against the Hutus and Hutu refugees were streaming into Goma. Now, I had spent three months the year before in Mogadishu working with medivacs so I thought myself pretty steeled against violent injuries and I saw it immediately as some of the children had come in with amputations, inflicted intentionally with machetes and farming tools. But you know what, they were the lucky ones.
Some of the women had their ears cut off, their noses and cheeks split. Their breasts chopped off and the incision cauterized shut with a hot piece of iron. A prosthetic couldn't help these girls, their lives were over. A child with one leg can use a crutch and still feed the chickens. For a women who has been raped and disfigured though, they wouldn't even be able to even beg for a small bowl of beans as they were considered rotted goods. For some, it was better to put stones in their pockets and walk into the river at night.

So for me, every one suffers and everyone dies. I can't tip the scales because one's a child, man, woman or elderly person, it all comes out equally in my eyes as tragic.

I get where everyone is coming from but I also can agree with archtype's point. Nothing about death is ever clear cut. One thing the religious and the non-religious, eastern or western can agree on though is when you die, while your family still lives on this earth, they will never see you again. The loss is the same there no matter the belief system or age/social/cultural status of the deceased.

[scarygirl]

For Americans, children will always be the ones our sympathies fall on first but as been stated by some here, it's more to do with western conditioning.
I was in Goma in 1994 as a part of a U.N relief effort. The Tutsi's were retaliating against the Hutus and Hutu refugees were streaming into Goma. Now, I had spent three months the year before in Mogadishu working with medivacs so I thought myself pretty steeled against violent injuries and I saw it immediately as some of the children had come in with amputations, inflicted intentionally with machetes and farming tools. But you know what, they were the lucky ones.
Some of the women had their ears cut off, their noses and cheeks split. Their breasts chopped off and the incision cauterized shut with a hot piece of iron. A prosthetic couldn't help these girls, their lives were over. A child with one leg can use a crutch and still feed the chickens. For a women who has been raped and disfigured though, they wouldn't even be able to even beg for a small bowl of beans as they were considered rotted goods. For some, it was better to put stones in their pockets and walk into the river at night.

So for me, every one suffers and everyone dies. I can't tip the scales because one's a child, man, woman or elderly person, it all comes out equally in my eyes as tragic.

I get where everyone is coming from but I also can agree with archtype's point. Nothing about death is ever clear cut. One thing the religious and the non-religious, eastern or western can agree on though is when you die, while your family still lives on this earth, they will never see you again. The loss is the same there no matter the belief system or age/social/cultural status of the deceased.

Keep depressing me why don't you.

[Journey/Survivor]

John from Boston check in please. Hope it's all good. Who else from Boston here?

John and I have had our differences in the past, but I hope he and his family are alright!

[Don]

For Americans, children will always be the ones our sympathies fall on first but as been stated by some here, it's more to do with western conditioning.
I was in Goma in 1994 as a part of a U.N relief effort. The Tutsi's were retaliating against the Hutus and Hutu refugees were streaming into Goma. Now, I had spent three months the year before in Mogadishu working with medivacs so I thought myself pretty steeled against violent injuries and I saw it immediately as some of the children had come in with amputations, inflicted intentionally with machetes and farming tools. But you know what, they were the lucky ones.
Some of the women had their ears cut off, their noses and cheeks split. Their breasts chopped off and the incision cauterized shut with a hot piece of iron. A prosthetic couldn't help these girls, their lives were over. A child with one leg can use a crutch and still feed the chickens. For a women who has been raped and disfigured though, they wouldn't even be able to even beg for a small bowl of beans as they were considered rotted goods. For some, it was better to put stones in their pockets and walk into the river at night.

So for me, every one suffers and everyone dies. I can't tip the scales because one's a child, man, woman or elderly person, it all comes out equally in my eyes as tragic.

I get where everyone is coming from but I also can agree with archtype's point. Nothing about death is ever clear cut. One thing the religious and the non-religious, eastern or western can agree on though is when you die, while your family still lives on this earth, they will never see you again. The loss is the same there no matter the belief system or age/social/cultural status of the deceased.

Keep depressing me why don't you.

The world has a lot of dark spots on it for sure. But take heart. Watching the videos today, one thing that should be comforting is the amount of people who, once frightened from the initial shock of the explosions immediately ran back to help those in need. I think the majority of beings on this planet are inherently good and as long as the scales are never forcefully tipped to the other side (be it a world wide catastrophe or nuclear war) we should always carry in our selves the knowledge that basic goodness still maintains a fire inside of our species.

[YoungJRNY]

I was thinking the same thing until I saw John post recently on his Facebook. Glad he and his family are okay but what a tragedy. Sympathies and thoughts sent out to Boston and all of the families in sorrow in this attack.

[The Sushi Hunter]

Hey Noble, next time try pulling your fucking head out of your ass before reading my posted response and it will make better sense to you. Go ahead, try it, pull your head out of your ass and reread it over and you'll understand what I wrote.

Here in its entirety, not your delusional piecemeal form:

Your joking right? How would Obama have anything to do with this? Blaming Obama for this recent bombing in Boston is like Blaming Bush for the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Yeah, we all know who blamed Bush for that?

Blaming Obama for this recent bombing in Boston is like Blaming Bush for the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Given that this horrible event occurred just hours ago, nobody knows anything. Can't you at least wait until the smoke clears and the body bags are off the street, before spouting off like a dumbass? Just what exactly is your security clearance? How the fuck would you know whether or not gov't officials (at any level) received prior warning about this tragedy?

Yeah, we all know who blamed Bush for that?

And they were right, too. In the weeks ahead, whatever evidence comes out should be objectively scrutinized. Partisan apologists like you be damned.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB147/
http://http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp ... Mar24.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opini ... html?_r=2&

[Memorex]

Scary how those could be placed anywhere and everywhere.

[Moon Beam]

All I have to say about this and ALL lives lost from senselessness is sad.
This world is becoming a bigger bummer everyday but it makes me search for the sun in each soul, even more.
My thoughts and prayers are with ALL who have been touched by this tragedy.

[Melissa]

I can't imagine the trauma all of these people will carry with them, but so amazing how many just immediately started helping any way they could. It's the only way to keep hope that despite how many evil people there are who want to kill and hurt others, that the good still outweighs the bad.

[Rick]

Saw this on Facebook.

This is a very touching photo of prayers being said for Boston before the rodeo began. I am so proud to be a Texan. Our hearts ache for everyone affected and for America in general.

[JRNYMAN]

The world has a lot of dark spots on it for sure. But take heart. Watching the videos today, one thing that should be comforting is the amount of people who, once frightened from the initial shock of the explosions immediately ran back to help those in need. I think the majority of beings on this planet are inherently good and as long as the scales are never forcefully tipped to the other side (be it a world wide catastrophe or nuclear war) we should always carry in our selves the knowledge that basic goodness still maintains a fire inside of our species.

In the days/weeks following 9/11, my daughters (who were 10 and 8 at the time,) like everyone else had gone into sensory overload with the constant bombardment of any fragment of news related to the event. And although each day's news stories were peppered occasionally with a story of kindness or heroism, they were always hopelessly overshadowed by the horror and hate and evil, etc.
I could see the effect all this was having on them and their demeanor. All the negativity and sadness that was ever-present everywhere they looked was killing their spirits and beginning to erode the inherent sense of hope that, at one time or another, lives/lived in all of us.
One night after dinner, I sat them down and explained to them exactly what you wrote. I told them that even though nothing like what happened on 9/11 had ever happened in our country prior which meant we didn't have any kind of instruction manual telling us how to deal with it and how to return things to normal, we can't and won't just give up or lay down and die. I explained that it's because of the kindness and genuine concern we have for one another that all the firefighters, police and other first responders were running into the buildings when everyone else was running out.

One of yesterday's stories that struck me was about the group of exhausted runners who, upon learning about the explosions mid-race (at the 21 mile point) decided on-the-spot to continue running to the nearest hospital to give blood.

That's the kind of genuine concern for our fellow man/woman that, when demonstrated, strengthens and renews my hope and faith in humanity.

[JRNYMAN]

Saw this on Facebook.

This is a very touching photo of prayers being said for Boston before the rodeo began. I am so proud to be a Texan. Our hearts ache for everyone affected and for America in general.

Never let it be said that a rough-and-tumble cowboy isn't just as sincere or lacks the emotions the rest of us have!
Nice find, rick!

[Boomchild]

It will be interesting to see what develops on finding out who is responsible. Honestly, I get the feeling that in a couple of weeks this will fade into the background and nothing much will be said.

[JRNYMAN]

It will be interesting to see what develops on finding out who is responsible. Honestly, I get the feeling that in a couple of weeks this will fade into the background and nothing much will be said.

I don't want to think that, but after Obama's speech this morning, I'm kinda getting that feeling too. He said during his brief speech - and then reiterated the fact that, they "have no suspects in custody nor do they know if it was the work of a terrorist group - foreign or domestic or if it was the work of a malevolent individual or individuals. But know this... we will find find out who is responsible and yada, yada, yada..."

[slucero]

here it comes...

Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) emerged from the briefing and said he was told the 22-year old Saudi student who was injured during the bombings and remains in the care of a local hospital was no longer a focus of investigators.

Chambliss did say that security around the country would have to change for large public events, including greater involvement by the federal government.

"This was a soft target. It was not a target that was able to be totally protected," he said. "This particular incident is going to cause the administration and Congress to evaluate our overall security programs around the country, particularly for major events. including greater involvement by the federal government.We can't leave it just to the communities that host these events to provide the security."


http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/16/saudi_national_no_longer_person_of_interest_in_boston_bombings_no_other_suspects

[verslibre]

They'll be goosestepping right by your kitchen window.

[JRNYMAN]

here it comes...

Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) emerged from the briefing and said he was told the 22-year old Saudi student who was injured during the bombings and remains in the care of a local hospital was no longer a focus of investigators.

Chambliss did say that security around the country would have to change for large public events, including greater involvement by the federal government.

"This was a soft target. It was not a target that was able to be totally protected," he said. "This particular incident is going to cause the administration and Congress to evaluate our overall security programs around the country, particularly for major events. including greater involvement by the federal government.We can't leave it just to the communities that host these events to provide the security."


http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/16/saudi_national_no_longer_person_of_interest_in_boston_bombings_no_other_suspects

Next month there's a big marathon here called Pat's Run. It's the annual Pat Tilman Memorial charity thing which has grown exponentially every year since its first - last year had 40,000 entrants. On this morning's local news it was announced that, "in light of yesterday's events in Boston, it's clear that the security measures for these types of events need to be stepped up in order to ensure the safety and well being of everyone who attends and participates. For that reason, security for next month's annual Pat's Run marathon held here in Phoenix/Tempe will be handled and overseen by the Dept. of Homeland Security as well as the FBI and other FEDERAL AGENCIES."

The blood on the sidewalk at the triage site in Boston wasn't even dry yet and this decision had already been made and put in place?! Damn! I've never witnessed such a display of efficiency! These guys are good and it shows just how much they are concerned in the safety and security of the citizens!

[slucero]

here it comes...

Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) emerged from the briefing and said he was told the 22-year old Saudi student who was injured during the bombings and remains in the care of a local hospital was no longer a focus of investigators.

Chambliss did say that security around the country would have to change for large public events, including greater involvement by the federal government.

"This was a soft target. It was not a target that was able to be totally protected," he said. "This particular incident is going to cause the administration and Congress to evaluate our overall security programs around the country, particularly for major events. including greater involvement by the federal government.We can't leave it just to the communities that host these events to provide the security."


http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/16/saudi_national_no_longer_person_of_interest_in_boston_bombings_no_other_suspects

Next month there's a big marathon here called Pat's Run. It's the annual Pat Tilman charity thing which has grown exponentially every year since its first - last year had 40,000 entrants. On this morning's local news it was announced that, "in light of yesterday's events in Boston, it's clear that the security measures for these types need to be stepped up in order to ensure the safety and well being of everyone who attends and participates. For that reason, next month's annual Pat's Run marathon held here in Phoenix/Tempe will be handled and overseen by the Dept. of Homeland Security as well as the FBI and other FEDERAL AGENCIES."

The blood on the sidewalk at the triage site in Boston wasn't even dry yet and this decision had already been made and put in place?! Damn! I've never witnessed such a display of efficiency! These guys are good and it shows just how much they are concerned in the safety and security of the citizens!

yep.. this federal encroachment is becoming painfully overt now..