Current Affairs Boston bombing

[Awol]

e-bay is being flooded with marathon memorabilia, apparently...people always thinking about making a quick buck, no matter the circumstances

That's what made America a great power.

[chrisp65]

There's not much that can be said about this with the amount of fact we currently have, other than, I suppose, if any country can track down the perps then its the US.

 

I've got friends that are safe. Andrea crossed the line 35 mins before the bomb, so they'd moved out of the area, thanks to Andie for putting in the extra work around and around town. I found out via twitter, how very modern.

 

When caught, the person responsible needs to be put in solitary in a secure mental facility and stay there.

 

Much worse happens in many countries many days of the week, this brings home a real sense of real people we find it easier to connect with. But Iraqi kids are loved and missed too.

 

Anybody who's first reaction is to grab some video needs to sit down in a quiet space and have a good think about their lifestyle.

[BOF]

e-bay is being flooded with marathon memorabilia, apparently...people always thinking about making a quick buck, no matter the circumstances

You can't create the most uncompromisingly capitalist nation on earth then complain when people try to make a buck

[PompeyVillan]

One of the things that amazes me about this situation is the steely, stoic nature of the Americans who tended the wounded. As the bombs go off there is panic and confusion  people are scared, some run away. Most do not, despite the chaos they stop, take stock of the situation and begin to help the wounded, even as the second bomb goes off. 

 

Remarkable people. 

[leviramsey]

Especially since there is no city in the US that's done more to make the US capitalist than Boston.

(Well, Salem and Newburyport played their part, too).

[leviramsey]

One of the things that amazes me about this situation is the steely, stoic nature of the Americans who tended the wounded. As the bombs go off there is panic and confusion  people are scared, some run away. Most do not, despite the chaos they stop, take stock of the situation and begin to help the wounded, even as the second bomb goes off. 

 

Remarkable people.

I'm not sure it's that different from other countries, though, admittedly, I didn't really watch 7/7 coverage to be able to say whether Londoners ran away or helped even if they had no "authority" (not the best word).

This is idle speculation, but if it is something to remark about, it's probably a consequence of the individualist ethos. I can see how holding more of a belief that one is in control of their destiny would make one more likely to stay and help. The sense of community fostered by the archetype of the small town that one tends to feel in New England (even the proper City of Boston is really more a conglomeration of 20 or so medium size towns than a city) probably also interacts with and affects this.

[CI]

Are we any closer to finding out which rocket polishers did this

[Ingram85]

No

[CI]

Professional photographer getting a bit of a grilling by Paxman in terms of ethics.

[KennyPowers]

I prefer to stay out of politics but I have to say the amount of thinly veiled 'America deserves it' comments I've seen are sickening (not on here). 

 

I have a brother in the Middle East so have been far more concerned about the earthquake today which he felt btw before anyone says tragedies happen other places as well. 

[leviramsey]

More tales of life before and after

We love to celebrate our Revolutionary War heritage in Boston. We love it so much that we’ve created multiple holidays to commemorate key events in the war that you non-Bostonians have probably never heard of like Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day. The granddaddy of all these holidays is Patriots' Day as it is celebrated statewide instead of just the Greater Boston area. It’s a day where people go to a Red Sox game that starts at 11 a.m., start drinking at 9 a.m., and encourage people in much better shape than them to run 26.2 miles all the way to Copley Square. It’s a holiday where people celebrate Boston as much as they celebrate the Shot Heard Round The World with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHezKYszqgE.

Yesterday I passed on the reenactments (they’re boring after you’ve seen them once) and headed to Copley Square to do what most Bostonians were doing: drinking at a bar with friends, complaining about the Red Sox bullpen, and cheering marathon runners while in a heightened state of inebriation. It’s something I’ve done many times before and yesterday’s Marathon Monday seemed like just another day of celebration. It was brisk out, so I grabbed a heavier jacket and my camera just before leaving.

Of course I never made it to the bar and ended up spending the evening covering a horrible tragedy. I cabbed it over to as close as I could to get to Copley Square and found a scene that was, at best, calmly chaotic. People were predominantly orderly and first responders appeared to have the situation largely under control, though they provided everyone, including journalists, with very little information as to what was going on. We were stuck at the corner of Newbury and Dartmouth for some time before we were moved two blocks away from the scene of the explosion.

Men in military fatigues and heavily armored SWAT teams were everywhere you turned. Adding to the bizarreness of what I was seeing was the large number of drunks that were in a strange state of terrorism-induced-soberness. People in Red Sox jerseys, clearly under the influence, were walking around in a daze next to lanyarded marathon volunteers. One kept muttering “Holy **** dude!” while another clad in an Ortiz jersey fumbled with his phone presumably trying to call Mom and let her know he was OK.

As it became clear that we were not going to get any closer I retreated to the patio of a nearby bar to charge my phone. By now hundreds of marathon runners in space blankets were starting to make their way down the Commonwealth Avenue median. They looked like stunned refugees from outer space.

Few wanted to talk but those that did told me that they were pulled from the course around Mile 25 near Kenmore Square. The race was over and nobody was going to officially finish the race at that point. Many were understandably upset about the bombing and the ensuing cancelation of the race. These runners were too far away to hear or see the bombings on Boylston Street so their knowledge of the incident was limited. One runner I spoke with echoed the sentiments of many, saying they were told very little of what happened.

“They haven’t told us much of anything,” said runner Pat Hogan, 61, of Gig Harbor, Washington.

Others in the parade of distraught marathoners were frantically trying to get in touch with loved ones. One emotionally distraught runner, Frank Mairano, 66, of the Harbor Towers came up to me while I was charging my phone and asked if I could help find his wife. I told him we could try texting her but phones were useless because cell phone networks were overloaded. He then relayed to me his ordeal of being separated near the finish line from the friend he was running with. He was in rough shape but when we confirmed his wife was safe via text message he was overcome with joy and went on his way.

Inside the bar there was a mix of satisfied marathon runners, volunteers, journalists frantically trying to file or charge their equipment, and drunk people. Me and my fellow journo friends abandoned all hope of trying to cross the barriers to get to the press conference so we hunkered down at the bar to watch it. A drunk young couple kept talking loudly throughout the presser before shutting up after being repeatedly shushed. Outside a drunk young woman in a chicken outfit and Red Sox jersey was going back and forth between sadness and loud laughter.

Eventually I took off for a local Catholic shrine that does outreach during major public outdoor events. I found one of the priests talking outside with a handful of people. There were more cops and SWAT officers in military fatigues than people at this point. The Green Line was running again, albeit in a delayed manner, which is actually normal for the pesky old trolley.

The ride home on the oldest subway line in America to file was quiet and somber. Even the drunks on the train were sad. They didn’t care about the Red Sox game that took place hours earlier. They just wanted to go home and hug their loved ones.

I did too.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

One of the things that amazes me about this situation is the steely, stoic nature of the Americans who tended the wounded. As the bombs go off there is panic and confusion people are scared, some run away. Most do not, despite the chaos they stop, take stock of the situation and begin to help the wounded, even as the second bomb goes off.

Remarkable people.

I've no idea what them being "American" has to do with it? I think it's systemic of most societies throughout the world. It's a primal instinct.

[Awol]

Remarkable people. 

They come from good stock

[Ghost]

One of the TV news reports here had an interview with an Australian lady who was near the finish line, cheering on her partner's sister. She was near the blasts and I found this point particularly interesting.

 

Full Transcript

 

"It's like, you know - and we're all very, we're very shell shocked. But interestingly you mention the home grown terror attack but we did notice - I mean it's purely speculative obviously, no one's taken responsibility but there were some people with placards saying that had written on them "Boston will burn like Sodom for her evil ways," and there were two men and they were standing right on the corner when we were going around to the back of the finishing line and they were still there when we were being herded out, so after the explosion. And either it's very prescient of them saying Boston will burn or they may have had something to do with it. I have no idea."

Edited April 17, 2013 by Ghost

[Keyblade]

Not one to don a tin-foil hat...but saw this on fb today.

 

 

 

 

[LockStockVilla]

Wowwwwwwww

[Kiwivillan]

Not one to don a tin-foil hat...but saw this on fb today.

 

 

 

Shenanigans! His name is Jeff Bauman

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/jeff-bauman-jr-both-legs-amputated-dad-says_n_3094882.html

[Genie]

Wow, now I trust what I see on the internet even less.

[PompeyVillan]

 

One of the things that amazes me about this situation is the steely, stoic nature of the Americans who tended the wounded. As the bombs go off there is panic and confusion people are scared, some run away. Most do not, despite the chaos they stop, take stock of the situation and begin to help the wounded, even as the second bomb goes off.

Remarkable people.

I've no idea what them being "American" has to do with it? I think it's systemic of most societies throughout the world. It's a primal instinct.

 

 

I'm not suggesting that stoicism or bravery is something exclusive to American people, I was assuming that most of the spectators and officials were American, with it being in Boston. You can substitute the 'American' for 'people', if you want. 

[darrenm]

What hits home particularly hard for me is that I'm a runner (not very good), I have an 8 year old son and a 6 year old daughter, and if I was doing the Boston Marathon I would have gotten them to watch me over the finish line.

 

So in that respect I can quite easily see that 8 year old boy who died as my own. There, but for the grace of God, go I etc..

 

But if it was the boy's dad, it would be absolutely killing me that if I'd trained a bit harder I would have come in earlier and he would still be alive. Or a bit more effort to finish at 04.05 and be off the finish line within a couple of minutes, anything to just have moved the family a bit.