WTH happened in boston?

were you anywhere close to there Jamie?

Hey thanks, Quan, something like this happens, it puts everything into perspective. I live about a mile from there, Copley Sq., it's en route to Fenway Park, actually, if I were to walk to the Fens then I would pass through Copley. Lots of sirens. The strange thing is that it's a sunny day.

But I would say the whole thing is unsettling, just to think that someone would do this, it's upsetting. I know people who were there, etc. One of my friends family were at the finish line, as a matter of fact, her sister was running in honor of her father passing away. But they are all okay.

I guess you just never know what is going to happen in life! Thanks for checking in, Quan. Cheers.

Terrible news! Hope your friends and family are safe in Boston Jamie. This should have been a triumphant victory for those who trained for the Boston Marathon. Now... this.... just awful.

What is going on in this country?

I'm already seeing the right conservative rumblings that this is somehow Obama's fault. It's sad that every tragedy has to become political.

sabrjay wrote:I'm already seeing the right conservative rumblings that this is somehow Obama's fault. It's sad that every tragedy has to become political.

First of all, I think the person who did this used bombs instead of the assault weapon route due to the politics going on right now about assault weapons. Right-wingers have been saying that assault weapons should be legal because anyone could do the same action with a bomb.

The bombs that were found were homemade, which suggests this was not an international terrorist attack from al-queda, but another disturbed sociopath. My only fear is that they may continue until caught, like the unabomber did.

With every event, Newtown, Arizona, etc, it just draws attention and these sociopaths feel that they are nobodies and that they become important by doing something that makes the news. The whole thing is endemic and there seems to be no way to slow it down.

As far as blaming it on Obama, my advice would be to stay off right-wing blogs. The people who write those are complete imbeciles. 80% of Boston voted for Obama, anyways, so why would he bomb his own supporters. But really those people are just idiots.

The only reason I look at them is that you cannot intelligently debate someone if you do not know where they are coming from. Sadly, many conservatives think that they know what liberals think and believe based on what they are told. Not actual real life experience or research. Most Americans, including liberals, are too lazy to actually fact check anything. Which is really sad given that the internet is right there at their fingertips.

I was due to take a return trip through Boston from my son's house this afternoon. His mother and family came in on the last plane from Florida before they locked down Logan airport. It's surreal. Wish human beings could solve their grievances without hurting each other.

coming from Vietnam and communism (not saying i knew what it was like as i was too small), the problem is the USA has too much freedom. the rest of the world hates us for it, and the people living within abuse it...and sometimes one of those two act up.

i see so many senseless shootings and killing the past 10 years here that would never fly anywhere else, especially the place my family came from.

My neighbor, Bun Yom, wrote a book about his experiences in SE Asia called "Tomorrow I'm Dead; How I survived the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields". Terrible, first-person, account of torture and starvation in Cambodia. Horrific things occur throughout the world, sometimes perpetrated by a government on its own slaves, er, people. I do not think that is the case here.

Do not believe I have ever seen "freedom" as a problem. Others may.

Ty, I certainly understand your point, but can see where Quan is coming from. It's like raising children; you want a proper balance. Same with government; the laws maybe restrict people in certain ways, but it protects them in others.

Look at the two hot-button issues of the day - gay marriage and an assault weapon ban. One is about increasing freedom, the other about limiting it. But both of those initiatives would likely lead to a healthier society.

So it is not necessarily a matter of too little or too much freedom, but how and where freedom is appropriated. But nevertheless, I think that, per Quan's point, Asians culturally are for more passive individuals, which is not necessarily bad.

I don't think that we can debate that we live in a culture that promotes aggression. Trampling others to get ahead is often the norm in corporations. Look at our sports teams, American teams and players have a reputation for being aggressive.

Sometimes that aggression can be a good thing, and being aggressive can be considered a compliment to some, but with incidents like what happened today, we can see the downside of living in a culture which rewards aggression.

The point Quan is making, is that too much freedom can lead to aggression; I think I can see that. And despite the pipe dreams of the libertarian sect, there certainly is such a thing as too much freedom.

thx to ty for his nice pm. from my understanding the khmer rouge killings were systemic, while isolated incidents happening the last few years here are born out of something else. i wish we have the answer to all the whys...but right now i don't feel safe putting my child in school, or take him to a movie, or even go running. i'm exaggerating of course for effect, but you guys know what i mean.

CRAZY stuff, like a movie. surreal.

Heard a great comment yesterday. Why is that when a bomb kills and injures people it is a terrorist attack yet when someone kills and injures a bunch of people with a gun it's not a terrorist attack?

i fully expect him to go down fighting, seeing as that was the fate of his older brother. but i do wish he'd surrender peacefully, just so we can get a better picture and motive.

They got him! He's in serious condition with neck and leg injuries at a Boston hospital, but they have him custody!

Well done Joint Task Force & citizens of Boston!