Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

This forum is for talking about non-music-related stuff that the DBT fanbase might be interested in. This is not the place for inside jokes and BS. Take that crap to some other board.

Moderators: Jonicont, mark lynn, Maluca3, Tequila Cowboy, BigTom, CooleyGirl, olwiggum

User avatar
Smitty
Posts: 10900
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:30 pm
Location: Fruithurst, Al
Contact:

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by Smitty »

My main source of info was on reddit. Beat the hell out of any news station.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

User avatar
The Black Canary
Posts: 3233
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:24 am
Location: Cambridge, MA

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by The Black Canary »

First off let me say that the Boston, Cambridge, Watertown etc... did a fabulous job of keeping things under control on Friday which to say the least could have been a disaster.

So I start out with calling my boss at 6 am, because she doesn't watch the news at all to inform her not to go to the commuter rail, in Canton.

Then at 6:45 am all Cambridge residents rec calls from CPB to tell them to stay in, then we find out we are 2 streets over from Norfolk St and as I sat looking out the window watched as all these "SWAT" guys rolling down the street and back yards for about an hour. Helicopters over head since the night before.

We heard the copters Thursday night, but hey this is Cambridge not as if there isn't a regular flow of crime here.

Then the roads get closed, Boston is on lockdown, which sucked for a few friends who "had" to go to work because they couldn't leave their buildgins.

Then our Snowflake, student at UMass Dartmouth, gets evacuated by the bomb squad and she wants to come home, but we can't go get her and she is very scared but she stayed with a fellow students family located not to far from the school. So a big thank you to his parents for taking our little one in during all this.

He was in son's girlfriends highschool graduating class. As big and populated as Cambridge is, it still has it's small town moments.


So it was kind of like being an extra in a movie. Met some news guy from Sweden, for some reason just didn't think this was that big of a world wide deal.

Irony to swedish news guy, he wanted to know why there were Portugese flags on peoples homes, in Cambridge LOL
so what is it like living with your mommy again BWAHAHAHAHAH

beantownbubba
Posts: 21745
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:52 am
Location: Trying to stay focused on the righteous path

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by beantownbubba »

Tequila Cowboy wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:Freakiest real life (as opposed to movies) moment ever?

" Nowhere were there more questions than at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where Tsarniev was known as just an ordinary student.

"Literally, when I seen him he was just regular. He walked past me, we had a brief conversation and then I asked him for a ride home and he told me, 'Yeah,'" said Andrew Glasby, who lived at the same dormitory where Tsarnaev was staying after the marathon bombings.

Another friend, Zach Bettencourt, even asked Tsarnaev about the bombings.

"I talked to him in the gym about the bombing and he was like, 'Yeah man, tragedies happen all the time,'" Bettencourt said. "

Unknowingly talking to a terrorist about his terrorism???!!!!


Very strange stuff. This whole case is strange and I wish the news would take a lesson from their horrible track record of last week and just shut the fuck up and until their is a cohesive narrative based on solid investigation. They have plenty to talk about in the background like this student's account and other stories from last week. Speculation over sleeper cells and motivation should wait until a clearer picture emerges.


Check out Maureen Dowd's column in today's NYT for some musings on these issues, the decline of TV news and the issues arising from the 'net as the main source of "real time" news. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/opini ... h_20130424
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

User avatar
Tequila Cowboy
Site Admin
Posts: 20230
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:12 pm
Location: The Twilight Zone, along with everyone else

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

Good piece Beantown. I'm not a huge fan of Dowd but she hits on a lot of things I've been thinking about this past week. Even more surprising than enjoying a Maureen Dowd column though was finding that the very first comment after it hit on even more of the thoughts I've been having:

Pauline commenter on the NYT wrote:The element of "news" that turns me off (certainly my TV) is the endless bathos-athon we have been wallowing in since September 2001.

If news TV had its way (and it mostly does), we would be in Terrorism-All-The-Time mode -- reporting on it, imagining it, remembering it, and endlessly, sickeningly, hysterically "memorializing" it.

Our air time is becoming a series of annual remembrances of some kind of horror, bells tolling, uniforms marching, bands playing, eyes weeping. Our cities are becoming dotted with lugubrious architectural memorialana that serve as emotional lodestars as well as tourist magnets.

Our national conversation is mired in imagery of horror, mass public slaughter and collective victimhood.

Are these the unavoidable consequences for a country that spends more on war, military and weapons of mass destruction than all the developed nations combined, whose child poverty rate is virtually last, whose economic and class inequality is dead last?

If we did not spend so much of our public/private/news/broadcast/internet time and attention on terror, horror and death, we would have to start looking at the problems that plague our souls.

Terror and its endless "news" cycle has become the circus that has taken our minds off our bread and butter, and all the facets and concerns of a worthy life that go along with it.


This is spot on. How do we ever solve problems when we're told to live in a state of constant hysteria? The thing is when push comes to shove people aren't hysterical at all. They're focused, determined, compassionate, competent and kind. All you have to do is look at the work of the ordinary citizens, the runners, EMT's, first responders of all kinds and most importantly law enforcement on all levels last week. While the media was crowing, pointing fingers and getting it wrong these people did the things it took to get done what needed to get done. I have never been a media basher, I think the key to a truly free society is an unencumbered independent journalistic class, but my have they lost their way. It's not about liberal, conservative or any other labels it's about shoddy work and working people into a frenzy when, in these times especially, we need real reporting, solid facts and focused journalists. Instead to we have screaming banshees predicting doom and seemingly more on the ball when covering Justin Bieber than human tragedy and terrorism.

the sky is falling, the sky is falling
wish I could hideaway safe in the mall
something is constantly scheming and brewing
to make our lives a disaster movie



What's even worse than all of that though is apathy. There was a passionate FB post going around the other day saying that the media should not cover the terrorists, the arrests, the subsequent trial of the suspect but instead only show us the heroes as if burying one's head in the sand is the answer. How many people have read anything about terrorism other than what is spoon fed? Have they read books? Do they understand the difference between Islam and radical jihadists? Sadly I think the answers are no, and again this is across all ideological lines. Information is power and if our media refuses to give it to us and we are unwilling to find it ourselves where does that leave us? Lost.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

beantownbubba
Posts: 21745
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:52 am
Location: Trying to stay focused on the righteous path

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by beantownbubba »

Yeah I was struck by that first comment too but thought it was kind of a mixed bag.

In any case, the media has always placed a premium on being first. IOW that's always been a high journalistic value. But the traditional media simply can't compete w/ the 'net and all its offshoots on being first. So they're caught between believing that being first matters and being unable to be first. They and we would be better served by a paradigm shift where being right and trusted were higher values than being first. Otherwise it's a lose/lose, for journalists, their employers and us.

And yeah, it's always a little surprising when Ms. Dowd gets it right :)
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

User avatar
cortez the killer
Posts: 15455
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by cortez the killer »

You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM

User avatar
cortez the killer
Posts: 15455
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by cortez the killer »

beantownbubba wrote:
cortez the killer wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:Even if you previously ran the marathon, it "couldn't have been you" - empathy and sympathy do not require making it all about you no matter how far the stretch.

This is interesting, bubba. By nature, do you believe marathoners are narcissitic and marathon culture breeds or attracts narcissism? What about people who feel more connected than others (but were not actally there) to the tragedy & subsequent events? I haven't "lived" in Boston since 1997, but it is my home. It is who I am. I was born in Brigham & Women's Hospital in 1973. I was raised in the Boston area in a middle-class, Irish/Catholic family. To many of the people I went to college with (a small, private liberal arts college in Upstate New York), to my surprise, I represented what they imagined Boston to be. You can take the boy out of Boston, but you can't take the Boston out of the boy. I still have family & friends in the area. Some were directly affected by the events, some were not. I wasn't in the literal sense, but this whole thing hit me hard. It hit me very hard. I don't begin to pretend my life was impacted like the Campbell, Richard, Lingzi, or Collier families were. None of my family or friends lost a limb or were seriously wounded. But, like many people, the whole thing pissed me off. Right or wrong, I feel more connected to what happened in Boston than any other tragic event (including 9-11) that has transpired in my lifetime. My feelngs are my feelings. Are they less 'valid' than those who lost someone they love or had someone they love suffer life-altering injuries? Maybe my feelings are less significant (somewhat selfishly, thankfully so), but I have a hard time saying they're less valid. Maybe I'm a narcissist, too. Or maybe the town I grew up in fostered such a sense of pride & passion within me that I was not consciously aware of until the tragedy & recovery of the past week happened. I mean, I fucking despised the whole "Sweet Caroline" phenomenom that has swept over Fenway Park the past decade. Yet, as I watched Neil Diamond leading the Fenway faithful in a live rendition this past weekend, I was smiling ear-to-ear & tears were streaming down my cheeks. Corny, cheesy, hokey or not, David Ortiz summed it up perfectly for me, "This is our fuckin' city!" Like millions of others who were born, raised or lived there, Boston is MY city.


No, no, that's not what i meant at all. I agree w/ what you say.

I was trying to summarize an article I read, not express an opinion (though I thought the guy had an interesting perspective). But I did it too summarily. The easy part is that he was not singling out marathon runners, he was using this latest disaster as an example of what he perceives to be a common type of behavior in crisis/disaster situations. The harder part is to better explain what he meant and i sure can't do it at this hour but for the moment let me just say that, agree or disagree, I don't think you'll find it too controversial. It would be best to find the link to the article but I'm not sure I remember enough about it to do that (e.g. it would be easier if i could remember the author).

Yeah. I made some assumptions and ran with them. Sorry.
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM

User avatar
cortez the killer
Posts: 15455
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by cortez the killer »

Tequila Cowboy wrote:Good piece Beantown. I'm not a huge fan of Dowd but she hits on a lot of things I've been thinking about this past week. Even more surprising than enjoying a Maureen Dowd column though was finding that the very first comment after it hit on even more of the thoughts I've been having:

Pauline commenter on the NYT wrote:The element of "news" that turns me off (certainly my TV) is the endless bathos-athon we have been wallowing in since September 2001.

If news TV had its way (and it mostly does), we would be in Terrorism-All-The-Time mode -- reporting on it, imagining it, remembering it, and endlessly, sickeningly, hysterically "memorializing" it.

Our air time is becoming a series of annual remembrances of some kind of horror, bells tolling, uniforms marching, bands playing, eyes weeping. Our cities are becoming dotted with lugubrious architectural memorialana that serve as emotional lodestars as well as tourist magnets.

Our national conversation is mired in imagery of horror, mass public slaughter and collective victimhood.

Are these the unavoidable consequences for a country that spends more on war, military and weapons of mass destruction than all the developed nations combined, whose child poverty rate is virtually last, whose economic and class inequality is dead last?

If we did not spend so much of our public/private/news/broadcast/internet time and attention on terror, horror and death, we would have to start looking at the problems that plague our souls.

Terror and its endless "news" cycle has become the circus that has taken our minds off our bread and butter, and all the facets and concerns of a worthy life that go along with it.


This is spot on. How do we ever solve problems when we're told to live in a state of constant hysteria? The thing is when push comes to shove people aren't hysterical at all. They're focused, determined, compassionate, competent and kind. All you have to do is look at the work of the ordinary citizens, the runners, EMT's, first responders of all kinds and most importantly law enforcement on all levels last week. While the media was crowing, pointing fingers and getting it wrong these people did the things it took to get done what needed to get done. I have never been a media basher, I think the key to a truly free society is an unencumbered independent journalistic class, but my have they lost their way. It's not about liberal, conservative or any other labels it's about shoddy work and working people into a frenzy when, in these times especially, we need real reporting, solid facts and focused journalists. Instead to we have screaming banshees predicting doom and seemingly more on the ball when covering Justin Bieber than human tragedy and terrorism.

the sky is falling, the sky is falling
wish I could hideaway safe in the mall
something is constantly scheming and brewing
to make our lives a disaster movie



What's even worse than all of that though is apathy. There was a passionate FB post going around the other day saying that the media should not cover the terrorists, the arrests, the subsequent trial of the suspect but instead only show us the heroes as if burying one's head in the sand is the answer. How many people have read anything about terrorism other than what is spoon fed? Have they read books? Do they understand the difference between Islam and radical jihadists? Sadly I think the answers are no, and again this is across all ideological lines. Information is power and if our media refuses to give it to us and we are unwilling to find it ourselves where does that leave us? Lost.

I don't live in state of constant hysteria, but from Friday morning through Sunday I was glued to the TV and the computer. Since then, here and there. I think the characterization of the media's coverage of disasters and its impact on society is hyperbolic. Of course the media is going to report the fuck out of an event like what took place in Boston. I don't want to come off as an intellectual snob, but if you are going to live in a state of constant hysteria because of an event like 9-11 or the events in Boston and the subsequent media coverage, you're not very bright. The chances of you dying as a result of driving a car are far, far, far greater than they are of dying from an act of terror. Will you drive or step into a car again? I don't need to read books on Islamic fundamentalism. I don't fucking care. It's evil. I get it. They'd like to fuck with us. I get it. On a very, very rare occasion they succeed in doing so. I don't feel like I'm burying my head in the proverbial sand. Nor do I feel like I am apathetic. Most Muslims are not evil terrorists. I understand it. The media is not the problem. It's ignorant, simpletons that can't process information that doesn't fit into a neat little world of black & white or good vs. evil. I don't see the media as the problem. I see it more as a product of ignorant people. Plus, because of the media, I've developed a crush on a fellow NESCACian, Erin Burnett.
Image
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM

User avatar
cortez the killer
Posts: 15455
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by cortez the killer »

The Carjacking
The story of that night unfolds like a Tarantino movie, bursts of harrowing action laced with dark humor and dialogue absurd for its ordinariness, reminders of just how young the men in the car were. Girls, credit limits for students, the marvels of the Mercedes ML 350 and the iPhone 5, whether anyone still listens to CDs -- all were discussed by the two 26-year-olds and the 19-year-old driving around on a Thursday night.
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM

User avatar
The Black Canary
Posts: 3233
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:24 am
Location: Cambridge, MA

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by The Black Canary »

cortez the killer wrote:The Carjacking
The story of that night unfolds like a Tarantino movie, bursts of harrowing action laced with dark humor and dialogue absurd for its ordinariness, reminders of just how young the men in the car were. Girls, credit limits for students, the marvels of the Mercedes ML 350 and the iPhone 5, whether anyone still listens to CDs -- all were discussed by the two 26-year-olds and the 19-year-old driving around on a Thursday night.


That took place about a mile and half from our house, didn't hear the gun shots but the helicopters woke us up through out the night. We never thought to put the news on, at 2 am, hey its Cambridge, criminal on the loose OK... not till the am and the phone call from the Poo Poo.
so what is it like living with your mommy again BWAHAHAHAHAH

User avatar
Penny Lane
Posts: 6190
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:54 am
Location: musky woodland predator fuck stink

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by Penny Lane »

This year was the first year in 22 years that my dad didn't qualify or run this race. Still wrapping my head around that twist of fate.


edited: and THIS is where I live...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/25/mykyta-panasenko-arrested_n_3158241.html?1366931103
Last edited by Penny Lane on Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
In my blood, there's gasoline..

beantownbubba
Posts: 21745
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:52 am
Location: Trying to stay focused on the righteous path

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by beantownbubba »

cortez the killer wrote:The Carjacking
The story of that night unfolds like a Tarantino movie, bursts of harrowing action laced with dark humor and dialogue absurd for its ordinariness, reminders of just how young the men in the car were. Girls, credit limits for students, the marvels of the Mercedes ML 350 and the iPhone 5, whether anyone still listens to CDs -- all were discussed by the two 26-year-olds and the 19-year-old driving around on a Thursday night.


Great stuff! I had no idea the carjacking had lasted that long and covered that much ground.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

User avatar
tinnitus photography
Posts: 7251
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by tinnitus photography »

The Black Canary wrote: We never thought to put the news on, at 2 am, hey its Cambridge, criminal on the loose OK... not till the am and the phone call from the Poo Poo.


is that what Cantabrigians call the Po Po?

User avatar
The Black Canary
Posts: 3233
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:24 am
Location: Cambridge, MA

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by The Black Canary »

tinnitus photography wrote:
The Black Canary wrote: We never thought to put the news on, at 2 am, hey its Cambridge, criminal on the loose OK... not till the am and the phone call from the Poo Poo.


is that what Cantabrigians call the Po Po?

;) I was born there, but grew up in the Pacific North West, I am a returning Portuguese LOL :lol: :lol: :lol:
so what is it like living with your mommy again BWAHAHAHAHAH

User avatar
cortez the killer
Posts: 15455
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by cortez the killer »

tinnitus photography wrote:
The Black Canary wrote: We never thought to put the news on, at 2 am, hey its Cambridge, criminal on the loose OK... not till the am and the phone call from the Poo Poo.


is that what Cantabrigians call the Po Po?

'Shit' works fine for me.
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM


User avatar
The Black Canary
Posts: 3233
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:24 am
Location: Cambridge, MA

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by The Black Canary »

tinnitus photography wrote:
The Black Canary wrote: We never thought to put the news on, at 2 am, hey its Cambridge, criminal on the loose OK... not till the am and the phone call from the Poo Poo.


is that what Cantabrigians call the Po Po?

unless you are on the other side of the tracks (East Cambridge) and then that makes you a "Beastie from Eastie" and yes folks there was a tag line competition and tshirts for this.
so what is it like living with your mommy again BWAHAHAHAHAH

beantownbubba
Posts: 21745
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:52 am
Location: Trying to stay focused on the righteous path

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by beantownbubba »

What are the limits of friendship? What would and should you do if a friend in trouble, especially big trouble asks you for help?

These 3 guys decided that they would help their friend, accused of murder and terrorism, destroy evidence.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/bre ... 27478.html
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

beantownbubba
Posts: 21745
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:52 am
Location: Trying to stay focused on the righteous path

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by beantownbubba »

OK, this is complicated but stick w/ me for a minute:

The NYT is reporting that the elder Tsarnaev is NOW a suspect in a 2 year old triple murder in Waltham, a boston suburb. The speculation is that the murder case was bungled and if it was handled correctly the boston bombing might never have occurred because Tsarnaev would have been nabbed for the murder.

Let's leave aside the if..then part, because that kind of speculation is not only mere speculation but it can also drive you crazy if you let it.

But let's just consider the murder inquiry: Triple murders do not happen everyday, anywhere, and certainly not in Waltham Massachusetts. I remember when it happened: it was huge news and very high profile. Yet the portrayal of the investigation in the Times almost made me gag. To sum up in my own words, it appears to have basically been treated like big city police departments treat most burglaries: we'll take down the info, but unless we get lucky don't expect to hear from us again. A triple murder!! It makes one wonder what those cops do all day. And then if you let yourself be tantalized by the "what if they caught the guy?" aspect...

The article also brought up one of the bigger mysteries in the whole Tsarnaev affair: that guy (accomplice?) in FL who was killed while in FBI custody. I'm sure a half dozen conspiracy thrillers are being written right now based on that unexplained and very strange event.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

User avatar
tinnitus photography
Posts: 7251
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by tinnitus photography »

beantownbubba wrote:
The article also brought up one of the bigger mysteries in the whole Tsarnaev affair: that guy (accomplice?) in FL who was killed while in FBI custody. I'm sure a half dozen conspiracy thrillers are being written right now based on that unexplained and very strange event.


that event gave me flashbacks to Homeland.

User avatar
cortez the killer
Posts: 15455
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line

Post by cortez the killer »

Taking the topic over to its original thread, angered by Rolling Stone's upcoming cover, a Massachusetts State Police sergeant has been placed on leave for releasing his own photos taken from Tsarnaev's apprehension. Some of the photos he released to remind people as to who we are talking about include the following:
Image
Image
Image
Image

In releasing the photos, Sgt. Sean Murphy had the following to say:
“As a professional law-enforcement officer of 25 years, I believe that the image that was portrayed by Rolling Stone magazine was an insult to any person who has every worn a uniform of any color or any police organization or military branch, and the family members who have ever lost a loved one serving in the line of duty. The truth is that glamorizing the face of terror is not just insulting to the family members of those killed in the line of duty, it also could be an incentive to those who may be unstable to do something to get their face on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

I hope that the people who see these images will know that this was real. It was as real as it gets. This may have played out as a television show, but this was not a television show. Officer Dick Donohue almost gave his life. Officer Sean Collier did give his life. These were real people, with real lives, with real families. And to have this cover dropped into Boston was hurtful to their memories and their families. I know from first-hand conversations that this Rolling Stone cover has kept many of them up—again. It’s irritated the wounds that will never heal—again. There is nothing glamorous in bringing more pain to a grieving family.

Photography is very simple, it’s very basic. It brings us back to the cave. An image like this on the cover of Rolling Stone, we see it instantly as being wrong. What Rolling Stone did was wrong. This guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber. Not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.”
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM

Post Reply