boston marathon bombing

[Bob]

it feels completely unreal to even type that, but it happened today. somebody planted bombs in my city because they wanted people to die, and it worked.

even now, on the day of the event, without time to even sleep it off, i can't help but realize on some level that this kind of shit happens all around the world all the time, and how egocentric is it of me to only suddenly feel it deeply now that it happened in the place where i live, where i can't ignore it, but...i still do, it still feels so unreal, so sue me

i'm fine and i wasn't anywhere near the blast when it happened, i work across town, i found out about it through friends, but still. seeing a cell phone picture on twitter of blood-stained ground of a place i've been to many times before, maybe 5 or 10 minutes after the blast, with the simple caption "what the fuck just happened?"...i don't really have a precedent for how to think about that, you know? seeing a picture of the boston public library, where i've met friends, only now the ground is wet with the blood of strangers and somebody's lying there with half their leg missing, that's not something i expected to process today. even saying shit like "i wasn't anywhere near the blast" is something i've gone 28 years without having to do yet, it's...it's weird.

it happened near the end of the work day and i found myself thinking, sort of coldly and rationally, "should i try to take the train home? what's the grace period after a bombing when it's safe to take train again? the train's running, which means the police don't expect anyone to blow it up, and they know best, right? and if i do walk, are there any particular places that people might want to bomb that i should avoid?" that kind of fucked up thing. i've never had to think about that before

i'm impressed by the speed that the authorities were able to respond to it with, and also by the general feeling of love and empathy that's happening at the moment...let's hope that doesn't turn into lust for vengeance too soon, or at all preferably. i don't want to see anybody flayed over this, i just want to live in a world where people don't want to plant bombs in cities anymore

i'm rambling, i dunno. i'm fine but i'm rambling

[TurdBerglar]

I live about 45 minutes from Hartford and about 2 hours from boston but this feels closer to home than it really is.

I've had friends that were just there for a bruins game. I use to go there like once a month on a whim with a couple of friends just to fuck around for a day. it's a weird feeling.

[Dorothy Wood]

I can't imagine how it would feel to be so close to an incident like that. Glad you're okay.

[abbott]

thanks for the post Bob. I wish I knew what to say. Hope your city recovers quick. Hope you get your way and find the world you speak of.

[Yeti]

My thoughts are with you Bob, the people of Boston and the tourists that were in town for the race. This world is full of f*cked up people but I am thankful that there are many more caring and helpful people. Those bastards killed an 8 year old boy and harmed many other children. It is sick!!
Today is also the anniversary of the Virginia Tech University campus massacre.
It is sad that these horrible things continue to happen.

[ms.peachy]

Dude. I know exactly how you feel. I can remember the day of the tube bombings in London like it was yesterday. The night before the bombings, London was celebrating. We had just won the bid for the 2012 Olympics, it was a beautiful July evening and people were in the mood for a paryt. I went out to dinner with some girlfriends in Soho, we sat outside at a cafe and the mood in the streets was grand.

The next morning I must have caught one of the last trains out of Liverpool St Station before it was shut down, heading out towards Chelmsford for a meeting. I didn't know anything had happened until I was in the taxi from the station and heard the cabbie's radio; just as it was dawning on me what they were saying my husband called to check if I was OK as he'd forgotten I was going out of town and thought I would be on the tube. And on any other day, there isn't a reason in the world why it couldn't have been me on that Piccadilly line train at that exact moment; after all it was my regular route to work, and the normal time I'd have been passing King's Cross.

Meeting went on as planned but of course, with a serious pall over proceedings. Then of course I could not get home, since all transport was shut down - I was fortunte enough to find someone else at the meeting who could get me as far as Greenwich, where I stayed over with a friend. And we got a bit drunk and we cried and we laughed and then laughed and cried some more. And then the next day I took a mostly empty tube ride back to the city, and made my way home. (No work - the museum was closed; however most people did go back to work the next day.) Because that's what you do - you get on with the business of living. That's not to say it's nothing, or that you forget all about it - far from it. First there is a sort of numbness, then there is pain, then there is grief, then for some anxiety, and then any combination thereof. But you go on. You have to.

[kaiser soze]

My thoughts and prayers for all Bostonians and their families!

I have friends there and they are ok, I hope their friends are ok...

people are fucked up - cowards attacking a marathon

I pause to speculate if this is domestic, international, a lone asshole, or a group. Seeing the videos I must say the bravery of the spectators and first responders running into the blast zone deserve absolute respect and support.

I hope the suspects are found quickly and are crushed by the weight of justice

[M|X|Y]

hey dudes.. glad you're ok. i actually did think of you and was kind of waiting to see this thread.

the whole thing is sickening. hope everyone you know is ok too

[Guy Incognito]

good to hear you are ok Bob.

I had a relatively lucky escape in the nineties when i lived in Warrington (IRA Bomb) ,Peachys post made me realise its sad to think that lots of people have experienced this sort of thing. I wasnt in any danger but the feelings around the area are just of shock , disappointment, anger etc and its not nice.

[JoLovesMCA]

I’ve been to Newbury street where the blast happened and having friends from Boston it feels a bit personal for me. Now that it's been announced as a terrorist attack I hope that the investigation thrives and that they will soon close in on the evil scum that did this.

[MC Moot]

The picture released today of the 8 year old boy holding that peace sign has absolutley gutted me...

[RobMoney$]

I was in Boston the day before, on Sunday.
I'm way more emotionally affected by this than I could have imagined.


Last year my wife & I took up running as a form of exercise to try to lose weight.
We ran a few mud runs the more we got into running, and last September ran a half marathon here in Philly. For those of you who have never done a half or full marathon, or even a couple mile mud run, I can't begin to explain the sense of accomplishment you feel as you are about to cross the finish line of such an event. Having complete strangers holding signs or encouraging words to cheer you on, It's a truly natural high.
During the Philly half marathon I actually became quite emotional when this one woman who was in a wheelchair was sitting on the side of the road all alone simply holding a little sign that said

"You. Complete Stranger. YOU are my hero!".

That woman stuck in my mind the entire race and I knew there was no way I could quit, no matter how much pain I was in.
My son who is autistic was my main motivation for wanting to run the half. I wanted to show him that if his 280lb, 40yo father could run 13.1 miles, than he could do anything too. But now that disabled woman gave me a little extra added inspiration, and when you do 13 miles for the first time, you need all the inspiration you can get.
As my wife and I rounded the corner towards the finish line, I immediately spotted my kids and my mother in law in the crowd cheering for us, but as we got closer we spotted the same wheelchair bound woman sitting at the finish line. Cheering everyone on as they crossed, waving the same little sign she was holding back on the side of the road when we first saw her.

"You, Complete Staranger. YOU are my hero!"

I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed a tear seeing her there.

I haven't really thought about her since then, until yesterday as I sat there watching the footage on the news. I couldn't help but think about what if what happened in Boston, happened in Philly?
What if that were MY kids standing by the finish line as they cheered me on.
What if that was that amazing disabled woman who inspired me that day?
Just as you're about to experience one of the biggest emotional highs you can imagine, some fuck detonates a bomb and instantly your life is forever changed.

It fucking gutted me.

Fucking COWARDS.

[ms.peachy]

Originally Posted by MC Moot

The picture released today of the 8 year old boy holding that peace sign has absolutley gutted me...

I know

My daughter saw it this morning as I was flicking through the news online and asked me who that boy is. I told her that he is a very special boy who wants people to be nice to each other and take care of each other, and that he is holding up a sign to remind us all that we shouldn't do things to hurt other people. I can't possibly tell her the rest of the story. Fortunately we have no TV over here, so she's not likely to see something on TV she can't process yet. I know as a parent that as time goes by I won't be able to shield her from this kind of stuff forever (nor should I), but for right now there are things she doesn't need to know; she internalizes things so deeply as it is. When we were in NY in November, there was a terrible story of a bus accident in Brooklyn (or Queens?) where a bus crashed into a house and killed a 6 year old boy while he was sleeping, and she saw that story on the news. She was terrified for days - this idea that a 6 year old kid - like her - could be just sleeping and a bus crash into their house and kill them was just too too shocking. She knows nothing of the Newtown shooting, I can't even begin to imagine how that would fuck with her sweet little heart. Like I said I know I can't keep this shit away from her forever, but I can damn well do it for now.

[Adam]

I started typing a reply yesterday similar to Rob$ but he put it better than I could.

I've been to other cities where terror attacks have happened (Boston, NYC, live in London) but I've never actually been in a city during an attack. Anyway, I've done half marathons and the crowd are amazing; strangers cheering you on to do something that you could just look out your window and watch individuals do everyday. I've also come out to watch them and I will this Sunday for the London marathon. I was volunteering for St John Ambulance last for London marathon and it's an amazing being part of event in any capacity. (I kind of feel bad I didn't volunteer this year).

Which makes this all the worse. Running is humans at their best, doing it for charity, people cheering on strangers, volunteers spending normally over a week helping just for one day.

Cowards.

[kaiser soze]

This attack wasn't just against the people of Boston - it was against everyone from around the world who participate in the marathon.

Can all the adults of the world just pause for one day to let all the children of the world live to see another.

Fuckface Limbaugh jokes about pressure cookers after the bombings

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/0...t-Boston-Bombs

he should be off the air - hell, stop giving him air

[Freebasser]

Originally Posted by Guy Incognito

I had a relatively lucky escape in the nineties when i lived in Warrington (IRA Bomb)

Fuck - you almost got tied up in the Warrington bomb? I remember being scared for months afterwards that if the IRA were prepared to hit a little town nearby like Warrington then anyone was a target. It didn't help that two little boys died - just made me, a little boy, feel even more vulnerable.

Honestly, the IRA bombings were some fucked up, scary times. Every other week there was a fresh reminder of how dangerous The Troubles were. I am 100% behind Ireland reclaiming the North but killing people achieves nothing but heartache. I read a bunch of fucked up comments on the Daily Mail site the other day saying Bostonians deserved these bombings because of IRA funding drives held in Boston bars decades ago. How anyone can think someone like the 8 year old boy killed in Boston, or the little boys killed in Warrington, deserve to die is beyond me

[Guy Incognito]

Originally Posted by Freebasser

Fuck - you almost got tied up in the Warrington bomb? I remember being scared for months afterwards that if the IRA were prepared to hit a little town nearby like Warrington then anyone was a target. It didn't help that two little boys died - just made me, a little boy, feel even more vulnerable.

Honestly, the IRA bombings were some fucked up, scary times. Every other week there was a fresh reminder of how dangerous The Troubles were. I am 100% behind Ireland reclaiming the North but killing people achieves nothing but heartache. I read a bunch of fucked up comments on the Daily Mail site the other day saying Bostonians deserved these bombings because of IRA funding drives held in Boston bars decades ago. How anyone can think someone like the 8 year old boy killed in Boston, or the little boys killed in Warrington, deserve to die is beyond me

i was in town centre which isnt massive but wasnt in the incident area but not very far away really and managed to get out of town quickly.

[Bob]

now a cop got shot to death at MIT in cambridge

and apparently a carjacker is throwing grenades in watertown? and i thought i heard something about dynamite?

don't get it

[Adam]

I've been reading the ticker this morning to what has been going off.

Boston in lockdown - crazy.

I love Boston when I was there, I stayed in Cambridge, had a look near MIT so recognise a few places.

Russian origin the suspects I read reported.

[TurdBerglar]

http://www.today.com/video/today/51594935/#51594935


so many other stories below the initial video

[M|X|Y]

bob, turd.. thoughts? shit has gone bonkers in your neck..

[Bob]

they locked down the city and the surrounding area while conducting the manhunt. i live in somerville, just outside the locked down zone, but i stayed in anyway

it's weird, but i dunno, there's not much i can do besides lay low, stay out of the way, and hope they get the bastard

i'm not scared, not really. but it definitely feels different

[TurdBerglar]

I don't live nearly close enough to comment directly but I know some people that live there and pretty much say the same as bob.

as I type this it seems that they have the second one cornered in a residential area.

[M|X|Y]

really intense. i can't wait till they get the shit!

they have the fucker hiding in someone's back yard, in a boat.

i REALLY hope they get him alive.

[Bob]

there's a police scanner where you can follow shit as it goes down in real time

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ma-rt-9-window-cam

just don't post anything on social media please

last i heard they had him cornered on a boat in a backyard of a house in watertown. the boat was on fire at one point but i guess not now. they threw flashblangs at him but i don't know what came of that. they seem to be holding off and waiting for...i'm not sure

[Freebasser]

Caught the fucker

[Bob]

that's a relief

he looks like a damn child

[Documad]

Huge relief. I can't imagine being there or near there Bob.

[Bob]

i had the good fortune of being pretty well separated from any of the real trauma--i wasn't anywhere near any of the violent areas, and i don't personally know anybody who was. the closest i came to any of that is that the MIT cop who got murdered apparently lives about two blocks away from me. i was out buying a sandwich and noticed the street was cordoned off with police tape, and apparently that's why. the crime didn't happen there, that was just his home.

so for me it's been more of an existential weird; the personal tension has been brief and not visceral. though i swear i heard those explosions in watertown last night--i thought i heard thunder, and that was before i knew anything was happening, so it wasn't just my mind playing tricks on me.

still. can't believe this has only been one week

[Randetica]

Originally Posted by Bob

that's a relief

he looks like a damn child

and after all that some bitches are attracted to him like he is some jonas brother


anywayz...this whole official story sounds still bizarre...