Grateful Dead

Unbelievable news breaking all night in Watertown, Ma., I'm sure you've seen it by now. It continues. As of 7:50am est Boston is in a "shelter-in-place" lock-down, as well as surrounding communities to Watertown. One Chechen ID'd by the FBI last night at 5pm is dead in a shootout, his brother still on the run. If 2 Chechens can cause this much mayhem... Wow!

If you're a reporter, what is the responsible thing to do here? Watch CNN and read between the lines. There was a good movie made about 25 years ago about Chicago firefighters. They are a clan, no where more so than in Chicago and Boston.

I watched the inter-"faith" service this morning, lots of words of wisdom there. Dark days suck but we carry on. I hope all of you will please say a little prayer for Furthur. They had to start their latest run on Monday and I'm sure they could use it. The show must go on ! love and peace to all

Sadly, I agree with you, Mike. Let's face it, we live in a culture where most of us can't remember what we ate for breakfast this morning much less the day before. It won't be long now 'til this incident is forgotten...unless it's used as the wardrum to sound the call for further hunting of terrorists. It will be a very long time before another attack on American soil is on a scale as grand as 9/11, but it won't take much for the to take up arms and start firing at whomever. Personally, I hope it's domestic terrorists. As bad as that is to say, I say it because it's time the American people wake up and realize terrorists don't come from the Middle East, aren't Muslims or Islamic, and can actually look just like we do. It's time we wake up and realize our neighbors might not be exactly who we think they are. Also, it'd be nice if we stopped blaming the Middle East for...well, pretty much everything. We've also become too trusting a people, believing whatever the man on the television says. The media is not to be trusted! He keeps telling me how white my shirt could be, but he doesn't smoke the same cigarettes as me!

A famous author of books with Boston characters stated today in a radio interview of how proud he was of Bostonians whom he said ran collectively toward the explosions to help the wounded. Wrong! The masses of people ran like stampeded cattle. A woman reported yesterday that the stampede was the worst thing she had ever been caught up in, just trying to hang on to her eight year-old child was a herculean effort. "They picked the wrong city to mess with!" this author stated with controlled anger. "This will not change the Boston Marathon substantially." Wrong! They are now speaking of spaces between people so authorities can actually see who is carrying backpacks. It should be noted that first responders and veterans in the crowd ran toward the scene and attended to the victims in an heroic fashion. My hat is off to them, completely, and I am bowing at the hip. Their actions represent the finest tradition America has to offer -- helping others without thought or concern for their own well being. The third explosion not being talked about was the one at the JFK Library. That is where the police took the third and as yet undetonated bomb. The video of this explosion on local channels yesterday was horrific, as was the aftermath. It is not being talked about, I believe, because the BPD kind of screwed up. Kind of because nobody was injured (as far as can be known), and that is really their job. But they didn't get it to a place where it could be safely disposed of and the timer went off on them. A "controlled explosion" is probably not the correct term to use here. As I observe breaking stories I am seeing time and again how truth is rewritten in hours and unless you can see early reporting before it is censored you miss the story. There was a fourth bomb that was safely disposed of without casualty or property damage. "Morning" Joe Scarborough (MSNBC morning show host) excoriated the press this morning for their irresponsible reporting. Sit on it and spin, Joe -- We want the complete, unvarnished truth here, not the whitewash job. The faces of police and fire union officials were grim as they announced a reward of $50,000 for information leading the arrest of the individual(s) responsible for this atrocity. The FBI and the BPD is asking all people with video and photos to help them. Translation: They don't have a clue who did this. But they are vowing to "...turn over every rock..". They are stunned and embarrassed that this happened on their watch, especially as 9/11 was partially started at Boston's Logan Airport. They shouldn't be. The tradition of the Boston Marathon has 30,000 people packed together with only the tightest security at the grandstand at the finish for VIPs. You can't effectively control 30,000 people at this type of event in a free society and that is why the fabric of our society is being rewoven. They will figure out how to make it safe and we will be less free. If the finest tradition of America is the selflessness of the first responders the worst was the comments made today by a woman official from Oklahoma City who was in charge of their memorial marathon initiated after the OK City Murrah Federal Building bombing by Nichols and McVeigh. She kept saying "If you Boston people want to come to OK City you can finish your marathon here. We'd be glad to have you!" (as opposed to host you). If she said it once as a passing comment it would have been fine but to say it four times was utter and awful pandering for the bucks. Disgusting, Lets make some money off this sucker! Denial that this terrorist bombing actually happened on Patriots Day at the Boston Marathon after the Red Sox rallied in the bottom of the 9th inning to win their 11am start time game at Fenway Park is coming down hard. Law Enforcement has to catch these guys to save face. They are practically spitting with vindictive rage. And I don't blame them.

My brother is working a construction job at the Berklee School of Music, just a few blocks from the bombing site. It being Patriots' day, he had Monday off and so was at home rather than in hearing-distance of the explosions. He went to work yesterday, not sure if he'd be allowed onto the jobsite -- it turns out that he wasn't. He was expecting to see all of the security/investigation/etc stuff going on in the area, but expecting isn't the same as experiencing. TV is not the same as real life. He was pretty much unprepared for the visceral impact of being there the day after -- if he was upset before he arrived, he was shaken after he saw how familiar sights had turned nightmarish. Today he'll be allowed back at work. Consider that we collectively shrug when we hear of bombs going off in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and so on. Distance will do that to you...

You may very well be right, Mike, and I respect your opinion. I do believe the fabric of American society has been rewoven. This is not my original opinion but I agree with the radio commentator who voiced it. Please see my next post. I am taking NO pleasure in reporting the stuff as it goes down.

> There will never be another large crowd of people at the Boston Marathon all packed together cheering as one. Ana, I completely I disagree with your assessment here. The crowds will be back next year, and the years after that. They may gather in defiance, at first, but before long, yesterday's bombing will fade from our collective memory as its replaced by our latest examples of inhumanity. It's been my observation that while we may learn and remember individually, our collective memory is not to be relied upon.

Has stated that her gut feeling is that this is a domestic terrorist attack. Other commentators say that if this were the work of foreign terrorists the bombs would have been bigger and killed more people. The type of bomb used was a pressure-cooker that included things like nails and other shrapnel. It was detonated by a timer. Now the domestic loonies are learning from the foreign loonies. How long can this go on? As one commentator put it "This changes the fabric of American society once again." There will never be another large crowd of people at the Boston Marathon all packed together cheering as one. No other marathon will ever be the same. Even in London. I hope they catch the Right "wingnuts" who did this as the knee-jerk reaction was to go after every Muslim in the area initially.

Tanks are covering the eastern side of the Boston Common this morning. Why? To make us feel better.... So why don't I feel better?