# Boston Marathon



## Brock (Apr 15, 2013)

I was looking for a thread in the writer's lounge in order to say that I'm tired of this crap and I feel sick to my stomach watching the news right now.  I hope that no children have been seriously hurt or killed.  What the hell is wrong with people?

I couldn't find the appropriate thread, so anyways, I vented.


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## Lewdog (Apr 15, 2013)

Well after this new terrorist attack on American soil, does anyone still question the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq?  Someone has to be brought to justice.


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## Brock (Apr 15, 2013)

I agree with you, but don't rule out domestic terrorism with this.  Domestic terrorism is still more prevalent than foreign.


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## Lewdog (Apr 15, 2013)

You know what conspiracy people are going to say, "The government did this to give citizens a purpose to go to war with North Korea.  That they are just going to blame this as a coordinated attack between Al Queda and North Korea."  Count on it.


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## Morkonan (Apr 15, 2013)

Lewdog said:


> Well after this new terrorist attack on American soil, does anyone still question the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq?  Someone has to be brought to justice.



Just a note: Iraq wasn't a war that was fought over terrorism. (Reply if you wish, OK? But, I just don't want to turn this tragedy into one of "those" sorts of debates, you know? But, in the same breath, we have to keep focused and wary of making attributions that aren't true. Iraq was a beast of a different flavor.)

There's some ongoing streaming video as well as footage of the initial blast, here: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbcnews.com/51546697 

So far, two known dead, many injuries, some severe. Reports of controlled demolitions by Bomb Squads could be either just precautionary or could be suspect devices, not sure.


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## Lewdog (Apr 15, 2013)

The war in Iraq was about preserving the safety of our citizens, and yes Saddam Hussein had terrorist links to other groups with the same purpose.


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## JosephB (Apr 15, 2013)

I question two wars with hundreds of thousands of casualties -- both military and civilian -- that did absolutely nothing to prevent terrorists attacks or make us "safer."


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## Morkonan (Apr 15, 2013)

Let's try to keep focus, OK? We've got murdered people, likely by terrorists, and going off on tangents that could overshadow the tragedy in front of us wouldn't do anyone any good. (I hate it when these sorts of "tragedy threads" turn into quasi-political discussions when a thread devoted specifically to those would be more suitable. I'm sorry for my own contribution in that regard, as well.)

Reddit ongoing thread, here: There was just an explosion at the Boston Marathon - Will use this to live update : news (New information may make it there faster than with online news, but reliability may be questionable.)


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## JosephB (Apr 15, 2013)

That's all I have to say about it. But usually, I consider it a civic duty to respond to those kinds of claims. We’ll no doubt see more of the same kind of hysterics and propagation of myth in the aftermath this tragedy -- regardless of who’s responsible. It makes me nauseous.


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## Brock (Apr 15, 2013)

And what do I see most people saying on social networks now?  "I wonder what we're going to lose now?" 

Why does this always have to be the immediate knee-jerk reaction?  Just as with Newtown, my immediate thoughts are with the injured and dead.


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## Squalid Glass (Apr 15, 2013)

I have many friends in Boston... very scary, very sad. My thoughts to the victims, for sure.


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## Jagunco (Apr 15, 2013)

I just heard of this minutes ago. It's incredible to me how some people can justify such attacks in their minds.

I hope there are no more fatalities and my thougts go to the families and friends


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## moderan (Apr 15, 2013)

Squalid Glass said:


> I have many friends in Boston... very scary, very sad. My thoughts to the victims, for sure.


Likewise. A few of my friends are in the news business and are covering the thing. Right now the victim count is 86, from two detonated blasts and one undetonated pipe-bomb-ish device found under a park bench.
Nobody has as yet come forward to take credit, which makes me suspect domestic cause. 
Let's try to keep it real. Two explosives have gone off, near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Another failed to go off. That's all we know for sure. Anything else is speculation.


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## Lewdog (Apr 15, 2013)

Keeping things in focus, this is a horrible tragedy, and the loss of just one life is one too many.  With that said, things could be much much worse and I thank all the Americans that have served in or lost their lives in duty to make the US one of the safest countries in the world.  There has been 2,200 American lives lost in Afghanistan, 4,805 in Iraq for a total of 7,005 total lives lost fighting the war on terrorism.  This is the first major event since the attack on the American Embassy in Benghazi.  This is in contrast to the 2,979 killed on 9/11, 6 deaths from the first WTC bombing, 17 murdered from the USS Cole bombing, the 223 killed from the U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa, and 18 killed in Mogadishu for a total of 3,243.  The government has learned their lesson and has definitely made things safer than it was before.


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## Cran (Apr 15, 2013)

My prayers and wishes of strength for those most affected by the attacks in Boston; most especially for the family of the eight year old boy. 

My prayers and wishes of strength also for those most affected by the apparently coordinated bombing attacks in Iraq only a few hours ago, killing at least 30 civilians.

WF has members with families in both countries; please keep this in mind.


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## Kevin (Apr 15, 2013)

It is an odd world we live in. I don't like this part.


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## IanMGSmith (Apr 15, 2013)

From across the pond, thoughts, prayers and strength, and yes, for all innocent victims, everywhere.

I believe we stand together, all religions, all decent folk, in all lands, to condemn these evil acts and hold in contempt and disgust the filthy pigs who do this.


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## DPVP (Apr 15, 2013)

Brock said:


> And what do I see most people saying on social networks now?  "I wonder what we're going to lose now?"
> 
> Why does this always have to be the immediate knee-jerk reaction?  Just as with Newtown, my immediate thoughts are with the injured and dead.


its sad we live in a world where we do have to fear more government encroachment in our lives. 

second note, i personally wish i had been their to help.


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## Dictarium (Apr 15, 2013)

Point the first: I'm part of another online forum (Bungie.net; the people who made Halo) and the people in their Off-Topic forum are honestly despicable. Within an hour there were at least 2 or 3 "Obama did this!" truther threads while we hadn't even gotten close to a full INJURED count yet and the smoke was practically still clearing. Some people... just... wow.

Point the second: I wonder if WBC will finally get "Hate Group" status when they picket this funeral. 

Point the third: On a more on-topic note, what a terrible thing to happen. I can only imagine how emotionally, physically, and mentally scarring an experience is for Bostonians both at the event and who just live in the City. It's basically a holiday there and now it's going to be forever-sullied by this terrible event. Hopefully they can at least get some sort of closure once this guy/girl/people/group that did this is caught and tried for this.


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## Lewdog (Apr 15, 2013)

I was watching Brian Williams for awhile report on the events, and he went off on a tangent talking about an older gentleman that was about to finish then fell to the ground when the explosion went off.  He just kept saying how sad it was that the bombing stopped him from finishing the race...I didn't know whether to laugh at how stupid it was for him to say that, or get mad.  I just turned the channel instead.


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## Dictarium (Apr 15, 2013)

What Patton Oswald has to say on the subject. The last sentence is probably one of the truest, best written things I've seen in a long time. I could easily mistake it for a proverb written by a Confucian scholar hundreds of years ago.

Censored profanity.

e: Oh dear, could somebody please tell me how to unattach an image? This is quite a mess up on my part.
e2: Thank you kindly, Tiamat.


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## DPVP (Apr 15, 2013)

Dictarium said:


> Point the second: I wonder if WBC will finally get "Hate Group" status when they picket this funeral.


not to drag it off topic but i think most people already consider them such, and what would it matter if they where?
next question is by who? the SPLC already does list them as such and the FBI publishes no list.


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## Dictarium (Apr 15, 2013)

DPVP said:


> not to drag it off topic but i think most people already consider them such, and what would it matter if they where?
> next question is by who? the SPLC already does list them as such and the FBI publishes no list.


Whatever gets them to lose their tax-exempt status. But you're right, that's off-topic.


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## DPVP (Apr 15, 2013)

Dictarium said:


> Whatever gets them to lose their tax-exempt status. But you're right, that's off-topic.


not true but if it makes you feel better.


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## Rustgold (Apr 16, 2013)

It's interesting how people race into their corners to slap on their boxing gloves for 'their team' too soon, and without knowing anything about this, or why.  It's seriously bad form how people dance on the injured & dead like this.

Here's hoping that all those still fighting for their lives make a full recovery.


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## Trilby (Apr 16, 2013)

My thoughts go out to the victims.


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## Bloggsworth (Apr 16, 2013)

While I have every sympathy for those caught up in the bombing in Boston I am ambivalent about my general response, and as no Islamic group has claimed responsibility (which they normally do very quickly), it is entirely possible that the incident is a domestic one, a survivalist group, a reaction against the attempted introduction of gun controls.

Why am I ambivalent? North east coast America, for 25 or more years, enthusiastically sponsored the IRA to bomb British cities killing hundreds of British citizens; 3 bombs and one shooting within a mile or so of where I live in London. While the first Gulf War was entirely justified, the second Iraq war and the Afghanistan war, are/were totally unjustified, they were a politician's "*We must be seen to be doing something*" knee-jerk response to 9/11. While Al-Q before the war had no position in Iraq, and the Taliban who controlled Afghanistan had no links with Al-Q, they certainly do now - Still, let us not let the facts get in the way of testing out our new weapon systems in the field while increasing our profits.


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## Potty (Apr 16, 2013)

Dictarium said:


> What Patton Oswald has to say on the subject. The last sentence is probably one of the truest, best written things I've seen in a long time.



I'm going to disclaimer my cynicism by saying that I hope those affected get their lives (if they still have one) back on track speedily.

Now then, this sort of post made by Patton Oswald sounds all lovey dovey and nice, but it's pure gesturing, grand standing, false advertising of his 'sensitive side' to the masses or whatever you want to call it. I have yet to me a truly honest, caring, non selfish human being. The bad outnumber the good in this world, only some people are more bad than others. Where one person draws the line and elbowing you out of the way in a queue, another draws the line at blowing you to smithereens for getting in front. Yes you can see people running toward the explosion, but I wonder how many of them had looting, morbid curiosity, chance to look a hero or acting on the assumption that a bomb wouldn't go off in the same place twice on their minds. I would bet money that only a very small percentage of them were truly concerned and willing to risk their own lives for some stranger they would normally flip off in passing for bumping into them on the street.


I'm not saying I agree with who/whatever caused the explosions at all, I just disagree with this hippy rubbish that people come out with at times like this. “Oh it's all so terrible, what a dark world we live in! Now I've done my best to look like I have a soft cuddly side, I'm off to cheer on an execution.”

If you want to see the true nature of humanity, go to a reduced counter in a supermarket.

I'm loving this new debate forum


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## JosephB (Apr 16, 2013)

Potty said:


> The bad outnumber the good in this world, only some people are more bad than others.



Come on, Potty. Do you have some kind of good-and-bad-o-meter that tells you definitively that there is more bad than good in the world? That’s nothing more than pure guesswork -- like your notion that people would automatically think of looting in the immediate aftermath of something like this tragedy. There’s no rational basis for that. That kind of pointless cynicism just breeds more distrust and negativity -- and for no good reason. Exponentially, that's what leads to this kind of tragedy in the first place. That makes you part of the problem.


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## Potty (Apr 16, 2013)

JosephB said:


> That makes you part of the problem.



He's onto me! *Breaks all ties with terrorist organisations*


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## JosephB (Apr 16, 2013)

Just as well. It's doubtful anyone would fear a terrorist who's named after a child's toilet.


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## Sam (Apr 16, 2013)

It seems some people just can't get along without resorting to cheap shots and arguments. For that reason, I'm afraid this thread is now closed. I apologise to the members who were in the middle of posting, and the rest of the forum who wanted to discuss this topic with civility.


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## Cran (Apr 16, 2013)

Before anyone starts complaining about Sam being heavy-handed about this, know that I instigated this action. 

The entire forum was warned about trying to recreate debates, and trying to score debating or political mileage from horribly tragic events. There are plenty of places on the net to vent spleens, air pet peeves, or make light of others' personal grief; WF is not one of those places. When it comes to commenting on the violence against innocents anywhere, sympathy and simple respect for those who suffered is sufficient. Arguments, politics, rehashing histories - take them outside.


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