Yikes- 2 bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon

[sweetana3]

I found it much easier to just catch up with the news occasionally online and then drop it. The few times I saw TV news, it was pretty boring and I hate it when they thrust a camera and mike in someone's face.

[Rogar]

I normally don't watch much talking head type news, but thought the media coverage was good and got my attention. You had a couple of wild yahoos on the loose spewing bullets and explosives, and who knows what further and possibly more serious plans they had for acts of terrorism. As far as that goes, now that it is basically over, I wonder if there might be some sort of organized group who was in on all of this. I suppose in terms of priorities, these things are somewhat daily events in some places around the globe and we only hear blurbs about them. The great thing about TV news is that it can be turned off easily.

[Zoebird]

it's interesting. i no longer watch the news. i read headlines, and then read more if I want. Might watch a short online video (news or just raw footage, etc).

it makes life so much nicer.

but, is anyone else concerned about the martial-law look of boston in photos? and searches of homes without warrants (just going door to door and searching?). Of course, people can permit police to search their homes, which circumvents this -- but what if someone refused? then what? a shoot-out at their home? harassment? going to get a warrant?

I look at it and go "wow, americans are getting increasingly comfortable with a police state."

and that freaks me out.

and I don't even think that Alex Jones is completely on his rocker (i don't think he's completely off, either).

[poetry_writer]

it's interesting. i no longer watch the news. i read headlines, and then read more if I want. Might watch a short online video (news or just raw footage, etc).

it makes life so much nicer.

but, is anyone else concerned about the martial-law look of boston in photos? and searches of homes without warrants (just going door to door and searching?). Of course, people can permit police to search their homes, which circumvents this -- but what if someone refused? then what? a shoot-out at their home? harassment? going to get a warrant?

I look at it and go "wow, americans are getting increasingly comfortable with a police state."

and that freaks me out.

and I don't even think that Alex Jones is completely on his rocker (i don't think he's completely off, either).

Someone walking around blowing up people concerns me more than my house being searched..........

[SteveinMN]

I guess I just don't get complaints of being bored by the 7x24 news cycle. No offense to anyone. Just that watching the news ad nauseum is a choice. Bored of the talking heads and the repeated tape loops? Use the Censorship button. It's labeled "OFF". Take a walk, cook something, whittle, read a book. Watch the sitcom channel. I certainly will beef that most TV news is incredibly superficial and geared more toward selling soap than informing. It used to be much better. But that's another discussion.

What agenda does 24/7 covering of the boston bombings serve? The need for more and more money to be poured into homeland security, anti-terrorism, police miltiterization etc.. And of course with it the need for the loss of more and more civil liberties. What agenda would covering the fertilizer explosion serve? The need for more safety and environmental etc. regulations on industry? Which one serves the current government agenda and that of our corporate masters?

I don't happen to be very conspiracy-minded. But I don't reject conspiracy theorists out of hand. I agree that there has been a push since 9/11 to legitimize activity that clearly runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights and people's own self-interests. I wouldn't even argue very hard against labeling the effort exploitive. But I think if that were the primary agenda, we'd be seeing more coverage of terrorism all over the world with the explicit message that it could happen here unless we (continue to) cash in our Constitutional rights.

these things are somewhat daily events in some places around the globe and we only hear blurbs about them.

It is interesting that IEDs in Iraq or Afghanistan don't even warrant a mention in the news anymore now that they're not injuring American troops, but the equivalent of two of them on Boylston Street gave rise to the massive press effort that we just witnessed.

[ApatheticNoMore]

but, is anyone else concerned about the martial-law look of boston in photos?

yea and I think I've made a decision about it too, staying inside was voluntary (it wasn't even illegal to go outside, as far as I know, it was just advised to stay inside), so ... if I'm told to stay inside I'm going out, gonna paint the town. It's the least we can do to resist the police state. Go out of our !@#$ houses. Now a natural disaster would be different and I don't know, I haven't made those types of plans for a 9.0 earthquake or something but I doubt in such a situation staying inside would be advised, I'm just saying something similar. A whole city was shut down for two (and soon only one) crazies - can you say overreaction?

and searches of homes without warrants (just going door to door and searching?). Of course, people can permit police to search their homes, which circumvents this -- but what if someone refused? then what? a shoot-out at their home? harassment? going to get a warrant?

I look at it and go "wow, americans are getting increasingly comfortable with a police state."

What Americans? @#$# their curfews @#$# their imprisonment in people's homes. I'm an American last I checked (haha, maybe a Californian first and foremost ).

and that freaks me out.

yea it's disturbing, the least one can do is refuse to obey their "shelter in place" orders
"With an iron fist in a velvet glove
We are sheltered under the gun"

shelter in place - that phrase is like verbal waterboarding

[creaker]

yea and I think I've made a decision about it too, staying inside was voluntary (it wasn't even illegal to go outside, as far as I know, it was just advised to stay inside), so ... if I'm told to stay inside I'm going out, gonna paint the town. It's the least we can do to resist the police state. Go out of our !@#$ houses. Now a natural disaster would be different and I don't know, I haven't made those types of plans for a 9.0 earthquake or something but I doubt in such a situation staying inside would be advised, I'm just saying something similar. A whole city was shut down for two (and soon only one) crazies - can you say overreaction?



What Americans? @#$# their curfews @#$# their imprisonment in people's homes. I'm an American last I checked (haha, maybe a Californian first and foremost ).



yea it's disturbing, the least one can do is refuse to obey their "shelter in place" orders
"With an iron fist in a velvet glove
We are sheltered under the gun"

shelter in place - that phrase is like verbal waterboarding

All that said, the strategy did work in this instance. What worries me is they are now casually discussing dimissing the rights of a US citizen (redefining him as an enemy combatant) just because it may be more expedient to do so.

[Zoebird]

Someone walking around blowing up people concerns me more than my house being searched..........

see, thing is, that doesn't concern me much.

to me, this is just a process of getting people acclimated to these sorts of searches.

it's easy enough for media to assert "there's a dangerous person in your area. police will be coming by to search your homes for him/her in due time."

and everyone is then supposed to go "oh, ok." becuase it might be true that someone might be dangerous and might do something?

I don't know. I feel like I'm turning into Alex Jones about this.

[Zoebird]

creaker. i head you there.

[rosarugosa]

I live just outside of Boston and go into Boston to work for about 10 hours a day, five days a week, and then do homework on the side. I work about three blocks away from where the explosions happened. My company gives us Patriot's Day off as a holiday. I've never watched the marathon in my entire life; would just as soon watch paint dry. So spent Monday hiking in the woods and then working in the garden, and a friend came by, talking of explosions and such. I might not have known about it for a few more hours, but I would have heard about it on FB that night, if Scott hadn't come by. So went to work the next day with some trepedation about traffic, etc. but it was pretty OK except for media people, etc. in the way. I had a planned vacation day yesterday, but a robot called in the early AM to say that the city was closed and the office wasn't going to open until 10 AM. Then got another message that the city was CLOSED and to stay home! Spent hours walking in the woods and enjoying the day off, and came home to an e-mail from my manager that one of my employees, who lives far away (Hyannis) had gone to work and was one of the few people in the building. They gave them free caf food & water, and later in the day, sent her home in a livery car when the shut down order was lifted. Gotta love my company for keeping an eye out for my employee and sending her home in a livery car!

ETA: I've not watched one moment of TV coverage of the event. I just don't really do TV. I'm not really sure how to turn the damned thing on even.