4.18.13

Not a whole lot to say about the Marathon bombing this past Monday; there is a host of informed, eloquent, and heartfelt commentary to be had. Thoughts and, as possible, assistance and support should go to the victims of this attack, and to their loved ones. And credit to and appreciation for the efforts of all who have and continue to help in the aftermath: first responders of all stripes, medical personnel at the scene and at the many local hospitals, police and all law enforcement and investigatory personnel who brought order to chaos, secured the crime scene, and are now sifting through evidence and seeking those responsible for the attack to bring them to face justice. Beyond that just a few thoughts... Besides being incredibly cowardly, individuals who commit such acts are also incredibly stupid; do they believe that attacks of this sort, where innocent people are killed and maimed, will engender any widespread support for whatever their dubious cause may be? Any sympathy for their perceived grievances, any legitimacy to their cause, vanishes with acts such as these. But again, while they may possess the technical and logistical know-how to carry out such acts they apparently lack the intellect to comprehend how their acts will be perceived by whatever audience they are hoping to sway... In a free and open society as ours fortunately is acts of this sort are impossible to thwart 100%, 100% of the time. Individuals bent on mayhem will, unfortunately, find a way to act upon those impulses if they truly desire to. It is one of the costs of freedom. Outside of drastically curtailing our freedoms the best we can do is keep our eyes and ears open to those around us, take seriously the issues those around us may face and try to help them or try to find them help, and/or report disturbing behavior to appropriate officials. Actually it's not a bad thing to try and help people period... Lastly, while I suppose it is inevitable it is nevertheless maddening that the ones remembered most from these incidents are the perpertrators, not their victims. Outside of family, friends, perhaps their local community or circle in time the names Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu, as well as the 170+ others injured, or the scores of those who helped and are helping the victims as well as seeking those responsible will be all but forgotten while the names of the perp/s will be infamously memorialized. I realize it is the nature of such things, but it is a shame.

God bless the victims and their loved ones.