and on the topic of unexploded bombs there is a high likelihood that there were unexploded bombs found on 911 on the george washington bridge. that is what both the police and media were saying on the day of the event. but that was covered up like everything else.

The success of America is best measured by going to the moon, exploring the outer space, invent new wonderful technology. The success of America is badly measured by eating too much, getting fat, so overweight. Nobody is going to hate you when you can go to the moon, to to mars. But everyone will hate you when they see raw resources dug up in their countries and transported back to USA.

As a runner, the third Monday in April is a quasi-national holiday for me. Boston is the biggest running event to happen every year. It's more than just the Super Bowl of running. It's the quintessential American road race. Runners can work their entire lives to qualify for Boston once; others can easily qualify every year, but all hold the race in the same reverence and mystique. The funny thing, though, is that it's rare for an American to even place, let alone win. An American male hasn't won for thirty years and no woman has won since 1985. The top American runner, Meb Keflezighi, had a shot of winning before withdrawing last week due to injury, while the top American female runner, Shalane Flanagan, finished a disappointing fourth.

The dearth of American winners, though, has made Boston even more important for American runners. Ironically, the most important race in America even fails to draw top international talent, because the London Marathon is always the following Sunday and has a much larger prize pool. However, this is the one opportunity every year for the running community to come together to support our very best runners in America's best race. The Boston Marathon, then, isn't just another road race. It's the highest accomplishment for the vast majority of American runners, and it brings runners together in a collective sense of belonging and support that no other race can match.

Even if a runner qualified but skipped, just missed qualifying, or isn't even close to finishing even a 5K, everyone knows someone who knows someone who was running Boston this year. This personal connection that every runner shares with the Boston Marathon makes the events that happened today even more tragic and personal than murders that happen every day in Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, or any other American city. Any runner, given enough training and time, could potentially have been running in Boston today. Given that running is the most popular fitness activity in the United States, this personal connection to the event has hit the country particularly hard, even beyond the impact of a "normal" terrorist attack. The Boston Marathon draws the most elite of American runners, but also the casual jogger who took it upon him or herself to push themselves to the very limit of human endurance and commitment, all in the name of sport.

We all like to think that a terrorist attack could never happen to us, but the bombing today in Boston makes us all realize that we are no longer safe even doing the most basic of human instincts. For many of us, running is a refuge from life. It's an opportunity to escape the trials and tribulations of work, family, relationships, and everyday stress. I have never left for a run and come back feeling worse than when I left. Today was the first time that I went for a run and returned with more stress than when I left. As an American, I hope that we can find a way to deal with terrorism, both domestic and international, so that nobody needs to feel the pain of a terrorist attack on our own soil. As a runner, I hope that this singular, terrible event doesn't ruin the enjoyment and pleasure that millions of Americans take from the most simple of sports - running.

I wrote that and then saw this piece in the New Yorker which was very similar and better written:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/04/the-meaning-of-the-boston-marathon.html

at least it wasnt a schoolbus like the one of the more notorious ones nato did in italy.

You are a sad lonely man/boy blankflag. Attempting to raise people's blood pressure won't change that. Then again nothing will…

I appreciate your words, 2WL

i am not saying i know anything all i am saying is that nobody should unquestioningly accept whatever the media is telling them. because every similar incident turned out to have had involvement by agents of a secret government program in one country or another and all had official coverups of one sort or another. and disinformation sent to the media. so stay critical is what i am saying.

Blank, I stay critical of everything you say.

People should treat their body like a Mercedes. Go out exercise, get into a perfect shape. There are those who want to flaunt their fancy sport cars, but we all know most of those cars are not full paid, but in debts. I know those people who took the effort to work out and get into perfect shape and health. Those bodies are not in debts. They are wholly owned by those persons.

Nobody is going to be jealous at a country where everyone lives simple, happy and have superior health, gorgeous bodies. People will hate you when they see resources kept pouring into America. And you know American record was not clean in dealing with those resource.

You keep going into argument with those terrorists, "This is American success" then you already loose. It's like you try to win argument in a special Olympic with other "specials".

blankflag, I appreciate your perpetual skepticism, but shouldn't you wait for an official story to be floated before trying to shoot holes in it?

neither of you sound legit. and i doubt either of you even care about the victims of this incident. come back to reality. particularly meepmeep.

by either i mean dipplayer and meepmeep.

unfortunately i need to get out in front of this because if i dont people will cement into their minds the official narrative that it was some crazy conspiracy theorist anti government patriot group etc etc etc who did it.

@blankflag
May I suggest you to join a Special Olympic for some ownage? Most people here are common folks, we are not special.

i already know there is nothing special about you. but you have been brainwashed and think you are doing something good by putting out this bullshit. but you arent you are just being a part of turning america into a police state like nazi germany or something.

but i am sure you are telling yourself 'oh this police state is on our side' like what academia kept saying about stalin back in the day, when orwell's preface to animal farm criticizing russia was blocked from publication at the time. but i guarantee you no matter whose side you think it will be on, it will not be your side. they are just convincing you of that to get you to propagandize for them.

on 2ndwhitelines comment, another thing i noticed is the main bomb that we see on video happened right behind all those flags and the fact that the boston marathon is known around the world and has competitors from everywhere. so whoever did this likely wanted to target their message to not only americans but the world.

It is interesting that no group has claimed responsibility yet and that the explosive did not seem to be very powerful. I am glad it wasn't much worse.

I am going to avoid crowded places from now on.

if those behind the attack wanted to target america specifically they could have hit a football game or nascar or baseball or something. but they hit an event with probably the highest number of foreign competitors.

and think of all those amateur runners across the world hoping to make it there. probably thinking holy shit if i had achieved my goal of competing in boston that could have been me. so i think it was a well thought out plan to instill fear in the highest number of people worldwide as well as in america.

Oh dear, you are a special Olympic, aren't you? If the terrorists hit the shopping malls, football games and so on, that will cut the spending and consumption. But Boston marathon is a good thing for America. That's a much worse attack on America.

I never felt the need to mute anyone before; but today, because of what they said in this thread, I've muted not one, but two.

may I ask which two?

It is interesting how the drama of an event can affect the perceived risk. Even with the horrible attack, I suspect that driving to the marathon was more deadly than the marathon. Thousands upon thousands die on highways and only the most anxious among us avoid automobile travel. I wonder why that is.

that is probably what those nato and italian officials were telling themselves when they planned that bombing campaign. people die all the time, so killing a few more is nothing and people are stupid for believing it, but it will help us to centralize power which is a great thing. to make an omelette you have to break a few eggs. or some such nonsense.

but i agree. like how assault weapons are responsible for almost none of the gun murders, but they are scary so it is the focus. or sharks or really most terrorism... or the measels or these other diseases where the vaccines had a higher mortality rate than the disease itself. people oversimplify. particularly when they are scared.

Blankflag muted

I'm surprised everyone is so surprised to see blankflag trolling this thread? Hes the current biggest troll on the site.

i would not be trolling about a bombing of civilians.