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Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

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Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#561

Post by vacri »

illuminate wrote: post #255
darxius wrote: post #183

Its things like this that really make me wonder how we can progress as a society with nutjobs like this. Without sounding like a hippy, the world is filled with so much violence and hate. If these people (and they're all over) put more effort into building society instead of destroying we could really progress. It takes a special kind of asshole to do this.

I don't see the point in imagining a world without psychopaths. It'd be lovely, but no amount of societal structure will ever remove them, we can only try to reach them whenever possible and lessen their influence on others.

It'd be lovely, but no amount of societal structure will ever remove them

Anti-murder laws don't remove murder, but they do massively lessen it. I'm always perplexed by the idea that unless something is 100% effective, it somehow 'hasn't worked'.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#562

Post by huherto »

Guys,

I was watching the marathon about a mile from the finish line. I saw how a great celebration turned into sadness and fear. But as sad as this made me feel, it made me feel even worst that this is what my loved family is living in Mexico every day. Just across the border from this beautiful country. As important as this is, shouldn't every child be as valuable no matter where they are born? Today, I saw a lot of anger on my friend's faces, but it seems that as long as it is not happening here it doesn't matter that much, it seems that only Americans are entitled to feel safe.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#563

Post by jchavannes »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #549

If this continues I wonder if we're going to start seeing drones with "Persistent Stare" (24 hour recording of a massive area that creates an enormous video of the entire city) employed over American Cities. Had one been used already, they would have been able to take the video, slowly reverse it to see who dropped off the package in the dumpster, and then follow that person back to their home or business. Thus findi…

Not sure if you did it on purpose, but you just perfectly described ARGUS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGxNyaXfJsA

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#564

Post by austenallred »

huherto wrote: post #562

Guys, I was watching the marathon about a mile from the finish line. I saw how a great celebration turned into sadness and fear. But as sad as this made me feel, it made me feel even worst that this is what my loved family is living in Mexico every day. Just across the border from this beautiful country. As important as this is, shouldn't every child be as valuable no matter where they are born? Today, I saw a lot of…

A second tragedy need not make the first less tragic. Americans mourn tragedies in America more than those outside of their borders because they hit closer to home.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#565

Post by jcrites »

dhimes wrote: post #406
youngerdryas wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a little too soon after, only a couple hours, combined with confusion over for-profit status makes it look tone deaf but it is really not. People are suffering - help suffering people.

As pg tries to explain, it's not a YC company but a charity he supports (and therefore knows about) and it's also one that he thinks can help people get (afford) medical treatment.

The prices of the three treatments advertised on that site's front page seem a little odd:

https://watsi.org/profile/e86bdd4cc545-yai-min "... but they need help raising the $1500 needed to get him the surgery he needs to walk again"

https://watsi.org/profile/11d44c5c9f10-shwe-shwe "... help funding the $1500 surgery to remove the growth and restore functionality to Shwe Shwe’s eye"

https://watsi.org/profile/77babf5f7d6d-naw-hla-aye "A $1500 surgery can remove Naw Hla Aye’s kidney stones and give her back her health."

Why do all the medical treatments cost exactly $1500?

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#566

Post by illuminate »

vacri wrote: post #561
illuminate wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see the point in imagining a world without psychopaths. It'd be lovely, but no amount of societal structure will ever remove them, we can only try to reach them whenever possible and lessen their influence on others.

It'd be lovely, but no amount of societal structure will ever remove them Anti-murder laws don't remove murder, but they do massively lessen it. I'm always perplexed by the idea that unless something is 100% effective, it somehow 'hasn't worked'.

It wasn't a particularly long post, but I directly stated that we need to do we can to help them at the same time that I stated that they're not going away.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#567

Post by Duhck »

nitrogen wrote: post #558
Duhck wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, people will always kill other people, that is the unfortunate truth of human nature. That doesn't mean there aren't multiple problems here, and each one with multiple solutions. Our lawmakers know just as well as we do, that more laws won't fix events like these, but better messaging ("See something say something"), better trained police officers, etc.. these are things that are controllable, changeable, and have…

"See something say something" is still far too late in the process. As a society we need to do a better job of preventing people from being abused, neglected, and marginalized.

Agreed, I just was using it as an example. Taking action doesn't have to mean restricting our freedoms.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#569

Post by throwaway04583 »

darxius wrote: post #183

Its things like this that really make me wonder how we can progress as a society with nutjobs like this. Without sounding like a hippy, the world is filled with so much violence and hate. If these people (and they're all over) put more effort into building society instead of destroying we could really progress. It takes a special kind of asshole to do this.

We are all capable of acts like this. We are human.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#570

Post by bialecki »

Ridiculous and sad are the two emotions that come to mind. I've run the Boston Marathon and plan on running again next year (want to re-qualify, but will likely run with a charity anyway). I grew up close to the route and have spent pretty much every April watching family or friends run. It's ridiculous because I don't know how else to describe it and sad because a great tradition is going to change, likely in unfortunate ways, for the foreseeable future. It's just an empty feeling, like memories from the years before will never be possible again.

If you've never run a marathon, and especially a big one, it's a unique experience. Rarely are elite athletes on the same course/playing field with "regular" people and all being cheered on (with no barriers) by residents. Watch any footage and you'll see onlookers almost bump into the fastest men/women in the world (hell, they even give out cups of beer at BC). Talk about feeling close to a community and feeding off their energy, I can't think of anything else like that.

It's sad that something like that has likely changed forever. I hope more than anything in the coming months and years this disruption/incontinuity can be turned into a positive that makes the event even better, that the community will overcome everything that's happened. I'm confident it will, but right now it's just sad.

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