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Clarissa's Blog 
I think it’s Arab terrorism, very likely with ties to Iran, which loves US especially in the latest times. Hope the American authorities will find the culprits.
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That’s the last thing I would suspect. Not Al Qaeda, you mean? Some new terrorist group?
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I obviously don’t know anything other people don’t know but my initial thought was that this is a crime related to the growing domestic crime rate in Boston.
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I don’t know which group. But couldn’t Iran secretly support some group, which then would take the sole responsibility?
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Wow, what a blood-thirsty islamaphobe you are.
On topic, it’s tax day today plus Patriots’ day, so could be some anti-tax looney tea party group. Such a sad thing no matter what.
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US talks about having long hands and all options being on the table, so Iran wanted to show its’ hands are long too. Show to US and to the rest of the world:
Race organizers said that almost 27,000 runners competed, representing 96 countries.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/15/17764747-explosions-rock-finish-of-boston-marathon-2-killed-and-dozens-hurt?lite
To those other 96 countries too.
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What makes you think of Iran, though? Iran hasn’t conducted any terrorism on other continents that I’m aware of.
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“What makes you think of Iran, though? Iran hasn’t conducted any terrorism on other continents that I’m aware of.”
Like she cares. She just wants Iran to be bombed into oblivion.
Of all the commenters on your blog, Clarissa, even the trolls, I have never found anyone to be so pathological as this freak. It’s creepy how the same person capable of wishing violence on others so matter-of-factly also talks about sensitive, touching poetry the next second. One twisted puppy, our dear el.
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Were you in North America around 9/11? Do you remember the intense barrage of propaganda? The fear-mongering articles, all of those plans of nuclear attacks on the front pages of newspapers, the red and orange alert, the paranoia, formerly normal people going nuts and cheering on a ridiculous war in Iraq? That was a single wave of propaganda. Just one.
And now imagine being bombarded by something like this for decades. All day, every day, “They want to kill us, exterminate us, destroy us! They are coming, they are coming for us right now! We are in mortal danger, mortal danger, we are all about to be murdered!” For decades, from every media outlet.
Are you absolutely sure you could remain immune to that? I’m not sure I would, to be honest.
This is what people in Israel experience all the time.
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Stringer Bell,
I would not be so harsh on El… Constantly living in the state of war does strange things to people psyche, things we cannot fully imagine. I just do not invite my Israeli friends and my Iranian friends at the same time…
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// She just wants Iran to be bombed into oblivion.
Iran wants Israel to be bombed into oblivion. I want Iran’s nuclear program to be stopped. Btw, not necessary by bombing the Iran’s nuclear sites, it would be far better to stop it without the latter, but personally I find it hard to believe to be possible. Bombing nuclear sites =/= bombing Iran into oblivion. And if Iran creates the bomb, North Korea will seem like a harmless, cute puppy in comparison. Btw, quite a few Arab countries shudder at the thought of Iranian bomb, but prefer all the worl being done by US and Israel. Not only Jews would start dying more after bomb’s creation.
I didn’t say it was Iran, may be we don’t know something behind the scenes and Iran is connected though. I do think that 98% it’s connected to Muslim-Arab terrorism.
People talk of influence of propaganda. And of “strange things to people psyche” at the same time as mentioning “Constantly living in the state of war”. I see a contradiction here: if you’re constantly at war, it means you have real, not imagined, enemies, and being vigilant is psychologically normal 100%.
The only mistake I made was mentioning Iran (and it was partly because in Israel Iran is The Country of The Day ), but saying it’s most likely Muslim-Arab (they aren’t the same) terrorism is realistic and psychologically healthy 100%.
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“Iran wants Israel to be bombed into oblivion. ”
– Iran does not want anything. It is not a human being but a geopolitical formation, hence it can’t have feelings or desires. The only wanting that can exist that by specific people who might or might not be in power.
“Btw, quite a few Arab countries shudder at the thought of Iranian bomb, but prefer all the worl being done by US and Israel. ”
– Again, countries don’t shudder or prefer. Countries are places that are populated with people. And those people normally have every shade of differing opinions.
” I see a contradiction here: if you’re constantly at war, it means you have real, not imagined, enemies, and being vigilant is psychologically normal 100%.”
– There is no contradiction. The feelings of being beleaguered and under attack can exist in the complete absence of enemies.
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Now I got something that haven’t before and that comes to US people naturally. US people live in reality of “if any country does anything to us, our next step is to bomb it into oblivion, while we can do quite a lot to others without a real problem to our citizens”. So when I wandered, they thought “it means attack on entire country, not only on nuclear sites at all, right now”.
Israel is getting its’ citizens and soldiers slaughtered without bombing Gaza into oblivion. Iran sponsors Gaza terrorism, and Israel doesn’t talk of bombing any part of it, except nuclear sites either. And the latter as a last resort.
It doesn’t matter whether Israel is to blame for Gaza. What Israel has done wrong is an entirely different question. The reality is that Israel is a Jewish country, which isn’t going as a Jewish country anywhere, and its’ first, most basic task is to protect its’ citizens. And don’t tell that Israel bombed Gaza into oblivion. Were it true, they wouldn’t be able to already start shooting again.
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“US people live in reality of “if any country does anything to us, our next step is to bomb it into oblivion, while we can do quite a lot to others without a real problem to our citizens””
– This is simply not true. Remember 9/11? All of the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, and Lebanon. Did anything happen to these countries as retaliation? Not a thing. Instead, the country that was actually very anti-Al Qaeda got bombed. And many many Americans were completely opposed to that war.
“The reality is that Israel is a Jewish country, which isn’t going as a Jewish country anywhere, and its’ first, most basic task is to protect its’ citizens.”
– As somebody who is looking at the situation from the outside and is sympathetic to Israel, I am telling you that, in my opinion, the Israeli government is subjecting its own people to what I would call psychological torture in its constant ramping up of war rhetoric, fear, paranoia, etc. This is psychological terrorism of a government against its own people in order to foster the feelings of national identity and make people ready to die for the country at any moment. Of all the threats facing Israel right now, I honestly believe this is the greatest.
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Last comment:
// It’s creepy how the same person capable of wishing violence on others so matter-of-factly also talks about sensitive, touching poetry the next second. One twisted puppy, our dear el.
I do wish violence on Iran’s nuclear program, but not on Iranian citizens.
And, to be honest, I do wish violence on their totalitarian regime. Why when US wished so on Soviet Union regime, it was considered A-OK, but I am “a freak” for desiring a regime, much more dangerous to Israel than FSU was to US, to fall? Of course, it would have been the best, if it fell from inside, but US (which often gladly paves a way to terrorists and has ZERO problems interfering abroad everywhere) decided to stand aside and not support Iranian Green Movement. If Iran gets the bomb, US may pay for that dearly. Israel *wil* definitely pay (much more) dearly, of course, but US has the potential to pay too. If it arrives to military operation (Israeli or of US), US too will pay. To make matters clear, I don’t wish on US or on my own country to pay, but think they will.
Before the Iranian revolution, Israel had a good relationship with Iran. F.e.
The ‘Tehran Children’ was a group of about one thousand Jewish children, most of them orphans, who reached Palestine through Iran in February 1943.
http://www.isracast.com/article.aspx?id=858
My dream is for the regime to fall and Iran become a normal country again, with the previous, good relationship to us.
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“Why when US wished so on Soviet Union regime, it was considered A-OK, but I am “a freak” for desiring a regime, much more dangerous to Israel than FSU was to US, to fall?”
– Wanting to inflict violence on people because you disapprove of how they live is, indeed, very unhealthy. It is unhealthy whether it is done by Americans or by anybody else. During the Cold war, which is a very good example in this context, people were also kept paranoid and in a state of extreme psychological excitability with LIES and more LIES because it was useful to the governments on both sides.
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// this is a crime related to the growing domestic crime rate in Boston.
What would domestic criminals put 3 bombs at the international marathon for? To be especially hunted and tortured by secret services?
From the link above:
Dr. Alisdair Conn, chief of emergency medicine at Mass General, characterized the blasts as a military-style bombing.
“This is like a bomb explosion we hear about in the news in Baghdad or Israel,” he told reporters.
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I think that making guesses about whodunit is useless (since regular citizens have very little influence on the political decisions made as a consequence of this decision) and harmful insofar as it reinforces our prejudices at a highly emotionally-charged time.
Also, Red Cross is registering people here https://safeandwell.communityos.org/zf/safesearch/search in case you’re worried about anyone there. The cell service in the area is down to prevent remote detonation of any more bombs that may have not been discovered yet, but even with cell service still around, please don’t text or call people – with so many people calling the telephone services in an area can become unusable, affecting emergency calls. Use the Internet instead. If you are in the area, open your Wi-Fi to help with that. Red Cross have also mentioned they have enough blood for the injured, so don’t go lining up to donate at already very busy hospitals, but they’ll need to replenish their supplies in the following week.
Oh and that 100+ hurt in bombings line is bullshit. Boston Police reports 2 dead and 23 wounded. There was an unsourced report of hundreds of people being treated at local hospitals, but even if that was true, it’d include people who panicked and hypothermic runners. Please take care to check the sources of the things you read.
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So what I said, check sources. Cell service is down due to too many calls rather than it being shut down. http://live.boston.com/Event/Live_blog_Explosion_in_Copley_Square/72936677
Also, NPR apparently said 60 wounded, and Boston Med Center is treating 20 people, so apparently the 23 people figure is old.
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“I think that making guesses about whodunit is useless (since regular citizens have very little influence on the political decisions made as a consequence of this decision) and harmful insofar as it reinforces our prejudices at a highly emotionally-charged time.”
– In a high-stress environment, the best approach is to talk to other people, share ideas, discuss, etc. This helps to form a joint line of psychological defense against stress. Isolation and silence, on the other hand, are breeding grounds for stress. Reaching out to people and discussing what we think is happening is the best method of psychological hygiene in such situations.
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The first thing I thought was to find out whether my friend who was running the marathon was save. He is.
Then I thought it was the action of some sort of right-wing US radicals who wanted to attack those socialists from the Northeast
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an al Qaeda cell in Boston. Almost certainly out of the Boston Muslim population. Big blow for Obama, who is asleep on his feet regarding terrorism in the United States.
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Osama bin Laden’s bullet-riddled corpse would say otherwise.
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Let’s not jump to conclusions! It could have been exactly what happened with the Oklahoma City bombings back in the early 1990s.
By the way, I was born in the Greater Boston area, specifically a town called Beverly and lived in Lynn for a couple of years and also lived about an hour away from Boston for a few more years in Rhode Island.
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Too soon to tell. I’ve read the whole spectrum from arab extremists to right wing conservatives to a false flag operation by the Obama administration ( ridiculous but popular with the conservative blogosphere right now.)
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Typical hallmarks of Al Qaeda are synchronized attacks on multiple targets resulting in mass fatalities. This did not happen in this case. Of course, Al Qaeda as a unified organization doesn’t really exist anymore anyways, so I would be surprised if they were responsible.
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The most likely suspects (as it were) in roughly descending order.
1 Some muslim individual or group – Young radicalized muslim men are repsonsible for more terrorism than any other identifiable demographic. Could be either some established group or a wildcat (my first guess is the latter, it seems like an off grid plot of the kind law enforcement is frequently stopping (or entrapping) odss : 50 %
2 Some right wing loonies – The day and place are full of meaning for anti-government right wingers. Overall not that violent but….. odds 30%
3 False flag – If people here don’t think governments don’t routinely do this kind of thing then we’re living in different realities (correction: I’m living in reality and they’re not). I think this particular case seems unlikely but it’s always a possibility odds 10%
4 Some other political group – There’s a thousand little aggrieved groups out there and if they haven’t learned that bombs are the new press releases then they haven’t been paying attention. odds 5%
5 Private crazy – The human infrastructure of the US provides fertile ground for those of us interested in a rich internal life, this also, unfortunately, proves to be fertile ground for producing obsessed crazy people who spend too much time in their own heads. odds 4%
6 Something else – Mafia plan gone wrong, private vendetta (by a not crazy person, sewer rats who’ve grown thumbs and are fed up with humans…. 1 %
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“False flag – If people here don’t think governments don’t routinely do this kind of thing then we’re living in different realities (correction: I’m living in reality and they’re not). ”
– I agree. In the US, especially, the precedent is so well-known.
We are in day 2, and I don’t think any group has taken responsibility yet. This is very curious. (I don’t have TV, so maybe I missed something.)
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“being bombarded by something like this for decades. All day, every day, “They want to kill us, exterminate us, destroy us!”
Well if you listen to Palestinian, other Arab and Iranian demogoguery that is an accurate representation of what they say to each other (though not necessarily what their english speaking spokespeople say in politce society)
“They are coming, they are coming for us right now! We are in mortal danger, mortal danger, we are all about to be murdered!”
Again, if they could, they would. The rhetoric in Israel isn’t created in a vaccuum. That doesn’t excuse all of it (or all of Israel’s actions) but they’re not trying to create blind panic but keep people’s minds on the ball… in case it explodes.
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I found a prominent Israeli Stringer Bell would love, and since the interview is of interest to all, here it is:
From Shimon Peres on Israel’s birthday, a very healthy dose of dissatisfactionOur near-nonagenarian president is in optimistic mood. We could make peace relatively rapidly, he says, and we can heal divisions with the Diaspora by focusing on common denominators. So why the talk of dissatisfaction? Read on
http://www.timesofisrael.com/from-shimon-peres-on-israels-birthday-a-very-healthy-dose-of-dissatisfaction/
Clarissa, if you read, would love to hear your thoughts. Or anybody else’s, including SB. 🙂
I like Peres as a person, he seems intelligent and genuinely nice, grandfather-ly in a way. Think he is a good president, but am not sure he would make a good PM. He seems too optimistic.
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“What makes America exceptional is that it is the only country in history, the only force in history, that became great by giving, not by taking. In the American historic balance, they gave more than they took. ”
– My thought is that this is simply appalling. I understand the need to cater to the lowest forms of propaganda among the least educated, most jingoistic parts of the US population but there has got to be a limit. This statement is not only egregiously false, it is also insulting.
“They went to fight for other countries. They won. They lost soldiers. They gained assets. They gave back everything. They didn’t keep anything for themselves.”
– I will chalk this up to old age because I used to respect this man.
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Why can’t Iran have the same power as America and Europe. The problem is the whites are thinking too highly of themselves. Treating others like non human. You are looking up to Israel but are so ignorant and heartless about the people in Gaza, they lost their homes, no food, no proper amenities for so many years. I Only heard about Osama but looking at him in the picture I could feel that he spent all his money (he is so rich) to help these helpless people. Anyway, what are the westerners doing in Iraq, Afghanistan and closing their eyes on the poor country like Somalia which has no interest to them. What is this. Islam doesn’t teach terror at all, I vouched for this 100%. Some people just couldn’t stand this inhuman treatment especially in Gaza. It is our duty to help our muslim brothers and sisters. For some people like Osama money doesn’t have value nor does his life anymore. Therefore, be just and a little fair – then this world will be more peaceful.
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This sounds like you are suggesting that these acts of terror were planned by people from Gaza. I personally think this is extremely unlikely. But again, who knows at this point?
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// I will chalk this up to old age because I used to respect this man.
You are right to chalk this up to old age. To Peres being a very old politician, more exactly.
I linked it because of his stating soon peace is possible, thinking how can such a smart man believe this. But now, after writing the above sentences, I wonder whether he really believes it. May be, Peres is Israel’s most likable face to-countries-which-think-Israel-is-to-blame-for-almost-all, especially considering that with Lieberman as a foreign minister Israel needs all dove-like help to its’ image it can get.
// – Wanting to inflict violence on people because you disapprove of how they live is, indeed, very unhealthy.
I want their regime to end because it threatens my country. F.e. helps to arm Gaza terrorists, which afterwards attack our soldiers and citizens. If they get the bomb, the amount of attacks on Israel from all terrorist organizations may grow exponentially, when they become bolder.
Clarissa, if your house could get a missile, brought from Iran, and your husband could be killed by terrorists, supported by Iranians, would you also say that it’s unhealthy for you to want them to stop? And they will never stop, till the regime changes its’ nature in a fundamental way. Not going to happen peacefully, whether the change/war is mainly internal or external.
How can you say I want anything because of disapproving of how they live?
// Iran does not want anything.
I meant the people in power, who actually decide. That’s what usually is meant by country names in the context I used it. US too didn’t want to drop atom bombs then, but they fell anyway.
// – There is no contradiction. The feelings of being beleaguered and under attack can exist in the complete absence of enemies.
Judging by Iranian missiles from Gaza, explosions in buses, numerous terrorist organizations outside of Gaza and so on, Israel isn’t yet in such fortunate position.
// During the Cold war, which is a very good example in this context, people were also kept paranoid and in a state of extreme psychological excitability with LIES and more LIES because it was useful to the governments on both sides.
Do you think Stalin would never open 3rd WW or use atom bombs? What if Germany-USSR agreement would have worked and Germany wouldn’t have attacked USSR?
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“Clarissa, if your house could get a missile, brought from Iran, and your husband could be killed by terrorists, supported by Iranians, would you also say that it’s unhealthy for you to want them to stop?”
– It is unhealthy to engage in apocalyptic fantasies. Something bad can happen to anybody at any time. But one can either sit there, stressing over the future horrible thing or one can enjoy oneself and not stress about the future horrible thing. Only one of these scenarios is that of psychological health.
“And they will never stop, till the regime changes its’ nature in a fundamental way.”
– And then there will be some new “they”, and then even more “they”, etc. The enemies will be generated along the way because there is need of them. These “they” who never stop threatening are manufactured.
“Judging by Iranian missiles from Gaza, explosions in buses, numerous terrorist organizations outside of Gaza and so on, Israel isn’t yet in such fortunate position.”
– Freud defined psychological health as the capacity to leave without fear and the expectation of fear.
“Do you think Stalin would never open 3rd WW or use atom bombs? What if Germany-USSR agreement would have worked and Germany wouldn’t have attacked USSR?”
– Stalin died in 1953. The Cold War rhetoric actually came into full bloom after his death.
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