Boston

Hi Steve,

As I'm sure you probably are too, I feel rather shocked and upset about the bombings that happened today in Boston.  In fact, it has triggered some of my 9/11 angst, unfortunately, but I'm trying to ignore it.  In fact, I think Pete figured that out too, and we finished watching an old Barbara Stanwyck movie that I had recorded several months ago....he never wants to watch old movies with me.  I know it was his way of trying to help me get my mind off it.

We tried to find some decent news coverage.....does any actually EXIST anymore, I wonder.....but all they kept doing was showing the explosion over and over and over....like the twin towers, and the planes hitting them over and over and over....

I'm sorry to say this, because I'm sure everyone who reads it will disagree.....but, so far all I've seen is how "great" the Boston police are, for being such "wonderful" first responders, and how they helped so many people, etc.....but, LOOK people, they were standing all around the damned BOMBS that went off, and didn't NOTICE anybody PLANTING them.  That is a HUGE mistake on their part.  They are trained----and so am I----to notice any abandoned packages, whether it's a backpack, a baby stroller, a camera bag, an umbrella----ANYTHING that is just sitting alone without an owner nearby can EASILY hide a bomb.  For the police to miss something like this is unforgivable.  It's shameful.

The same can be said for my Museum, on the day that Stephen T. Johns was killed...the security guards out front SHOULD have noticed a car pulling up in front of the building to park.  They didn't.  They should have noticed a suspicious man with a long trench coat on, and wearing a Confederate Flag baseball hat, on a 90 degree day, walking swiftly to the front door.  They didn't.  The shotgun under his coat went unnoticed as well.  They didn't try to stop him, they didn't call on the radio to make anyone else aware, and a man got shot and killed because of it.  They were lax, lazy, and irresponsible.

Boston isn't the kind of place you'd ever expect something like this to happen to.....I realize that.  Nobody expected Pearl Harbor either.  Only GW Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks, but didn't bother to mention it to anybody else.  The cops SHOULD HAVE had better security measures in place. Backpacks and packages should have been inspected, or made to go through metal detectors. Anybody in this country who feels "SAFE" in a large crowd ANYWHERE, is just fooling themselves.

I don't care if you live in Butt-Fuck Egypt my friend, get a crowd of people together, especially for a holiday or some kind of celebration, and you've got instant fodder for an attack.  It's how our world has been since 9/11, and I believe it is how our world will always be from that day forward.  I have never liked being in large crowds at concerts, or sporting events, for that very reason.  I don't like going to DC anymore either because of the danger that lurks around every shadowed corner there.

Yeah, I know, I'm a pessimistic soul.  Sorry, I'm just being realistic and telling the truth about it.  The cops FAILED those people.  They shouldn't be commended for anything.

Let's change the subject to the Boston marathon runners who kept going to the hospital to donate blood.  Now THAT is amazing.  THAT is noble.  THAT is awesome.  I applaud those people who knew their blood would be needed immediately to help others, despite their own fatigue or exhaustion from running so far and so long.  THAT I will definitely applaud.  Why can't we all be more like them??

But the Boston police?  Nope.  They screwed up royally, they were lax.  They were not paying enough attention to the things going on or the people who were all around them.  Now they are acting like the Keystone Kops, asking for video footage from regular people who were there, or photos, and here's the thing that I said immediately while watching the bomb explode:  THOSE COPS SHOULD BE LOOKING AROUND AT ALL THE NEARBY ROOFTOPS, BECAUSE THE BOMBER IS STANDING SOMEWHERE UP THERE, RIGHT NOW, WATCHING ALL THE CHAOS, AND GETTING OFF ON IT.  Why the hell weren't there security measures taken for rooftops in the vicinity?  My God, it's a perfect place for snipers to attack too.  Stupid stupid stupid.

DISCLAIMER:  No, I have never been a police officer.  No, I'd never WANT to be one.  No, I have never had any military training, I have never shot a gun, I have never had any inkling whatsoever to be involved in any crime scenario.  However, I DID live in DC, for a decade.  I DID work at a very targeted museum for six years, and I DID witness first hand, the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.  I was also trained in SECURITY just like the actual security guards at the museum.  They carried the guns.  But I evacuated the Museum on a regular basis because someone left behind a sunglasses case, or a baby stroller, or an umbrella.  We had to call the bomb sniffing dog, and clear people out of the area.  We sometimes had bomb threats, and had to evacuate hundreds of people to a safe place.  It was our regular routine.  I am no expert, but I do remember that training very well.

SPECULATION:

My gut says it was a domestic attack.  Not an international one.  Somebody who did it all alone, some one crazy like Ted Nugent, who is fed up with government stuff, and gun laws, and whatever the hell ELSE is in the crazy brain at the moment, who just decided to fight back and cause havoc so that he can feel powerful, so his voice can be heard.  Yes, HE.  There are NO WOMEN involved, I'll guarantee that.  Women don't bomb shit like that.  Except for Bonnie and Clyde, women aren't typically violent killers.  Sure, there have been a few, but compared to MEN who are serial killers, you can figuratively count them on one hand.  No, I do not include women in military combat in that figure.

So, it's probably somebody in his early 30's, mentally unstable, calculating, manipulative, maybe even ADHD, who has been hurt in some way by someone or some entity that has caused him to hate.  So far, no one has come forward to claim responsibility.  If it were a terrorist group, that probably would have happened by now.  It hasn't.  If it were the Koreans, well, we'd all know about it because that idiot BOY leader of theirs likes to blab his fool head off about such things.  Right now, somewhere near Boston, is a man sitting in a hotel, watching the news, toasting himself with champagne, waiting for the cat and mouse chase from the police.  Either that, or he's on a plane to Timbuktu.  Who knows.

All I know is, I believe I am headed for Agoraphobia at some point in my lifetime.  It's just getting too damned scary to go out anywhere anymore, for any reason.  Trust nothing.  Pay close attention to everyone around you at all times.  Memorize what they are wearing, what they look like, the age, the hair color, etc., if you think he or she might be acting suspiciously.  Be AWARE of your surroundings. If you see any kind of package-----big or small, non-consequential or just something "normal" that you wouldn't normally consider "suspicious"----but REPORT IT.  If you see the owner pick it up and walk away within less than a minute, odds are, it's nothing.  If, however, that package remains there for MORE than one minute, (which psychologists have studied and claim that most people suddenly remember within that time frame that they left something behind), then CALL 911, and REPORT IT.

If somebody is acting strange----darting in and out of a crowd hastily, or wearing something odd that doesn't fit with the weather or the surroundings, or acting strangely---talking to themselves, yelling obscenities, murmuring and laughing maniacally, if you notice a weapon, etc., REPORT IT.  Odds are, it's a homeless person or someone with a mental illness, but if your gut says "something ain't right about that dude," REPORT IT.  It's better to be on the safe side of an attack, than to dismiss it and walk away.

Our police and security forces are overworked, and underpaid.  They aren't trained as well as they used to be either.  But, keeping THEM informed of strange things will only succeed in helping them do their job.  Sure, if you're one of those "cry wolf" idiots who are paranoid and bugging the hell out of them every day, they'll probably arrest your stupid ass.  Use common sense.  But help them help YOU by being AWARE.  That's all I'm saying.

I don't want to freak anybody out or anything by writing these things, I'm not a Faux News talking head by any means.  But, you have to be AWARE of things around you ALL THE TIME now.  You can't just relax and think that you're safe anymore.  It just is not in your best interest to believe that. Hatred and fear have such a strong grip on this country, and has, since 9/11, that I seriously do not see any way to reverse that damage.  I see it only becoming worse.  But, then again, I'm a pessimist. That's what I do.

Let's hope for all our sakes, that I'm wrong about that.  I'll be the first to voluntarily eat my hat if I am.

Steve, if you don't have Rome as your body guard anymore, rehire him.  He was a good guy.  Try to avoid those baseball games for awhile....just until they give the "all clear" from Homeland Security.  Until they do, please avoid crowded places.  Or, if you have no choice but to go somewhere crowded, FIND THE NEARBY EXITS, and STAY CALM if something happens.  It's hard to do.  But when a bomb goes off, as you've most likely seen in the footage the news channels keep replaying, you are thrust instantly into a state of shock and adrenaline....the fight or flight defense mechanism.  You may want to run and scream hysterically, but bite your tongue and slow down, or YOU could cause more people to get hurt.  Stop and breathe, count to 10, and find the nearest exit CALMLY, and guide more people with you to slow down and remain calm, and get as far away as you possibly can.

Well, anyway, my advice is probably too little, too late for those in Boston.  Pete says, "Well, maybe if you HAD been there, you could have noticed the package and evacuated the area..." and I said, "Realistically, the cops would have ignored me, or just arrested me for trying to incite something."  I have no illusions of grandeur, thinking I might have been some kind of hero or something.

But I'll never know, because I wasn't there.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts, and now I am sure I'll be having some nightmares about 9/11 tonight....triggered by this incident.   It happens with PTSD sometimes.  I know when to expect it much better than I ever did before.  It doesn't make it any easier, but at least I have some idea of how to deal with it if it DOES occur.  Before, I would just wake up in a sweat, rocking back and forth in my bed, with a yell or a scream, and tears stained on my face.  It's not that bad anymore, but I still have nightmares on occasion.

Steve, just stay safe, be aware, and hire a bodyguard.  I know YOU aren't a target for terrorism, silly, but you are a celebrity that people like Allen Craft don't like.  And he's a nut ball.  Who knows if he owns any guns?  It's an example, but there are crazy people out there like him, so be careful.  I would avoid the ball games for awhile, too, *unless you can have a protected seat in an area with bullet proof glass*.  Just get more security on your house, on your car, and wherever you roam, okay?

Love you lots....goodnight.

----Rebecca