None of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's friends could believe the "sweet" young man would try to murder a city. (This angered John Podhoretz, who was VERY MAD that people would say nice things about an "alleged" hahajustkiddinghetotallydidit terrorist, as if there is no value in understanding that a once-sweet man could do this kind of thing too.) But for his older brother, Tamerlan, even his own family seemed to loathe him. Dzhokhar's family called him an "angel." The kindest thing -- by far -- that anyone said about Tamerlan was that he was an ALL-CAPS LOSER. The brothers even wore white caps and black caps, respectively, as if to unwittingly fulfill old-timey Spaghetti Western stereotypes. Of course we still do not know a goddamn thing, but the popular impression is that younger, "sweet" Dzhokhar was coerced or brainwashed by his malevolent, radicalized older brother. So fuck it, we will work on that assumption. Is there anything we learned in grad school that might help explain this? As a matter of fact, for once, there is!
Thank God for Glenn Beck--at least now I have a decent model to follow.
As of this morning, the news was reporting that someone else robbed the 7-11 on the same night that the bombers went to it to use the ATM machine. Poor ol' 7-11.
Depends on the hobby. I think in a country where few people think twice about needing to convince an expert in a white coat of your need for penicillin, we could keep our supplies of explosives pretty close to the chest.
Yeah, I get the impression that Tamerlan was a real piece of work, willingly led into this by nutjob internet preachers. "Just following orders," as it were. Which doesn't work as a defense, whether think your orders come from God/Allah/FSM, alien lizard people, or your parakeet.
Myself as well. But I'm not sure if that's because he has such an angelic face or what. When you see a young person so innocent and pretty, it's hard to decouple your impression from what the reality might be. I am very curious as to just how he became this sick, given what everyone who knew him says about him. It just doesn't make sense, and I don't want to believe it myself.
I also thought of the fact that that Tamerlane&#039;s military campaigns are estimated to have killed <a href="http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Timur" target="_blank"> about 5% of the world&#039;s population</a>. This could be the worst case of <a href="http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nominative_determinism" target="_blank">nominative determinism</a> ever.
Whoever in the White House arranges these things has really bollocksed it up this time. If the nefarious liberal goal was to create an event that would spur Congress to swing its support to gun control and immigration reform, they should have perpetrated the bombing a week earlier.
Really, Obama&#039;s incompetence sometimes astonishes me.
OT: But today is Hitler&#039;s birthday and here in Hartford CT the gun fondlers are celebrating with a gun rally at the Capitol. Coincidence? Even though everyone in attendance was white, I decided not to bring a pressure cooker and a black backback because I look a little too Caucasian to try something like that. The stupid: It burns!
Thank God for Glenn Beck--at least now I have a decent model to follow.
As of this morning, the news was reporting that someone else robbed the 7-11 on the same night that the bombers went to it to use the ATM machine. Poor ol&#039; 7-11.
Oops, now the reports are that it was them after all--sorry!
Wait, you&#039;re a FOREIGN?!!11 What magical land birthed such an adorable bulldog? And what assholes were your parents banishing you to Texas?
You are totally not drunk enough.
Depends on the hobby. I think in a country where few people think twice about needing to convince an expert in a white coat of your need for penicillin, we could keep our supplies of explosives pretty close to the chest.
And morale never improved? What&#039;s the matter with these people? (&lt;--snark)
Yeah, I get the impression that Tamerlan was a real piece of work, willingly led into this by nutjob internet preachers. &quot;Just following orders,&quot; as it were. Which doesn&#039;t work as a defense, whether think your orders come from God/Allah/FSM, alien lizard people, or your parakeet.
Myself as well. But I&#039;m not sure if that&#039;s because he has such an angelic face or what. When you see a young person so innocent and pretty, it&#039;s hard to decouple your impression from what the reality might be. I am very curious as to just how he became this sick, given what everyone who knew him says about him. It just doesn&#039;t make sense, and I don&#039;t want to believe it myself.
I also thought of the fact that that Tamerlane&#039;s military campaigns are estimated to have killed <a href="http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Timur" target="_blank"> about 5% of the world&#039;s population</a>. This could be the worst case of <a href="http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nominative_determinism" target="_blank">nominative determinism</a> ever.
Master of Time and Space.
Only for Muslims.
Someone else robbed the 7-11; the bombers were not involved.
But if they had been, it would have been a good line, for sure.
Whoever in the White House arranges these things has really bollocksed it up this time. If the nefarious liberal goal was to create an event that would spur Congress to swing its support to gun control and immigration reform, they should have perpetrated the bombing a week earlier.
Really, Obama&#039;s incompetence sometimes astonishes me.
Fundamentalist religion is the opium of the masses. And I don&#039;t mean that in a good way.
There&#039;s a novel, a Broadway play, and an HBO movie in this tale of two muzzies. Not necessarily in that order.
OT: But today is Hitler&#039;s birthday and here in Hartford CT the gun fondlers are celebrating with a gun rally at the Capitol. Coincidence? Even though everyone in attendance was white, I decided not to bring a pressure cooker and a black backback because I look a little too Caucasian to try something like that. The stupid: It burns!