It's been a stressful week here.

The Boston Marathon has always been classic Boston to me - world-class, joyous, and relaxed. We usually walk a few blocks to watch the runners (and wheelers) pass by on Heartbreak Hill, there's usually a nice throng cheering and handing out water. Very few police, almost no supervision. People just trust each other to behave, and we do - until Monday's tragedy.

In Boston? On Boylston Street? That doesn't happen around here. It just doesn't.

An awful act had killed and maimed, and may have killed or maimed our marathon for good. And we were left with savages on the loose.

I came home from an event last night and found out about the shooting at MIT. In Cambridge? At the Stata Center? That doesn't happen around here. It just doesn't. Smelled like it might be related to the other thing that never happens around here.

I woke up a little past five this morning, pulled out my iPad, and... incredible. A firefight a mile or so from our house. Bombs, guns, deaths, fugitives. SWAT teams, military, painstaking house-to-house search. Incredible photos: Hey! That's the mall we go to! Hey! That's my barber shop! I was worried.

But our Commonwealth and our towns did the right thing. The voluntary lockdown order was a dramatic step, but probably the best way to go. Between shoe leather and technology, they got the guy. Like so many things that government does in Massachusetts, it worked well.

I was at another event tonight, down by MIT as it happens, and with a clutch of techies from out of town. As the police closed in on the murderer, one of the out-of-town techies glanced up from his smart phone and addressed the group:

"They found him - they say they'll be killing him in five minutes".

"Killing him?"

"Well, they say they're sending a robot in five minutes, but of course they'll kill him for some reason or another."

"I'm a local. In my experience, our cops don't kill people unless they really have to."

And our law enforcers did not disappoint. As angry and tired as they were, they did the right thing. Some might cheer for battlefield justice, but I'm a big believer in laws. Laws that even cops and US presidents must obey. If we don't obey laws, civilization goes away.

In any case, we're through it. And I feel damned good that I can look back and be proud of the people I live with in our Commonwealth.

Peace to us all.

We've stayed in our Newton house all day, and our street is totally quiet.

Newton, Watertown, Cambridge.

They don't get much practice with this kind of awfulness, but they're almost always very level-headed and good. My son played Little League with their sons, good people.

I hope that this is all over soon, and that no more are hurt.

Yikes.

Peace to us all.

Anybody out there?

UPDATE @ 4/17 10:00 EDT: Holy cow! The New Deal still has some fans!

I'm looking forward to it. How about you?

Republicans embrace Obama's offer to trim Social Security benefits


I'm on the edge of my seat, eager to see if Republicans will finally realize that this President is a partner who can be trusted.

Of course, the Moonbat Left always needs to throw a turd in America's punch bowl. From the same article linked to above:


Ms. Entmacher should be ashamed of her Obama-bashing glass-half-empty mentality. Instead of zeroing in on the unpleasantness of what happens to the little people, why can't she focus on hedge-fund managers buying yachts for their cats with the money they'll save on reduced taxes, thanks to starving old women?

I like cats.

Let's think nice thoughts and hope that Republicans will finally feel safe with us after all the years we've been mean to them. Grand things are coming our way, I just know it. As long as that difficult senator from Massachusetts can keep her yap shut.

Regards,

Third-Way Manny

There's a post there now that is covering a fraudulent article (as in claiming facts that it doesn't even try to substantiate) from a self-declared Liberal site that is actively calling for actual cuts to Social Security benefits (go to the referenced article and check out the moderator's comments).

It seems to me that The Left Column should be limited to pieces showcasing that are both Left, and accurate.

Great stuff. It'll be exciting to see who she ultimately runs with.

elected Democrats are tools of the 1%.

(I'm not, but I'd like to know who you people are that I keep reading about.)

There's actually a post on DU suggesting that The Banker White House's chained CPI garbage will not apply to the "bottom 20% of seniors". And a number of responses say that yes, that's true.

It's actually total bullshit.

The The Banker White House's proposal calls for a bit of relief if poor retirees make it through years of being austeritied. There's a good article on this at Kos, but this chart cuts to the chase:

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Frankly, I have no idea of why this 20% exempt nonsense was posted, or why anyone responded that it was true. I hope it's as innocent as just failing to check out things they've been told.

But be warned: The Banker White House has been spewing lies about Social Security for years now, saying that Social Security needs to be adjusted because it wasn't originally intended for retirees, that it will probably not be able to pay full benefits in 25 years, and other crap. The crap will continue nonstop, through direct and indirect routes, until The Predator Class has gotten what it's paying Obama and the rest of our government for: the $3 Trillion (and growing) Social Security Trust Fund.

Do not acquiesce to the lies.

Do not let your guard down.

This is a war against the 99%, and it will be a war each and every day until the 1% have absolutely every last morsel, or until we get up off of our asses and take back America. Those are the only two possible outcomes.

For four years, virtually every DU post of mine has turned into a re-creation of the final scene in Blazing Saddles, with almost all pies going into *my* face.

Suddenly, over the past few days, I've become mainstream. Or the mainstream has become me.

Boring!