The Kyrie Irving Game: Cavs-Celtics Game 4, Behind the Box Score
May 23, 2017Indians Squeak by Reds, 8-7
May 24, 2017I had been gathering a bunch of research on education and some adverse reactions to headlines on the subject, but then Manchester happened on Monday night. I don’t get the allure of Ariana Grande’s music, but I’m not supposed to understand. Her music is beloved by the young, specifically girls. Many of those in England who undoubtedly begged their parents to go to her show to see her live. The concert was supposed to be a joyful release for those who attended. A great memory of spending time with family, friends, and music. It was not supposed to be a precursor to the United Kingdom deploying troops throughout the four countries and the terror threat level raised to critical. The explosions to end the concert were supposed to be the fireworks on stage, not a suicide bomber in the tunnel that connected the arena with the train station.
There is no way to describe the pain and torment of a parent helplessly losing their child as the latest terrorist attack in Manchester England did to so many. The bomb itself caused much of the damage, the stampede of frantic people fleeing the area injuring and killing more.1 The Guardian lists the current physical injuries as 22 people dead, 20 people in critical condition, and another 39 people being treated in hospitals. At least nine people are still missing. The emotional carnage will be exponentially greater.2
My kind, charming, articulate, honest, hardworking, beautiful 13 year old cousin traveled w/ her 3 friends, along with a family member, (c)
— White Cleats (@JeynieJ) May 23, 2017
There is light in even the darkest of times. People tend to show their best attributes when confronted with the greatest levels of tragedy. Many rushed towards, not away from the blast to help those who had been injured. There is one account from The Independent reported of a homeless man helping calm severely injured children and even pulling a couple nails out of one poor girls face. Some who helped could only provide the comfort to the victims of knowing they were not alone as they died in their arms. Hotels and restaurants opened their doors as waiting stations for the hundreds of unaccompanied, terrified minors whose parents were desperately attempting to reach them. People took video and photos and posted them on social media in attempts to help loved ones identify that their children were not among those lost. Of course, despite the heroics, not all parents received such fortunate news.
Saffie Rose Roussos, 8, confirmed to have died in Manchester terror attack https://t.co/p74ehqFE9L pic.twitter.com/0PBg3b2ZH0
— Metro (@MetroUK) May 23, 2017
Authorities have been slow to release details, but some information has been reported. A son of Libyan immigrants, Salman Abedi is believed to have carried out the suicide bombing. His brother, Ismail Abedi, is detained and being questioned alongside two other men who were arrested (Adel Forjani and an unnamed man). Salman Abedi was suspected to have been trained in Syria and known to British Intelligence to have ties to the Islamic State, who have claimed responsibility for the attacks though the British government has yet to confirm.3
Recent attacks have had cars ramming through crowded pedestrian areas both in Berlin Germany and at Ohio State in 2016. Suicide bombers attacked at Christian churches on Palm Sunday in Egypt that year as well, and a shooter entering a crowded night club in Orlando. It has somehow been four years since bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The most deadly attack on French soil since World War II happened in 2015 when a series of coordinated attacks left 137 dead and another 368 wounded as concert halls, restaurants and a soccer stadium were the targets.
Perusing the list of Islamic State attacks though shows how fortunate we are to live in the Western world. The number of attacks are on the rise, but the concentration remains in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. Suicide bombers entering refugee camps, hospitals, weddings, and holy sites as they have shown no mercy towards women, children, sick, injured, or captive.
UK media name first #Manchester victim as Georgina Callander – who met Ariana Grande at the exact arena in 2015https://t.co/W9pnHf4bb3 pic.twitter.com/IJegcfb6uf
— Catherine Healey (@cat__healey) May 23, 2017
It is important to remember that not all Muslims are associated with these vile people. There are over a billion people and it is sad that a small minority of those have purposed the viewpoints on the whole through their unconscionable actions. No one deserves to be lumped in with the worst of such an overwhelming size of a demographic. Furthermore, we, as a society, cannot be driven by fear in our deeds. We must remember how we are in the initial moments after these tragedies rather than the dichotomous debates that arise out of them as time pushes us away from our empathy. God has given us each of us free will, and it is up to us to ensure that we use that gift wisely.
There are initiatives we can take to persevere in the troubled times of the world we live in. We can teach ourselves to be focused but not panicked in exiting away from these attacks as people getting trampled have led to many injuries. As painful as it is to explain to them, we can teach our children how to respond to these events. We can put safeguards in place to help ensure that those entering our country are not here to do it harm.4
The Guardian notes that 10 victims have been named with the other 12 victims families having them currently remain in anonymity. May you pray for them and their families. May we figure out how to heal our broken world.
Ten victims of the attack have now been named. They are: Martyn Hett, 29; Angelika Klis, 40; Marcin Klis, 42; Georgina Callander, 18; Saffie Rose Roussos, eight; John Atkinson, 28; Kelly Brewster, 32; Olivia Campbell, 15; Alison Howe, 45; and Lisa Lees, 47.
- There was a second explosion, but it was a controlled one by a bomb squad on a suspicious item. [↩]
- Click on the tweet below and read the full thread. Warning: it is heartbreaking. [↩]
- British Home Secretary Amber Rudd was upset that these details have been leaked to American institutions such as CBS News and NY Times. She made a point to state that she has contacted her American colleagues in intelligence to make it perfectly clear that it shouldn’t happen again. [↩]
- Yes, we also should want to help those from these regions who are afflicted and need safe haven. I do not know how to balance these competing terms, and no one has the full answer. It is complicated and might be impossible to fully solve. All we can do is show each other grace in our conversations and hope to find as much balance here as we can. [↩]
26 Comments
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Big Daddy !!
Every concert, baseball game, and public event I go to, I now think about what I’ll do if a bomb goes off or someone starts shooting. So it goes. I will say, we shouldn’t lose track of the fact that we live in a time that is much safer and civil than any other in human history. Events like these are notable because hundreds of concerts and sporting events happen every day without incident.
On the first part, I’m the same way especially if I have my kids with me. I am acutely aware of the different exits and map out in my head which ways might be less congested.
On the latter part, I’m not so sure either way. It is hard to determine due to the overall wealth of present society allowing more people to go to these things, plus there just being more people in general- and every incident immediately able to be broadcast across the globe.
In sheer numbers of attacks there are more:
http://www.businessinsider.com/are-we-safer-now-than-on-911-2016-9
Most MSM pieces focus on deaths rather than attacks and/or injuries, but…
NY Times notes that terrorism deaths worldwide have been slightly declining, but they have been rising in the Western World (Europe/America).
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/upshot/is-terrorism-getting-worse-in-the-west-yes-in-the-world-no.html?_r=0
Atlantic notes the concentration of deaths in the coutnries highlighted:
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/2016/07/Screen_Shot_2016_07_05_at_1.19.12_PM/9fb20064a.png
There were a couple pieces I had found that highlighted the high terrorism of the 70s, but it was an almost exclusive phenomenon in the United Kingdom where well over 90% of the incidents occurred.
good posts , guys …
Probably should have clarified: I didn’t mean terrorism, but deaths by murder, wars, and violence in general. Fancy slide show to follow.
https://ourworldindata.org/slides/war-and-violence/#/title-slide
Michael, thank you for starting this conversation. I can tell how much it affects you personally, and I share your hurt.
These sorts of acts are committed by depraved sociopaths, and there is absolutely no way of rationalizing their actions. However, as a country, I wish we would look more critically at how decades of US foreign policy in the middle east has created a climate that fuels radicalism. Such introspection goes beyond our usual political divisions. For instance, last year alone Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama dropped 26,171 bombs on 7 majority Muslim countries (http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/us-dropped-26171-bombs-7-muslim-countries-2016) (http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/us-dropped-26171-bombs-7-muslim-countries-2016).
The Bush administration’s destabilization of Iraq looms hugely problematic a decade later, and we are seeing its spillover into Syria and elsewhere. The inability of successive regimes (both Dems and Repubs) to cease illegal settlement building in Israel and establish a Palestinian state–besides creating a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and the West Bank–continues to provide ideological fuel for extremist groups to recruit and transform young men into mass murderers. Everyone here knows how much I respect Bernie Sanders, but even he has fallen mostly in lock step in showing unconditional support to Israel as it has seized more land and perhaps forever obviated a two-state solution.
Anyhow, I know most people get rankled by these sorts of discussions, and they are complex and won’t be solved here. However, until we as an electorate reckon with our imperialist foreign policy and all that comes with it (e.g. military industrial complex, the undue influence of lobby groups like AIPAC, etc.) and demand more humane policies from our elected officials, we are going to continue sowing seeds of radicalism across generations in the Middle East, and thus dealing with a constant threat at concerts, sporting events, and other public gatherings.
**Note: None of this is any reflection on US troops like Gary_Owen and others. The “wisdom” of foreign policy is determined by our elected officials; our soldiers carry out the missions they are given with courage and honor
“However, as a country, I wish we would look more critically at how
decades of US foreign policy in the middle east has created a climate
that fuels radicalism.”
Standing ovation Humboldt, honestly.
From OTAs today…Joe Thomas working with Anthony Munoz. Just wow.
http://image.cleveland.com/home/cleve-media/width960/img/plain-dealer/photo/2017/05/24/-79729aa17e44ca9a.jpg
All of this is fairly, and well, stated, and you didn’t need to add the caveat at the end (but I appreciate it, though “courage” had little to do with whatever small part I played; I like to think “honor” did, but that’s not for me to decide or declare).
We are, ultimately, products of the history that we live in and create. I could (and do) tie all of this back to our foolish decision to enter World War I, which created World War II, which created the Cold War, which led to our prodigal involvement in all of the world’s affairs as if they were exclusively ours. (And you could easily trace it farther back – it is the nature of history.) Maybe it’s “understandable,” if not justifiable, but at some point somebody (multiple somebodies) in charge has to have the courage to say “enough already!” This is my dream, too, if only because I have witnessed some of the visceral impact that this history has on real life people. I sing a different tune now than I did 20 years ago.
We clearly played a huge role, no doubt, in creating the conditions the exist today. That said, I do not blame us for what happened in Manchester, or Paris, or even New York and Washington DC in 2001, or the thousands of other places at other dates. The fault and blame is with the terrorists alone (and I perceive you as saying the same thing; you’re also singing my tune – or maybe I’m singing yours). The solution to this, to the extent one exists, is not going to be easy, and I’m afraid that it will require much more than we’re willing or want to devote, and the practical solution, at least in the short-term, may run quite counter to what we individually dream – but it will almost certainly, for better or worse, be different that what we have been trying for the past 16 years and more. I just hope that if the dust ever settles on a peace with no Islamic terrorism (or terrorism of any other kind), it settles on an American nation that keeps to itself in peace and with good intentions toward the rest of our global neighbors.
I could go on and on. But won’t. Thanks for saying what you said.
Caption this: “When the Browns trade you, you need to push that door open and run through it, just like that, and don’t look back.”
(Also: Look at Munoz’s finger. That’s a man, right there.)
Beautifully and profoundly said, and I think we are singing the same tune, albeit with rather gravelly voices.
btw, was up your way recently at the Second Mountain Hawk Watch. Gorgeous up there
Awesome. I haven’t been to the Second Mountain Hawk Watch, but do spend a lot of time on the AT in that general area. (Did a nice little 10 miler on Saturday.)
humboldt: They are complex and won’t be solved here…
WFNYers: Hold my beer.
First, wash all car. Then wax. Wax on.
I saw his kid, Michael, play in the state title game. McKinley vs Moeller. He was a monster.
First half, he manhandled Kenny Peterson (buckeye, Packer, Bronco). Second half, Peterson just ran around him.
As someone who is farther to the left than most of the commentators here, I’m glad you mention Obama and Sanders. To add some more of that sort of perspective: US backing under Obama for the Saudi war against Yemen included providing arms, intelligence, & technical assistance, participating in naval blockades, and firing missiles at sites in Yemen. Oh, and Saint Jimmy Carter released troops from the joint U.S.-Korean command so they could assist dictator Chun Doo-hwan in crushing a democratic uprising in Kwangju.
Thank you both for this thread and I agree with most points within. Sorry I couldn’t be around to join you.
Ahhh
In 1908, a British company was formed to extract Iranian Oil for 20,000 pounds and 16% of royalties. After decades of workers strife and arguments over royalties, Iran voted to nationalize the company in 1951. After years of embargoes and failed negotiations, the CIA and MI6 conspired to overthrow the government in a coup that put the Shah in power. The company then changed it’s name to British Petroleum, in 1954.
The US forced BP to join a cartel that controlled Iranian oil and global petroleum production through the 70’s, when finally the Shah was overthrown and those evil Mullah’s took the US embassy hostage.
These issues have deep roots.
Operation Ajax is the name of the plan.
England initially approached Truman with the idea. He told them to pound sand.
Not to be deterred, they presented the plan to their old WWII buddy, Eisenhower, as soon as he got elected, and he said ok.
The CIA did most of the heavy lifting. England got their cheap oil back, and we’ve been eating crap ever since.
Apropos of nothing, am I the only one who thought that Doug Lesmerises’s question to Brock Osweiler the other day was complete garbage?
See above on how the vast majority of terrorist attacks in the 70s were in UK.
But that was largely IRA.
Some Rockerfellers would beg to differ.