If curious, welcome; not, see you at the bend! j'aime la vie Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all, Celebrate! -----Original Message----- From: Jaime R Vergara <jrvergarajr2031@aol.com> To: jayvee_vallejera <jayvee_vallejera@saipantribune.com>; mark_rabago <mark_rabago@saipantribune.com>; editor <editor@saipantribune.com> Sent: Tue, Apr 16, 2013 9:06 pm Subject: OpEd Thursday The blasts heard around the world It was acommemorative Monday in one of the world’s famous city marathons. Held on Patriots’ Day, a Massachusetts’holiday, it remembers events of 1775 in Concord and Lexington when the AmericanRevolution broke out. The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest marathon event,first ran in 1897 with 18 entries. Itregistered 27,000 runners this year. It alsoremembered the 26 victims in the Newtown, Connecticut Sandy Hook Schoolshooting massacre as the run measures 26.2 miles and a set marker on the 26thmile was made to remind the participants of the tragedy not too long ago in aneighboring State. Mostparticipants are recreational runners, in the race for the challenge of makingit to the end of the line while friends and love ones cheer on, and basking onpersonal accomplishments. Whileathleticism is on display, and the Boston marathon requires qualifying timesalong with experience in another run within a year-and-a-half, the sheer fun ofparticipation is also wildly evident. Recallingprevious Aloha runs in Oahu, the levity of such run fests is contagious! Two hours intothe first crossing at the finish line, when many of the participants werefinally making it, was when two blasts occurred 10 seconds apart. Three were pronounced dead including aneight-year old child who was cheering on Daddy to the finish line. Barricades andyellow tapes sprouted quickly as security officials reacted in the manner theywere trained. The knowledgeable grabbedtourniquets as amputations suddenly became the medical order of the day! The soul of anation is laid bare, and already, the accusation of the hideous act ofterrorism, domestic or foreign, is echoed in legislative chambers even withoutsolid evidence of any kind. AP reachedthe Taliban in Pakistan and the group immediately disowned any association withthe incident. Another incidentthat may or may not be related was a blast at the JFK library. Two other bombs at the marathon were foundand diffused. No group so fare has laidclaim to the perpetuation of the deadly assault on an erstwhile peaceful andfun-filled celebration. We write fromoutside the sovereign territories of the United States, and though we haveaccess to the wire services of western media, we also scour the response oflocal news sources. China Dailyreports a female student at Boston U in a coma at a hospital as one of the 140casualties. Seventeen females out ofeighty-seven Chinese runners between 20 to 65-yr old were registered accordingto organizers. There are no promarathoners. The paper’s reportingfocused on the objective facts, in the same vein as it informed its readingaudience the recent devastating tremors in Iran and Iraq at more than 7 points inthe Richter scale; another of lesser intensity was around New Delhi in India. Other colleagues,while lamenting the seeming senselessness of the Boston blasts, point out also withoutheavy-handed weight of judgment and condemnation, the numerous effects oninnocent lives of our unending use of drones in our military engagements inSouth Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. The recentincessant demonization of the DPRK and a possible nuclear strike on US forces,including those in the Marianas, based on regular Pyongyang bellicosity, nowmakes sense as SoKor recently announced a financial stimulus package to helpboost the Won against the weakening ¥en and the indeterminate ¥uan. I bet on increased defense spending. To the Obamaadministration’s credit, when the news media carried the allegation from adefense intelligence agency’s accusation that DPRK “possibly” has nuclearcapabilities, the Pentagon quickly disowned the report and claimed that anysuch judgment, on the basis of evidence, is “inaccurate”. Which brings usback to Boston. Obama has not been afavorite of patriotic elements in the country, often accused of being aforeigner and Moslem out to sell the nation’s security down the drain. The nation’s debate on gun controllegislation after the gut-wrenching effect of Sandy Hook and other tragedieswas very revealing of the level of vitriol leveled against the White House. Knowing of thecritical impact of symbolic gestures, the patriotic focus of Patriots’ Day isnot lost on those of us who have distance enough to see how something likeSeptember 11, and the 911 as an emergency call signal, was laid on a nationtaking advantage of the exploitation of other people’s resources. Dick Cheney’s drool on Iraqi oil is nowconfirmed by one of his own former aides. We might saythat the Boston blasts is a cruel demonstration of certain elements in oursociety out to show that Boston and Massachusetts cannot prevail as thedominant ethos of a country attempting to leave its signature as a liberal and progressive “beacon on ahill” to the rest of the world. Over photos senton the Net of two men assisting each other to save a sheep in a raging riveronly to be followed by lamb chops being barbecued on the grill, we said, “it isa character of our times to mistake skepticism and cynicism as witty.” There is nothingwitty about the Boston blasts, and if attempts are made to symbolize it aspatriotic, we have turned into cruel folks, indeed. j'aime la vie Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all, Celebrate!