This is a parody of Wake Up Little Susie and it is about the scandal dealing with the George Washington Bridge lane closures at Ft. Lee, New Jersey.

The parody lyrics play to the tune of Wake Up Little Susie by Phil and Don Everly.  Anyone wanting to refresh their memory of the tune and/or the original lyrics, do a search, “Wake Up Little Susie lyrics” and you will find a dozen or so links that either deal only with the lyrics or a video of the song or both.  Enjoy!

Wake up, Chris Christie, wake up

Wake up, Chris Christie, wake up

You threw me under the bus, wake up, Chris Christie, and weep

The scandal’s over, the Feds are knocking, we’re in trouble deep

Wake up Chris Christie

Wake up Chris Christie, well

Whatta you gonna tell your wife

Whatta you gonna tell your kids

Whatta you gonna tell Roger Ailes when he says “ooh-la-la”

Wake up Chris Christie

Wake up Chris Christie, well

I emailed Wildstein just like you said

But, Christie baby, looks like we lost our heads

Wake up Chris Christie

Wake up Chris Christie, it’s time to resign

I told you four days were just too much

Well, Christie baby, looks like we’re out of touch

Wake up Chris Christie

Wake up Chris Christie, it’s time to resign

Wake up, Chris Christie, wake up

Wake up, Chris Christie, wake up

We both screwed up, our goose is cooked, our reputation is shot

Wake up Chris Christie

Wake up Chris Christie, you gotta resign…..

Wake up Chris Christie

Wake up Chris Christie, you gotta resign…..

Wake up Chris Christie

Wake up Chris Christie, you gotta resign…..

My name is Cruz

I am in the Senate

And my name is Cruz

And when I vote

Poor Americans lose.

Obama’s our Prez

Though not my choice

To me, I feel that

He’s just one voice

I hate his Plan,

called “The ACA”

And I hope it simply

Goes away!

Yes, goes away,

Goes away, says I

Even if the results

Cause poor people to die

ObamaCare, ObamaCare

You’re going down

Along with the Pres.

Who I think is a clown

The Tea Party, the Tea Party

will soon see

That this whole effort

Is all about me

I’m running for Prez

In 2016

Which proves my actions

Are truly obscene.

It wasn’t about

Green Eggs and Ham

It was all about

Ted Cruz I am

 will soon see

That this whole effort

Is all about me

I’m running for Prez

In 2016

Which proves my actions

Are truly obscene.

It wasn’t about

Green Eggs and Ham

It was all about

Ted Cruz I am

The absence of WMD in Iraq is still a big issue to many, but I was more concerned with the “Mission Accomplished” sign draped on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln when President George W. Bush landed and told everyone in attendance that “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.” President Bush has been criticized repeatedly for the sign he but has said on numerous occasions that he had nothing to do with it.

Another piece of trivia about that day was that the aircraft carrier was made to turn completely around so the repositioning would provide a perfect view of the setting sun – making the photo op more dramatic for the media.  The extra maneuver, unfortunately, caused the sailors another day’s delay in getting home to their families.

The “Shock and Awe” phase of the Iraq war lasted for several days and during that period and the accompanying invasion phase, it is estimated that approximately 6,616 civilians were killed.

So, if we are trying to punish Assad for the death of 1,429 women and children, we could end up killing four to five times that many Syrians with our rocket and bomb attacks.  But, who is counting?

Forty-four days elapsed from “Shock and Awe” to when President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln – unfortunately, the war continued on until the United States finally removed the remaining troops in December 2011.

The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies here – the videos and photos were sure dramatic of Bush landing in a fighter jet but I am more moved by the number of military deaths in Iraq AFTER the “Mission Accomplished” sign was raised on the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Ninety seven percent of the military deaths in Iraq occurred AFTER the Mission Accomplished sign was hoisted high on the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Let’s move forward in time to the pending attack on Syria.

If President Obama is planning to bomb Syria for a few days and Congress is going to give him initially 60 days to get that done, plus an extension of 30 days – just how long could all this take – 2 years, 5 years, or even 10 years?  Keep in mind that all of this is being promised with no boots on the ground.

Another thing being promised is that this will not be considered a war.  President Obama and Secretary Kerry are saying that this will be an “action.”  What is an action?

To me, action, is something like what the courts just did in New York to stop the current “Stop and Frisk” policy because it was discriminatory.  The court action was done without missiles and aircraft dropping bombs, so I ask again:  What is “action?”

There are some very bad actors in Syria and surrounding countries. Allies of Syria are quite experienced and willing to die for the cause. It is rumored that 25 percent of the rebels are Al Qaeda and that could amount to 20 or 25,000 seasoned mercenaries/rebels/terrorists depending on one’s vantage point.  These highly skilled and trained Al Qaeda warriors could easily make Obama regret attacking Syria in the first place. In addition, Hamas and Hezbollah could be emboldened into joining in the fighting and the result could be death to many U. S. ground troops that are in Jordan and Iraq and Turkey – to say nothing about the covert CIA and JTF forces who are already in Syria.

President Obama might be gambling that Assad will simply roll over – exposing his bare bottom to be spanked with dozens of missiles and bombs but what if he doesn’t?  Surely, he does not have the military resources to defeat the mighty U. S. but he could attempt to shoot down as many jets as possible and he could attack the Patriot missile batteries in Jordan and the other 1,000 plus ground troops that are there. Syria has a large military and coupled with over 100,000 rebels representing different factions, both good and back, could result in a powder keg which could eventually require “boots on the ground”, which could ten result in many, many body bags returning to Dover AFB, Delaware.

I have first hand knowledge dealing with processing human remains at Dover. During the Vietnam war I was a member of the team responsible for making arrangements to return tens of thousands of deceased military to their designated place for burial.

The photos of the dead and injured caused by the chemical weapons are ghastly for sure, but also try to picture the unloading of dozens and dozens of flag draped coffins from USAF Cargo aircraft on the flightline of Dover AFB, Delaware – especially when we have been promised “no boots on the ground” and told “this is not war in the classic sense – the president is asking for the authority to do a limited action that will degrade the capacity of a tyrant who has been using chemical weapons to kill his own people. It’s a limited action. It’s limited.”

Please keep in mind that in the first days of the Iraq War, there were NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND – it was all “Shock and Awe” – bombs, missiles, rickets, killing thousands of Iraqi’s – it was after that it became our turn to die.

The President and Secretary Kerry are not promising us more images of “Shock and Awe” this time because if they do we will vehemently oppose the WAR – yes WAR.

But, you can bet your bottom dollar that when the aerial assault starts, it will be shown on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Even Al Jazeera will probably cover it, as well as the BBC. It might even be on MOSAIC, a collage of news from 8 – 9 Middle East countries.

It will be during this “Shock and Awe” coverage that we will see that we have been duped.  No one is currently telling us that we will kill people by the thousands – but when we see all those missiles and bombs falling, we will know that it translates to thousands of military deaths and that can be expected and justified but it will also include civilian deaths, aka collateral damage.

Some of the women and children injured during the chemical attacks will not escape our bombing this time and it will be our fault – not Assad’s fault and not the fault of rebels, whether they be good rebels or bad rebels.

If you have the time, please leave a comment and participate in the polling questions.  Your comments matter!

Please do not misunderstand why I am asking you to go to A&F on Saturday – I am asking you to visit the store to show that you are just as beautiful as their emaciated mannequins and the young adults and kids CEO, Mike Jeffries, feels are the hot kids.

In fact, Mike Jeffries said that he “doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store.”  So, in an effort to go along with Mike Jeffries’ desires – do not bring money or credit cards.

He also said that other brands are having problems because they are trying to cater to all people.

“Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. The companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla.”

What I suggest is that people who are full-figured visit his stores – not to shop – because he does not want you shopping there – just go in and look around – take up space – comment about how ridiculously skimpy the clothing is and that only anorexic people could even fit into their clothing.

Most A&F stores are packed with merchandise and the shelves and racks and displays are so close together most individuals who are full sized would have problems navigating through the store.

When there, pick up a pair of slacks or shorts or a top and ask a clerk if they have it in “Extra Large” or even “Plus Sizes.”  It might be fun hearing the clerk grovel for the right words to explain to you how the CEO doesn’t even want you in the store at all.

Another thought.  Be sure to let your kids or grandkids or nieces and nephews know that you will not be giving them gift certificates or money to shop at A&F.

For anyone wanting to see a detailed article about A&F’s CEO’s comments about how his clothing line does not cater to fat people, please visit:

http://www.eonline.com/news/416492/abercrombie-fitch-ceo-mike-jeffries-doesn-t-want-fat-customers-says-author-robin-lewis?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

Oh, by the way, have you ever navigated through a corn maize?  That is what it is will be like walking through A&F.  I believe it is intentionally designed and laid out for skinny customers only.

If you ”like” this blog, please share it with someone who might be as offended as you are with Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries.

Even more importantly, why won’t the Main Stream Media, aka MSM, even discuss the topic of whether or not the FBI and other agencies knew of a “credible” threat and that is why they had bomb-sniffing dogs at the start of the marathon and at the end of the Marathon as well?

One participant, Alastair Stevenson, a cross-country coach with the University of Mobile came forward talking about several things – one that was already discussed above – seeing bomb-sniffing dogs at the start of this year’s Boston Marathon.

Another thing he talked about was announcements advising participants not to be concerned with the heightened security because it was only an exercise.

Lastly, Stevenson said he also saw spotters with guns on rooftops at the beginning of the marathon – all of which have been denied by the FBI.

One would think the FBI would have bragged about having added security at the start of the marathon – especially considering it was hours before the first runner finished the race.   

I pondered all the possibilities as to why all government agencies are avoiding the topic.  The Air Force provided representatives from three squadrons of WMD units – one from Massachusetts, one from Rhode Island and the third from the State of New York.

The only plausible reason I can come up with for the FBI denying advanced warning is that by acknowledging they knew in advance of a credible threat to the Marathon would somehow make them look like a failure for not finding the explosives or the culprits before the bombs went off.

Another issue regarding the advanced knowledge has to do with how serious the threat was in the eyes of the government agencies in attendance to protect the marathon.  If the threat was perceived to be serious and they chose to not let participants and viewers at the scene know – some might hold the U. S. government partially responsible for deaths and injuries.

If I were the survivor of someone who died or was seriously injured I would be extremely angry that a warning was not given so individuals could determine whether to participate in or be at the marathon.

I read this morning that retailers are removing pressure cookers off their shelves, so what is next – blenders, food processors, espresso makers and fourth of July fireworks?

Pressure cookers are being taken off the shelves – yet we can still buy assault weapons at gun shows – without even a background check.  We no longer can kill or maim people with nails and ball bearings in pressure cookers, but we can still kill them on college campuses, theaters, and shopping centers with assault weapons and high capacity clips – that really confuses me.

So, why isn’t NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN, and MSNBC and others not chasing down the story?  Why aren’t the media asking marathon participants to call, text, email or even tweet their knowledge or lack of knowledge regarding bomb sniffing dogs, loudspeaker messages or seeing spotters on rooftops?

Have government agencies, such as the FBI and NSA and Homeland Security, silenced the media?  If so, that would be a bigger story than the deaths and injuries that have drawn so much media attention.

So, in my effort to counter what the media are not doing, I am going to put up a few polling questions – simple ones and I am asking anyone who attended the marathon – as runners, family members, friends, and media representatives to answer the questions.

If individuals at the starting line heard loudspeakers advising them to not be concerned with the beefed up security because it was only an exercise, then it would help others understand what happened that day.  If enough individuals come forward and acknowledge that they saw and heard what Alastair Stevenson saw and heard, then the FBI would be forced to admit that they had beefed up security, possibly  because they somehow found out about a credible threat. 

Maybe the FBI is having a problem with the word, “credible.” 

What if someone asks the FBI if they were aware of any “potential” threats?  Would their answer to that question be different?

Protecting the entire 26.2 miles of a marathon is a daunting task – one that is damned near impossible to do perfectly year in and year out – especially if someone is hell-bent on causing death and destruction.

What really concerns me is if the FBI won’t even acknowledge the beefed up security, what else are they keeping from the public?

So, please answer the few polling questions and also leave a comment if you care to do so.

Another thing – the FBI had photos of the brothers – yet initially they acted like they did not know who they were – even though they had the oldest brother on their radar for at least three years.  The mother of the brothers has told the media the FBI had numerous interactions with the older brother spanning years – yet the FBI initially said they thought the brothers had only been in the United States for about a year.  Why would the FBI blatantly lie about how long the brothers had been in the United States?

When the truth came out about how long the FBI knew about the bombing suspects, the FBI then said that they checked them out and did not consider them to be a serious threat.

The waffling by the FBI reminded me of a quote by Donald Rumsfeld:

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

I believe most Americans do not want to know what they don’t know because if they learn of something then they will have to act on that knowledge.  They would rather bury their head in the sand than find out that their government knew of a credible sinister plot to cause death and destruction – yet decided not to warn those attending. 

The Boston Marathon was a lose-lose situation for those designated to prevent a terrorist attack.  If they cancelled the Marathon because of a “credible threat” and nothing happened, many would be upset because they came all the way to Boston to compete and could not do so.  On the other hand, look what actually happened – the marathon went on as planned, no warnings were given – but there were deaths and significant injuries.   Because of the carnage, the FBI feels it best to keep any knowledge of a credible threat a big dark secret.  If not, some individuals would say, “You guys knew there was a bomb threat and you still could not stop it?”

Again, please participate in the survey questions.  For each polling question – make your choice and click the “vote” button – then move on to the next question, etc.

Note: Even if you did not attend the marathon in person you might have seen bomb sniffing dogs or rooftop spotters during television coverage.

Here is one of the many links to interviews made by Allistair Stevenson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-vjPw8QZV0

For those of you who do not like clicking on links, here is a brief summary of what Alastair Stevenson said, “At the start at the event, at the Athlete’s Village, there were people on the roof looking down onto the Village at the start. There were dogs with their handlers going around sniffing for explosives, and we were told on a loud announcement that we shouldn’t be concerned and that it was just a drill. And maybe it was just a drill, but I’ve never seen anything like that — not at any marathon that I’ve ever been to. You know, that just concerned me that that’s the only race that I’ve seen in my life where they had dogs sniffing for explosions, and that’s the only place where there had been explosions.”

For those reading this who have not read the entire comment from Stevenson, he said he ran in many marathons – London, New York, Washington, D. C., Chicago, and Boston and has never seen security like he saw at this year’s Boston Marathon.

I believe the FBI loves it when incorrect or inaccurate information gets released to the media because it adds to the confusion and takes the focus off of the FBI.

Immediately after the two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon bits and pieces of information kept being released that were intended to keep people off balance – to keep Bostonians going in a multitude of directions.

There was initial speculation that the perpetrators were from overseas and that they were trained by enemies of the United States. 

Then there was speculation that they were homegrown terrorists with no affiliation to enemies of the United States.

There was additional speculation that the bombers were dark skinned and spoke with accents. There was talk of a Saudi citizen, or two, taken into custody and later it was rumored that at least one of them would be deported in the coming week.  Again, why?

See here:

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/terrorism/294839-saudi-student-hurt-in-bombing-not-a-suspect-not-being-deported

and here:

http://news.msn.com/rumors/rumor-saudi-student-cleared-in-boston-bombings-being-deported

Citizens were asked to provide photos and videos so the FBI could analyze all the information to help identify those who planted the bombs – bombs that turned out to be pressure cookers filled with ball bearings and nails intended to inflict death and injury to those nearby.

When asked, the FBI insisted that they had no credible threats prior to the running of the marathon, yet there were hundreds of law enforcement officers from numerous agencies up and down the marathon route – including on tops of buildings, around the finish line, and even at the start of the marathon.

Some of these law enforcement officers were accompanied by bomb sniffing dogs.  Why?

I think the operative word above is “credible.”  Here is a Denver Post article discussing credible threats, potential terrorists threats and our old color coded system to warn us about potential terrorism threats.

http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_23044142/boston-marathon-bombings-whatever-happened-terrorism-threat-alerts

One of the marathon runners, University of Mobile’s cross-country coach Ali Stevenson, said he saw bomb sniffing dogs and increased security – something he had never seen at previous marathons.  Stevenson stated that he had run in several marathons in the past – places like Washington, D. C., Chicago, and even London, England.

An article about Stevenson’s concerns, along with a video interview can be seen here:

http://www.local15tv.com/mostpopular/story/UM-Coach-Bomb-Sniffing-Dogs-Spotters-on-Roofs/BrirjAzFPUKKN8z6eSDJEA.cspx

Stevenson said there were loudspeakers at the start of the race telling entrants that the added security was a training  exercise and there was nothing to be alarmed about.

It is Coach Stevenson’s opinion that officials must have received threats or warnings about the marathon, otherwise why were there spotters on the rooftops at the start of the Marathon and why all the dogs? 

I am of that belief as well – for several reasons.

There are approximately 57 Air National Guard units across the United States referred to as, “National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams.”  Each of the 50 states has one unit but in addition, New York, California, and Florida have one additional unit each.  I am not sure where the other 3 or 4 units are assigned – maybe they are in places like Puerto Rico or Guam or other territories – but those added units are not relevant to the issue of the Boston Marathon bombing.

What is interesting about these units is that in addition to the Massachusetts unit participating in security at the Boston Marathon, two additional units were requested to participate in security at the Marathon as well – the Rhode Island unit and one of the New York units were asked to be part of the security procedures.  Why?  One would logically come to the conclusion that there were concerns about security at this Marathon – and possibly because of the 26.2 mile route, three National Guard teams would be needed to help with security issues.

On a side note, one of the New York units, the 24^th National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, and one of the Florida units were already scheduled for deactivation because of budgetary reasons, but after the Marathon bombings, the Department of Defense has apparently discovered a way to fund the units. 

Considering these units were not successful in preventing the bombings, I wonder why they are being rewarded by the DOD by keeping them in existence?

Our government wants all Americans to be vigilant – i.e. to be on the lookout for unattended baggage at airports, or in this case to be on the lookout for unattended bags or containers or even backpacks along the Marathon route – yet, there were numerous military personnel in full military gear who walked the Marathon route with large backpacks.

Near the finish line, prior to the bombs going off, there were several men, who were rumored to be contract “soldiers”, like those employed by Xe Corporation, formerly Blackwater.

There are numerous photos of these men wearing khacki pants and black jackets and several of them were carrying large black backpacks – similar in appearance to the remains of one of the backpacks said to have contained one of the bombs.

Numerous conspiratorial type-sites are saying that these men,  seen in photos to be standing near an unmarked large black SUV with high-tech electronic gear on top, are private contractors of Craft, International, a private/military contracting firm started by former Navy Seal, Chris Kyle.

There are other sites that say these same men are assigned to one of the National Guard units, which makes more sense to me.  The men, by the way, were also seen wearing hats with Craft International emblems and that might be because these men might have attended specialized training at Craft International facilities.

To me, it doesn’t matter whether these men were National Guard or Xe (Blackwater), or even Craft International employees – the issue is that either the Federal Government and/or Massachusetts officials felt it was important to have all these extra resources at THIS marathon because they were well aware of credible threats to the Marathon.

Getting back to photos and videos of the finish line area, it appears that the FBI sat on the photos of who the FBI thinks might have planted the bombs – supposedly trying to figure out if it was in the FBI’s best interest to try to identify and apprehend the suspects on their own. 

What does not make sense about that assumption is that the older of the two suspects has been on the FBI radar for somewhere between two and three years.  In fact, the FBI had previously interviewed him.  There are numerous websites that speculate that Russia advised our country about the older brother and that is what made the FBI get involved in the first place.

What I do not understand is that if the Boston office of the FBI already knew about at least the older brother and had previously interviewed him and more importantly knew what he looked like, why didn’t they recognize him from the photos? 

One would think that at least one agent would have connected the dots by saying something like, “Hey, doesn’t he look like the guy we interviewed at the suggestion of the Russian Government?” 

The mother of the brothers has said that the FBI was quite active in monitoring activities of at least her oldest son.  The mother also feels that the brothers were set up and that they are not guilty of any crimes.

Personally, I feel the brothers probably did plant the explosives but after reading about prior FBI knowledge and the added security, I am beginning to wonder.

So, again, why didn’t the FBI connect the dots and immediately track down the brothers when they had photos of them?  Was releasing the photos just a ruse to get the public involved?

Initially it was released that the brothers had been in the United States for approximately one year, when in fact the FBI knew they had been in the country for over a decade.  Why did the FBI change their story?  Was it because other governments were releasing information contrary to what the FBI initially released or was it because neighbors knew they had been in the country for a long time?  Was the FBI story falling apart and truth was being leaked in bits and pieces?

So, why all the misinformation?  Was it to keep everyone off balance?

There have been many cases at least since 9/11 where the FBI has infiltrated subversive groups and even supplied them with weapons to carry out their intended destruction.  From what I have read, equipment provided by the FBI was always lacking a component or part that would prevent it from going off or firing.  Then the FBI would come in on white horses and arrest the bad guys in the nick of time – as if to come across as heroes – preventing another potential terrorist attack – attacks they were complicit in until they pulled the plug.

The problem is, in this case, a terrible tragedy occurred and the FBI knew about the brothers – knew of their history, where they resided, and that at least one of the brothers might have been radicalized on a previous trip overseas – yet these brothers were left to their own devices.

One would think that with all the security plans in place for THIS marathon, the FBI would have included these brothers in any security sweeps prior to the marathon.

Why invite several National Guard units from adjoining states and have a huge influx of special SWAT type units and other specialized units to an international event if you are not going to check out some “local” potential suspects – home grown or otherwise?

Maybe this whole episode was for the various agencies of our government to run a live, practice drill of sealing off a major metropolitan area to see how citizens would react to martial law.  

If that is the case, it turned out well – except for the victims.

Citizens supposedly voluntarily opened their doors to heavily armed officers, many in military style gear to submit to room by room searches – people stayed indoors like they were told – people did not go to work – just like they were told – major transportation like the “T” was shut down and total control of information being released by the media was firmly put in place.  There are also videos showing that some residence did not want to submit to involuntary residential searches or physical body searches – shown in the video here:

http://www.storyleak.com/video-shows-home-searches-by-boston-police-were-not-voluntary/

Did anyone actually declare some kind of martial law that would require all citizens to agree to residential searches?  I do not know the answer to that – do you?

After day two, we heard very little about the Saudi suspect or what happened in the Revere apartment or what happened in the train search in Connecticut or why the Saudi individual is being deported (at our expense, by the way), and what, if anything, is happening with close friends or relatives of the two brothers.

I have read on websites where the sisters of the brothers were questioned and their cell phones and computers were confiscated but none of that was in the national media.  Thank God for the Internet.  I know there is a lot of junk on the Internet but there are also highly respected domestic and foreign media sites run by those who are not afraid to talk about controversial parts of the puzzle.

Running security exercises is one thing but to mislead the runners and spectators that everything was okay and they had nothing to be worried about is another.

Maybe if Marathon participants and observers were told of potential security risks – just maybe – some of them might have chosen to not attend.  Maybe there would have been fewer severed limbs near the finish line and maybe there would have not been three dead bodies.  Was the anticipated billion dollar plus economic benefit to the city of Boston instrumental in the Marathon NOT being cancelled for security reasons?

Maybe the deaths and injuries are the price citizens have to play so our various governments can play their war drills.

If the FBI immediately acted and pursued the brothers maybe the MIT security guard would not have been killed because the brothers would have already been arrested.

Lastly, regarding the photos of the finish line, one site shows what the government says are the National Guard men in tan khakis and black jackets with “CST” in big bold white letters and not carrying large black backpacks.

That photo can be seen here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2013/apr/15/boston-marathon-explosions-pictures#/?picture=407248955&index=16

On other sites there are competing photos showing these same men without visible big white “CST” initials on their jackets because they are clearly carrying large black backpacks over what could be white lettering.

Those photos can be seen here:

http://www.storyleak.com/craft-international-private-military-forces-boston-marathon/#ixzz2QlBrz9FA

If the photos are really “before explosion” and “after explosion”, where did the backpacks go?  Some hint that the backpacks worn by the contractors or Guardsmen might be the ones used for the explosions.  I don’t necessarily share that opinion – I just want to know where their backpacks disappeared to when they sprang to action after the explosions?  More importantly, I would like to know what a group of individuals would be carrying in those backpacks.

As I said in the title and in the body of this blog, something does not smell right about the Boston Marathon bombing.

Please leave a comment – be it positive or negative.  feedback greatly appreciated.

What a bunch of jerks tonight in Yankee Stadium.

Maybe Yankee fans participated in a moment of silence before the game started but when Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” was played at the end of the 3^rd inning, the video shows the majority of fans laughing and clowning around instead of standing and sharing in a tribute to Boston.

I am not exaggerating; take a look at the video yourself.  It would have been better to not pan the crowd because it sure did not show many fans even caring about the tragedy in Boston.

One would think that Yankee fans who had lived through so much on 9/11 would show compassion for their fellow baseball fans in Beantown.

Here is the link to the video.  See for yourself.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/04/16/new-york-yankees-boston-marathon-sweet-caroline/2088269/

While searching the Internet for articles on the Boston Marathon bombing, I noticed that someone was trying to connect the deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School to the Boston Marathon.  The number 26 was being used as the connector because 26 individuals died at Sandy Hook and the length of the marathon is roughly 26 miles long.  I know, that is really a stretch to tie the two tragic events together.

That would be like me saying that I have a connection with Ralph Samson, Danny Ainge, Jerry West and others because they all wore the number 44 and I was born in 1944.

Next, I went to the Huffington Post and the headline there was “Boston Heartbreak” and it made me think of Heartbreak Hill and how sad it would have been if explosives were planted there instead of the finish line.     

So many runners, when hitting Heartbreak Hill, end up dropping out because of its’ unique challenge.  Tying Heartbreak Hill to Sandy Hook and Newtown, CT is easy because Heartbreak Hill is in Newton, MA – even though the two towns are pronounced and spelled slightly differently, the connection would have been obvious.

So why am I suggesting that the culprits (I am being kind) behind the bombings might be using Newtown, CT as the reason behind their actions?

I believe all the attention being given to gun control – be it in trying to regulate reduce gun clip capacity, banning assault weapons, and requiring mandatory background checks is mostly due to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

In addition, the State of Connecticut has recently enacted some of the strictest gun laws in the nation – so strict that some gun manufactures in the State of Connecticut are considering moving out of the state and to places across the country more in tune with the NRA and the 2^nd Amendment.

There are many militant groups deeply troubled by what is going on in Congress and I am sure they blame the tragedy at Sandy Hook for the gun issue spiraling out of control.

So, why was the finish line chosen as the place to detonate bombs?  If there is a connection to Sandy Hook and the gun control issue, the answer is easy

1. There were residents of Sandy Hook who participated in the Marathon.
2. The last mile of the marathon, which includes the two bomb locations was dedicated to the victims of Sandy Hook.
3. Families of the Sandy Hook tragedy were honored by being seated in the V.I.P. section at the end of the marathon – right across from one of the explosions.

Another interesting tidbit is that Senator Elizabeth Warren recently said that pro-legalization Republican State Representative Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk), who is currently vying for the Republican nomination for Senate in Massachusetts’s upcoming special election has a 100 percent ranking from the gun lobby and he’s for the legalization of marijuana. He wants us armed and stoned.”

Senator Warren, in making those comments about Representative Dan Winslow, alienated gun rights advocates and pro-legalization advocates.

Any of the above issues could have made a dangerous cocktail of reasons for someone to strike out in an effort to make a strong statement on gun control, pro-legalization, and even marriage equality – all of which are hot buttons to so many Americans these days.

Even though this entire blog is based on speculation, the motivations I present here are as good as any I have read so far.

Every time there is a natural or man-made tragedy in America, we are told, “we are different – that we come together” – and that might be true.  But are we so different, so detached, and so disinterested on a daily basis that we need a tragedy to come together?

Fill in the blank with your own affiliation, “We are all …….”  I vividly remember during the Penn State scandal that there were thousands of students chanting, “We are Penn State.” 

In response to the Soviet Union invading the former Soviet republic of Georgia, McCain said that, “We are all Georgians.”

That comment was so disingenuous that it turned me off every time I heard it.  I now tend to block out chants that begin with, “We are.”

One thing I am thankful to not hearing is, “We are all Bostonians.”   Why?  Because it would be a knee jerk mantra to be used as a glue to artificially bring people together temporarily.

Sure, Americans care – and they care deeply when something tragic happens – whether it be a hurricane or a tornado or yes, even a bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

I lived in suburban Boston for four years while serving in the Air Force – I love Boston – the history, the culture, the uniqueness of the city and I had the financial resources I would be living there – but that is not possible on a fixed income.

All I am saying is that we really are not that different than citizens of other countries – be they Canadians or Greeks or Italians or Russians or Australians.

The media kept talking about the heroes yesterday in Boston, and believe me, there were many.  Those doing the reporting said that Americans were unique because after hearing the explosions there were many running toward the explosions to help – instead of being concerned about their own lives and safety and running for cover instead of running in the direction of the blasts.

Like it or not, many of those attending the marathon, as runners or viewers, ran to help because they did not know better.  That sounds harsh, but let me explain.

In countries where there are terrorist acts on a much more frequent basis, individuals close in proximity of the initial blast know there is a high probability of a second blast. 

Perpetrators of such events know there will be more of an impact by setting off a second device because people have a natural tendency to want to help the injured.  People  reflexively run to provide assistance – but in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Libya, and Egypt (among others), people know they need to initially protect themselves by seeking shelter first and only after things quiet down do they begin to do what they would have done reflexively.

Americans are no more loving to family members or neighbors or coworkers than individuals in most countries in the world.

Another thing I want to be perfectly clear about, it is okay to grieve, to feel pain, to be afraid, to want to bring everything to a screeching halt – in effect to stop the world for a few minutes or hours while we simply sort things out.

No, we do not need to go shopping or immediately return to normal by taking kids to after school activities like baseball practice or dance lessons or yoga classes.

Doing those things proves nothing except that we want to put on a façade – i.e. show “Them” that we will not be beaten down and that we will immediately get back to normal.  Getting back to normal, to me, is unnatural.  I have no need to simply change batteries and start walking around aimlessly like the Energizer Bunny. 

To hell with all that, I say.  We all need to figure out what happened – how it affects us personally and collectively and more importantly, we need to avoid the herd mentality to engage in “group think.”

It is important to maintain our individuality because that is what gives us the wherewithal to make sound decisions – to be our best, to help others the most – otherwise we start moving in packs – walking around in circles – spreading rumors, engaging in one-upmanship.  We should simply take the time to reflect – to absorb what happened and to take a breath.

I found myself watching television – no, I found myself glued to the television – even though I knew it would be filled with rumors and speculation of who did what and why – the extent of the injuries and deaths – knowing full well the numbers would escalate exponentially – so why should I get trapped in the cycle of someone releasing numbers with every blink of an eye.  I also found myself flipping channels because I wanted the current death count – how many were at each hospital.

I kept waiting for clues to be released – what kind of device – whether it was set off by a timing device or triggered by a cell phone.  Who was responsible – some home grown terrorist or some organized group from halfway around the world?  Americans tend to want answers immediately and that is unrealistic.

I also found myself waiting for the White House to use the words terrorist or terrorism.  I wanted labels attached to this event.  I did not want those to the right politically bashing the President for not using a certain word or phrase.

Believe me, and you can bet your bottom dollar on this, in a matter of days, not weeks, this tragedy will become a political football.

Another thing – our governments, yes, governments, city, state, and federal, want us back on the streets almost immediately – buying shoes, going out to eat, visiting malls, while at the same time they do not want us doing other things like making a run on the banks or moving money in our 401k’s or anything else that will affect the stock markets in a negative way.

Another sad thing is that these kinds of tragedies bring out opportunists – those that jump back into the stock market the following day after the markets take their initial hit.  People who do that operate in “selfish mode” by thinking and acting on “How can I best gain from this tragedy affecting the health and lives of others?” and “How can I make a quick grand or two while others are still in shock?”

In closing, I just want to assure everyone that we are not that much different from others in this world.  We feel pain, we love, we care, we feel anger, we hate, we cry, and we extend a hand to others in times of need.

We are neither superior nor inferior to others around the world.  We might worship a different God, we might speak a different language collectively here in America and we might dress differently – but when push comes to shove, we are human and nothing more.