Tragedy in Paris

Again. It's happened again. This is the new normal. What a sorry state our world has settled into. Where hate and fear creep evermore into our daily lives. How sad it's turned to this.

Multiple attacks by ISIS on Friday left over 100 people dead and twice as many injured. The two major sites of assault were the Stade de France where an international soccer match was being played and the Bataclan, a concert hall in the centre of Paris.

After being denied entry into the stadium two or three suicide bombers blew themselves up outside. French President François Hollande who was watching inside was evacutated to safety.

Attendees of the death-metal concert at the Bataclan weren't so fortunate. Masked gunmen with AK-47s entered and fired indiscriminately into the crowd killing and injuring many. The death toll will rise. Not only here and now, but in the future... in future conflicts.

It's more than just disillusioned young men that create this chaos, but sociopaths who twist the minds of wayward youth looking for a strong father figure in their lives. They are willing to do whatever it takes to be looked upon favourably by someone, often with dire consequences.

This has nothing to do with religion, only greed and power. The power to control others and to gain profit from it. They are immoral and without honour.

Some Closure in Boston

The events of the past week in Boston have been very disturbing to say the least. Last Monday, April 15th, two homemade bombs made from pressure cookers filled with nails and ball bearings exploded near the finish line of the 117th annual Boston Marathon killing three spectators - 8-year-old Martin Richard who was watching with his family (his mother and sister received serious injuries, his father minor); 29-year-old Krystle Campbell of Arlington, Massachusetts, a restaurant manager; and 23-year-old Lu Lingzi a Boston University graduate student from Shenyang, China. 176 others were injured, 17 severely. Many of the victims lost limbs due extensive damage from the exploding shrapnel.

This appalling act of terrorism which shocked the world led to an intense manhunt for the two suspects, 26-year-old, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and 19-year-old, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The Chechen-born brothers were captured by surveillance video and their images broadcast worldwide. They had lived in the States for about 10 years up until this point.

On Thursday evening at about 10:30 p.m. a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, 26-year-old, Sean Collier, was shots multiple times in his car at the university. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. It is believed he had encountered the two suspects wanted in connection with the bombing.

A short time later a Mercedes SUV was car-jacked by the two brothers. The driver was driven around for about half an hour before being released unharmed at a gas station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He said the brothers admitted to him that they were the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Police were called and chased the vehicle into nearby Waterdown. During the pursuit a number of explosives were thrown from the SUV. Some detonated while others failed to do so. Intense gunfire was exchanged in the area of Dexter and Laurel Streets in Waterdown. In this exchange the elder brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed while the younger one, Dzhokhar, escaped in the vehicle.

The city of Boston and the surrounding area was put in lockdown for the majority of the day (Friday) while authorities searched for the remaining suspect. Residents were advised to lock their doors and remain inside and not to open them to anyone besides uniformed authorities with identification. Both the Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox home games were postponed.

On Friday evening an injured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured after a brief firefight with police. He was hiding in a 22-foot dry-docked pleasure boat behind a home in Waterdown. One of the residents of the home discovered him there after going to the boat, noticing blood on the tarp and lifting it and seeing him inside. He quickly ran into his home and called 911. The authorities immediately dispatched a helicopter with infrared sensors which confirmed the presence of someone inside.