Update: Boston's Little Irish Dancer - Jane Richard

 

 

 

One of the families hardest hit by the Boston bombings was the Richard's family. The parents have both been released from the hospital and their young son, Martin, was killed. Little seven year old Jane Richard who loved Irish Dancing had to have her leg amputated.

Irish Central recently ran an article updating the world about her condition after eleven surgeries. Here is an excerpt:

An update from the Richard family’s blog on May 9 said that little Jane had just completed a “milestone” surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her 11th surgery finally closed the wound on Jane’s leg, further preparing her for the use of a prosthetic.

“By closing the wound, the incredible medical team at Boston Children’s Hospital laid the groundwork for Jane to take an important step forward on the long and difficult road ahead of her,” the blog read.

However, the family remains cautiously optimistic about progress. Little Jane continues to fight off infections, but should all go well, she could be ready for rehabilitation within the next few weeks.

Heartbreakingly, the update included that, “After not being able to communicate with Jane for the first two weeks, she woke up with difficult questions that needed to be answered. There are not words to describe how hard sharing this heartbreaking news was on all of us.”

The Irish dance community has rallied behind Jane Richard, a dancer with the Clifden Academy, and her family in the wake of the tragic news.

Irish dance groups in Boston organized a massive fundraiser, ‘Dance Out for Jane,’ which saw tens of thousands of dollars raised for the Richard family. Another initiative, ‘Wrapping Jane in Our Love,’ organized completely on Facebook, is collecting Irish dance t-shirts from around the world to make into quilts for Jane.

VIDEO: The First Look At The National 9/11 Memorial Museum

 

 

Lesley Stahl of Sixty Minutes gives us the first in depth tour of the National 9/11 Memorial Museum at Ground Zero in Manhattan. Scheduled to open next year, she reveals the powerful new museum. She points out that their is likely to be children graduating from high school next year with no memory of 9/11!

The Deadly and Expensive War Against Terrorism

 

 

"One article from 2010 rom the Kabul Press even went out and showed that the estimated cost to kill each Taliban member is conservatively  $50 million and that it could be as much as $100 million."

The Boston Massacre last week once again has put the War On Terrorism on the front burner. You can count on conservatives using it to fight the proposed immigration legislation. New security measures will be demanded and corporations will have new equipment to sell to meet those new measures.

In many ways, bin Laden was right. He insisted that terrorist acts would play havoc with countries economies and well-being. According to an article in 24/7 Wall Street, over four trillion dollars have been spent on the War On Terrorism.

There are some raw figures which start to become rather alarming. Steve Killelea is the founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace and he gave an interview to CNBC at the end of 2012 showing that the cost of the fight against terrorism was on the rise. This group put out a publication at the end of 2012 called the Global Terrorism Index ranking 158 nations around the world. This shows that in 2011 alone there were some 4,564 terrorist incidents globally which resulted in 7,473 deaths and also 13,961 injuries.

On the CNBC video, Mr. Killelea said that the cost to fight terrorism has risen handily. His estimate of the 9/11 cost the U.S. economy about $80 billion or 0.8% of GDP at the time. More recently, the cost to the airline sector in the United States alone went up by 25% to about $7.4 billion. Mr. Killelea said that this $7.4 billion cost compared to industry wide annual profits of about $8.6 billion at the same time.

While calculating the costs against terrorism are more than challenging, one issue stands out from the 2012 Global Peace Index: the economic benefit to the global economy was projected to be $9 trillion in the last year if the world had been completely peaceful.

If we go back further, there is a report from the Congressional Research Service showing the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan along with other terror operations since September 11, 2001. This showed in 2011 that Congress had approved a total of $1.283 trillion for things such as military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and health care for veterans for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks. Of that amount, $806 billion was allocated to expenses for Iraq and $444 billion for Afghanistan and related.

Editorial Cartoon of the Week: Five Editorial Cartoons About Boston

 

 

 

VIDEO: Amazing Footage Of Gun Fight Just Before Capture Of Boston Bomber

 

 

This video was taken from a window of a neighbor as the final gun fight takes place just before the capture of the second Boston Bomber. This would have scared the hell out of me.

PHOTOJOURNALISM: Boston Is An Occupied City Today

 

 

Every conceivable uniform can be seen in the streets of Boston today as the manhunt continues for the "marathon terrorist'. Federal, state and local law enforcement personnel are frantically searching the city for the fugitive. The metropolitan area has become an armed camp. Citizens are staying in doors and the city reminds one of a ghost town.

Here are some photographs taken today.

VIDEO: Boston Crowd Emotionally Sings National Anthem

 

 

 

The odds are by now you have seen this video of the crowd at Boston Bruins game singing the National Anthem with emotion and power. However, if there are just a few of you who haven't seen it, I wanted to be sure you had the chance to witness this beautiful moment.

BOSTON: A Family Devastated

 

 

The Richard's family in Boston is left devastated by the Boston bombing.

The father, Bill Richard, was running in the marathon and his entire family waited for him at the victory line. The bomb blast took place and the toll for Bill Richard's was unbearable.

His eight year old son Martin was instantly killed. His wife Denis is in critical condition with brain injuries. He young daughter six year old Jane has lost a leg and is in critical condition. Only did his older son Henry who is twelve escape injury.

Not only is the family devastated by their loss the nation grieves with the family and prays for them.

BOSTON: Headlines From Around The Nation

 

 

Headlines from around the nation always captures the horror of a day in history that none of us will ever forget. Here is a round-up of some of those headlines.

PHOTOJOURNALISM : Oh The Inhumanity!

 

 

 

Words simply fail us as we face another shocking lesson in the capacity of people to hurt and maim others. We don't know who committed the horrible crime in Boston but we all know it is the greatest of horrors. People who were filled with joy watching an exciting event with average citizens who had worked hard to excel for the pleasure of others becoming targets for some insane person(s).

Our hearts ached for the victims and their families.

Photographers for years, even more than film, has captured those moments so we don't ever forget the consequences of anger and hate. Boston.com's Big Picture continues to be the photojournalism site in the world.

While my instincts tell me it is domestic generated, America still doesn't know. What matters is that this inhumane act never ever changes us as a people. In the end, love is the answer.

Today we all are in Boston.

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