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A Long Way from Home

It Was Probably the Internet, Not Chechnya, That Radicalized the Boston Bombers

What has America done to Chechnya? While we’ll still be searching for more information about the Tsarnaev brothers and what motivated them for months—if not years—to come, their roots in Chechnya and the history of that country are a good place to start. Full story

My Cousin Joe Was a Hit Man for the Boston Mob

My cousin killed people. At least, that’s what I’m told. I never met Joseph McDonald, but word is he preferred using a handgun. He liked to get in real close so that the soon-to-be deceased could figure out what was coming. His intense, bald visage would be the last face they wou… Full story

The Cops' Military Toys Aren't Just for Catching Terrorists

While the circumstances of the manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarneav in Boston last week were unique, the military muscle displayed by law enforcement is hardly reserved for responding to rare acts of terrorism. Increasingly, SWAT teams in tanks are the new reality of law enforcement. Full story

Obseshes

Rabbit-Soft Self-Care

So although my purpose at the moment is only to absorb and absorb and absorb the human horror that has been steadily unfolding in Boston (are y’all shivering, too?), I can offer up some mostly other, mostly unrelated Obseshes of the week for you. Just a little rabbit-soft self-ca… Full story

Outside the Bombing Suspects' Home in Boston

As the manhunt for Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev continues, a reader sent us these photos from outside the home Dzhokhar shared with his brother, who was killed early this morning by Boston police. The photographer, Samuel Quinn, lives a few blocks from the brothers' residence on Norfolk Full story

Bomb Threats and Bagpipes on a Day of False Reports in Boston

Rising above the murmur of a parking lot filled with media vans, reporters, and gawking passersby, a noise familiar to many Bostonians broke out—the bleating of bagpipes. A man identified as longshoreman Mike Murphy played the elegiac melody “Amazing Grace” in the parking lot of… Full story

Where Were You When the Bombs Went Off?

To get a sense of how the city was dealing with Monday’s terrorist attack, I walked Boston’s streets the day after the Marathon bombing and talked to people about where they were when the attack went down and whether or not they feel safe in their city. Full story

Farewell to the 'Phoenix': Working at Boston’s Defunct Alt-Weekly

The easiest way to make something a legend is to kill it. When the 'Phoenix' shut down two weeks ago, after 48 years as an institution in the Boston political and artistic landscape, the internet surged with remembrances from the writers who had passed through its doors—from Char… Full story

The Passing of a Magnificent Wind

In not-really-that-surprising news, this week the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered Fung Wah Bus, the notorious progenitor of low-cost interstate bus services, off the road. This news hit me especially hard. Not only because I regularly take the Fung Wah to trav… Full story

Forget It, Jake, It’s the Chinatown Bus

This week, the Fung Wah Bus company got shut down by the federal government after its buses failed safety inspections, which didn't surprise anybody who has ever been on one. In honor of the crackdown on one of the worst and best bus lines in America, we decided to compile some s… Full story