The Week of April 15, 2026
Explosion at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Copyright Reuters 2013.
Care:
1. Boston Bombing Proves Medical Merit
This past Monday, Boston experienced one of the most horrific events in its history. As the world famous Boston Marathon was drawing to a close, with most skilled runners having already completed the race, two explosive devices were detonated within a few seconds of one another near the finish line. Hundreds of people were thrown to the ground by the blasts and within seconds, medical emergency personnel were on the scene. Ambulances arrived to carry the over 100 wounded to the hospitals in the area. Many serious injuries were sustained, although numerous people lost limbs. These people were all brought to hospitals like Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. So far, only three people have passed away as a result of this tragedy. None of the people brought to medical centers have died.
This seemingly miraculous feat on the part of Boston’s medical personnel was one thing that limited the human toll of the event. Boston has long had many of the world’s best hospitals and is adequately equipped to deal with emergency situations. Regular drills for such emergency situations have become commonplace, using mannequins for fake patients. After 9/11, emergency and law enforcement personnel began training for events like the bombing, and their level of preparedness was shown in the response. The number of people that they have been saved, despite some horrific injuries, shows how proper training and infrastructure can mitigate casualties. With both suspects now caught, an atmosphere of relief hs settled on Boston, but questions still remain as to the motives of the Tsarnaev brothers.
2. Guantanamo Prisoners on Hunger Strike
Two months since since after it begun, almost one third of Guantanamo Bay detainees are taking part in a hunger strike, the longest and also proportionally largest scale demonstration in the prison's 11-year history. Smaller scale hunger strikes have taken place since 2002, but the current one occurs in a climate where half of the prisoners are cleared for release, yet remain detained without trial. Indeed, since 2010 only three prisoners have left: a pair of Uighur militants from China's western Xinjiang region, and a Yemeni who committed suicide. The prisoners’ lawyers suggest military officials are force-feeding prisoners, pumping food in their noses, restricting citizen communication with the prisoners, and locking the hunger strikers in solitary confinement.
If the reports were true, the United States may be embarrassed again by the military's behavior, which continues despite spending $800,000 a year on retaining each prisoner. Hoping legislators will work out a solution is futile, as the last action Congress has passed regarding the prison was to forbid the executive from transferring prisoners into American jails. Obama's promised veto of this demand failed to materialize, and his moratorium on releasing Yemeni prisoners leaves half of Guantanamo's population trapped in a legal limbo.
More unnerving is the extent to which the military can control information about Guantanamo. Were lawyer visits to become again limited, then the military would veer toward their 2002 policies, where only the Red Cross had access to Guantanamo and could not publish their reports. The 2005 Detainee Treatment Act strips judicial oversight on how the prisoners are treated. While many see legislative action as necessary, current hesitation makes significant progress unlikely.
3. Former Guatemalan Dictator on Trial
In 1999, a United Nations truth commission concluded that during the long and brutal Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996), the Guatemalan government planned and executed a genocide of the indigenous Ixil peoples, thought to be supporters of the rebel insurgency. This month, José Efraín Ríos Montt, a former general and strongman who ruled the country from 1982 to 1983, is being put on trial by Guatemala’s Supreme Court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. For the first time ever, a former head of state accused of crimes against humanity is being tried in a national court in the country where the crimes took place.
This represents a major step forward for Guatemalans, who are now just beginning to reconcile with the many atrocities of the decades-long civil war. However, finding a resolution will be a long process. Many offenders during the civil war are still in power in Guatemala, including president Otto Pérez Molina, who previously served as a general under Ríos Montt. Molina, elected on the promise to defeat the drug cartels ravaging Guatemala, publicly denied the existence of a genocide before the start of the trial, angering many of his constituents.
Although hundreds are expected to testify, the trial has been moving quickly and testimony will likely end in the next few weeks. Because of the high stakes of the trial and the extreme polarization that it has caused within the country, many want it to pass quickly. For Guatemalans and those watching around the world, this trial is an opportunity for a country to wrestle with its own demons and, hopefully, find peace with its past.
4. Senate Shoots Down Gun Control Legislation
This Wednesday, the major gun control package, as well as a variety of amendments to it, failed to pass the Senate. Under an agreement between the Democratic and Republican caucuses, the proposed bipartisan expansion of background checks for gun purchases, a ban on assault weapons, and a ban on high-capacity magazines, among other amendments, all required 60 votes to pass the Senate, rather than a simple majority. The 60-vote supermajority was meant to prevent Republicans from passing an amendment to the legislation requiring states without concealed-weapons laws to recognize the concealed-weapons permits of residents of other states. The most highly publicized piece of legislation, the expansion of background checks for gun purchases, failed to pass the Senate in a 54-46 vote. The legislation sought to close loopholes, such as purchases at gun shows, and strengthen measures to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from acquiring guns. Despite healthy public support, the legislation faced criticism from the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocate groups that claimed that the checks were pointless, and that criminals would find a way around them.
While the expansion of background checks enjoyed some bipartisan support, including from the bill’s co-author, Republican Senator Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania, opposition to further gun control legislation drew in Democrats as well. Senators Mark Begich (Alaska), Mark Pryor (Arkansas), Max Baucus (Montana), and Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota), all Democrats from Republican-leaning states, voted against the bill. Senators Begich, Pryor, and Baucus are all up for difficult reelection in 2014 and will require the NRA’s support, or at least neutrality, to remain in office. President Obama called Wednesday “a pretty shameful day in Washington,” accusing the NRA of lying to the public and manipulating lawmakers. Obama and his allies have not accepted defeat, however. The President declared that this was “just round one,” and former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords had strong words for the bill’s opponents as well, stating that the Senate “ignored [the] will of the people.” If the drive for gun control legislation is to continue, President Obama and his political allies will require a much more effective grassroots campaign to successfully take on the NRA.
5. Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, Builds a Nigerian Refinery
This week’s news out of Nigeria is focused on the announcement by Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, that he will be investing $8 billion dollars to construct an oil refinery in his native country. Although oil-rich, Nigeria has to import most of its usable oil due to a lack of refining ability. Yet, the country is not lacking in facilities--the state owns four plants and 19 corporations were granted permission to set up their own refineries in 2011. The problem the country faces seems to be getting this infrastructure working, and potential investment to move forward, with state plants only working at 20 percent capacity while none of the planned private refineries have began construction. Development seems to be held up by interest groups who profit off importing, corruption, and a fuel subsidy that keeps prices down and reduces potential profits.
Dangote plans to have a new plant up and running by 2016. Having made his fortune off a wide range of interests including cement and sugar, he appears to be the man that could get a productive refinery running in the country. A native, efficient oil refining industry could drastically change the economic and political climate in Nigeria, where a debate over fuel subsidies can determine the fate of the presidency and the crude industry is dominated by foreign interests with a dodgy human rights record. If the development is successful, the richest man in Africa will see not just his wealth but also his influence grow.
Don’t Care:
0. Congressmen sent poison-laced letter in isolated event
Federal authorities arrested Mississippian Paul Kevin Curtis last Wednesday as a suspect in the recent mailings of ricin-poisoned letters sent to President Obama and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker. Curtis, an entertainer who impersonates famous singers such as Elvis, claimed to have discovered a government conspiracy to sell human body parts on the black market, according on various online posts attributed to him, and said he aimed to expose public officials as a result. Ricin is a toxic substance derived from the castor bean plant, and is deadly if ingested or inhaled. However, it is commonly perceived to be ineffective for terrorism due to the difficulty of converting ricin into an airborne form. At this point no one has been sickened or killed from the ricin-laced letters.
While this isn’t the first time that poison laced letters were sent to Washington officials, and ricin has indeed been used in prior attempts, what makes this event more salient than other poison scares seems to be its close timing to the Boston explosions earlier in the week. No connections have been made between the events in Boston and the ricin letters, but for many people the parallels between the recent occurrences and the combined events of 9/11 and the 2001 anthrax scares are visible. Federal authorities have been quick to deal with this latest poison scare, and business in Washington is returning back to normal. Indeed, the rapid handling of this case is a testament to the improvements in poison detection since the anthrax scares, and all that remains to be seen is the outcome of Curtis’ arrest.
Update: Venezuelan Election
Nicolas Maduro narrowly won Venezuela’s election but the results are being challenged by opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who has called supporters into the streets to protests. The strategy seems unlikely to unseat Maduro but has led to deadly clashes between police and protesters.
Update: Texas Murders (original story)
Former Justice of the Peace Eric Lyle Williams and his wife Kim Lene Williams have been arrested and convicted of the targeted killings of prosecutors in Texas. Contrary to earlier theories regarding white supremacists and Mexican drug cartels, it seems the couple carried out the murders (he as the shooter and she as a direct accomplice) for revenge against prosecutors who had managed an earlier legal case against Mr. Williams.