reckless driving in the ‘hood
This happened about three blocks from my house:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/article…
Town grieves for popular student
Crash victim is 2d fatality for school in a year
Wilted flowers wrapped in green, pink, and white tissue paper still lay on the curbside at 40 Westminster Ave., a week after an auto accident there killed a popular Arlington High School senior.
So, not only do we have some idiot teenager driver wreck a house and a car in the neighborhood, but now we’ve got one of them embarrassingly tawdry “memorials” made of a pile of crap.
Spare a moment to think of the callous negligence that these two displayed rocketing through a residential area in a multi-ton weapon, drunk, and doing likely double the speed limit.
Happily, most of the negative effects of their behavior were internalized, but if another driver, a kid, or dog had been out in the road, an externalities-tragedy could have occurred.
Police believe the car was speeding on Westminster Avenue around 12:15 a.m. when C____, the driver, lost control around a sharp bend and the car slammed into a house. C____ was badly hurt and taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He was released Tuesday, according to the hospital.
There is no “sharp bend” on Westminster Ave. There is a very gentle, perhaps 15-20 degree bend.
The only way you could possible lose control on that “corner” is to be doing 70 mph, and/or to be wildly drunk.
Police Chief Frederick Ryan said an investigation into the crash is continuing. Last Thursday, a search warrant was executed on the car and C____’s medical records were seized. Ryan said investigators believe alcohol was a contributing factor to the crash.
No!
Arlington High principal Charles Skidmore said grief counselors were on hand Monday, helping students
Students need to toughen up.
Instead of going to see counselors who were available at the high school, a group of grieving friends decided it would be best to go to Anna’s Taqueria — L____’s favorite restaurant — order burritos, and play video games together. It was the kind of afternoon Paul would have loved, Lehrich said.
OK, finally something in this story is making sense.
April 29th, 2007 at 3:06 am
” investigators believe alcohol was a contributing factor to the crash.”
I’ve always thought that was code for ‘bottles/cans found in the wreckage’.
As for the grief counselors…hell, out here in Indiana my school sent out an email of how to ‘deal with the stress’ brought on by the VT shooting, and let me know that counselors were available.
I need to reply and ask if I still can’t carry on campus.
April 29th, 2007 at 7:56 am
Oh, I should also ad that word on the street is that the Lexington (neighboring town) cops had the offending car blow past them at something like double the speed limit. They were going so fast that the Lexington cops didn’t even pursue; they just got on the horn and told the Arlington cops “Speeder entering your airspace in 10, 9, 8. 7…”
…except somewhere around “3″, there was a massive “boom”.
So: drunk as skunks, doing 60 or 70 in a residential zone, totally ignoring the safety of bystanders:
Darwin wins again.
April 29th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Thanks for your frank post. The same stupidity that kids like these exhibit always ends the same way. Just a couple of months ago in Lexington a young man killed himself by driving drunk/stupid. Everytime this happens I’m thankful they didn’t hit me. I’ve passed many suspicious cars on my way home in the early morning hours and I am aware that these people could care less about who they hurt.
April 29th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
kids have been dying in reckless car crashes since there have been cars.is it really necessary to be so cold and callous at the time of someones death? did you never speed when you were a teen? did you ever drive drunk? what if it was your kid and some asshole like you was out here basically saying “good, they got what they deserved thank god none of my world was affected”? kharma is a bitch buddy.
April 29th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
It’s not strictly necessary, but these two jackasses didn’t think twice before endangering my life by their choises, so I don’t think that the utmost courtesy is owed to them.
Speed as a teenager? I didn’t drive as a teenager. I got my first car when I was 22, right after I bought my first house.
Did I ever drive drunk?
Not one single time in my life.
I don’t drink.
I’ve always felt a great sadness, bordering on contempt, for people who either give in to peer pressure, because they don’t have enough of a personality of their own to resist it, or – worse yet – don’t know how to have fun without getting intoxicated.
Even if did drink, I would certainly never drive drunk.
17,000 people a year are killed in the US by drunk drivers.
Drunk drivers deserve jail time. Every single one.
From the phrasing of your question, I get the impression that you consider drunk driving acceptable.
If not, my apologies for misreading your words.
If so: fuck you, and the horse you road in on. How dare you, or anyone else, put my life at risk because you decide to drink and drive?!?
Any kid of mine so idiotic, white-trash, and contemptuous of other human lives that he drove a car at twice the speed limit while drinking underage would be a black mark on my family name, and I would be embarrassed to call him my own.
Even more of a bitch is getting drunk, choosing to drive a car, choosing to drive through a residential neighborhood at twice the speed limit, losing control, and killing you good friend.
If anyone has anything to fear from karma, it’s not me, it’s Matthew Clarke, who killed his buddy Paul Leone, as sure as if he stuck a gun to his head.
April 29th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Evolution in action.
April 29th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
brilliant.a black mark on your family name?what happened with not getting the license until 22? special ed?you obviously didnt hang out with the popular crowd.not that you care im sure but lots of popular kids make poor decisions and die in ACCIDENTS and its really sad that someone like you seems to get off on blogging it.
April 29th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
No, I skipped out on the last year of high school to attend an ivy league college. Good guess, though.
By the way, someone with your grasp of punctuation and spelling shouldn’t make jokes about special education.
What does popularity have to do with anything, and why should I care about how popular these two drunken idiots were?
Drinking illegally was not an accident.
Getting drunk was not an accident.
Choosing to drive drunk was not an accident.
Doing twice the speed limit was not an accident.
Matthew Clarke committed homicide. He killed Paul Leone. There was nothing accidental about it.
I’m just glad that he killed someone as stupid and callous as himself, and not some innocent driver.
April 29th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
“….but now we’ve got one of them embarrassingly tawdry “memorialsâ€
Well i hope whichever of them there ivy league schools you went to isn’t mine!
“someone with your grasp of punctuation and spelling shouldn’t make jokes about special education.”
haha.
OK, so obviously you have a gripe with these dead kids (teenagers that do stupid dangerous things??? WHY I NEVER!!!!). I’m going to take a stab here and guess that you really like talk radio, and especially those OUTRAGEOUS shock jocks. “Can you believe he just said that??? How wonderfully politically incorrect! And yet its so true.”
Maybe that’s a typical reaction, but most educated people yawn and look for something more stimulating to think about. Especially when you back up your already thin argument by making fun of their grieving, teenaged friends, saying that they need to “toughen up”. What the hell does that prove? You are a nasty, simple person. That’s what.
April 30th, 2007 at 3:35 am
bostnkid and Pierce, you’ve got to realize your arguments aren’t going to get any traction with this crowd.
Last year, a friend of mine did something stupid and died as a result. It wasn’t a suicide, but it sure as shit wasn’t an accident either, and none of his friends that I’ve talked to about it made any excuses about what happened – all of us, to a man, were angry at our deceased friend for having been so stupid, especially because he left kids behind.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Wrong. Can’t stand it.
But there’s one thing I hate more than shock radio: idiots who think so little of the lives of rest of us that they’re willing to drive drunk.
April 30th, 2007 at 8:05 am
ivy league college? name it. you are an ass with no life that is here to make people feel worse about an already tragic event.let it alone. i hope your kids ( if you and your partner have adopted) are safe and nothing terrible ever happens to them.and if something ever does i hope there are no other lonely old queens out there with nothing but a laptop and internal anger about who they are looking to make you feel worse about your family’s loss.
April 30th, 2007 at 8:18 am
Cornell. Double major in CS and History, graduated in 1993.
I’ve got a lot of good friends, three god-children, a family I keep in touch with, lots of interests, two dogs I walk daily, a company I own and run.
…you’re right.
I don’t get drunk and drive negligently through neighborhoods.
That must mean that I have no life.
Me too. That’s why I’ll teach them not to act like idiotic beer-swilling townies.
I’ll also teach them that if they do, for some reason, get drunk, they should not take the lives of others in their hands, and should instead call a taxi.
Rule #1 for someone on the losing side of an intellectual argument: start with the fag jokes.
Nicely done. If we didn’t all know that you had no leg to stand on, we know it now.
Your argumentation skills are pathetic.
You went to a government school, didn’t you?
I’m not looking to make you feel worse. I specifically removed the names of the two dead drunk idiots from my post, so that folks wouldn’t stumble in here via Google.
What I am aiming to do is to make people realize that the dead kid and the wounded kid are not the innocent victims of an accident – they are negligent assholes who chose to get drunk, chose to get in a car, chose to speed, and chose to put my life (and everyone else’s life) at risk.
I blame them, and I also blame their families for not raising them better.
Don’t externalize your anger over how your family has screwed up – place the blame where it belongs.
April 30th, 2007 at 8:34 am
my family did a great job.im not out here trying to hurt people who have already suffered a tragic loss.so take good care of your god kids and try not to be so defensive about being called a queen.im done.
April 30th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Yeah, he got drunk, drove, sped, and killed a guy.
My hat is off to you.
Good work.
April 30th, 2007 at 9:14 am
There’s a very strong feeling that’s pretty much characteristic of mainstream thought in America, that people aren’t responsible for the mistakes they make. I really don’t think this is overstating the case: many people are almost incapable of delivering negative feedback to other people.
But every time I’ve allowed myself to be protected from my mistakes, I’ve gone further down the wrong path.
Only when I’ve been honest with myself have I made progress.
I did not drink much in High School, I did not “party”. In fact, the two times I had alcohol with friends were on a band trip to Atlantic City, and on Prom night, and it was a couple swigs of thunderbird and champagne, respectively. I did not use drugs, though I had a number of “intellectual druggie” friends (defined as having a copy of the PDR and knowing how to read it) in High School, and they were fine people.
My parents were not teetotalers — I was raised in an extended Italian-American family which routinely had wine at dinner and family parties always included mixed drinks. Noone got shitfaced or embarassed themselves. I myself was allowed to drink small quantities of wine with meals.
These behaviors were all due to a set of moral, or ethical values that everyone in the family shared.
In families where people do drink to excess, this is also due to a certain set of beliefs or values.
It’s fine for people to choose whatever set of values they want and proceed.
But it’s not fine for them to try to avoid responsibility for the outcomes of those choices.
I don’t know why those kids chose to drink and drive. I’m sure it seemed like fun.
But I’m also sure they had other choices, and that those choices were not impossible to make.
And I’m sure that the values I picked up in my upbringing were crucial to the choices I made as a teenager and an adult.
And people need to take a hard look at themselves when stuff like this happens, and not hide behind bullshit veils of feel-good responsibility avoidance.
The world is a hard place. It has sharp edges and pinch points. People get sick. People die. People suffer anguish for any number of reasons. This is not optional.
What’s important, in my opinion and in my experience, is to use everything to your own advantage, and to take care of yourself first so that you are then able to help take care of others, if you should choose to. And to face the possibility that you have made a mistake, because we all surely will.
April 30th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Well then.
So much for the ‘removing the names of the people in the article’ thing to avoid rabid discontent from the masses.
My gracious – people will go out of their way to be offended, won’t they?
April 30th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Best blog comment of the year.
April 30th, 2007 at 9:35 am
[...] I don’t know why those kids chose to drink and drive. I’m sure it seemed like fun. [...]
April 30th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
who are you arguing with? Not me… I never said these kids should not have to face consequences for their actions, no matter their age. Did they deserve death? I would not vote for capital punishment for DUI offenses, so I would say no.
My beef was with saying that teenages, freaking kids, should “toughen up” and not get all weepy when their friends died, because their friends brought it on themselves.
That logic just befuddles me. If my grandmother were a smoker who died from lung cancer, I should “toughen up” and realize she brought it on herself?
I don’t think this is going out of my way to get offended. This person typed this drivel and submitted it to the masses. He or she purposefully put it out there for assessment, so to then say that people are going out of their way to get offended is pure rubbish.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
That part I meant as sarcasm directed at the whole idea of “grief counselors”.
April 30th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I don’t think this is going out of my way to get offended. This person typed this drivel and submitted it to the masses. He or she purposefully put it out there for assessment, so to then say that people are going out of their way to get offended is pure rubbish.
No one forced you to read this, or made it mandatory reading. You chose to come here and read.
Drivel perhaps but pure rubbish? Watch how you sling those adjectives, buddy.
There is that about blogs – and I’ve ran afoul of it on my own with an ill considered rant about the loutish thugs running the church next door – that what you write will end up linked to from the most unlikely places.
Still – click, link, read – you’re making an active choice by reading, commenting and then coming back and reading some more.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
[...] has discussed the recent accident involving two teenagers. To summarize: – students are drunk – students are [...]
May 9th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
“Life is hard; it’s harder when you’re stupid.”
May 18th, 2007 at 2:05 am
Honestly whoever started this and wrote all those asshole comments do not have friends or compassion, they are two fuckin 18 year old kids who one died and the other suffered from injuries. Paul Leone was one of the funniest and best guys i have ever met and didn’t deserve this!! and all the people who commented asshole comments will never amount to him as a person because he had compassion honestly who would criticize two people who suffered more then you assholes will or should have to honestly FUCK YOURSELF, it doesn’t make u cool to trash them it just makes you look like inconsiderate assholes who need a fuckin heart and not fuckin trash on peoples friends. Paul died and everyone has to live with that everyday and nooooo one should have to read asshole comments like most of them on this wall or read someone say their memorial on the street was a piece of crap, your a fuckin piece of crap for saying that honestly u are and I hope u live with for the rest of your life knowing your a dick and are coldhearted!!
May 18th, 2007 at 2:56 am
People do make some half ass decisions in life. Some that can never be taken back and will stay with you forever. This recent accident in Arlington really opened my eyes to see how bad things can get. No one deserves this fate and the real fact here is that kids do make mistakes, some more harmful than others. It sucks and it is realized here. But no one deserves to be destroyed and picked apart on this gay post. Yes they made mistakes and the injured boy will live with this mistake for the rest of his life but writing about how much people suck and how much they should be to blame and blaming their families does not do anyone any good. They lost a loved one, which they can never get back and will live with the fact that their son will never be coming home. This is a sad thing that happens a lot more than it should. They were two great people, who were just about to graduate high school and start their lives. They did not wake up that morning and say i am going to get behind the wheel of a car and kill someone. These things happen all the time and they suck so bad. I cannot imagine what the injured boy is thinking everyday of his life. I don’t know how i would live with this mistake, but it was a mistake. He does not deserve to be attacked for it by people that don’t even know him. This could have happened to anyone. i know that sorry does not cover this mistake but it happens everyday. I guess this is a lesson people need to learn, maybe this accident will open peoples eyes and they will realize that there are worse things than calling their parents for a ride home when they are hammered,or calling a cab, or even just choosing one person to be the sober driver for the night. It does save lives and this statement isn’t telling people what to do but maybe it will teach people that it is better to be safe than sorry so this incident doesn’t happen so frequently. No one deserves this fate. So do something about it!
May 19th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Kristen wrote:
I have both friends, and compassion.
And, unlike your two idiot friends, I also have a sense of responsibility.
They are not “kids”. They are 18 – they are adults.
They suffered through their own actions. They got drunk, they drove, they sped. They put my life in danger. Screw them – they acted like selfish little babies. I’m just glad no innocent victims were killed or hurt – just the perps.
Well said.
Agreed- my coolness came first – trashing them is just what I use my powers of coolness to achieve.
One less drunk driver is on the road, threatening innocents, so at least we’ve got that going for us.
Indeed, no one has to. Did I force you to come to my blog and read my writings?
Go away.
Do you happen to be an immigrant? Because if English isn’t your native language, I’ll cut you a bit of slack, but otherwise, I’m going to point out that you’re an incoherent illiterate buffoon.
Ky wrote:
No, they just said “I’m going to get drunk, drive too fast, put many other people’s lives at risk…and I HOPE that no one dies”.
The jackass driver was a selfish bastard, and because of his behavior, someone is dead.
Thankfully, it’s not me, or anyone I care about.
Don’t use the passive voice.
These things do not “happen” all by themselves. People make choices, and make these things happen.
He cares so little about the lives of others that he gets drunk and speeds…and I’m being mean because I’m pointing out that he had freewill and used it to accomplish evil?
Let’s get this straight: I never put your life at risk, or killed my best friend.
Here’s what I do about it;
I’m doing my part. What are you doing?
June 17th, 2007 at 3:55 am
Looks like your opinion means shit buddy. The victims family knows the other boy and are behind him 100 percent knowing that it was not done on purpose. Teenagers drink, thats not going to stop overnight. When you drink your decision making is not good and thats what happened here. Do not say this kid killed his friend on purpose because he clearly didn’t. He made a bad choice that could ruin his life and took his best friends life.
if the victims parents are not looking to put the driver in jail and in fact they are hoping he has a bright future then you don’t have the right to attack him. Writting this blog isn’t helping anybody but yourself so looks like you are the selfish one here. Good job taking out the names though because 1 they are still on the blog and 2 it still comes up on google. You never met these kids so dont call them names because they were good kids. They made a bad decision that they are dealing with so worry about yourself and not about how your life could have been in danger with these kids on the road. Your life is in danger with any driver on the road because mistakes happen so maybe you should stay in your house and live in fear forever. Good bye assholes.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:56 am
FUCK YOU THEY MADE A MISTAKE ITS UP TO THEM AND THIER FAMILIES TO DEAL WITH NOT YOU AND YOUR BABYISH TRASH TALK
June 25th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
wow. i cannot even believe “tjic”. I’m reading this with my mouth open in disgust of somebody who can be so horrible. If youre not going to say anything nice about an accident that tore so many peoples hearts (not yours, though, because you dont have one), then please, dont say anything at all.
how can one be so coldhearted and selfish? “oh how dare somebody jepordize MY life?” holy cow get over yourself and start thinking about others. i hope that you are aware that every teenager (who has a life–im guessing tjic didnt have one) does something crazy or reckless that they will most likely regret, but most don’t get their life taken away. we must grieve for the ones who do, not criticize them. Honestly, if you knew these kids, I’m sure you would feel differently.
That is all.
June 25th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
I entirely agree – it is amazing that people can be so horrible.
And yet, it’s true – those two jackasses really did get drunk and put all of our lives at risk as they drove their two tons of car at 60 miles an hour on residential streets!
Wait…actually, it seems you’re talking about me.
Crazy!
What accident?
The only event we’re talking about here is two jackasses who intentionally got drunk, and then intentionally drove their car like idiots through my neighborhood. The only thing accidental is that they accidentally killed one of themselves, instead of killing me, or one of my friends.
I don’t really know myself, but I imagine that their coldhearted and selfish behavior was motivated by a combination of being too weak to stand up to peer pressure, and just enough evil to not give a shit about anyone else’s life.
What’s your theory?
I do think about others. For example, I’m glad that the drunk kid killed himself instead of killing one of my sober neighbors, or one of my dogs.
“taken away” ? Wonderful use of the passive voice!
The jackass did not have his life taken away – he did it himself.
I never met the dead kid, but the one think I know about his is that he was an asshole who didn’t care about my life. I don’t grieve for him in the least. Why should I?
Why should I not criticize him?
If, by criticizing him, I reveal his selfish behavior to others, and prevent even one other person from behaving as selfishly as these two assholes, then I’ll have done a bit of good today.
Likely not – I’ve met a fair number of drunken childish idiots, and I’ve never liked any of them.
June 25th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
hey Says:
When you learn where the caps lock key is, and/or how to construct a sentence, please come back and try again, “hey”.
July 1st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
you obviously think that when people are drunk, they can pretty much control their actions. i wouldnt go right to saying you are correct.
“the drunk kid” did not kill himself. this is not in any way, shape, or form a suicide.
how do you honestly know that these people didn’t care about endangering others? you dont, because you dont know them.
please stop trying to be so funny and witty, when you are probably one of the most selfish and closed-minded people and please also stop shitting on other people’s lives and losses.
please do not respond to this because i will not be back.
July 1st, 2007 at 2:35 pm
omg Says
First and foremost, I think that when sober people choose to become drunk, they bear responsibility for everything they choose.
Second, yes, I do think that drunk people have a fair bit of control over their actions.
I’m not trying to be funny or witty at all. I’m trying to make the extreme selfishness of these two drunk assholes apparent to everyone, so as to shame people into not following their horrible example.
Not as selfish as a drunk driver, or a jackass teenager getting hammered because I don’t know how to have fun while sober.
Oh. Soooo sorry to hear that.
July 11th, 2007 at 9:34 am
[...] I mentioned a while back that there was some reckless driving in my hood. [...]
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:55 am
Fuck all of you who put matt and paul down. these two kids were my best friends for the past 2 years, paul since i was in elementary school. Dont say to the public how dumb matt could be or couldnt be, he made a drunken mistake for gettin into a car drunk and paul followed, thats not his fault. he got the short straw by gettin into an accident and having paul die, he didnt plan this and now he has to live with it for the rest of his live. so fuck all of u and ur opinions, u didnt know either of them and honestly go suck ur own dicks because nobody cares wat u have to think. u may think im just pissed off and rambeling but go to anyone in arlington and everyone is still behind matt clarke and is supporting him to make sure he makes it out alrite, the same town paul grew up in and was from. that says alot doesnt it which shows u people dont know shit and matt is still loved by the same people who loved paul. so fuck off and stop sticking your nose where it doesnt belong, matt i love you and so does everyone else
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:31 am
[quote comment="71009"]Fuck all of you who put matt and paul down. these two kids were my best friends for the past 2 years[/quote]
Your friends are idiots.
Well, one of them is.
The other one was.
[quote] Dont say to the public how dumb matt could be or couldnt be [/quote]
I’ve never never made a statement about how dumb he “couldn’t be” – I’ve always concentrated on saying how dumb he was.
And, also, on how immoral he was, for treating my life like dirt.
[quote] he made a drunken mistake for gettin into a car drunk… thats not his fault. [/quote]
Actually, yes, it is.
[quote] he got the short straw by gettin into an accident [/quote]
There was nothing accidental about it.
He chose to drink.
He chose to drive.
He chose to do 70 mph AT NIGHT through a residential neighborhood where the speed limit is 30 mph.
YOU are denying evidence because you find reality too hard to face. The fact is that your friends were drunken louts and got as their prize EXACTLY what they were warned about dozens of times.
Are you telling me that this is the first time anyone in Arlington High School realized that “driving drunk in the dark at 70 MPH” could lead to problems?
Get real.
[quote] and having paul die, he didnt plan this [/quote]
So you’re saying he was too stupid to understand the consequences of speeding in the dark while drunk?
[quote] and now he has to live with it for the rest of his live. [/quote]
Fine by me.
[quote] so fuck all of u and ur opinions, u didnt know either of them [/quote]
We speak English here, not “texting”.
[quote] go suck ur own dicks [/quote]
I’ll get right on that.
[quote] because nobody cares wat u have to think. [/quote]
Actually, a fair number of people care about “wat” I think – that’s why I run a successful company, have a blog that has hundreds of readers and gets hundreds of comments, and why I’ve sold multiple articles to national magazines.
It’s you jackass 18-year-old opinion that no one cares about.
[quote] u may think im just pissed off and rambeling [/quote]
Yes.
[quote] but go to anyone in arlington and everyone is still behind matt clarke [/quote]
I and a dozen of my friends are in Arlington, and we tend to think that Matt Clarke is a drunken idiot who killed his friend through stupidity and venality.
So…
you’re wrong.
[quote] and is supporting him to make sure he makes it out alrite [/quote]
Yeah, after murdering his friend, the most important thing is that “he makes it out alrite”.
Good priorities.
Here’s what I’m supporting:
I’m supporting the police and the DA throwing his ass in jail for a decade.
[quote] that says alot doesnt it which shows u people dont know shit and matt is still loved by the same people who loved paul. [/quote]
This mostly tells me that you and all your acquaintances are idiots who place tribal loyalty above any sort of morality.
[quote]
so fuck off and stop sticking your nose where it doesnt belong[/quote]
My nose doesn’t belong in my own neighborhood, where Matt got drunk, and then drove through at 70mph in the dark, eventually driving into a HOUSE ?
I think that that’s exactly where my nose belongs.
[quote] matt i love you and so does everyone else[/quote]
Not me, Matt: I personally think you’re a jackass and I hope you rot in jail for a good long time to (a) punish you for treating my neighborhood as your personal playground, and treating my life as not worthy of consideration; (b) serve as an example to dissuade others from pulling the same idiotic immoral stunt you pulled.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:02 am
Huzzah!
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
He chose to do 70 mph AT NIGHT through a residential neighborhood where the speed limit is 30 mph.
wasnt going 70 sweet research
I’m supporting the police and the DA throwing his ass in jail for a decade.
again with that great research because im pretty sure you have not talked to the DA and are just assuming this is whats going to happen because of the newspaper
yes theres a mandatory sentence but guess what thats not what the out come will be no matter what you may think
Yeah, after murdering his friend, the most important thing is that “he makes it out alrite”.
see murder is not the issue here again i know thats how you feel but yet again you are wrong. the most important thing is not that he makes it out ok but its that he has learned something from this and i agree that nobody should have to learn this way but he did deal with it. it is not your buisness because the part you claim to be involved with is over and you are safe. so dont tell people they cant be upset about thier friends passing and that they cant support another friend who made a mistake and is dealing with it the only way he can. i get that drunk driving isn’t a good decision but its not one that makes you a horrible person. i have been told by everyone i have talked to and they all say that matt is a nice, caring individual who made a mistake so leave him alone and give up on the issue that you have no control over
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Hm. You make a good point or two, but they’re buried in krep. The important thing is indeed that he learn something from it. But he’s not going to if people wrap him in gauze and protect him from the consequences of what he’s done. He needs to face it in it’s full force. Sure, that’s horrible. He’s made a horrible mistake. The outcome suits the level of the mistake.
The part we may have been involved in is over and we’re now safe from this particular miscreant, but in fact the possibility that others will misbehave is high in a culture where the first reaction is to protect the wrongdoer from the effects of his deeds.
So it might make sense for a person who wants things to be better to make a strong point or two about this sort of stupidity.
And, you should also be clear: TJIC isn’t saying anything MORE about this. It’s just this one post and you folks who keep stumbling on it and venting your spleens.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Well your wrong there because he has learned something and is not in any way being wrapped in gauze and protected from the consequences of what he’s done. Good call though buddy.
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I sometimes wonder, Travis… or ngvrnd… if either of you have ever been the recipient of tragedy. While many of your blog entries disgust me, this one in particular was abhorrent.
You, as usual, played your ‘ivy league (Cornell… please.) card’ and bragged about your useless business in a rush to show superiority over high school kids.
The young man that died in this incident was, I feel, a smart and capable college-bound student that liked to have fun with friends. By your standards, a majority of the graduating class are “jackass teenagers”. Well so be it, I am willing to bet that the majority of my graduating class will live happier lives than the life you are currently living. They have been accepted to a variety of schools that they will be able to be comfortable at while learning the importance of a valuable education. Their schools (the college one attends seems to be very important to you) range from those abroad to the ivy’s, the tech schools to the community colleges. My one hope for my peers is that they do not end up like you… cooped up behind a computer screen, spewing hateful, unintelligent, and unethical venom about terrible situations. The death that procured from this ACCIDENT, was punishment enough for the driver, keep your dirty comments to yourself.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:11 pm
[quote comment="71531"]I sometimes wonder, Travis… or ngvrnd… if either of you have ever been the recipient of tragedy.
[/quote]
Yes.
[Quote]
While many of your blog entries disgust me, this one in particular was abhorrent.
[/quote]
And yet…you keep reading!
[quote]
You, as usual, played your ‘ivy league (Cornell… please.) card’ and bragged about your useless business in a rush to show superiority over high school kids.
[/quote]
I believe that I mentioned Cornell just once, and that was when one of your peers suggested that the reason I didn’t get a driver’s license until the age of 22 was that I had spent my time in Special Ed. In response to that I pointed out that I wasn’t in need of Special Ed.
Where did I mention my business?
[quote]
The young man that died in this incident
[/quote]
Finally, someone who’s calling it an “incident”, and not an “accident”.
Bravo!
[quote]
was, I feel, a smart and capable college-bound student that liked to have fun with friends.
[/quote]
Wow. He liked to have fun with his friends.
I hadn’t realized that.
Now I’ve got a whole new level of respect for him!
Unfortunately, the way he liked to have fun with his friends was by getting drunk and engaging in reckless activities.
[quote]
By your standards, a majority of the graduating class are “jackass teenagers”.
[/quote]
Yes!
[quote]
I am willing to bet that the majority of my graduating class will live happier lives than the life you are currently living.
[/quote]
How much would you like to bet? Who shall adjudicate?
[quote]
They have been accepted to a variety of schools that they will be able to be comfortable at while learning the importance of a valuable education.
[/quote]
They’re going to go to college, and what they’re going to learn there is “the importance of a valuable education”?
That’s deep.
[quote]
the college one attends seems to be very important to you
[/quote]
Where have I said that?
[quote]
My one hope for my peers is that they do not end up like you… cooped up behind a computer screen, spewing hateful, unintelligent, and unethical venom
[/quote]
Really?
You know what my “one hope” for your peers is?
That they don’t get drunk and kill someone, like Paul Leone did.
[quote] The death that procured from this ACCIDENT,
[/quote]
Oops. I take back the part above where I congratulated you on your grasp of the English language.
[quote]
was punishment enough for the driver
[/quote]
Really?
So the rule of thumb now is that if you kill someone through wilful negligence, as long as you feel bad about it, then you’re free to walk?
[quote] keep your dirty comments to yourself.[/quote]
Actually, I was keeping them to myself, but then you wandered into my blog.
So, I’ll now ask you to please leave, and not come back, so that I may continue to keep my comments to myself.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:52 pm
No matter how clever your rebuttles are you still lack alot of facts from this accident! By calling it an accident i am proving i know not only the english lanuage but the law. Until this young man is brought to court and there is evidence proving he was drunk he is still innocent. He was invloved in a car accident and it’s been assumed that he was the driver and it’s assumed he was drunk but did you see the blood results or the breathalyzer. No. He wasn’t given a breathalyzer and the blood results have not been released to the public. So until this case is over calling it an accident is the correct termanology. I came here to read your comments and read the opinions of others and i choose to diagree with them. I am simply stating my opinions so that people who read this do not recieve incorrect information an insensitive ideas only. You are weclome to have your opinions and have this blog but in the end the “driver” will have a chance to live a happy and successful life which is what we should hope everyone who has broken the law should get. He will face all of the consequences head on but you all seem to think he is sitting at home laughing and being protected from it all. He is not doing that by any means because he is passing drug tests at least once a week and staying out of trouble. This case has no been to court so I do not see how you can think he is being wrapped in gauze and protected from his consequences. Do me a favor and do some better research if you are going to make these insensitive comments again. Its your blog so and you can say what you want but thats not what i have a problem with so dont throw a sarcastic comment back in my face about how i dont have to read this, Im aware.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:52 pm
No matter how clever your rebuttles are you still lack alot of facts from this accident! By calling it an accident i am proving i know not only the english lanuage but the law. Until this young man is brought to court and there is evidence proving he was drunk he is still innocent. He was invloved in a car accident and it’s been assumed that he was the driver and it’s assumed he was drunk but did you see the blood results or the breathalyzer. No. He wasn’t given a breathalyzer and the blood results have not been released to the public. So until this case is over calling it an accident is the correct termanology. I came here to read your comments and read the opinions of others and i choose to diagree with them. I am simply stating my opinions so that people who read this do not recieve incorrect information an insensitive ideas only. You are weclome to have your opinions and have this blog but in the end the “driver” will have a chance to live a happy and successful life which is what we should hope everyone who has broken the law should get. He will face all of the consequences head on but you all seem to think he is sitting at home laughing and being protected from it all. He is not doing that by any means because he is passing drug tests at least once a week and staying out of trouble. This case has no been to court so I do not see how you can think he is being wrapped in gauze and protected from his consequences. Do me a favor and do some better research if you are going to make these insensitive comments again. Its your blog so and you can say what you want but thats not what i have a problem with so dont throw a sarcastic comment back in my face about how i dont have to read this, Im aware.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:16 pm
[quote comment="71540"] i know not only the english lanuage but the law [/quote]
So nice to hear that you know the “english lanuage”!
However:
“I” should be capitalized. Both times.
“English” should be capitalized.
“lanuage” is not a word.
There should be a comma before “but”.
“rebuttles” is not a word.
“alot” is not a word.
“invloved” is not a word.
“termanology” is not a word.
“diagree” is not a word.
“recieve” is not a word.
“weclome” is not a word.
“dont” is not a word.
“becausehe” is not a word.
“Im” is not a word.
Anyway, now that we’ve settled the matter of your mastery of the English language…onward!
[quote] Until this young man is brought to court and there is evidence proving he was drunk he is still innocent. [/quote]
In a court of law, that is. In the other 99.99% of the world, we can all acknowledge that he was drunk, and caused the accident.
[quote] He was invloved in a car accident and it’s been assumed that he was the driver [/quote]
Valid point. Maybe he wasn’t the real driver. Maybe the person we’re looking for here is one and the same as “the real killer” in the OJ case!
[quote] it’s assumed he was drunk but did you see the blood results or the breathalyzer. [/quote]
No, I merely read the printed reports which mentioned the intoxicated driver, and the beer cans on the floor.
[quote] So until this case is over calling it an accident is the correct termanology. [/quote]
And, until the UN rules that the sun officially rises in the East, I suppose I’m not allowed to say anything on that topic either?
[quote] in the end the “driver” will have a chance to live a happy and successful life [/quote]
So you think he’s going to be happy even though his willfull drunken driving killed his friend?
[quote] which is what we should hope everyone who has broken the law should get. [/quote]
I certainly don’t think that everyone who has broken the law should live a happy and successful life.
[quote] you all seem to think he is sitting at home laughing [/quote]
I thought you were the one who said that he was going to lead a happy life?
[quote] He is not doing that by any means becausehe is passing drug tests at least once a week and staying out of trouble. [/quote]
So you’re saying that staying off drugs and staying out of trouble is incompatible with having a good time?
That doesn’t speak well of either you or the killer.
[quote]Do me a favor and do some better research [/quote]
I read the police report. What else do you recommend I read?
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:30 pm
There were no beer cans on the floor, but i am glad to see you call it an accident.
I understand that i didn’t write everything perfectly on this blog because i just wanted to get my opinions herd but you see everyone has spelling errors so lets stick to the topic.
So you think he’s going to be happy even though his willfull drunken driving killed his friend?
I am sure that he will.
I read the police report. What else do you recommend I read?
Wait until the case is over and then you can make any clims you want because they will have either been proven wwrong or right in court.
I certainly don’t think that everyone who has broken the law should live a happy and successful life.
We rehabilitate criminals in this country so that they can have a happy life if they choose to stay out of trouble after thier punishment. In the end your opinion will not hurt the “driver” in court so i hope he can get back to his life very soon and make a sucess of it in his friends memory.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Wait until the case is over and then you can make any clims you want because they will have either been proven wwrong or right in court.
claims was the word i was looking for there and i am sure there are many more spelling errors but respond to my points not my spelling
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:21 pm
friends
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:21 pm
friends i like u
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
i like you all
August 7th, 2007 at 9:27 am
[quote comment="71546"]
> I read the police report. What else do you recommend I read?
Wait until the case is over and then you can make any clims you want because they will have either been proven wwrong or right in court.
[/quote]
No, court proves someone guilty or “not proven guilty”.
[quote]
We rehabilitate criminals in this country so that they can have a happy life[/quote]
No, we rehabilitate them so that they cause no further harm to others.
It is not a goal of the criminal justice system to make evildoers “happy”.
[/quote] i hope he can get back to his life very soon and make a sucess of it in his friends memory.[/quote]
I don’t care about that, but I hope he never kills a second person.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:03 am
Well then jail is not the right place for Matthew Clarke because he does not need to be rehabilitated. He needs a sense of responsibility which i assume he has gained experience. He will need some form of punishment but jail time does not seem to be the answer. He is not a repeat offender I do not see him having any other problems like this one if any at all. He has proven that he has no addiction by passing drug and alcohol tests and will not need rehab so i think probation and or community service are good punishments for him. I understand that you felt threatened by this recklass behavior but making comments about Paul Leone really says alot about your character. I understand he was drunk and made stupid choices but he payed a big enough price for them. Unless you think capital punishment is a fitting punishment for underage drinking then he did not get what he deserved.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:07 am
I know you catch every grammer mistake so please just read and reply to my comment and do not correct my errors
heres one
He needs a sense of responsibility which i assume he has gained experience
Make that gained from this….
September 11th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
I don’t know how these people still manage to find you… what they heck did they google get here?
‘course, when you responded with the names of the “youths”, the avalanche began…
When we see this kind of “accident” in the OR, I usually am very careful about wearing gloves in case I get any “stupid” on me.
September 22nd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
“what they heck did they google get here?”
What the heck did they google to get here… that might make more sense
Looks like some stupid rubbed off on you anyway. I would suggest some better rubber gloves because the ones you were using clearly didn’t do their job.
September 22nd, 2007 at 6:27 pm
“I know you catch every grammer mistake so please just read and reply to my comment and do not correct my errors”
gotta get out the gloves again, tnx for reminding me.
September 27th, 2007 at 8:35 am
[...] Expect local townie douchebags to chime in asking if I need to be so callous in dissing on dragracers…haven’t I done it myself? … [...]
September 27th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
I’m coming late to this delightful commenting party, so let me just say: I can’t believe how many people are willing to say “oh, that’s okay,” when someone decides to take a series of risks that they must’ve known could kill a bunch of people.
Also, I’m startled and impressed that TJIC takes the time to thoughtfully respond to a bunch of clamoring teenagers.
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Show me where some clamoring teenager wrote “Oh, that’s okay.” Nobody on here has said that these actions were justified at all. Also I have read each comment and I guess I overlooked where the persons age is displayed. Clearly Mattymatt you are seeing things that just don’t exist. I will try to make it clear by repeating my previous statement, nobody said these actions were justified however, plenty of people have defended the two young men involved. I understand that you and your friends won’t change your minds about these two but, I just wanted to explain that all of these comments mean nothing. These comments can not change the past and will not effect the future. They are not helping the situation, if you care so much about your neighborhood then why don’t you fix the problems. This was not the first time a car accident has occured in the area and will not be the last. I know alot is being done to try and prevent future problems and hopefully a solution is found. The courts will decide the fate of one of the young men and the others fate has been decided. I think you should leave them alone and let this be the last comment. I know I came here on my own so don’t bother using that against me.
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:21 pm
[quote comment="92396"]Show me where some clamoring teenager wrote “Oh, that’s okay.”
[/quote]
“bostnkid” said: “did you never speed when you were a teen? did you [n]ever drive drunk?”. That sounds to me like he’s saying that this behavior is typical, and nothing to get upset about.
[quote]
I just wanted to explain that all of these comments mean nothing. These comments can not change the past and will not effect the future.
[/quote]
No, but they may affect the future.
[quote]
if you care so much about your neighborhood then why don’t you fix the problems.
[/quote]
How? Voting for longer jail terms for drunken townies who get behind the wheel?
[quote]
This was not the first time a car accident has occured in the area and will not be the last.
[/quote]
No, it’s not the first time – drunken townies have sped through this neighborhood before.
No, it will not be the last time – drunks will speed through this neighborhood again.
I’m all in favor of the death penalty for drunk driving.
What else should I do to make things better?
[quote]
I think you should leave them alone and let this be the last comment[/quote]
Oh, you think I should give you the last word?
It’s amazing how many people want that for themselves, but are unwilling to give it to others.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:46 pm
I’m all in favor of the death penalty for drunk driving.
foolish
Townies? You live in the town correct? They live in the town correct? How are they townies? Everyone in the town is a townie? I’m really not sure what you mean by this. High School students are townies? People who drink are townies? They have lived in Arlington all of thier life so I guess that makes them townies. I saw these two 1st graders fighting over a kickball the other day and I just thought “fuckin’ townies.” Sounds a little foolish to me.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Never anything to do in this town
Live here my whole life
Probably learn to die in this town
Live here my whole life
Nothing to do, sit around at home
Sit around at home, stare at the walls
Stare at each other and wait till we die
Stare at each other and wait till we die
(on a side note, Kerosene ringtones is almost enough to make me figure out whether my phone is ringtone-capable)
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:04 pm
[quote comment="92477"]
Townies? … I’m really not sure what you mean by this.
[/quote]
That’s odd – everyone else I’ve ever spoken to around here has known exactly what a “townie” is, whether they’ve lived here 30 years, or 30 days.
From the Wicked Good Guide to Boston English:
Often, a resident of Charlestown. But townies also live in Reveah and Whiskey Point (“da Point”) in Brookline, so it’s also a state of mind…
But, in short: the townie mindset is often hide-bound, geographically rooted, anti-intellectual, boys-will-be-boys, populist, etc.
[quote]
High School students are townies?
[/quote]
Many of them are.
[quote] People who drink are townies?
[/quote]
No, but most people who drink and then drive are townies.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:43 am
“Townies”.
Not only am I not from Boston, I’ve never even _been_ to Mass. Not only that but I’m from the fargin’ Midwest, and spent a dozen years living in various states below the Mason-Dixon.
I knew exactly what ‘townie’ meant the first time I read it. It’s one of those words whose meaning you just know without having to be schooled on it.
Only an ass would take someone to task over the use of that word.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
most
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:41 pm
most
Cat got your tongue?
October 24th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Most is all i need to say
October 24th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I think maybe he’s echoing the “most” from TJIC’s “No, but most people who drink and then drive are townies”? And, I suppose, accidentally agreeing with him.
As much as I don’t like these trash-talking-the-recently-deceased posts, I wish the Town Superintendent of Schools or whatever would drop by, see the pathetic level of written communication skills on display in these comments… and fire every last employee of the School Department for non-performance. I mean, wtf?
October 25th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
I do agree with him because most does not mean all. My superintendent? He can’t fire anyone due to the fact that he is dead. I doubt they need to fire any employees i assume they retired or died by now. Read my name before you assume i am a child next time. “WTF” nice texting, that helped your point on grammer and communication skills.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I feel bad for your family tjic. You seem like a smart guy and I bet you love your god children. They would probably be very upset to find out that your love is not unconditional. I hope they never screw up and loose your love. I understand that these teens were imature but unlike a cerial killer this kid can change. Jail might be where he ends up. I bet no matter where his future takes him he won’t get in a car under the influence again. You were not hurt this time by this teen andyou will not have to worry about him even if he does not go to jail. Even if he gets his license back you will not have to worry about him. Yes, underage drinking and driving is a problem but this young man is not going to be part of the problem in the future. Let’s stop talking about this driver and more about how to fix the problem. By giving him a harsher punishment you might think it will send a message to Arlington High students and that they wont drive drunk anymore. You would be wrong to think that. The part of this that will make them think twice is the death of a friend. This teen will be punished but loosing a friend has matured him in a way that will protect us all in the future. Hopefully this will make other students aware of the dangers of driving drunk.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
[quote comment="93294"]I feel bad for your family tjic. You seem like a smart guy and I bet you love your god children. They would probably be very upset to find out that your love is not unconditional. [/quote]
That’s funny – I was thinking the other day on the topic of “unconditional love”, and was thinking that anyone who expects truly unconditional love is possible from a human is deeply deluded.
All love is conditional.
Truly great and rare love is that which has very wide boundaries – the parent who continues to love a child even after the fourth times he steals from them to buy heroine, the husband who forgives his wife for her fourth affair, etc.
Most of us do not have it in us to love that strongly… and even those of us who do not have true unconditional love.
Kidnap my dogs, torture them to death, and laugh about it? Then apologize, and then – a year later – do it again? That’s well beyond my limit.
[quote] I hope they never screw up and loose your love. [/quote]
A “screw up” wouldn’t do it.
A premeditated act, or three, would.
But, anyway, what the heck does “unconditional love” have to do with the fact that we should throw this dipshit drunk in jail until the middle part of the century?
So, wait, “cerial” killers aren’t deserving of unconditional love?
Why not?
Certainly love that has no conditions isn’t pushed away by mere multiple murders?
I hope so!
Says you. Why should I believe you? There’s a pretty high rate of recidivism among drunk drivers, no? Why is this kid different?
Why should I believe that?
I don’t care about “underage”.
Again: why should I take your word on this.
OK: we should partially fix this problem by sending Matthew Clark to jail for a decade or two.
Yup.
And it will also keep him off the road.
Actually, no, it’s been proven that punishment has a detterent effect.
OK, fine. Let’s execute Clarke, then.
[quote] This teen will be punished but loosing a friend has matured him in a way that will protect us all in the future. Hopefully this will make other students aware of the dangers of driving drunk.[/quote]
OK.
Let’s still throw Clarke in jail for 20 years or so.
That will really drive the message home.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
[quote comment="93289"] Read my name before you assume i am a child next time. [/quote]
I think he might have been reading your grammar and punctuation before making his assumptions.
Don’t loose your cool about it.
October 25th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Clamoring teen in your “thirtys”, I wasn’t assuming you were a child at all, and I made no mention of “your” Superintendent. I was merely noting the atrocious communication skills of just about everyone who’s dropped by here, and assumed that most of them were the products of the Arlington School system. My use of an acronym was out of respect for TJIC’s dislike of swearing.
I look forward to all your future attempts to get in the last word.
October 29th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
You did that on purpose, right? Please?
October 29th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
[quote comment="95491"]
You did that on purpose, right? Please?[/quote]
Yes. It was a reference to his previous “loose your love” comment.
I think I was too subtle – DFF also wasn’t 100% sure.
October 29th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
[quote comment="93294"]You seem like a smart guy and I bet you love your god children. They would probably be very upset to find out that your love is not unconditional. I hope they never screw up and loose your love.[/quote]
You seem to have this idea that loving someone and punishing them for doing something wrong are mutually exclusive.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:28 am
This IS the post that keeps on giving…
I need to wrap my mind around this:
Boy breaks law drinking underage. Breaks law again by driving. Breaks law again by driving like an idiot. Actions kill his “friend”.
But, of course, the death of his friend is more than adequate punishment for the above actions. (Is there such a thing as chutzpah by proxy?)
And I’d add that people who begin abusing alcohol at an early age tend to continue abusing it.
(Loose your love— Band title, anyone?)
November 5th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
This is madness. A young man dies in a car accident, and you all are sitting here at your computers writing a bunch of pretentious crap instead of caring. Let me tell you something. A newspaper article reporting the death of an adolescent is not something to criticize. You all need to take a good hard look at yourselves and think about what makes you so perfect that you have the right to comment on the truth. Go ahead and critique people’s opinions, or their writing skills. But what happens happens. The world works the way it works, and if you want to make change, inspire support and goodness, not ridicule and hatred. The events that occurred in Arlington happen all over the world, and it is a TRAGEDY, not a joke. Write about your own lives, not the lives of individuals who have no relation to you.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Um…. hey. This post is two years old.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
As miriam said, this is the post that keeps on giving.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
[quote comment="226793"]This is madness. A young man dies in a car accident[/quote]
What part was accidental?
Getting drunk? That was on purpose.
Driving 70 mph in a residential street? That was on purpose.
What part wasn’t inteded?
[quote comment="226793"]and you all are sitting here at your computers writing a bunch of pretentious crap instead of caring. [/quote]
I care a lot.
I care that the name of the driver (who killed his friend, and endangered the lives of everyone who lives in the neighborhood) gets dragged through the mud, and I care that others learn from his total lack of decency and respect.
[quote comment="226793"] Let me tell you something. A newspaper article reporting the death of an adolescent is not something to criticize. [/quote]
I quite agree. I think the newspaper article was excellent.
What I criticize is the driver who chose to drink underage, who chose to drive drunk, and who chose to drive 70mph on the back roads of my neighborhood.
He’s a shitbag, and he killed his friend.
[quote comment="226793"] You all need to take a good hard look at yourselves and think about what makes you so perfect that you have the right to comment on the truth. [/quote]
One doesn’t have to be perfect to have the right of free speech.
[quote comment="226793"] Go ahead and critique people’s opinions, or their writing skills. But what happens happens. [/quote]
I’ve seen lots of sophisticated attempts to get around the fundamental issue of free will, but yours is about the lamest, most pathetic attempt I’ve seen.
“What happens happens”?
What a load of horse shit that is.
The driver CHOSE a bunch of actions, and as a result of his CHOICES his friend DIED.
“What happens happens”?
Bullshit.
Wake up to the real adult world you’re living in.
[quote comment="226793"] The world works the way it works [/quote]
Agreed. And two aspects of how the world works:
(a) people have free will, and some of them choose to kill their friends through their actions
(b) people have free will, and some of them choose to deny that people have free will and are responsible for their actions
[quote comment="226793"] and if you want to make change, inspire support and goodness, not ridicule and hatred. [/quote]
Ridicule is an effective tool. As H.L. Mencken said “One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms.”
[quote comment="226793"] The events that occurred in Arlington happen all over the world, and it is a TRAGEDY, not a joke.[/quote]
tragedy – n – A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness
Yep, a boy is dead because of the moral weakness of the driver, who CHOSE to drive drunk.
[quote comment="226793"] Write about your own lives, not the lives of individuals who have no relation to you. [/quote]
I’m writing about my life – the fact that it could have been ended if I’d been walking my dog in my own neighborhood at a slightly different hour.
Grow the hell up and take some responsibility for your life, Jenny.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
… and as long as it’s Blast-From-The-Past Night here in TJICistan, I’ll point to this article, in which we learn that on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 – about a month after one of his best friends killed another of his best friends by drunk driving, and about two months before posting a comment on this thread saying that the killer “made a drunken mistake” but that “it wasn’t his fault” – said commenter was arrested for… wait for it…
… drunk driving.
Bonus style points for hitting a parked police car.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Wow.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:36 am
That’s really odd. I’ve drunk vodka(*) at my friends’ house, and somehow managed to never hit anything or anyone with my car afterwards. I wonder how I did it?
(*) more usually bourbon or tequila, though…
April 15th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
[...] has discussed the recent accident involving two teenagers. To [...]