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Tsarnaev guilty of all 30 counts in Boston
bombing
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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev stood with his head bowed and
his hands clasped as the guilty verdicts tolled
one after another for what seemed like an
eternity Guilty of using weapons of mass
destruction, guilty of bombing a place of public
use, guilty of conspiracy and aiding and
abetting. Guilty, guilty, guilty The word was
spoken 32 times. Yes, the jury said, Tsarnaev
caused the deaths of Krystle Campbell, Martin
Richard, Lingzi Lu and Sean Collier. Yes, it was
murder. And so, the word "yes" was spoken 63
times, each time making Tsarnaev eligible for the
death penalty. From start to finish, it took 26
minutes for the jury to announce its verdict in
the Boston Marathon bombing trial Tsarnaev
didn't skate on a single charge. He now stands
guilty of all 30 counts, 17 of which could send
him to death row. If hearing the verdicts seemed
overwhelming, that paled in comparison to seeing
and hearing the evidence. They also heard a
prosecutor explain why this was done Tsarnaev
was punishing Americans and sending a message to
the holy warriors of radical Islam to rise up. It
took the jury of seven women and five men 11½
hours of deliberations to reach their verdict.
Tsarnaev, 21, didn't look at jurors as their
decisions were read. Survivors of the bombing
said they were gratified by Wednesday's decision,
but found no joy in it. The trial will resume,
possibly early next week, for a second phase to
determine Tsarnaev's punishment.
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In Other News

• Secret Service agents have one of the toughest
  jobs in Washington They are expected, if
  necessary, to put their lives on the line in the
  protection of the President and his family.
  They've also had to teach a teen to drive. First
  lady Michelle Obama revealed this week that her
  older daughter, 16-year-old Malia, was taught to
  drive by the Secret Service and occasionally
  drives outside the White House grounds on her
  own. "The Secret Service taught her, actually,
  because they wouldn't let me in the car with
  her," Obama told television host Rachael Ray in
  an interview. It's a good thing, too, as the
  First Lady told Ray she hasn't driven in seven or
  eight years, and admitted earlier this week she's
  forgotten some of the basics.
• Responding to a petition begun when a transgender
  teenager died from suicide after being subjected
  to therapy meant to alter her gender identity,
  the White House announced on Wednesday it
  supports banning the so-called conversion
  practices. Writing an official administration
  reaction to the petition, which garnered more
  than 120,000 signatures, President Barack Obama's
  senior adviser Valerie Jarrett wrote the
  "overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates
  that conversion therapy, especially when it is
  practiced on young people, is neither medically
  nor ethically appropriate and can cause
  substantial harm. "As part of our dedication to
  protecting America's youth, this administration
  supports efforts to ban the use of conversion
  therapy for minors," Jarrett wrote.