It is on days like this that I most appreciate DU....

[NRaleighLiberal]

My wife heard about the tragedy in Boston in the car and called me (my daughter and I were heads down in an all day session with my book editor...). We turned on the TV - and could watch it for only 15 minutes or so - between the constant repetition of a finite number of film clips to the endless chatter with little to no new news, it just didn't feel like a healthy thing to keep watching.

So that is the extent of the TV we've watched. Instead I've jumped on DU at intervals, because all of you good people bring the late breaking news and tweets, and for the most part (very, very most part), there is respectful discussion, reasonable speculation, and great examples of empathy.

DU in times like this are the super duper cliff notes of events that those of us who just can't stomach watching it on TV find most valuable - a really good separation of the wheat from the chaff.

Bravo, DU. Our thoughts have been with those in Boston - my wife's sister was in Mass General for her check up post surgery for a brain tumor - she and her husband and son were all there in Boston, and found their way out fine, though it was very chaotic, and upsetting.

Peace to all.

[Triana]

1. I don't even have/watch TV - DU *IS* my news source

Along with (now) Twitter.

But I was on DU before Twitter existed and DU was my news source then too - since 2001.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. That's how it is for me too, my dear NRaleighLiberal...

DU turns into a huge family, supportive and loving.

This is DU at its very best.

[DesertFlower]

6. dearest peggy. i remember the night

ted kennedy died. most of my friends and family were back east and it was too late to call them. so i came to DU. i remember you saying (paraphrasing) "this is a place where we come together in times of joy and sadness."

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. ...

[love_katz]

3. Yes.

DU is my favorite news source. No t.v., and no regrets for not having one.

to our DU family. We all need some comforting right now.

[Shampoobra]

4. Same here

I was sitting in a classroom a half-hour before class began, and two other students were watching the breaking news via streaming video on a tablet. They told the rest of us what happened, and everyone opened their tablets. The first place I went was Democratic Underground, and there was so much Boston news here that I didn't need to look elsewhere.

[longship]

5. DU is my news source, too.

I still have to apply my skeptical filter, though. But, mostly things here are fairly good, certainly better than Cable news (which I don't even have here).

R&K

[RedCappedBandit]

7. DU > MSM

No question about it. I *always* check here first when things are happening.

[William769]

9. Recommended.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

10. Election Night I was here. My fiance was watching MSNBC....

I knew it was in the bag, she was crying because they were saying it could go either way, loving the horse race right up until a graphic said Obama won.

[JDPriestly]

11. K&R because I, too, mostly turn to DU for my news.

I'm not interested in the celebrity stuff or the right-wing propaganda.

[myrna minx]

12. K&R. I'm glad your sister in law and her family is safe.

[LWolf]

13. I don't know why

I'd want to watch something like that on TV. My colleague told me all about it at the end of the school day yesterday. I logged into news online, saw that there was little information, checked back this morning. I can be aware, and concerned, without having to watch it on tv.

I don't really want to talk about it, either. At least not until there is enough information to have something to say in addition to expressing grief for the victims.