Unanswered questions in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial and more

Check out five opinions trending online, from White House gossip to the return of the Comma Queen.

Unanswered questions in Tsarnaev trial: Who helped the Tsarnaev brothers build their bombs, and why did the FBI fail to identify Tamerlan? Writing in the New York Times op-ed page, Russian writer Masha Gessen lays out some questions the trial didnt answer.

Continue reading below

Where were the bombs built? Investigators have testified that they were not built at the older brothers apartment or in the younger brothers dorm room. Were they built in someone elses apartment, house, or garage? If so, who, and was he a knowing accomplice? Did he help in any other way? Gessen writes.

The other big question is: Why did the FBI fail to identify Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother, who had been fingered as a potential terrorist risk two years before the bombing and interviewed by field agents? Read more.

A call for body cams for police: A bystanders smartphone recorded video of the sickening killing of Walter Scott by a white police officer in South Carolina. But what if that bystander hadnt been there, asks the Washington Post editorial board.

Instead of relying on bystanders to provide evidence of wrongdoing, however, police departments should accept and accelerate the deployment of body cameras (which the North Charleston mayor has done in the wake of the shooting). Crime video isnt always perfect. But, as the Slager episode shows, it can prove crucial. Read more.

Facebook blues: Social comparison makes people feel depressed, and really, isnt that what Facebook is all about? James Hamblin does a Q&A in the Atlantic with social scientist Mai-Ly Steers about this source of existential panic.

Hamblin: So maybe everyone could just agree to post things that are only mildly interesting? So everyones lives seem accurately quotidian and banal?

Steers: Ive seen pictures of peoples Subway sandwiches. It really depends on the person and what they feel is important.

Read more.

White House confidential: After the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, the atmosphere in the Clinton White House was chilly that is, when Bill and Hillary werent fighting, according to the staff. Reporter and producer Kate Andersen Brower takes us behind the scenes in her new book, The Residence. Politico has an excerpt:

During the height of the drama, Hillary routinely missed afternoon appointments. The details of running the executive mansion, understandably, took a backseat to saving her husbands presidency and their marriage. For three or four months in 1998, the president slept on a sofa in a private study attached to their bedroom on the second floor. Most of the women on the residence staff thought he got what he deserved. Read more.

Lets get restrictive: For grammar buffs who know a restrictive clause when they see one, Mary Norris, the New Yorkers Comma Queen, explains comma usage in the third episode of her video series. Sharpen your pencils and find it here or watch below.

Ellen Clegg is a member of the Globe staff. She tweets @ellenclegg.

Source: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/04/09/unanswered-questions-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-trial-and-more/3oEIPU5MGSfe2vt0V0wKqJ/story.html