Explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon

[Brogarn]

 Either we're talking Tea Party type right wingers, or someone trying very hard to make us think that they were.

--Dave

I wanted to make some snarky comment alluding to Tea Partiers following through on their second amendment threats, but that doesn't seem right. 

My bet is it's a RWE, probably a tea party nut. They don't really need much of a reason, it's a marathon and ligerals like to run in marathons.

You're right, it was never brought up. My bad.

[Samprimary]

Sam, don't take my detached analysis for a lack of empathy.  More of a protective mechanism, really.  

nuh-uh! I don't take it that way at all. Pretty much everything here is the living breathing banter and human openness which always will (and should) be our outlets to these crappy events. I like the measured analyses being a big part of them, because they usually provide the best antidote to stupid crazy media and conspiracy cycles. alongside how pretty much everyone here wants the barking false-flag shitholes to go get fucked in the ear. horray!

[Merusk]

His name was Martin Richard, he was 8.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/martin-richard-8-loved-playing-with-sister-friends/2013/04/16/1e5c123c-a698-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_story.html


Now stop being cunts.

[Tale]

Bomb as described just now by investigators: nails and birdshot (BB) in some kind of pressure cooker.

[HaemishM]

This seems a decent enough list of shit-we-actually-know to distract us from the bomb composition sperging:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/boston-marathon-things-we-know/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

From that link:

Two explosive ordnance disposal sweeps were carried out Monday, the first early in the morning and the second an hour before the first runners crossed the finish line, Davis said. "They did not turn up any evidence," he said.

Which means either they were using something that wasn't easily detected or they were placed there during the race. It also says the bombs were possibly placed in pressure cookers - are those things easily transportable without people asking where you are going with a crock pot?

[taleril]

Supposedly they were hidden in backpacks.

A federal law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Tuesday that the bombs were apparently placed in a metal pressure cooker hidden inside a backpack.

[Surlyboi]

 Either we're talking Tea Party type right wingers, or someone trying very hard to make us think that they were.

--Dave

I wanted to make some snarky comment alluding to Tea Partiers following through on their second amendment threats, but that doesn't seem right. 

My bet is it's a RWE, probably a tea party nut. They don't really need much of a reason, it's a marathon and ligerals like to run in marathons.

You're right, it was never brought up. My bad.

If you're gonna quote people, you'd be better off not quoting shit that contradicts your point too.

Just sayin'

[Arthur_Parker]

UK Government blast resistant bin guidelines

I thought this was interesting.

[Brogarn]

If you're gonna quote people, you'd be better off not quoting shit that contradicts your point too.

Just sayin'

Which one contradicts my point? The one that straight up bets that it's a tea party member? The one that says that it is or someone's trying to make it look like it is (which I have no idea what that means since there's no examples of tea partiers blowing up innocent people ... or anyone for that matter)? Or the one that tries to say it without saying it but then feels guilty about it?

[Rasix]

edit: Drop it and move on.  Thanks.

[Margalis]

Threads like these seem like mostly a way for people to offer up theories that conform to whatever they'd like to believe.

[Ironwood]

You mean the culprit was probably someone who wants Raven-3L's nerfed ?

I can see that.

[MahrinSkel]

Supposedly they were hidden in backpacks.

A federal law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Tuesday that the bombs were apparently placed in a metal pressure cooker hidden inside a backpack.

That would be one way to get the requisite pressure out of black powder without being limited to the cross-section of threaded pipe (probably safer to work with, too).  Getting the directionality could have been managed by embedding the shrapnel in putty of some sort and covering the inner wall with it.  Pour in your powder, wire your detonator through the safety valve hole, clamp down the lid....

Yeah, the physics make sense.  Bigger bang than a pipe bomb, planar shrapnel like a Bouncing Betty, actually easier and safer than your typical homebrew (sealing it up is when it usually goes wrong).  Somebody put some significant thought and research into it, if that's how it went.

--Dave

[Jeff Kelly]

After being used to terrorist organisations falling over each other for the chance to be the first one to claim they did it it irks me that so far nobody has stepped forward and claimed responsibility.

Al Quaida's response was that while they approve of the attack they are not reponsible for it and other organisations have been silent as well. Usually by now some organisation has claimed to be responsible even if they were not.

It's as if most major terrorist organisations themselves were surprised by the attack.

This leads me to believe that it might be something other than organised terrorism. Those guys are usually keen on telling you that they did it and why they did it.

[Morat20]

That's pretty much why I'm leaning towards some domestic nutcase. Foreign groups would be, well, counting coup and bragging about it.

If it's domestic, I'm actually hoping we see some sort of crazy laden 'manifesto' in the next few days. No manifesto, then it's someone planning to do it again -- and smart and sane enough to, you know, maximize his chances.

I will agree that the false flag people need to be slapped so hard they lose the power of speech.

[Tale]

I will agree that the false flag people need to be slapped so hard they lose the power of speech.

They are everywhere in the comments. Yeah, I know, don't read them. But they're always the first one.

[Venkman]

The quickest way to undo the faith in humanity anyone gained by watching people run towards the blasts is to read anything from the Westboro Baptist tax evaders, Glenn Beck, or any of the bullshit conspiracy sites. They don't know shit, they won't know it first, they won't know it last, and most of them exist to spread their angry to the easily angered. Freedom of speech is fine, but fuck all of them.

I'm with Jeff Kelly in my surprise nobody's stepped forward and with Morat in my hope someone does soon.

[Tale]

Sad anniversary season.

Virginia Tech massacre April 16
Waco assault April 19
Oklahoma City bombing April 19
Columbine school shooting April 20

[angry.bob]

The quickest way to undo the faith in humanity anyone gained by watching people run towards the blasts is to read anything from the Westboro Baptist tax evaders, Glenn Beck, or any of the bullshit conspiracy sites.

Those guys are so consistent it doesn't even bother me anymore. What's really made me lose faith if the pictures of people finishing the marathon through the disaster site and then getting a picture taken while they pose with it in the background. Some may see that as carrying on and not letting the bad guy win, but I think we all know better.

[Khaldun]

Well, you're a great guide to the soaring heights of the human spirit, so please let me know where to subscribe to your newsletter.

Or maybe we could just keep this thread to actual news.

[angry.bob]

If we keep to "actual news" this thread would be 3, maybe 4 posts long.

[Ghambit]

I know these guys have been cleared, but jeez this is such a shady interview (language barrier issues likely):
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2013/04/16/intvw-boston-revere-roommate.whdh

[DraconianOne]

What's really made me lose faith if the pictures of people finishing the marathon through the disaster site and then getting a picture taken while they pose with it in the background. Some may see that as carrying on and not letting the bad guy win, but I think we all know better.

Really? That's curious - because they stopped the race pretty much immediately and the best part of 7000 runners didn't get to finish. Or are you talking about people who finished at 4:08 and were taking photos while the bomb went off? Even watching videos of the event, there weren't many people carrying on through the finish line because of the sheer number of police pulling down barricades and officials rushing over to help people who had collapsed.

Still, whatever - to counter that, this is the spirit shown by one runner who'd already finished and there are many more stories like it:

All celebration festivities were certainly cancelled so I couldn't go there to offer help, so I called Mass General Hospital to see if they needed help or blood, but they had plenty of both. I went online to offer my hotel room to any displaced runner, only to find a list of thousands of Bostonians opening up their houses. Boston was telling me "we got this, bro...we got this". Of course they do. This is Boston, one of the greatest communities in the world. Nobody takes care of their own like Boston.

I looked at my cell phone which said I had 53 texts, 25 Facebook messages, 30 tweets, and 18 phone calls. It was family, friends...it was you guys. Yes, I was okay. Yes, I had been at the finish ~30 minutes before, but my need for beer may have saved my life. In fact, let's have a few more beers. I opened up a tab and invited everyone to raise a glass to the families of the dead and injured, and to celebrate being alive. But in classic Boston form, the staff of the Beantown Pub just kept bringing free drinks.

As I got back to my hotel, another runner told me what it was like to be 500 yards away from the finish and told to stop (~6,700 runners were unable to finish). It was his first Boston, and like many who were coming in around the 4:09 mark when the bomb hit, he was running for a charity. I offered him my finisher medal, and he just smiled and said "you're the fifth person to do that in the last hour...no worries, mate, the BAA will take of us". His smile made me smile, and we hugged. Then he saw my watch and said "2:44? That's outstanding! Tell me about your race...".

As an aside, there's going to be a moment of silence at the London Marathon this weekend as a mark of respect and runners are being given a black ribbon in their race pack.

[MahrinSkel]

I know these guys have been cleared, but jeez this is such a shady interview (language barrier issues likely):
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2013/04/16/intvw-boston-revere-roommate.whdh

Language barriers, and the fact that he was going somewhere and the reporters penned him in and essentially accused him of being in some way responsible for the bombings.  I would have told them to fuck off and get the hell out of my way.

BTW, dumbasses, you don't sign search warrants, you sign a "consent to search" when you're letting them search even though they don't have a warrant and they're being *really* paranoid about making sure anything they find is admissible.

--Dave

[IainC]

It's probably the safest it gets in Boston right now. Tons of cops about, plus the whole thing about lightning not striking twice. Unless you're saying that just coming to the states is mental, in which case I agree. Go someplace nice. Fucking Boston? Eh, I guess it's as close to a historical city as we've got. Hmmmm, who was that developer from the UK who's apartment was built onto part of the city wall and was 300 years older than our country? Anyone remember?

That sounds like me.

[Crumbs]

If you're gonna quote people, you'd be better off not quoting shit that contradicts your point too.

Just sayin'

Which one contradicts my point? The one that straight up bets that it's a tea party member? The one that says that it is or someone's trying to make it look like it is (which I have no idea what that means since there's no examples of tea partiers blowing up innocent people ... or anyone for that matter)? Or the one that tries to say it without saying it but then feels guilty about it?

Don't worry, I for one KNOW it isn't a tea party sentient being.  Reason?  They TALK about doing this kind of shit all the time.  They talk about armed revolt a'comin.  They talk about retaliation for being treaded on.  But they don't do shit because they're kind of worthless. 

Hope this helps!

[Shannow]

4chan hard at work solving this thing
 

[Crumbs]

Shit, I used my cell phone that day too...and I had a backpack!  And I would've run away from the scene of the explosion with my clothing shredded, so there's the psychological angle.  Granted, I was in Los Angeles, but we can't be to careful here.

OTOH, that bearded dude with the blue shirt looks kind of Ted Kaczynski-ish.

[Sir T]

This is being tweeted around the idio-sphere

DailyMail:

Obama administration has SLASHED budget for domestic bombing prevention by 45 per cent, says former Homeland Security Assistant Secretary

$20 million budget under Bush became $11 million under Obama
Both administrations neglected domestic bombing prevention, devoting a tiny fraction of the $1 billion earmarked for IED prevention overseas
Obama issued a lengthy 'National Policy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices' in February but a spokesman won't say if it failed

By David Martosko

PUBLISHED: 17:02 EST, 16 April 2013 | UPDATED: 18:02 EST, 16 April 2013

you can read it here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2310110/Obama-administration-SLASHED-budget-domestic-bombing-prevention-45-cent-says-Homeland-Security-Assistant-Secretary.html


And a reminder:

DKos:

Mon Aug 06, 2012 at 08:21 AM PDT
Remember the DHS Right Wing Extremist Report?

by Mysoreback

Remember the DHS report about Veterans being recruited to Right-Wing terrorist groups which was leaked and led newly appointed Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano to initially defending the report but later having to apologize and withdrawing the report after she was thrown under the bus by her own party (Bennie Thompson, Congressman from MS) & severely criticized by Republicans.

House Minority Leader John Boehner called the report "Offensive and Unacceptable" and demanded an "explanation for why she has abandoned using the term ‘terrorist’ to describe those, such as al Qaeda, who are plotting overseas to kill innocent Americans, while her own Department is using the same term to describe American citizens who disagree with the direction Washington Democrats are taking our nation."

Boehner also said that the agency should apologize to veterans.

David K. Rehbein, the National Commander of the American Legion sent a letter of protest to the Homeland Security Secretary concerning the suggestion that veterans were likely to commit acts of terrorism. Rehbein said, "I think it is important for all of us to remember that Americans are not the enemy. The terrorists are."

Conservative journalist, Michelle Malkin, wrote an article on April 14, 2009, calling the report a "hit job on conservatives" and said that it was "one of the most embarrassingly shoddy pieces of propaganda I’d ever read out of DHS. I couldn’t believe it was real."

From Think Progress, July 27th 2011, Ben Armbruster writes in an article headlined - After Right-Wing pressure, DHS now has 'just one person' dealing with Domestic Terrorism. The greatest threat of large-scale attacks come from individuals and small groups of extremists who subscribe to radical Islamic or far right-wing ideologies, said Gary LaFree, director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START. Gary Ackerman, Research Director at START, said nationally, law enforcement has been focused since the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001 on the threat of Islamic terrorism, even as the threat from domestic anti-government groups has been growing.
“Some people believe we have taken our eye off the ball when it comes to domestic right-wing extremists,” he said.

more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/06/1117242/-Remember-the-DHS-Right-Wing-Extremist-Report

I'm not suggesting that the bomber was an American right wing extremist. I'm just suggesting that the right wing neutered the agency.

[Brogarn]

4chan hard at work solving this thing
 

Seems worth a shot to me. /shrug

[schild]

4chan is more likely to solve something through pictures and pirated copies of Photoshop CS3 or something than the Boston PD or Fox News.

[Sir T]

Frankly 4chan probably has a good a chance as any to figure things out, so good luck to them.

[taleril]

The MS Senator and the White House getting ricin-laced letters right on the heels of the marathon bombing seems almost too coincidental.  Am I crazy for thinking that since the Senator's letter was post-marked in Nashville, and Nashville is in between Boston and Mississippi(at least northern MS), that the same crazy person is responsible for both attacks?  Yeah, that sounds too tinfoil when I write it out.  It's hard to wait for the details to slowly come to light.

[Crumbs]

It's like the anthrax letters in 2001.  Are we scared yet?   

[Ghambit]

Illuminati plot to ratchet up the fear before Senator Palpatine we blow up Iran or Korea?