Explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon

[Cyrrex]

Sure is, and it does indeed beat the shit out of the US version.  I would think it is dominant on a total international level, but i am sure it gets clobbered in local markets on an individual basis.

[Abagadro]

Listening to this police scanner is so confusing. The codes they use make it unclear what's going on. Sometimes you hear something that should be like OMGWTF (hostage situation alluded to earlier) and then minutes pass and suddenly someone's saying to someone else 'go off duty and take some downtime'. Both on what seems to be the same channel.

If they run radios like we do (and I think most departments have a fairly standard set-up), every police radio call goes through the same channel. So you will hear about high priority and calls about shift changes or illegally parked cars.  Only when they go tactical will it switch it to a secured channel.  My guess is that the real stuff is going on over on the secured tactical channel that isn't coming through on any publicly available scanner.   Last night a lot of that stuff was going over the open channel because it was  rapid situation with multiple agencies. I imagine they have set up a patch to get everyone on a tac channel by this point.

I only know about this stuff because we are redoing our dispatch/radio set up so I have been much more deeply involved lately.

[Teleku]

It's all over Poland.  Came with my basic cable package.

[Ingmar]

So wow, it's now likley Sunil isnt the guy eh?  Disappointing.  The Scanner had all but verified him.  Oh well.  Moving on. 
It's been said Tsarnaev has a laptop with him and might be posting, but good luck sifting through the fakes.

"Oh well?"

You (and the internet) accused the guy of murdering three people and wounding a hundred more.

"Oh. Well?"

^^

It's a damn shame that Tripathi's family - who have been harrassed *heavily* by people since the Internet decided he did it - can't really seek any kind of restitution from the reddit/4chan/whatever denizens who did it to them. What a shit sandwich this has to be for them.

[Der Helm]

Is CNN really that prevalent outside the US?

It's the only international news channel that is available for free on terrestrial TV in Germany.

[Margalis]

The story goes a 4channer had Sunil pegged over 4 hours ago once the FBI released the images, reddit then picked it up, then it got plastered on the news shortly after the scanner feed verified the subject's name.  Unreal.  This is why you dont keep fuckin info. from the public unless you absolutely have to.

The pages where they slowly realize that "Holy shit, 4chan/reddit were right about everything we've spent 300 pages making fun of them about" are textbook cognitive dissonance.

Here's a good link for showing how people counted 4chan out too quickly: Venture Beat thinks 4chan sucks.
Almost as they were putting up that article, the destined-to-be-famous reddit/4chan post identifying Sunil as suspect #2 was going up, the high-res pictures found, and the picture and video of Sunil dropping the backpack was isolated.  All things that the FBI would have done eventually, in a few more days or weeks, but it happened in hours.
...

Guys...this is embarrassing. I was going to catch up on this thread then post about how weird it is to be reading about this stuff when I'm very familiar with all the names and locations since I lived in Cambridge for quite a while.

Instead I see a thread in which excitable morons are convinced that someone who is missing and likely dead is the culprit, how 4chan ran circles around the FBI with their crack analysis and other inane shit.

You know when you guys post about how some idiot said something stupid on your Facebook and you facepalmed? Today you guys are those idiots!

I was going to post something after someone in the marathon thread said that someone was getting arrested on the Boston Common and could be the suspect. Guys - people get arrested on the Boston Common every fucking hour! (Usually someone drunk or smoking weed.)

For all your bitching about bad info coming from news media a lot of you have been as bad or worse.

This would probably be a good point to stop and reflect about how spazzing out like a chicken with your head cut off is not the best approach in these situations.

Sorry to be so blunt but it's somewhat infuriating to read people castigating the NY Post for printing dumb shit then two seconds later be ranting about the power of 4Chan and their briliant "pick a name at random" approach to crime solving.

I don't think this is about Chechnya. I think this is about AQ.

Who gives a shit what you think? Sorry to be blunt but you know zero. It could be about Chechnya, it could be about AQ, it could be about two disaffected loners. You have no basis to believe any one over the other. Whatever you think is in no way informed.

[Merusk]

I'm just waiting for Fox et. al to begin tacking the word "Liberal" on to descriptions of these guys.

"The Liberal Muslim extremist..."

"Chechnyan Liberal extremists.... "

[Samwise]

He's blunt, but he has a point.

[schild]

I'm not defending any individual, but looking kooky on the internet is not even in the same galaxy as what the media has been doing.

1. Reddit, 4Chan, etc is not a source for breaking news. Nor are they an informed source that should be relied on for figuring things out. "Said Reddit" is nothing any media outlet should ever, ever say or type.
2. CNN and NYP are media outlets. Granted one is WAY shittier than the other, but they both look like total buffoons. The internet looking like buffoons just makes it the internet.
3. Internet.
4. Internet.

[Abagadro]

Weird. Call going out the guy may be in a vehicle. Would be pretty wild if he escaped that perimeter.

EDIT: Vehicle is actually "at the scene." BOLO canceled.

[Margalis]

"Oh well?"

You (and the internet) accused the guy of murdering three people and wounding a hundred more.

"Oh. Well?"

A guy who is most likely a murder or suicide victim himself. But hey, he had a funny name and it fit the narrative of the magic of crowd-sourcing and the internet saving the day.

Edit: Haven't you guys ever seen that Twilight Zone episode where the power goes out and people all start blaming each other for nonsense reasons? Or the million other movies and TV shows based on the same premise?

[Paelos]

People are stupid, panicky idiots in a crisis. Everyone having a global mouthpiece at that time doesn't create warm fuzzies.

[Engels]

I don't think this is about Chechnya. I think this is about AQ.

Who gives a shit what you think? Sorry to be blunt but you know zero. It could be about Chechnya, it could be about AQ, it could be about two disaffected loners. You have no basis to believe any one over the other. Whatever you think is in no way informed.

While I understand that you're caught up in the rage about slander against Sunil, you need to take a step back because you're just being an jerk here.

Speculative thoughts on the possible motives behind a Chechen national committing a terrorist attack doesn't hurt anyone. I'm not falsely accusing anyone, or impugning on the sterling reputation of Al Qaeda by saying that the nationalities of the bombers may not have as much to do with their nation as it does to an umbrella terror group.

Get it? We were talking about the motives of a Chechen terror attack in the US being tied to global terror rather than a protest against the Russian oppression of Chechnya. That, er, is common sense.

[KallDrexx]

Get it? We were talking about the motives of a Chechen terror attack in the US being tied to global terror rather than a protest against the Russian oppression of Chechnya. That, er, is common sense.

Is a Chechnya terror attack like a Muslim terror attack?

[HaemishM]

Only if the Chechens are Muslim. 

[Ingmar]

Get it? We were talking about the motives of a Chechen terror attack in the US being tied to global terror rather than a protest against the Russian oppression of Chechnya. That, er, is common sense.

In this sentence alone you've jumped to a couple conclusions that you really shouldn't have.

- You called it a "Chechen terror attack", as if we know for sure that their country of origin is relevant to their decision to do this.
- You present 'tied to global terror' or 'protest against Russia' as the only options, when it could just be two disaffected kids going Columbine.

And ask any Chechen dudes who get harrassed over the next few weeks just how harmless speculation like that is. I'd bet even money that some *Czech* people get shit on, because the names are kind of similar. The first thing I think of when the speculation machine goes into overtime, is how credulous a lot of people are, and how bad shit happens when they're looking for someone to blame.

[Arthur_Parker]

Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi

It's back online if you want to give them some support, their guy is still missing even if the Media has moved on.

[Abagadro]

BOLO out for a minivan now.

[Engels]

And ask any Chechen dudes who get harrassed over the next few weeks just how harmless speculation like that is.

My whole POINT is that you can't attribute motives to their nationality. That them being from Chechnya isn't sufficient of a motive. That a professor of MIT said AQ has had a presence in Chechnya and Chechens have trained in AQ camps. This isn't speculation, that's just facts. Therefore the nationalities of the boys in question isn't as critical to looking at motive as it may seem.

My intent was to dissuade jumping to conclusions by talking, in a general sense, of the possibilities from what we know. We know that Chechens have trained with AQ. We also know that Malaysians and Saudis have. So what?

I know you all want to beat up on Ghambit right now, and I'm sorry he isn't here to yell at, but lay the fuck off already.

[HaemishM]

- You called it a "Chechen terror attack", as if we know for sure that their country of origin is relevant to their decision to do this.
- You present 'tied to global terror' or 'protest against Russia' as the only options, when it could just be two disaffected kids going Columbine.

The guy that's still out there has made many postings about Chechen freedom so it's not a totally wild ass assumption that it might be related to the Chechen independence.

[MediumHigh]

Its not like you guys weren't greasing your palms at the prospect of a teaparty affiliated pyscho. Titt for tatt my felow douches, titt for tatt.

[Ironwood]

Memoirs of a troll, you say ?

 

[Margalis]

Engels, I meant what I said quite literally: why should anyone care what you think when what you think is purely supposition?

You think it's isn't about Chechnya. Cool. There's absolutely no reason to believe that though other than blind faith. You might be right, you might be wrong, but your completely uneducated speculation is pointless.

You are the one jumping to conclusions by claiming it's not about Chechnya. How the hell do you know?

Edit: Maybe I'm picking on you a little, but I'm tired of "here's what I think" followed by someone offering whatever narrative they're most invested in. The fact is it could be related to Chechnya and you have no rational reason to believe otherwise. There's no reason to think one way or the other.

[schild]

Its not like you guys weren't greasing your palms at the prospect of a teaparty affiliated pyscho. Titt for tatt my felow douches, titt for tatt.

I think I speak for basically everyone sane in saying "We hoped it was any white person, reasons/affiliations are irrelevant."

[Ingmar]

Its not like you guys weren't greasing your palms at the prospect of a teaparty affiliated pyscho. Titt for tatt my felow douches, titt for tatt.

For me personally, the reason I was hoping it was some right wing (or single issue or anti-globalization anarchist or whatever) lone nutso is that the consequences - for just about everyone - are much less terrible. When white Americans go bad, nobody beats white gas station owners to death. No countries get invaded. No reporters get kidnapped and beheaded. And so on. It isn't about 'ha ha we caught the other side doing something bad', or at least it isn't for me.

[HaemishM]

What he said. White assholes doing bad things don't have nearly the far reaching consequences of ZOMGBROWNMENACE!

[HaemishM]

I'm tired of "here's what I think" followed by someone offering whatever narrative they're most invested in

You need to stop reading the fucking Internet then, dude. This thread would be pretty bare without speculation that has nothing to do with nothing.

[Pennilenko]

I wanted it to be a random crazy white American because I am both tired of and ashamed of, our seemingly national crusade against brown people.

[Abagadro]

Seriously. It's an f13 thread.

[Margalis]

You need to stop reading the fucking Internet then, dude. This thread would be pretty bare without speculation that has nothing to do with nothing.

There is a large difference between "here is a likely possibility" and "here is what I think happened."

[Speedy Cerviche]

Cancelling Red Sox and Bruins games again now lol this is getting pretty silly a city of 4 million in a state of martial law cuz one single fugitive is running around? This is unprecedentedly wimpish behaviour. L.A. didn't do this when Chris Dorner was on the loose.

[MediumHigh]

 I was hoping for some homegrown crazy. Now that things calmed down a bit I was hoping to serve a few years in the army considering my chances of being sent to a -stan relatively low. Not so unlikely now.

In the meantime I'm sure white fundies will live up to your expectations in a hundred years. You know from the perspective of a person of color everyones white guilt gives me a decent amount of  

[Ingmar]

LA did a pretty shitty job with the whole Dorner thing, so holding that up as a counter-example for how to do things isn't really effective.

[Ingmar]

M-e-m-o-i-r-s, by the way.

[Margalis]

When bombers targeting large crowds are loose in your city canceling events that would invite large crowds seems wise. Before and after Red Sox games the surrounding streets are packed full of people. It would be extremely easy to put a bomb in a backpack somewhere in that area and blow some people up.

Dorner was not a bomber targeting packs of people. Completely different situation.

Edit:

You need to stop reading the fucking Internet then, dude. This thread would be pretty bare without speculation that has nothing to do with nothing.

Is this a date where any awkward silence has to be avoided at all costs? If the thread was shorter and lacked all that Sunil stuff I'm not sure how anyone would be worse off.