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Boston Marathon finishes with a Bang
04-15-2013, 10:51 PM
Apparently at least two bombs were set off as runners began crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
NY TimesLA TimesHuff Post
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Jesus motherfucking... my brother lives in Boston. With his wife and my five-year-old nephew. Pardon me, I need to make some phone calls.
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013 ... osion.html]CBC say two dead and at least 20 injured.
One bomb on each side of the finish line, both went off at approximately the same time (a few hours after the winners crossed the finish line, but in the middle of when most of the non-competitive runners would have been finishing.)
CBC radio reports add that cellphone service in the area has been shut down, and the hotel where triage and first-response is taking place has been sealed off.
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... ok, color me much relieved: my brother and his family are fine.
Still. What the hay? Somebody's gonna burn for this.
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Whoever is responsible better hope the police catch them (before the 'concerned citizens' do)
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I heard a press conference on the radio earlier saying another bomb went off later at the JFK Library.
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khagler Wrote:I heard a press conference on the radio earlier saying another bomb went off later at the JFK Library. That's a "made in panic" report. There was a fire at the JFK Library - it doesn't appear to be related to the bombings.
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Rob Kelk
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robkelk Wrote:http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013 ... osion.html]CBC say two dead and at least 20 injured.
One bomb on each side of the finish line, both went off at approximately the same time (a few hours after the winners crossed the finish line, but in the middle of when most of the non-competitive runners would have been finishing.)
Unconfirmed reports:
Over 100 injured, at least 15 critically. Some trauma amputations. And one of the two dead was 8 years old.
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Quote:robkelk wrote:
Quote:khagler wrote:
I heard a press conference on the radio earlier saying another bomb went off later at the JFK Library.
That's a "made in panic" report. There was a fire at the JFK Library - it doesn't appear to be related to the bombings.
Not surprising. This will no doubt be followed by a bunch of people blaming whoever they already hated anyway for the bombings without any actual information.
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Three dead now, and I think I heard over 130 injured, as of a few minutes ago.
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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I hate to say that I'm glad that I didn't go into town yesterday, but I am. From what I've gathered, it's nightmarish.
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I first found out about the incident when I got an email from my mom saying she's safe. She lives a few blocks away from where it happened.
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*rhetorical question* What in Lyna's name makes the crazies come out at a time like this, huh?
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Quote:Pyeknu wrote:
*rhetorical question* What in Lyna's name makes the crazies come out at a time like this, huh?
*rhetorical answer* I'm not sure I want to know. They're crazy, after all- the fact that they don't make sense to us is just proof that we're still sane... or at least a less dangerous form of crazy. ^^
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
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It is my sincere hope that whoever did this burns via the system of due process. Every generation we get one or two of these ass clowns that we must make an example of. This will be no exception.
From what I've heard so far, domestic terrorism is suspected. Most of what I've heard was on NPR yesterday. They interviewed an Iraq veteran who happened to be there when it went down and he says that he distinctly smelled cordite. How hard is it to obtain cordite? I know it's primarily used in demolition, but...
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There is no evidence for domestic terrorism. Whoever is making those assumptions is doing exactly that - ASSUMING. Don't fall into that trap.
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Not a pipe bomb after all, per one source who spoke to the AP. The explosives were reportedly placed in a pressure cooker, which in turn was placed in a backpack. And they came with accessories:
Quote:The metal fragments found in marathon-goers — 20 pieces, or 30 or more in some people — are too uniform, Dr. George Velmahos, trauma chief at Massachusetts General Hospital said during a morning press conference. They look like pellets or nails, something meant to do harm.
“My opinion is that most of them were in the bomb,” Velmahos said. “I think it’s unlikely they would be so consistent if they were pulled out from the environment.”…
Surgeons at Mass. General removed the lower limbs of several patients, some of whom came in so injured that they were considered “almost automatic amputees,” Velmahos said.
In those cases, he said, “we finished what the bomb started.”
What’s a “pressure-cooker IED”? The best summary I’ve found in googling is this undated bulletin (PDF) from Homeland Security posted on a Coast Guard website:
Quote:The Department of Homeland Security is issuing this information bulletin to alert frontline border inspectors and agents, state and local officers, and other first responders that there is continued interest by terrorist organizations touse innocuous items to package improvised explosive devices (IEDs.) A technique commonly taught in Afghan terrorist training camps is the use/conversion of pressure cookers into IEDs…
Typically, these bombs are made by placing TNT or other explosives in a pressure cooker and attaching a blasting cap at the top of the pressure cooker. The size of the blast depends on the size of the pressure cooker and the amount of explosive placed inside. Pressure cooker bombs are made with readily available materials and can be as simple or as complex as the builder decides. These types of devices can be initiated using simple electronic components including, but not limited to, digital watches, garage door openers, cell phones or pagers. As a common cooking utensil, the pressure cooker is often overlooked when searching vehicles, residences or merchandise crossing the U.S. Borders.
Terrorists have been using them for more than a decade, most frequently in Nepal, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. They were used in the 2006 Mumbai attack, and a very crude version was part of the car-bomb attempt in Times Square in 2010. Michael Yon wrote about them just a week ago and explained why they’re so common to that region:
Quote:In Nepal, Pakistan, and India, pressure cooker bombs have been common. The pressure cookers can make powerful IEDs.
Many Nepalese (during my 13 trips there, I have gotten an earful) were angry because police and Army would seize their pressure cookers and not return them.
This might sound strange or inconsequential from afar, but for people who live at high altitudes with little fuel, pressure cookers are as important as running water. It is difficult to cook well and cheaply without a pressure cooker.
Pressure cookers are ubiquitous over there so they don’t arouse suspicion. Al Qaeda’s Yemeni-based “magazine,” “Inspire,” has also recommended them to budding jihadists. Via Ace, the Jawa Report noted this passage from Inspire after Naser Jason Abdo’s bomb plot against Fort Hood was foiled:
Quote:The explosion that results from this device is a mechanical one. It results from the pressure caused by the gases and therefore it only works if contained in a high pressure environment. So you may use iron pipes, pressure cookers, fire extinguishers, or empty propane canisters….
The pressurized cooker is the most effective method.
So essentially it’s a larger version of a pipe bomb, with the cooker’s tight seal helping to magnify the force of the blast. Per the Jawas, a pressure cooker, shrapnel, and battery-operated clocks were found in Abdo’s hotel room; per the latest from Boston, the bomber yesterday likely used timers, not cell phones, to detonate the bombs.
I wonder how many FBI agents are tasked right now with gathering the records of all pressure cookers sold in the Boston area over the past, say, six months. And I wonder if the bomber was dumb enough to buy two in the same purchase, which might stick in a clerk’s memory, or if he bought them individually.
A little more from Fox News:
Quote:The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a pressure cooker was attached to a wooden board in at least one of the blasts. The pressure cooker acted as the timer, the source said, and attached to the board was a bottle filled with nails, ball bearings and BB’s. That device was placed inside a black nylon backpack and then dumped in a garbage can, according to the source.
A third source said that the FBI is scanning cellphone tower records for the “moment of detonation.” If the moment of detonation is positively identified, the corresponding cellphone number can be traced.
One wonders if the perp(s) was smart enough to use a pre-paid disposable cell phone (if they used them at all, and not the timer method). If he was, then even this is not going to track him down.
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Additional thoughts:
What attributes mark a pressure cooker from an ‘assault’ pressure cooker? The president will want to know. Stock up on high-capacity pressure cookers now!
Universal background checks on pressure cooker purchases, even at cooking shows!
How long before the first bill to mandate background checks when we buy cooking utensils? Will we need a national pressure cooker registry? Universal background checks on all Food channel watchers…?
How about scuba tanks? Air compressors? Medical O2 cannisters (2500 psi those things!)
(Yes. I'm mostly snarking. But in the current political climate, you never fucking know... )
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I saw a report that indicated the bombs were made from shrapnel filled pressure cookers. Dunno how accurate that was.
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.... You know what is most disturbing? The fact that this has happened not even a week after this. I sincerely hope that this is purely coincidence, otherwise I feel horribly for Mr. Munroe.
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Quote:blackaeronaut wrote:
.... You know what is most disturbing? The fact that this has happened not even a week after this. I sincerely hope that this is purely coincidence, otherwise I feel horribly for Mr. Munroe.
I hope no Feds read xkcd...
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*Shakes head sadly*
They probably already know. They're not slouches in this regard.
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The method being reported as having been used doesn't match any of the things discussed in the column, though.
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them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
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Was the Bomber photographed?
Or did this particular gentleman just have a cheap backpack?
http://i.imgur.com/iOMXbdz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/LvoCC5T.jpg
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