Boston Terror Attacks

[Darksider]

Latest reports state twelve fatalities, dozens injured.

Can you confirm this? CNN's front page still says two dead. as do fox and MSNBC.

[Dartzap]

Seems to have originated with the NYP, as far as I can see.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Inspire has been encouraging individual young self-radicalizing Muslims to carry out these kinds of attacks for years, and we've arrested people for spectacularly failing to carry them out in Portland, Seattle, New York City, that moron who blew his own crotch up, etc, for the past several years. I think it was someone like that, self-radicalized by e-propaganda from an al-Qaeda affiliate, and finally by statistical elimination one of these people actually succeeded in not contacting an undercover cop / miswiring the bomb so that they killed themselves. Like so many monkeys banging on typewriters, you're ultimately going to have someone succeed just as a question of probability.

I pre-emptively want to apologise for this; I went away from the computer for a moment and realised the comment could be construed as racial bias rather than the intended reference to monkeys with typewriters ultimately producing a classic after enough random effort, I only meant to suggest that the same statistical probability considerations argued that eventually one of these people succeeded.

[Admiral Valdemar]

The FAA has instigated a no fly zone below 3,000 ft.

[Admiral Drason]

My cousin was running the marathon today, and my aunt and uncle were there cheering her on, as far as I can tell through Facebook, shes okay nothing though on how my aunt and uncle are.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

A 3.5 mile radius of the explosion site is closed from 3,000 feet down according to the FAA here, which means all take-offs and landings from Boston Logan should be shut down effective in the past few minutes.

[DieselJester]

They probably want to keep news helicopters out of the area in case Medevacs are needed.

Admiral D, I hope that your family's ok.

[ChaserGrey]

Are you joking?

Tax day would have a great deal of significance to a radical conservative. Of course we don't know that's who was behind this. But it certainly could have significance.

No mate, I wasn't joking. I just don't know that much about the intricacies of US politics and society, I'm afraid.

I always get nervous this time of year. You've got income tax day (April 15), Patriots Day in MA (3rd Monday in April), April 19th is loaded (battles of Lexington and Concord, anniversary of Waco, and anniversary of the OK City Bombing), and April 20th is Hitler's birthday. It adds up to fucking Christmas for the loony right, which is where most US domestic terrorists are from these days.

[The Romulan Republic]

Are you joking?

Tax day would have a great deal of significance to a radical conservative. Of course we don't know that's who was behind this. But it certainly could have significance.

No mate, I wasn't joking. I just don't know that much about the intricacies of US politics and society, I'm afraid.

Fair enough.

Taxation was one of the issues that lead to the American Revolution and lower taxes is one of the main goals of the Right.

[Darksider]

I always get nervous this time of year. You've got income tax day (April 15), Patriots Day in MA (3rd Monday in April), April 19th is loaded (battles of Lexington and Concord, anniversary of Waco, and anniversary of the OK City Bombing), and April 20th is Hitler's birthday. It adds up to fucking Christmas for the loony right, which is where most US domestic terrorists are from these days.

That sort of thing is always in the background, but i'd say it's actually far worse this year. I have friends who are really in to shooting, who are card-carrying NRA members, and while they're rather normal, the do keep an eye on some of the nuttier variants of gun enthusiast. They haven't seen any specific threats made, but certain people are absolutely frothing at the mouth over the post-sandy-hook gun control discussion, to the point where it doesn't look like it'd take much to set someone off.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

An interesting problem of unintended consequences: Casualties may have increased by the fact that instead of anti-bomb fragmentation plastic trash cans, Boston has implemented a programme of putting in sheet-metal, with internal metal components, built solar-powered compacting trash cans to be "green" (I'm not sure what's more environmentally friendly about compacting trash if it's still trash instead of being recycled...). These trash cans not only could provide plenty of metal fragments on exploding, but the trash compacting feature could have been used to set off the bomb rather handily, too.

[Iroscato]

The Commissioner on BBC is holding a press conference, he's saying the JFK library explosion is related.

[Dalton]

Yes, apparently those initial reports were wrong. Also there was a third controlled explosion of another device.

[madd0ct0r]

fuck. you have big public event, you seal up the trash bins and employ a few people to wander around with bags for the day. Me da's freak out a few years back is starting to make much more sense.

[CaptHawkeye]

I already ran into some asshole claiming we had this attack reminds us to be "more vigilant than ever against Islamic radicals".

[weemadando]

Saudi national under arrest/primary suspect.

I guess we invade Oman this time then? Can't wait for the 24/7 blanket racism to kick off again.

[Sea Skimmer]

fuck. you have big public event, you seal up the trash bins and employ a few people to wander around with bags for the day. Me da's freak out a few years back is starting to make much more sense.

A more realistic if slightly expensive solution is line all the trashcans with forty or fifty layers of Kevlar. Many of the trashcans in airports and mass transit in the US were already quietly upgraded like this. Its one of the more useful places Homeland Insecurity splurged on.

[weemadando]

And the panic begins in earnest. Suspicious/unaccompanied bag at a Boston hospital ER now, no EOD available to check/clear it.

[The Xeelee]

BBC still says 2 dead and no mention of suspects.

[weemadando]

Looks like it was NY Post who led the suspect story, so grain of salt that.

The ER suspicious bag was straight from http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/6254

[The Xeelee]

Just heard that the police have said they have no idea where NY Post got that from.


They have done a controlled detonation on another device.

[Sea Skimmer]

Unless the police say it in a new conference, I'd be real skeptical of any no source information appearing for a good many hours and days. Remember when 30,000 people were reported dead at the World Trade Center?

[The Xeelee]

BBC has been running footage of the explosion.

[CaptHawkeye]

The Post is a known sensationalist rag and is barely steps from being a tabloid. It'll be fascinating to see how far their bullshit gets though.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Yeah, though the Boston Globe has kept the number of dead at 2 but increased the wounded to 64, which I am inclined to trust more than the Post.