Boston Terror Attacks

[DieselJester]

As a quick aside, has everyone here who have relatives in the area heard from said relatives? I think that Admiral Drason still had yet to hear from his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin who were supposed to be there.

[Flagg]

As a quick aside, has everyone here who have relatives in the area heard from said relatives? I think that Admiral Drason still had yet to hear from his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin who were supposed to be there.

Mine were in Maine at the time. They had talked about going to the Marathon last week but luckily cancelled plans over the weekend.

[ZGundam]

Seems they have their suspect

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/17/us/bo ... ?hpt=hp_c1

[Broomstick]

As a quick aside, has everyone here who have relatives in the area heard from said relatives? I think that Admiral Drason still had yet to hear from his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin who were supposed to be there.

My Boston-dwelling niece was out and about, watching the marathon, but was far enough from the blasts to not be in any particular danger. She was close enough to hear some of it, and see some of the smoke, but too far away to be harmed. Thank goodness.

[Broomstick]

TV midday news is reporting there has been an arrest.

[Flagg]

NBC says no arrest yet though there is a suspect or suspects. The justice department will have a statement soon.

[Dalton]

Pete Williams has said no arrest yet, confirmed by Boston Police and "senior WH official".

[Isolder74]

Well apparently at least, if not both, one of the bombs was made using a standard kitchen pressure cooker. The more this goes one the more this is starting to look like the work of a random nutcase then anything coordinated.

As it seems right now, the builder didn't put much effort into making the bomb as they appear to be just slapped together quickly.

[Meest]

Well apparently at least, if not both, one of the bombs was made using a standard kitchen pressure cooker. The more this goes one the more this is starting to look like the work of a random nutcase then anything coordinated.

As it seems right now, the builder didn't put much effort into making the bomb as they appear to be just slapped together quickly.

Lots of speculation says otherwise, might have been something added to make it a directional device like a claymore, also was some info that there might have been a circuit board piece found that shows a more sophisticated trigger mechanism. The style of bomb has been used since the 70s at least and the issue is it uses a lot of common parts so harder to track down signatures in the construction.

[Flagg]

Watching the AP, CNN, Fox News, and others shit the bed regarding the supposed arrest of a suspect made my fucking day. Who got it right? MSNBC and NBC News. Shocking, I know.

[weemadando]

Huh. Anonymous News on twitter was posting pictures of White Baseball cap guy about 20hrs ago. Was wondering if the theory was going to pan out or if some other poor person was about to get fucked by Internet fools.

[weemadando]

http://weather-underground.tumblr.com/p ... the-boston

There's the link they posted.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

The Pressure Cooker is a completely malleable signature. It's commonplace in Islamist bombs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc, but also in communist bombs in Nepal. al-Qaeda mentioned this exact design in "Inspire" Magazine under the article title "How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom", and al-Qaeda inspired jihad fanboys abortively tried using pressure cooker bombs in Texas, New York City, and Stockholm in the past four years. Conversely they're also heavily discussed on anarchist websites, and white supremacists have been found to be actively disseminating "Inspire" and its ideas because they are, like al-Qaeda, anti-semitic, and find its ideas useful.

[Sea Skimmer]

Lots of speculation says otherwise, might have been something added to make it a directional device like a claymore

The pressure cooker design would make it partly directional by nature, when exploded with blackpowder anyway. The lid is going to blow off first, exactly as it was found, in one big dented piece, and the pot part would only break into a couple of big pieces. Blackpowder has little shattering effect, cast iron civil war artillery shells for example would in break up into as few as two to five major fragments.

Now take this thing and stand it up on its end inside a backpack, and you've got a partly directional bomb, and a low angle one too. I suspect that does explain why so many limbs were lost, but so few people died. Other things could be done to further tamp the blast, but that feels unlikely I shall not suggest. Also one bomb was near a big iron mailbox that withstood the blast, and appears to have partly protected people behind it.

Most terrorist uses of pressure cookers have involved stronger explosive, at which point the whole thing is going to shatter apart. People have been saying the idea is '40 years old' and such, but I've read of them being made in WW2. Its just an easy way to get a locking steel container.

[Flagg]

Lots of speculation says otherwise, might have been something added to make it a directional device like a claymore

The pressure cooker design would make it partly directional by nature, when exploded with blackpowder anyway. The lid is going to blow off first, exactly as it was found, in one big dented piece, and the pot part would only break into a couple of big pieces. Blackpowder has little shattering effect, cast iron civil war artillery shells for example would in break up into as few as two to five major fragments.

Now take this thing and stand it up on its end inside a backpack, and you've got a partly directional bomb, and a low angle one too. I suspect that does explain why so many limbs were lost, but so few people died. Other things could be done to further tamp the blast, but that feels unlikely I shall not suggest. Also one bomb was near a big iron mailbox that withstood the blast, and appears to have partly protected people behind it.

Most terrorist uses of pressure cookers have involved stronger explosive, at which point the whole thing is going to shatter apart. People have been saying the idea is '40 years old' and such, but I've read of them being made in WW2. Its just an easy way to get a locking steel container.

Well they found one of the lids on a roof, so I doubt they were on their side, but I guess it's possible. The FBI has already said the devices were built to maim and not kill.

[Sea Skimmer]

I think the FBI's logic is lacking on that one. They were made with blackpowder, of course they aren't going to be highly lethal, that doesn't really connect with 'deliberate attempt to maim instead of kill'. Government comments on weapons effects should be taken with a big grain of salt, terrorism and military related.

As for lid on a roof, they would have most likely blown off at an angle related to the position of the locking latches, but yeah, that does raise questions then on that assumption.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I would not rule out the locking latches failing after the curve from the bottom to the sides of the main pressure vessel, with the lid facing upwards but the blast spreading from the bottom on all sides, Skimmer -- some cheap pressure vessel, especially if it was stamped, might have a standardized locking lever which when properly secured is actually stronger than the weakest point of the main pressure vessel.

[Sea Skimmer]

I would have thought that too, but the lid has a chunk torn off it that looks a lot like where a hing attached.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I would have thought that too, but the lid has a chunk torn off it that looks a lot like where a hing attached.

No guarantee that the two bombs were oriented in the same way, used the same brand of pressure cooker, etc.

[Zaune]

Well, that was fast.

National Review

Representative Steve King of Iowa, a prominent House conservative, says Congress should be cautious about rushing immigration reform, especially after Monday’s bombing in Boston, where three people were killed.

“Some of the speculation that has come out is that yes, it was a foreign national and, speculating here, that it was potentially a person on a student visa,” King says. “If that’s the case, then we need to take a look at the big picture.”

On immigration, King says national security should be the focus now, and any talk about a path to legalization should be put on hold.

“We need to be ever vigilant,” he says. “We need to go far deeper into our border crossings. . . . We need to take a look at the visa-waiver program and wonder what we’re doing. If we can’t background-check people that are coming from Saudi Arabia, how do we think we are going to background check the 11 to 20 million people that are here from who knows where?”

On Monday, the Senate’s Gang of Eight postponed a press conference because of the events in Boston. Its legislation, however, will be unveiled today.

[weemadando]

That's nothing. Resident bigot, right wing crazy, misogynist, money grubbing scumbag and race riot inciter Alan Jones declared that Australia should take the bombing as a warning that we need to crack down on foreign students if we want to stop this stuff.

[Sea Skimmer]

Hmm, Mexicans taking our home grown terrorists jobs too now? How dastardly.

[mr friendly guy]

Watching the AP, CNN, Fox News, and others shit the bed regarding the supposed arrest of a suspect made my fucking day. Who got it right? MSNBC and NBC News. Shocking, I know.

Indeed.

This video from the Young Turks just says it all.

[Raw Shark]

As a quick aside, has everyone here who have relatives in the area heard from said relatives? [snip]

My family is fine, thanks.

[Flagg]

Well, that was fast.

National Review

Representative Steve King of Iowa, a prominent House conservative, says Congress should be cautious about rushing immigration reform, especially after Monday’s bombing in Boston, where three people were killed.

“Some of the speculation that has come out is that yes, it was a foreign national and, speculating here, that it was potentially a person on a student visa,” King says. “If that’s the case, then we need to take a look at the big picture.”

On immigration, King says national security should be the focus now, and any talk about a path to legalization should be put on hold.

“We need to be ever vigilant,” he says. “We need to go far deeper into our border crossings. . . . We need to take a look at the visa-waiver program and wonder what we’re doing. If we can’t background-check people that are coming from Saudi Arabia, how do we think we are going to background check the 11 to 20 million people that are here from who knows where?”

On Monday, the Senate’s Gang of Eight postponed a press conference because of the events in Boston. Its legislation, however, will be unveiled today.

The vindictive cunt in me hopes immigration reform fails simply because it would be the final nail in the coffin of the Republican Party. The decent person says fuck these assholes, lets get it done.