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billyweeds
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:42 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
I lived in the Boston suburbs as an adolescent and know the area quite well. Yes, it sounds like a radical Boston type, of which there are many. In any case, it's horrible, but the helpful reaction of strangers to strangers is cause for positivity.
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gromit
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:01 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Who knows, could be a misdirection play. Make it look like anti-gov't wingnuts. But terrorism isn't that effective without a stated purpose. I'm not sure if extreme anti-gov't types would feel righteous about blowing up crowds of families and average Americans.

Maybe they'd have some way in their minds to justify such barbarity, but it's hard to imagine what that could be. Timothy McVeigh targeted a gov't building, but wasn't terribly sympathetic to the children who died from his bomb, claiming the govt killed children in Waco and Ruby Ridge. The Unibomber targeted specific people ...

But who knows what grievance whoever did this harbored.
And there is a lot of anti-gov't vitriol out there which could have convinced soemone to do something of this sort. Have to wonder why Boston and why such a general public event. The bombs don't appear to be terribly large or sophisticated, probably hidden in garbage cans, but they did seem to know enough about the Marathon to time it for when/where there would be large crowds. As awful as it was, it certainly could have been worse.

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carrobin
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:12 am Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC
One of the publications I've been proofreading is a magazine produced by Massachusetts General Hospital, Proto, all about cutting-edge research and theories and difficulties. The guys on TV who talk about Boston having some of the best medical facilities in the world are right. If you have to be blown up, that's the place to do it.

By the way, Proto is available on the web at protomag.com. It's worth looking into.
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bartist
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 11:55 am Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Very readable - just clicked on Proto.

Really hard to speculate about the purpose, if any, of the Boston bombing. I mean, who would target marathon runners? With conspirators, there is usually a political meaning to the target (as well as the day). This seems like some sicko who wanted to blow legs off (the charge was placed and shaped to fire shrapnel and bearings mainly below waist level).

What burb, Billy? We were in Newton, n. of Newton Centre.

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Syd
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 11:56 am Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
I'm guessing domestic, but I don't know anything for sure. The Tax Day thing may be a coincidence; the bomber may just have wanted hit a crowd, and the race is run on Patriot's day Monday, which happens to be Tax Day this year.

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carrobin
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:11 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC
One of the right-wing news lists in my e-mail is titled "White House Reluctantly Admits "Act of Terror," al-Qaida Fingerprints." Go into the listing and there are two articles, one about Obama's responding speech (which of course mentioned no suspects) and one about a politician who "expects" to learn that al-Qaida had a part in the bombings. (The "reluctantly admits" in the headline apparently refers to the fact that Obama said "act of terror" and not "terrorism.") They seem anxious to place the guilt elsewhere ASAP.
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billyweeds
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 1:52 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
bartist wrote:


What burb, Billy? We were in Newton, n. of Newton Centre.


Hingham, then Cohasset.
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gromit
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 3:57 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Now they are saying the bombs were in 6-quart pressure cookers, hidden inside black duffel bags. Must have been a little heavy and like carrying a bowling ball in a case. Hopefully something will turn up on a surveillance video.

Some reports are saying that such pressure cooker bombs have been used in and around AF-Pak, and was also what the failed Times Square bomber attempted. And that incident was claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, who quickly came out and denied involvement with the Boston bombings. So they go jump to the top of the list of suspects.
If they did it but wanted to deny their involvement, Tax Day might have made for a nice diversion.

Not ruling out domestic terrorism, just speculating.
But I haven't heard of anyone else denying responsibility, and I'm pretty sure I heard about the Pak Talib denial before any reports came out about the type of bomb. But who knows?

If you're not picking a specific target and instead targeting the general population, it seems odd not to take responsibility. It doesn't draw attention to your cause/grievances, or make your org more feared/prominent, or seem to do much except maim and kill some people. Though the Pak Talib could be afraid of a response, since they are vulnerable to American military and need the continued protection of the Pakistan military elites.

We'll see.
America has quite an extensive enemy list, both foreign and domestic. Right wing wackos a definite possibility, but I still think they would have chosen a different target, though maybe this was all this group/cell could manage. Your targets can be limited by your resources and capabilities.

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gromit
Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 4:01 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Quote:
Pressure-cooker explosives have been used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to a July 2010 intelligence report by the FBI and the Homeland Security Department. "Placed carefully, such devices provide little or no indication of an impending attack," the report said.

One of the three devices used in the May 2010 Times Square attempted bombing was a pressure cooker, the report said. The Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the 2010 attempt in Times Square, has denied any part in the Boston Marathon attack.

Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen gave a detailed description of how to make a bomb using a pressure cooker in a 2010 issue of Inspire, its English-language online publication aimed at would-be terrorists acting alone.

In a chapter titled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom," it says "the pressurized cooker is the most effective method" for making a simple bomb, and it provides directions.

Naser Jason Abdo, a former U.S. soldier, was sentenced to life in prison last year after being convicted of planning to use a pair of bombs made from pressure cookers in an attack on a Texas restaurant frequented by soldiers from nearby Fort Hood. He was found with the Inspire article.

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bartist
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:51 am Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
billyweeds wrote:
bartist wrote:


What burb, Billy? We were in Newton, n. of Newton Centre.


Hingham, then Cohasset.


Hingham - yeah, if I remember right (I wasn't yet of driving age), we passed through it one time en route to Hull and Nantasket Beach. Beautiful area. This would be after you had left, I'm sure, and the town had recovered from your adolescence.

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knox
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:35 am Reply with quote
Joined: 18 Mar 2010 Posts: 1245 Location: St. Louis
Not surprised at the way Boston people are reaching out. I remember the people there as being amazingly warm and friendly for an east coast urban area. I would move there, if I could afford it. Rents are pretty high.
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Marj
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 3:42 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan
I hate to digress, which actually may be a good thing. I need some help. I created a page in celebration of my high school reunion. This is not my sister's page, it mine! Otherwise, it's going down, and will be used for scrap!

If everyone here could visit it and "Like" it it would help a lot. Here's the link:

https://www.facebook.com/NewRochelleHighSchool

Thank you all. And thanks to those who've already visited.
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marantzo
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 4:11 pm Reply with quote
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Marj, I erased myself from facebook a long time ago and I will not re-enter it. Could you email me your page with the HS thing on it, or are you unable to do that?
marantzo
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 4:11 pm Reply with quote
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Testing
Marj
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 4:56 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan
marantzo wrote:
Marj, I erased myself from facebook a long time ago and I will not re-enter it. Could you email me your page with the HS thing on it, or are you unable to do that?


I'll try. I doubt it, though.

Carol, thank you.
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