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[TA]

Right.  You can paint it however, but there's not much point - no information, it's all speculation, just go back to your whatever and wait for real news.

[A²]

Right.  You can paint it however, but there's not much point - no information, it's all speculation, just go back to your whatever and wait for real news.

Then why are you still talking.

Actual content for the thread

Quick link to the police scanner http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/6254/web/?rl=rr

Again, this is what we know:

1) Three devices went off in Boston. Two occured within 20 seconds of each other at the finish line of the marathon, and were explosives. The third caused a fire at the JFK library, the JFK library one is being treated as connected, but not confirmed fully yet.

2) An individual was seen on video placing backpacks inside the trash cans that exploded at the finish line.

3) At least three other devices were found. Controlled explosions by the bomb squad are being used to dispose of them.

4) Police are treating all backpacks at the scene as suspicious

5) 2 people are dead, 28 injured.

Red Cross Safe and Well Listing:
http://www.redcross.org/find-help/c...er-safe-listing

Boston Marathon Individual Runner Tracker:
http://www.baa.org/individual.html

Red Cross Money Donation (until the Boston chapter has a direct drive set up):
http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations

Looking for loved ones or friends:
617-635-4500

See something? Say something:
1-800-494-TIPS

Google Person Finder:
http://google.org/personfinder/2013-boston-explosions

[Mongrel]

To add to that, there are unconfirmed reports (via the NY Post) that the Boston police have a suspect in custody; he has been described only as "A Saudi national" so far.

So far all info toward a Saudi Nationalist suspect seems to be tracing back to the NY Post. I'm trying to find a corroborative source but so far cannot.

[Mothra]

Appreciated this from Oswalt:

Boston. Fucking horrible.

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."

But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."

[Lottel]

Twitter feed is abuzz about how the last bit of the marathon was dedicated to the Newton shooting victims and was dedicated to Sandy Hook.
This has gotten some people up in arms about radical gun advocates gone crazy and other people shouting them down.

No sources on anything so it's basically garbage.

[Lottel]

To add to that, there are unconfirmed reports (via the NY Post) that the Boston police have a suspect in custody; he has been described only as "A Saudi national" so far.

So far all info toward a Saudi Nationalist suspect seems to be tracing back to the NY Post. I'm trying to find a corroborative source but so far cannot.

Also a bit back, several twitter links sent me to an article about how Boston Police are denying a claim, although tumblr has a guy in cuffs in the middle of a park surrounded by cops.

[Kazz]

i love patton oswalt even more now

[Büge]

Is he helping out?

[Mongrel]

Is he helping out?

I think he's referring to the quote Kabbage posted.

[Büge]

Oh, I didn't see his name. Oops.

[Brentai]

Patton's right, but at the same time the list of people who have a possible motive for this is really humbling.

[Mothra]

A few more details on the victims.

The dead included an 8-year-old boy, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation. Childrens Hospital reported that those treated there included a 9-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy, a 12-year-old, and a 2-year-old.

[Elfin]

These unfortunate incidents are always so far away from Australia, but it's always a big talking point. Watching the video footage is sad and dismaying, but my thoughts are with you guys.

[Thad]

Seems remote even here in Arizona.  And knowing so little of what's happened yet gives it an added disconnect.

Heard a guy on NPR -- a vet, I think an Iraq vet, who said he heard the explosions and recognized IED's from the smell, told everyone he was with to get to the other end of the building and ran downstairs to help.  Might have saved some people's lives; he said he helped apply pressure to some wounds until the paramedics showed up.  Stories like that make it more personal.  I also made a bit of a personal connection because his name was Mendelsohn; I briefly had a classmate by that name in college who was from Boston, and I wondered briefly if the man on the radio was any relation.

Guess we all see these things through our own filters, connect to little details that are meaningful to us in some way.

I don't feel as horrified by this as I have by the shootings over the last couple of years.  Maybe it's because we know so little, maybe it's the relief that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  As human tragedy it's heartbreaking -- but as terrorism it's pretty damn small-time.  Fuck you, terrorists.  (And even if this turns out to be violence for its own sake and not terrorism, fuck terrorists anyway.)

[Romosome]

I want to downplay it as much as anyone, but "it could have been worse" is cold comfort for the dead and injured.

I'm amazed by that Patton Oswalt quote, though. I had no idea he was so eloquent.

[Ted Belmont]

Another press conference this morning. Current toll is: 3 dead, over 150 injured. It's been confirmed that there were only two devices; the controlled detonation was just a suspicious package. The bombs themselves were very simplistic, and don't have any of the trademarks of Al-Qaeda or any other terrorist groups, but are unsophisticated enough that just about anyone could have made them. They have questioned a few people, mostly just folks going into restricted areas, but as of yet no one is in custody, and they have not named any suspects.

[Thad]

I want to downplay it as much as anyone, but "it could have been worse" is cold comfort for the dead and injured.

No comfort at all for the dead.  It may be some considerable comfort for the injured, and to the families of the injured.

I can't imagine the pain that would come with running a marathon one day and being an amputee the next.  I wouldn't tell anyone who considered that a fate worse than death that they were wrong.  But I wouldn't tell anyone who felt lucky to be alive that they were wrong, either.

I don't know what was going through whatever diseased mind put this thing together.  But I don't think it was "nearly everybody gets to go home afterward".  Cold comfort, maybe -- but if we're dealing with somebody who's barely competent he'll be that much easier to catch.

[Zaratustra]

Device was most likely an improvised Claymore bomb made with a pressure cooker and various metal bits:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/us/officials-investigate-boston-explosions.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Büge]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/04/16/why_one_californian_bought_a_domain_name_to_stave_off_boston_conspiracy.html

[Classic]

Oh! The humanity.

I don't know if I'd begrudge this person making a pittance on the domain after some time has passed though.