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Just had friends post on facebook that they are safe.
Which is good news.
I hope that all here from Boston, or those that know people from there are not touched by this cowardly attack.
---------------------------------
I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
CCC Link[ ^]
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Agreed. Been chatting online with some Boston friends. They are safe but horrified. Apparently the local internet infrastructure is under severe stress..
Cheers,
Peter
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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What's most depressing is that this probably had nothing to do with non-Americans, but was most likely the classic "white male, 25-40" that idiot TV shows go on about -- but that won't stop nationalistic hatred increasing, nor a further decrease in civil rights.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I don't know.
The fact that there where 7 bombs in total is what worries me. This (to me) indicates a certain level of organisation and more than one person responsible.
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Hell, one person with half a brain could organise that much.
Being a stupid b*st*rd doesn't take brains.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I'm not saying that one person couldn't do it, just that when multiple targets/ bombs are involved it usually means more than one person.
Anyway there isn't enough information (yet), so at this point everything is just speculation.
And it doesn't matter who the person(s) responsible where or what their reasons where. All that matters is that again innocent people died needlessly because of a senseless act of violence.
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Tom Deketelaere wrote: who the person(s) responsible where I think it does
Tom Deketelaere wrote: what their reasons where doesn't matter as, you said.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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Tom Deketelaere wrote: 7 bombs Info? I've only read of two bombs and possibly two others that were defused.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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Yeah like I said in the post just above you, not enough info at the time.
At the time of posting the news over here was talking about 2 exploded and 5 defused ones.
Now they are saying only 2 exploded and none defused.
So ...
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Think people and media were listening in on the emergency personnel's radios and reaching their own conclusions. There was only 2 devices, the two that detonated. Everything else were just a bunch suspicious packages that were blown up with controlled detonations just in case, but since a bunch of people ran off and left whatever they were holding, it took them a long time to clear all those packages.
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Dalek Dave wrote: I hope that all here from Boston, or those that know people from there are not touched by this cowardly attack.
I hope something like this never happens again (but I know I'm hoping for the impossible).
Have friends in NY so I hope it doesn't happen there, since they elevated the threat level in Washington and NY I am a bit worried tho.
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Tom Deketelaere wrote: since they elevated the threat level in Washington and NY I am a bit worried tho.
Think they just do that since those cities tend to be targets, so it's an automatic reaction nowadays. Doesn't mean there's anything going on there specifically.
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I have a friend who works in Boston, she also runs marathons - I emailed her as soon as I saw the news on Auntie's site.
I was relieved to hear that she was ok, she was at work and heard the sirens go off.
As you say - a cowardly attack.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Like all terrorism, pointless, self defeating and evil, regardless of who's doing it.
In this case white smoke, fireballs, no craters, approx barrel sized bombs. So unless I'm mistaken that's chemical but not petroleum based, not high explosive but still potent. Too small to be fertalizer. Whoever did this is likely cooking their own so if you live in Boston and have really strange smells coming from the bathroom on the floor below it might be time to leave the building.
"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage."
Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)
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Matthew Faithfull wrote: approx barrel sized bombs.
Not sure about that, could be a much smaller device in the cans. I think setting up 4 entire explosive barrels might raise suspicion (they found 2 more devices).
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Could be, in which case it might be a very small ammount of HE or some custom mixture to try and disguise the molecular tracking marker. If it's off the shelf HE they should know by tomorrow sometime whether it's local or foreign origin at least.
"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage."
Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)
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Looks to be a Saudi National that used devices that fit in backpacks, according to a couple reports.
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Reports of Saudi national under guard in hospital with shrapnel wounds. Boston police denying this.
Reports of footage of black man with multiple backpacks trying to gain access to restricted area and being turned away, operating iPad.
Photo showing man on roof of building as explosion goes off.
Conspiracy theorists going into overdrive, especially as race dedicated to Sandy Hook victims and relatives were at finishing line as guests.
“I believe that there is an equality to all humanity. We all suck.” Bill Hicks
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Could be closer to black-powder pipe bombs. Easy to come up with the components and easily fused in a backpack.
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Would that produce the white smoke? Maybe, I'm a long way from being an expert but that is the sort of thing I was thinking, although perhaps a little more modern. Is black powder available in quantity off the shelf or would it have to be home made? Coming from an unarmed culture one seldom thinks about these things.
"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage."
Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)
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Black powder is known for it. It was so obvious where shots were coming from that it sparked the innovation of "smokeless powder".
Block Powder images[^]
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Black powder is notable for two features - white smoke in huge quantities, and an unmistakable smell of sulphur dioxide. It is available, but not in large amounts, and they record every sale. Black powder is actually classified as an explosive, which modern smokeless powders are not; they're considered propellants, and not very suitable for domestic terrorism hobbyists. Pyrodex is a middle ground, plentiful and easy to get, smoky yet not as brissant as real black powder. It became popular when the government started treating black powder buyers as criminals.
I kinda doubt that this was a black powder event, and I wouldn't underestimate the substance. Somewhere around here I still have an old US Army field manual for manufacturing and testing high explosives, and in it, the explosive power of various substances is rated numerically, with TNT being a 1.0. Black powder is a 0.5 - quite a hefty explosive, for all its humble origins. If this was done using black powder, the miscreant behind it is an ignorant twat who never did any experimentation. It will be interesting to learn what it really was, if they tell us, and what went wrong. This clearly could have been far worse, had it been executed by someone competent. Thank Bog for such favors...
Will Rogers never met me.
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Matthew Faithfull wrote: Like all terrorism
Go easy on the "T" word. This was more likely the work of a psycho.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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True but I no doubt that it will have a terrorising effect which itself will be exploited in the same way it usually is. They are all psychos.
"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage."
Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)
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