Explosions at Boston Marathon Today

@tobiass said:

@maskedarcstrike:

@maskedarcstrike said:

A really saddening event, I wish I hadn't looked at those photos. Always makes you realize that fictional violence that is shown on a form of entertainment is not even close to the real deal. Not nsfw, but such a startling image, especially since you can see the 2nd explosion in the background.

Are those cops getting ready to beat up that guy?

No, that was just after the first explosion and the man got knocked/fell down from the blast. The police were simply assessing the situation and reacting.

Some of the images floating around out there are grisly as hell. They really make you wonder what sort of troubled thoughts go through a person's head that allows them to do such a horrific thing to other human beings.

Thoughts go out to all those affected.

Well, this is all kinds of shitty. Hope the asshole(s) who did this get ass cancer and die.

pretty weird out here in boston. went out to see the marathon, got lunch on newbury over by copley square with my family who were in town, tried to go to the fine arts museum and was back in my apartment for like 30 minutes when i heard the noises and went out to see what happened. big exodus of people moving away from mass ave/boylston and seemed like nobody really knew what was happening. some ladies were crying and lots of people on their phones. by this time sirens were all over the place. some people told me not to head that way and i didn't figure out exactly what happened until i got back.

condolences to the people involved.

Maybe it's because I'm a psych major who adores sociology nearly as much as psychology, but I am constantly interested in how the public will react to situations like this.

9/11 caused such a massive shift in attitude. Suddenly everybody had flags waving and lines were out the door in the military recruiting offices (I remember seeing the older brothers of all of my friends signing up, some of whom never came back). This is obviously a lot less severe than the three thousand plus dead on 9/11, but I cannot help but think this will cause another tonal shift in America. It seems there has been a heavy malaise when it comes to being patriotic and I'm curious if this will change that.

Of course, I think the thing that will cause the shift the quickest is focusing on who it is who died. Already I'm seeing the constant reminder that an 8 year old boy is among the dead. This alone may cause an uproar. If the person or people who did this belong to a very specific group and are not simply radicals with a personal belief, then I can imagine a tide of fury about to rise.

Either way, I am left speechless at how horrible this is. Granted, I'm a damned humanist, so I'm thin skinned anyhow. I'm praying this doesn't incite continued fervor. I don't see how it can't, though.

@badorcldr: If the drums of war can be banged with the image of one dead 8 year old, then the US has learned nothing, and is no less crazed than the person(s) committing this act. But sadly you're probably right. One of the many reasons why govts love such acts. It allows them to exercise total control over a populace who are no longer in full control of their rational faculties.

None of my posts in this thread have been directed at the incident. They've been directed and lazily critiquing/satirising other peoples hysterical, kneejerk reactions.

Terrible tragedy. If this wasn't the work of a single sociopath, it's scary thinking of how interconnected the world is right now, and how violent extremism could come out of any ideological corner. It's becoming completely opaque.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the injured and their families and the deceased's families. And let's not forget how many uninjured people will be left with trauma and anxiety, some even for the rest of their lives. Unimaginable.

I wasn't in Boston too long ago, myself, so I was pretty shocked when I found out about it today.

I was thinking about it earlier and it really put things in perspective for me, though, when I realized there are also people in other parts of the world that experience bombings on a near daily basis (20 car bombings in the Middle East just today with over a dozen killed), and people in such areas actually have to live in fear every day of their lives that they might become victim to something like that.

I hope that never actually becomes a reality to anyone in spite of recent events, and for those who already have to live in fear I hope there'll come a day they don't have to live in fear anymore. My heart especially goes out to those affected.

And then thrown into the Streets of Boston to survive Running Man style.

Why do you think it was jihadists? The majority of mass shootings and the OKC bombing were all done by White americans.

He didn't say it was.

My Thoughts and prayers to the people of Boston, especially those affected by the events of today. :(

What the hell are you smoking?

Excuse me?

Why the hell did you quote me?

Because you replied to me :|

You quoted me first about the Jihad thing.

Oh I was quoting the other guy in the conversation. Sorry...

Just saw some of the raw footage of the explosions going off on ESPN, of all places, and it was truly fucking terrifying to watch. I can't even imagine.

Who cares if they blame video games.

Honestly, I've been avoiding most media about it. I don't even wanna see it. Just ugh.... especially all of the assholes who are supposedly posting gory pictures of people's limbs and shit. Just god damn it man.

Yes, my bad a bit tired. Just saying "jihadists" haven't attacked America in almost 12 years where as there seems to be mass killings from American civilians every few months, just thought it was strange Fox News was already pointing the finger at the middle east just because it was an explosive used. I see epicsteve didn't actually say that now, again very tired...sorry not trying to start anything.

yeah I'm avoiding news coverage of it for the same fact.

I saw a picture earlier but I closed that tab quick enough that it didn't really register.

Wait, maybe you just misspoke, but are you suggesting that Al Qaeda and affiliated groups haven't attempted and a few times succeeded in terrorist attacks since 9/11?

Because if that's what you're saying, that's absurd and unrelated to reality. Though, maybe you just mean they haven't succeeded in a wide-scale attack against the US specifically since 9/11, which has little to do with what they have attempted and more to do with what has been done to prevent such attacks since then. While I would agree that this attack looks to likely be local in nature, it's certainly not unreasonable for someone to be concerned that it might be an attack by an Al Qaeda affiliate, and the White House and FBI have understandably treated it as a possibility until police confirm otherwise.

The 9-11 denier/holocaust denier/libertarian/atheist/skeptic/tea-partier/hacker/people whom Don't Read The Comments is meant for Internet rage is far more depressing than the attacks themselves. Just like in Steubenville, overcoming a rape is possible, but knowing the whole town wants you dead for ruining the stupid football season can make you feel so hopeless you'd wanna die. Three people in Boston barely tips the iceberg of people murdered by terrorism worldwide today. Knowing there are millions of sociopaths with bug out bags going on twitter to say "let's kill all (like 2 billion) Muslims!!!!" as payback for an attack no one knows any one Muslim is responsible for let alone all billion of them in cahoots... It's just so depressing. Ron Paul worshippers are saying we should impeach Obama because "his people" did the attack (solely based on their belief that because his middle name is Hussein he is secretly an Iraqi... Also, the terrorists that attacked us on 9/11 weren't from Iraq, but whatever, who needs facts)

Today's a great day to be thankfull to live in a first world country where so much racism and sexism, and exploitation (like making fake charities for bombing victims, or making false reports of a suspect arrested to get page views) don't exist.

In other words, pat yourself on the back Canada, eh.

The general public will shrug it off, eventually, because they are smart enough to know that horrible acts like these simply can't be prevented. Even if we completely abandoned the notions of privacy and freedom (which we are not very far from) and put each and every person on this planet under constant scrutiny, somehow terrorism would still survive. And most not-politicians know that.

@boocreepyfootdoctor: I legit think it's a problem with American's thinking that since they are the global superpower, everyone's out to get them (i say this as an american).

I mean, maybe actual norwegians can clarify but there really wasn't a whole lot of conspiracy theory bullshit with the shootings on utoya island and that was way way deadlier. I mean we don't know who was the bomber in this place. I assume it'll be an American, but automatically people's thoughts go out to external enemies (Islamic terrorists)

This is both terrifying and depressing.

Fuck.

I haven't had a chance to check out more than the initial report (been working), but this is framing the North Korean situation in a whole new way. The US will track down and find the group/person responsible for this attack and take them out drone style. If North Korea thinks the US wont go all in when it's threatened like with the bombing today then it's in for a big surprise.

All i really have to say is whoever did this is one seriously sick fuck (or group of sick fucks) and i truly hope they get what's coming for them. There is literally no excuse for purposely killing and maiming innocent civilians.

SMH. How is it a conspiracy if I'm just saying it looks like a device might have detonated from inside the building? I'm not really following, I gave no implications that this was some conspiracy theory. Just that it might have detonated from inside a building.

I think this isn't necessarily an instance of that. It's understandable for some Americans to think that it could be an Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist attack, as they're still technically at war with them. I mean, there is still an active war zone in Afghanistan. Considering past local attempts by such extremist groups, it's reasonable that someone might see an attack like that and go, "Maybe it's one of those people that have attacked us before."

Though, it does indeed look like this was domestic terrorism. The FBI and White House are keeping all possibilities open for the moment, though, until they can confirm the source. It seems closer to a domestic attack, and I imagine they will probably suggest as such tomorrow. Once they get done with analyzing the bombs, they should be able to have a decent idea of their origin. And perhaps someone will eventually take credit for the attacks.

@truthtellah: I suppose, it's just that it seems that there was less... certainty, to similar bombings like london or madrid (from what I remember).

@animasta: I remember a similar amount of speculation for the London attack, not as much for Madrid. Though, I've actually heard -less- speculation of a foreign attack than some instances in the past. You'll always have some people jump to that conclusion, but I've mainly seen people expressing a more general concern for the incident and suggestions of it possibly being domestic. It's really hard for people to know what to think initially, and things like Twitter sometimes make the situation worse with speculation often drowning out real reporting. But, as far as terrorist attacks go, I'd say the response this time has perhaps even been better than usual.

@animasta:From what I've gathered using Google Earth and aerial footage provided by local affiliates by helicopter is stay away from public libraries. The first explosion happened right across the street from the Boston Public Library. Which I assume is why the fire in the JFK library was given such media emphasis.

They gave attention to the fire in the JFK library because they thought it was another possible explosion. Though, it turned out to be an unrelated mechanical accident.

@truthtellah: But why was the fact that the initial explosions happened near the Boston Public Library never mentioned in cable media?

edit:at least from my knowledge of watching the coverage

edit: and if anyones wondering I used the clock tower building structure on the initial explosion video released to the media as a reference point. I followed Bollyston ST north to the Exeter intersection which is how I found that it was a Lenscrafters establishment where the first explosion occurred in front of. I did this using Google Earth.

Some places mentioned that it was across the street from the Boston Public Library, but I'm not sure why that's relevant to anything. It's not like the bomb was inside the library. It was in the building across the street a few yards from the finish line of the marathon. Then, about a block down, there was an explosion across from the Mandarin Hotel. They found and detonated a third device near Copley Square about a block from the finish line, as well. And they defused another device at an unspecified location in the area and are using information from that to find who made it.

Here's a nice aerial view of the scene:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/15/us/site-of-the-boston-marathon-explosion.html?_r=0

@truthtellah: I know that it didn't happen inside the BPL but it was across the street, I was just noting the emphasis that the media gave to the JFK library fire with them thinking it was related.

edit: the media thinking it was related upon initial reaction.

@truthtellah: Using Google Earth and Street View the second explosion is in a building similar to the first, it's a bottom level commercial building with apartments above it.

i live in canada and it sounds to me like our government has given your brain a good thorough scrub .

i think youre only allowed to give 'condolences' on normal people forums like giant bomb, or criticize people who do any more than that on other sites or media outlets. if you ask questions like these here youre seen as some kind of freakoid mentalist.

its a fairly stifling environment. youd think game players would be a bit more open minded. but lets keep in mind, these are the same people who think that getting up in arms about a female protagonist being 'sexually attractive' is a just and honorable deed.

I think they've indicated that the second explosion was on the street, as both explosions appear to have come from trash cans where portable explosives could have been dropped off. Though, I suppose we'll see definitively once they finish their investigations a bit.

@truthtellah: I can see the trash can probability being highly likely. But could it not have come from someone inside the lower level of those buildings which where commercial? I.E someone posing as a customer but leaving a suspicious package.

There's supposed to be bomb sniffing dogs at large traffic areas such as this in major cities during major events and would it not make sense to place a device inside of a building where the dogs couldn't reach?

They did have bomb sniffing dogs in the area; though, we don't know yet how these were packaged. It's possible they were purposefully concealed to prevent such detection. Though, really, we'll know more once the FBI ascertains more about the entire situation. I imagine we'll hear within a few days how exactly it occurred.

So tell me, what has the radius of the bomb got to do with anything to you, Mr. Expert Bomb photo/video analyzer? What has the fact that the bomb was inside or outside the building got to do with anything to you, Ph.D Blast Physics McGee? And why do you think you are in any position to speculate about something you don't fully understand? It's exactly the kind of shit you'd find people talking about on conspiracy forums. I'm not sticking my fingers in my ears and saying I don't want to know what happened here today, I'm simply calling you out on your nonsensical shit-stirring. You want answers? Try waiting for the people who actually have an idea what they're talking about.

you sound like a left wing extremist stifling free speech . .. maybe you should leave it to the professionals (the state run media)

@tarsier said:

No, I just prefer listening to people who actually know what they're talking about, i.e. explosives experts in this case. Weird, I know.

what does it take for you to accept a persons comment on something of this nature? what kind of credentials do you need before youll actually regard something theyre saying as being possible or reasonable?