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The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

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Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#141

Post by polshaw »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #61

"It turns out that terrorism is much harder than most people think. It's hard to find willing terrorists, it's hard to put a plot together, it's hard to get materials, and it's hard to execute a workable plan. As a collective group, terrorists are dumb, and they make dumb mistakes; criminal masterminds are another myth from movies and comic books." He is very wrong. He is confusing foot soldiers with their leaders. T…

Cubans have no trouble getting into the US across the sea, nor do Mexicans have any trouble getting in over land. The idea that the US is a impenetrable fortress is just not true.

Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#142

Post by beedogs »

kamaal wrote: post #118
sheri wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me offer a different opinion. There was a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993. Thirteen different explosions in the span of a few hours across the city's landmarks. 250 people died. One of the blasts was in the Bombay stock exchange. This was on a Friday, and the stock exchange opened for business on Monday. This was a huge PR win for Mumbai, as the media talked about the resilience of the residents and the m…

>>Mumbai still carries on, but there is no pride in doing that anymore. Not just that. But think of it this way, most people who are already having hand-to-mouth have no other option but to show up at their jobs next day.

This is becoming increasingly applicable in the US, too. People will work no matter what, if the only other option is poverty.

Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#144

Post by riggins »

rayiner wrote: post #24
afhof wrote: post #19

Its too bad that most people don't have a basic appreciation of statistics or probability. Its too bad Schneier only spends a tiny paragraph on it: "Even though this will be in the news for weeks, we should recognize this for what it is: a rare event". The chance that a person will die from a bombing, or be shot, or their plane crash, or a hurricane kill them is so small that there is almost NO reason to be afraid of…

People don't react to terrorism because they're afraid of being blown up personally. They do it because they're afraid of the precedent that might be set by not responding. It's statistically unlikely that you'll be the victim of gang violence, but does that mean it's irrational prosecute and punish gang members? No, because the activity threatens social stability vastly out of proportion with the probability of any…

"People don't react to terrorism because they're afraid of being blown up personally."

I would disagree. My experience is that people view dying in a terrorist act as an especially horrific way to die and hence especially scary. I have had this specific conversation with people where they say it would be much worse to die in a terrorist attack than to die in a car accident.

To me it doesn't make sense. They both kill you but a lot of people see it differently.

Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#145

Post by nraynaud »

mikestew wrote: post #139

I ran the prestigious marathon for the first time yesterday. I had a good race, set a new best time for recent years, and had a great experience. The only thing I would have been able to do yesterday was give blood, and that apparently wasn't needed. So there's nothing I can do, and fretting and worrying isn't going to change anything. Walking around scared isn't going to prevent anything. I sympathize with those aff…

read "Boston Massacre" memorial plate. The wording is interesting (at least for a foreigner).

Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#146

Post by riggins »

rayiner wrote: post #31
jlgreco wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly are you envisioning here? If not a sacking of the country by terrorist hoards, what exactly are you proposing the parallels between the fall of Rome and our modern society will be? I can envision terrorist attacks doing major irreversible damage to our society, but only through the fear, spiraling out of control, that they have the potential to cause. A fear so excessive that it could figuratively drive…

With modern technology, you don't need to sack New York to cause tremendous damage. People downplay the magnitude of 9/11, but as I noted somewhere else today, it involved more deaths than Pearl Harbor, and economic damage of almost $100 billion (without accounting for the economic impact on the stock market). Is a terrorist attack ten times stronger inconceivable? An attack on a nuclear power plant could cost into t…

"People downplay the magnitude of 9/11, but as I noted somewhere else today, it involved more deaths than Pearl Harbor"

that's one point of reference.

Here a different point of reference. It involved about 1/10 the number of annual automobile accident deaths.

Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#147

Post by bconway »

sheri wrote: post #80
untog wrote: post #8

It was a great moment of national pride for me (which are rare in the UK) in the wake of the 7/7/2005 bombings. People were back on the Tube and buses the next day, refusing to allow their lives to be disrupted further. I've always taken solace from those people- I hope that the people of Boston can be equally inspiring.

Let me offer a different opinion. There was a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993. Thirteen different explosions in the span of a few hours across the city's landmarks. 250 people died. One of the blasts was in the Bombay stock exchange. This was on a Friday, and the stock exchange opened for business on Monday. This was a huge PR win for Mumbai, as the media talked about the resilience of the residents and the m…

Exactly this. Holding your head high is not a response to terrorism.

Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#148

Post by MrFoof »

rurounijones wrote: post #5

Glad this got posted quickly. I can already see the glee in intelligence / law enforcement agencys' eyes as they think how they can use this latest incident as reasoning for more over-arching powers. For a long time Londoners had to put up with IRA bombs but "Kept calm and carried on" (to use the phrase). I hope the US can follow suit. [EDIT] Changed "secret service" to "intelligence / law enforcement agencies" to av…

>I can already see the glee in intelligence / law enforcement agencys' eyes as they think how they can use this latest incident as reasoning for more over-arching powers.

I think this is my biggest concern.

Once in a while at the Back Bay subway/commuter rail/Amtrak station you will occasionally see Boston Police officers - sometimes accompanied by TSA agents - set up at the station, some of which are carrying submachine guns (MP5s). We're not talking one or two officers, but somewhere between half a dozen and a a dozen, several of which have the automatic weaponry at the ready.

On two occasions, I've asked one of the officers, "Hey, what's going on?". In one case it was simply a training exercise. In another, they were looking for a "person of interest".

In general, I don't want to be at a transit station trying to get home on the subway where there is a situation in which the officers feel the use of that kind of force is necessary, especially considering the fact that I can't recall a single situation in the time I've lived here where the use of submachine guns would've ever been justified.

Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#149

Post by tptacek »

gizmo686 wrote: post #46
AVTizzle wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I needed to look it up, too: "Bruce Schneier an American cryptographer, computer security specialist, and writer. He is the author of several books on general security topics, computer security and cryptography." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Schneier

If you ask me to name a cryptographer, Scheier is by far the first one that comes to mind. Also, in my experience, his book, Applied Cryptography, is by far the most reccomended book for people new to crypto.

Applied Cryptography is a terrible reference. Please don't recommend it to programmers. Instead, recommend Practical Cryptography / Cryptography Engineering (they're the same book), which Schneier co-authored with Niels Fergusen.

Update: I said "terrible book" but I'm going to start being more precise about this. It's not a terrible "book"; I enjoyed the hell out of it when I was a teenager. It's just misleading and dangerous.

Re: The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On

#150

Post by ptaipale »

markdown wrote: post #120
MichaelApproved wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Ever wonder why extremists haven't bombed the Cook Islands" It's nice to be a country like the Cook Islands. You're surrounded by a vast ocean that makes it very difficult to attack. Your interests are also protected other, larger nations, so you don't have to do any "dirty work" to protect them. You also don't have to spend tons of money on a military and can rely on treaties with other countries to provide your de…

You know that before any attack whatsoever, there has to be a motive, right? South Africa meets your definition of a targetable country. Why isn't it attacked by terrorists?

South Africa is inherently so violent that terrorism doesn't make much difference (though there is some terrorism, at least bombings by white supremacists 10 years ago or so, and some activity against Israel.)
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