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Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
461–470 of 622 posts
Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#462Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#463Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What could we learn from this -- check every trash can for a bomb at every big event? There are an unlimited number of places you could hide a bomb. France, in response to terrorist attacks in the 1995 mandated that all public locations have transparent bags held by posts [1] [2]. I don't think that's a unreasonable compromise, considering the alternatives. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_container#Media [2]…
how does that help? You could still stick a bomb in amongst the trash. Ok, it's no longer enclosed in a container that will make the blast worse but you could stick plenty of malice into a bomb the size of a football which would easily go into that bag.
You're right - it's not going to solve an inherently unsolvable engineering problem.
What it does do is solve a political problem: "What the hell did you do in response to terror attacks" in a way that does't compromise liberty much.
It does make it just that bit harder to stow a bomb, because now the bomber needs to have it packaged properly, and hope that the package doesn't a) ruin the bomb or detonating device and b) that the bomb doesn't slip out and become visible.
It also helps the police identify - they can just machete all trash bags and grab/dump the contents and sort - compared with opening up the can - which might in some areas be locked or difficult to open.
Compared with moves like the creation of the TSA, I prefer this kind of security theatre - at least there's some plot here. It's like locking out the pilot doors from the cabin.
Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#464Earlier quoted context omitted.
For some reason this reminds me more of the Atlanta Summer Olympics or Moscow than the attacks on the World Trade Center. [edit to add links for clarity] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_apartment_bombings#Ryaz... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Olympic_Park_bombing Condolences to friends and families of the injured and dead.
The aim of the WTC attack was to make a very symbolic action: the goal was to destroy three symbols of American power, its military, economic, and political might, though the last ended up physically unscathed. Obviously a huge number of deaths associated with it, but the symbolism was key. You knew exactly where the attackers stood--American power is evil--once you heard a description of the attacks. This, in contra…
American drone strikes kill innocent people all over the world. Their neighbors say these killings are incomprehensible.
I still think this was domestic actors.
Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#465Edit: Boston police reporting at least 2 dead, 22 injured and 10 people losing limbs. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/15/explosion-reported-near... Looks like there were two explosions. Picture: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH6fCgFCQAERWMB.jpg:large More details http://www.wcvb.com/news/local/metro/Explosions-reported-nea... "Witnesses said several victims lost limbs, and the area was being evacuated. Many of the in…
The Boston Globe @BostonGlobe 34s BREAKING NEWS: Police getting multiple reports of unexploded devices around Boston 3.38 pm Central time. Update: The Boston Globe @BostonGlobe 28s RT @billy_baker: "It's not safe to be here." - Boston Police evacuating Commonwealth Avenue mall at Gloucester. 3.45 Central time. Update: The Boston Globe @BostonGlobe 1m Boston Police: If anyone knows of any information call about exp…
A simple request: could we keep the timeline in Eastern time? Thank you.
Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#466Earlier quoted context omitted.
Expect numerous false positives for the next few months.
Better false positives than false negatives.
Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#467Earlier quoted context omitted.
Has any named official confirmed the cell service shutdown? I'm hearing the opposite. The original shutdown report I heard was attributed to an unnamed BPD source. This is obviously a particularly easy rumor to spread when the networks are all jammed up with callers.
You might be right. It's contradicted by both Sprint and Verizon here: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/official-cellphone-service-sh... Edit: And, it seems, AT&T: https://twitter.com/ATT/status/323915702132150272
I live in Boston. Mobile service is running.
Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#468Earlier quoted context omitted.
As pg tries to explain, it's not a YC company but a charity he supports (and therefore knows about) and it's also one that he thinks can help people get (afford) medical treatment.
It doesn't matter whether its a non-profit or for-profit, charity or business, or whether pg personally benefits from Watsi flourishing. He's using the events in Boston as a way to promote a service that has nothing to do with the horror occurring in Boston. I'm not saying Watsi isn't great -- it is. But this isn't the time or place to call attention to Watsi. It's tasteless and rude.
Do not forget that live media organisations, which promise yet another update of the "event" in a few minutes, are effectively promoting themselves, and profiting from it.
Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#469Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, it's gone... Shouldn't have told everyone about it. Clearly it's quality made it viral.
It's pretty good at holding traffic. Not so much when it comes to curious "stop by, see what's up, open a websocket, leave." But we're working on making it better, and it is back and running smooth now. Thanks for checking it out :)
Congrats. You have a hit!
Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line
#470Slightly off topic, but is anyone else confused by the fact that several runners in this video[1] reacted to the explosion but did not turn and proceeded to keep running? These people weren't exactly leading the pack (at a 4+ hours finish time), so my guess is that they are just severely deprived of nutrients and aren't processing what's happening, but it's still a bit baffling to me why some didn't turn to see what…
Whenever I finish an event, my mind is offline for about 30 minutes. If this had happened to me, I would probably kept on running and not react.