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Explosions at the Boston Marathon

Posted by samzenpus on from the in-the-news dept.

Reports are coming in that the headquarters at the Boston Marathon have been locked down after two explosions were reported near the finish line. According to reports "dozens of people have been seriously injured." CNN has live coverage. Google has a Person Finder up for Boston.
Update: The Boston Police Dept. says 2 people have died and 23 are injured. News conference scheduled for 4:30 ET.

35 of 1,105 comments (clear)

  1. On TV now by bobbutts · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Saw a clip of the two explosions. First one occurs right at the finish line and then the second one within 20 seconds 2 blocks away. It appears clear that this was a coordinated attack.

    1. Re:On TV now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      What is this wait and see you're talking about? Let's bomb some country and then ask the questions! It worked last time didn't ti?

    2. Re:On TV now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Reported third device found - gas line explosion sounds improbable especially considering the timing...

    3. Re:On TV now by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Much like the string of 17 explosions in Iraq today. Was that on your TV news?

      Aren't there 17 explosions in Iraq every Monday?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:On TV now by LifesABeach · · Score: 5, Funny

      Quiet, the corn have ears.

  2. Live feed of the news by RyLaN · · Score: 5, Informative

    Looks like bostonglobe.com is down, here's a live CBS feed that's still working http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/04/explosions-at-boston-marathon-finish-line/

    --
    At least the war on the environment is going well
  3. Well, crap by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I just felt a tremor in the force, like the Bill of Rights being stripped from hundreds of millions of Americans...

    1. Re:Well, crap by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Informative

      BTW, I really am sorry for the victims, fwiw.

    2. Re:Well, crap by dmatos · · Score: 5, Funny

      TSA decrees that you have to take your shoes off to go to the Boston Marathon now.

      --

      It may look like I'm doing nothing, but I'm actively waiting for my problems to go away.
      --Scott Adams
    3. Re:Well, crap by CastrTroy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Like the Ethiopians didn't have a big enough advantage already.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    4. Re:Well, crap by Applekid · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I just felt a tremor in the force, like the Bill of Rights being stripped from hundreds of millions of Americans...

      Bingo. Never let a good tragedy go to waste.

      --
      More Twoson than Cupertino
    5. Re:Well, crap by turp182 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's call the Shock Doctrine.

      There's even a book about it (called the Shock Doctrine):
      http://www.amazon.com/The-Shock-Doctrine-Disaster-Capitalism/dp/0312427999

      From the Editorial Review:
      Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you.

      This is why we have the Department of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act.

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
  4. Re:tell me again by GodInHell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fortunately, every time some whackaloon goes crazy and kills people some fool makes the mistake of announcing the political message of the attack before it comes out that the dude was just a whackaloon.

    That being said -- if this isn't an accident -- there are so many ways to go with this one. First, it's April 15 - which is the TEA party day of action. (got to listen to a "what will you do to defend your country" speech at lunch today). Second, the last mile of the Boston Marathon was dedicated to the victims of Newtown -- so there's that lead in. Third, various politicians et al attend the race -- so there's the assassination angle.

    Best course -- pray it turns out to have been a big gas leak.

  5. Patriot's Day by Westwood0720 · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriots'_Day

    For those that are not from the area.

    We have reports of people with missing limbs. happened near the Boston Public Library. Scary shit.

  6. Re:radiation by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >> Gonna be interesting to see who they nail for this.

    Same as every other time this happens: Lady Liberty.

  7. Explosions by hackus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Mmmm...

    I wonder what other parts of the constitution they will rip up to protect us from explosions?

    -Hack

    --
    Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
  8. Re:tell me again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Posint anonymously to save what little reputation I have....

    What does this have to do with news for nerds?.

    Bombs are created by terrorists, terrorism is funded by internet piracy, internet piracy is big news here on /.

  9. Isn't it sad? by FuzzNugget · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't it sad that the first thought I have after, "those poor people, I hope they're OK!", is, " Oh, great, *now* what civil rights is the US government going to shit all over?"

    1. Re:Isn't it sad? by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Every rational person had that exact sequence of thoughts.

    2. Re:Isn't it sad? by Somebody+Is+Using+My · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Isn't it sad that the first thought I have after, "those poor people, I hope they're OK!", is, " Oh, great, *now* what civil rights is the US government going to shit all over?"

      Followed by "I wonder if they - the government - was somehow behind this." Not themselves, not directly, but involved. Perhaps prompting and arming some stupid schmuck in order to entrap him for terrorism, and not catching him in time. Or turning a blind eye to foreign operatives so they could make a dramatic arrest to further some political goal.

      Because while I don't believe most politicians or government employees are so corrupt and disloyal as to let an attack pass on American soil, I increasingly am of the opinion those officials aren't taking a long-enough view to see how their individual actions may affect the nation in the long run. Too often they are so focused on their immediate goal - be it the reduction of crime through semi-legal tactics, ensuring one's agency's budget next year by misallocating funds this year, or improving one's standings in the polls - that they sacrifice the bigger picture, and people are getting hurt because of it. They overlook little evils to pursue what they hope is a good goal, forgetting that not only don't the ends don't justify the means; but that the end itself can become unexpectedly corrupted by those methods.

      So, sad as it is, I hope it is just some nut-job who got his hands on too much explosives, but the increasingly cynical part of me worries that it's not. Because the former is just some dumb idiot who thinks this is going to convert people to his cause, while the latter is evidence of just how fucked up our society is.

      Either way, the media is going to have a field day with this. It's better than Christmas for them.

      I'm sorry. I'm not in the cheeriest of moods today, and then something like this happens that makes me see the worst in the world.

      I hope the families are okay.

  10. Re:tell me again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ban only assault bombs

  11. /. has servers that stay up - that's why, nerds. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If anyone remembers 9/11, most US media websites could not handle Internet traffic. slashdot was able to scale traffic and keep information flowing in a time
    of horror and chaos. this is before the day of social media and citizen journalism.

    maybe, if you were in Boston now or had friends or loved ones who might have been near the finish line on Boylston Street at the time of the explosionsyou'd be concerned when you could not reach the local newspaper website. maybe then, you would not ask what this has to do with news for nerds.

    >> What does that have to do with this?

  12. Video of the actual explosion by iONiUM · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a video of the actual explosion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUsu-yoIzq8.

    Doesn't look good..

    1. Re:Video of the actual explosion by iONiUM · · Score: 5, Informative

      Looks like another one here that is a little better: http://vine.co/v/bFdt5uwg6JZ.

  13. Re:tell me again by sribe · · Score: 5, Informative

    What does this have to do with news for nerds?

    Why nothing at all that's what.

    But you have to be a fucking idiot to have read /. and never noticed that it's more than news for nerds. And it's right in the slogan: "news for nerds, stuff that matters".

  14. Re:don't hurt the terrorists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > water board the bastards all day if we have to

    Only problem is, you already did that. What's the civilian body count in the "war on terror" now? Including the Afghan and Iraq invasions, and continuing drone attacks all over the Middle East. Half a million? One million? And then you're surprised there are a few people who are looking to retaliate?

    Violence only produces one result: more violence.

  15. Re:slashdot? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I usually disagree with the stooges who ask why stuff of legal or societal interest is on slashdot, but why is this on slashdot?

    News for nerds, stuff that matters.

    Good chance that this is stuff that matters.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  16. Re:slashdot? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just to follow up:

    If it's a terrorist attack, then it's stuff that matters.

    If it's an exploding gas line then it's new for nerds.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  17. Re:tell me again by rickb928 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Today I think you have it backwards. If it does end up being an american, it will be all over the media, used as an excuse to take away more rights. If it is a "furriner" it will be all over the media, used as an excuse to take away more rights.

    There, fixed that for ya. A common mistake to think our current Government in any way wants to serve us, defend our rights, and generally do the right thing. You're not the first to make that mistake.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  18. Re:tell me again by 32771 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >Best course -- pray it turns out to have been a big gas leak.

    A war on decrepit infrastructure would probably be a good thing.

    --
    Je me souviens.
  19. Re:tell me again by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In either case, little if anything will be done that's relevant to preventing future such acts.

    You seem to be implying that there are things we should be doing that would prevent future such acts. So what should we be doing? I can understand hardening specific point targets like critical infrastructure, and general intelligence gathering. But we are already doing those things. In fact, many people feel that we are already way past the point of diminishing returns. What additional action could we have taken that would have prevented this?

    "We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

  20. Wrong quote by geek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/rahmemanue409199.html

    "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." -Rahm Emanuel

    Former aid to President Obama and current mayor of Chicago which is undergoing major budgetary and violent crime crisises as we speak.

  21. Here's the difference by SuperKendall · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Drones killing civilians is an accident; people thought there was a military target there. Sometimes mistakes happen, and innocent people die, but the intent is to target military forces and largely that is what happens.

    Civilians being killed as in Boston - there is no possibility of it being a military target, the target is as explicitly non-military as you can get.

    Can you truly not discern any kind of difference?

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Here's the difference by dave420 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And the terrorists aren't just doing it to senselessly kill people - they are usually trying to (whether accurately or not) protect thousands or millions of people from threats they perceive. That's the whole point of terrorism - to coerce people into taking them seriously. If governments earnestly listened to concerned citizens groups from both outside and inside their borders, there would be no terrorism. No happy person wakes up and thinks "Oh, I'll become a terrorist today. It's lovely weather for it". They usually do it because of perceived threats to their family/culture/country/their notion of "us". This is not a mystery. They see it as them having to do it to spare even more misery down the road. Some idiot throwing pipe bombs without political motive is not terrorism, but simple violence. And knowingly using shoddy intelligence to take out what might be a military target is hardly more noble, is it? Drone strikes suck donkey dick. So does terrorism. Solution: honest diplomacy.

  22. Re:tell me again by eth1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Today I think you have it backwards. If it does end up being an american, it will be all over the media, used as an excuse to take away more rights. If it is a "furriner" it will be all over the media, used as an excuse to take away more rights.

    There, fixed that for ya. A common mistake to think our current Government in any way wants to serve us, defend our rights, and generally do the right thing. You're not the first to make that mistake.

    This. I'm actually far more afraid of what the government will do in response to stuff like this than actually being a victim of something like this.