I wouldn't trust a word the New York Post says on this or any other issue. At the moment, CNN and BBC are both saying 2 dead, 22 injured. There was a controlled explosion somewhere else in the city apparently, where the police destroyed a "suspicious package", but no word on whether it was actually a bomb. There's also been talk of another 2 devices being dismantled. Looks like the explosion they're talking about at JFK Library was actually the second of the two original explosions, not a new explosion. However, every precaution being put in place (no fly zone) seems to suggest that whoever's managing this incident is expecting to find multiple IEDs, which would make sense since there's aren't all that big and they look to be multiplying. I'd say it's about 90% certain now we're looking at a terrorist incident, the question is who's behind it. Big money, obviously, says that it's some type of radical Islamist group, Al Qaeda or one of their bastard "franchise" offshoots. However, there's always a possibility this might be an inside attack by someone outside of the usual suspects, à la Oklahoma City. Outlier chance is a sabotage attack by North Korea, given what's been in the news recently, but I'd put that in the 1% bracket of possibilities.
As you say, rely on the source at your own risk: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/authorities_under_suspect_guard_y2m8cJO29uC2PDGIjYBalO EDIT: Updated article from same source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/authorities_under_suspect_guard_y2m8cJO29uC2PDGIjYBalO
I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but this board (and right now this thread) is one of the first places I turn to when it comes to breaking news and stuff like this. Good example: someone above posted a while back about a third explosion at the Boston library. CNN just now reported it.
I've found that Twitter is by far the best source for news if you follow the right people. For example, someone put up a link for the live Boston Police scanner.
From the article: "A law enforcement source confirmed to The Post that 12 people were killed and nearly 50 were injured in today's blast." Now that sounds a little more accurate given the size and location of the explosions.
https://twitter.com/Boston_Police I also turned on my police scanner app on my phone, put it on the Boston Police, Fire, and EMS Channel. This is fascinating. Right now they're talking about a suspicious black backpack inside of a CVS and working on evacuating the area.
Nope, CNN reporting over 100 injuries now. My police scanner is going off with people calling in bomb squads. I don't like the sound of the "military-style duffle bag" found next to one of the hospitals though. Wouldn't be shocked if another explosion does go off. This is a nightmare, to say the least. People are sick.
I learned this joke from a French class I took: Americans eat a lot of fat and consume relatively little alcohol, and suffer high rates of obesity and heart disease. The French consume a lot of fat a d a lot of alcohol, but have low rates o heart disease and obesity. The Japanese, on the other hand, consume little fat and little alcohol, and still have low rates of heart disease and obesity. Conclusion? Eat and drink as much as you want, speaking English kills you. Despite the lower rates of heart disease, they have have higher rates of alcohol-related liver disease than the Americans. The net life expectancy is longer, though, so believe what you want. My genes are insufficiently French, in any case. This pedantic message brought to you by my attempt to keep our minds off the horrible situation in Boston.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/two_explosions_at_boston_marathon_iMR0LCkcwASg0RQfVsH1yI#415sf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/t ... H1yI#415sf</a> Anyone find another source? 12 dead and CNN still hasn't updated it. Goddamn them.
So yeah, it turns out that this is awful. The speculation is pretty terrible, and not at all helpful. Not sure why I'm listening to it.
An actual comment from a New Yorker that I'm friends with on Facebook: "does anyone else think that maybe this was supposed to happen in NYC, but then it didn't because it was canceled?" This city is the worst sometimes. WE'RE THE ONLY CITY THAT MATTERS, YA HEAR?!
Here's two live updated threads on Reddit. The first one has gone read only, and the second one just started up. From explosions to 5:50 PM From 5:50 PM to current time I grew up in Boston, and have lots of family there. Thankfully, I've heard from all of them, and everyone is safe. My thoughts go out to all those affected. This is crazy.
There is another board I'm a part of that has been following this, and to quote from what someone there posted: That being said, I was watching the local CBS station earlier in the day, and they did say, and I think it's been reported by other news agencies, that a few minutes before the explosions occurred, their was surveillance video taken of a man holding backpacks in the general area of the explosion, and they he may have dropped one pack into a garbage can, BPD is obviously looking at the footage. Edit: AP just confirmed, nobody in custody.
Here is a link to the Boston police scanner: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/6254/web" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/6254/web</a>
Ive been to NY and Boston. I guess Boston gets overlooked because it's the second city on the American eastern seaboard, and up north Montreal garners some attention because it's a party city with a lower drinking age, and strippers, and Montreal girls are pretty when they're not crazy. So I didn't really expect much when I went to Boston but honestly it's a really cool city. Nicely preserved historic north end, great museums, cool ethnic neighborhoods, also Chompsky lives there. I guess most people wouldn't think to go to Boston the way you think of going to NYC or somewhere else, but I highly recommend it. It's a shame to see bombings and terrorism happen anywhere but Boston is a particularly nice place.
Upsides of drinking: Obvious. Downsides of drinking: Increased likelihood of going off on people tripping over themselves to say stupid, racist shit.
Kinda surprised at the lack of video of the explosions. You'd think with all the spectators and the prevalence of smartphones, there'd be more than a few shots of the one explosion at the finish line. Haven't seen anything of the second explosion, which I heard was much bigger than the first.
My friends have mostly checked in and are ok. This is all quite surreal. However, I haven't been tracking things closely as one thing I have learned over the years is that we never know what happened until some time has passed. When 9/11 hit, it was weird to think of the terrorist connection to Logan Airport and to a library in Newton (I was in school at Northeastern University at the time and living in Newton, which is a Boston suburb). Now it's gone a step further in personal connection and it's a strange feeling. I live near Nashua, NH, now, but Boston is still the big city nearby for me. Before changing careers two months ago it's where I worked, it's where I spent 8 years in undergrad and grad school, I lived in and around it for years. Anyway, I ramble I guess. We'll see what information develops.