Thread: Boston marathon

Originally Posted by BobH

Firstly, my condolences to all who were killed or injured and their relatives.

As for garbage cans at a location where literally thousands will congregate, that is a no no. Years ago we were in Waterloo Station London and had enjoyed some snack foods while waiting for our train. I went to dispose of our garbage and could not find a garbage can. I asked a Bobby why there were no garbage cans to be found and was told "bombs you know". Mind you the Brits have been at this counter terrorist bombing routine quite a bit longer than we have in North America and probably learned the hard way too.

Bob

That is correct. garbage bins were used by the IRA because they are just so convenient. People can't get inside them easily, they're everywhere, and you don't notice them. You'd notice a backpack left unattended. But not a garbage can, and not someone putting something in it.

I know in the Netherlands during royalty events, they also put special metal strips over the access lids of electricity poles, to prevent people from opening them unnoticed.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Tragic, what more can be said..


The date alone points a finger toward Domestic Terrorism, rather than outside sources for this cowardly attack.

What was special about the date?

Firstly my prayers for those killed and maimed, and fro their families and friends.
So sorry to see you blokes take another hit from some lunatic. Trust justice will be done and they go to the chair.
What is really inspiring is seeing how people reacted by going into harms way to render aid, just ordinary citizens, shows you do have plenty of good people when the chips are down. Thank God there were not huge ammounts of casualties.


Kind regards from your mates down under

Gordon

Originally Posted by Bruno

What was special about the date?

Patriots' Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Patriot's Day and IRS federal tax filing deadline.

Originally Posted by Bruno

What was special about the date?

Yea, if I had to guess it would be domestic terrorism. Possibly shades of Tim McVeigh Timothy McVeigh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Be interesting to see who and what the authourities come up with in the end.

Bob

Yeah-My gut tells me it might be domestic too. Either way, terrorism is terrorism. I don't care whether they wear a turban or a ball cap. I'm sure most of you would agree that they deserve whatever punishment they get either way. But kudos to all the Bostonians who showed so much class and courage in dealing with the hellish aftermath.

One other point-Remember that on the day of the NewTown massacre, the media got a lot wrong in their rush to get
out a story-ANY story. And that just gave fuel to the conspiracy nut-jobs. 9-11 too for that matter. Just something to think about as more info about this tragedy comes out.

And I agree that it is almost impossible to prevent something like this (unless we want to become like TelAviv or London-which is probably in our future in some cities).

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

And I agree that it is almost impossible to prevent something like this (unless we want to become like TelAviv or London-which is probably in our future in some cities).

If it makes you feel any better, even in London or Tel Aviv you can't prevent things like this. And indeed, such things have happened within the last decades, in those countries. Any type of explosive, mixed with any type of shrapnel, can be dropped in any location by anyone. It is impossible to do big damage to infrastructure this way, because generally infrastructure is resilient, and it can be contained and guarded.

Big groups of people are soft targets: dead easy to hurt, and with an enormous impact.

something like this was just a matter of time, imo. i thought it might happen in a place like the mall of america or something. april 15, patriot's day, income tax day, waco, oaklahoma city, columbine all happened in april. i bet foreign elements never came near this. what was it, the unabomber's birthday yesterday. as it turns out the bombs were pressure cookers filled with stuff and left in backpacks, not trash cans. if you've never witnessed the marathon you have no idea how easy it would be to slip through the crowd and just leave a backpack on the ground and move on. everyone is focused on the runners.
as far as the trash can thing goes, i don't know. you would think that in this day and age the bpd would do what every other competent law enforcement agency would do and seal or remove them. i drove about 7 miles on the marathon route today back towards the finish line and there wasn't one, not one, orange peel or paper cup on the ground. this race is aig deal around here. people take it very seriously as a community and a world-class athletic event.

To those that feel this was Domestic,why do you think so??