Explosions at the Boston Marathon

Jeff just posted in the Chicago thread, he is out in Boston but is not at the actual marathon.

I hadn't gone to the finish line to meet my friends yet, still in the office a couple of miles away. I heard from them and they are ok. Surreal, because I was just doing a run down Bolyston yesterday.

way more graphic:

https://twitter.com/JackieBrunoNECN/status/323876248428359681/photo/1

bummer

Well, this is fucking scary. The sirens are still going like mad.

holy shit at those pictures

Loads of people on twitter calling it an "attack", but has it in fact been confirmed it was an attack?

fucking heartbreaking

fuck fuck fuck

god dammit, hope everyone's OK. my little brother is at BC, didn't think he'd be at the finish line or anything but just heard from him saying he's fine

reading the news wires now - the timing & location and "2 explosions" story does seem to indicate something deliberate - but not seeing anything confirming it as an attack

christ, what a world

jesus. makes me think of 4 lions.

Horrifying. Still waiting to hear from a friend that was supposed to be watching with his young son. I have no idea where he was along the route.

"possible third device" @ nearby hotel per cnn

Fuck, this is bad. One of my workmates is running in the London marathon this Sunday. God knows how he's going to feel when he hears about this.

video of one explosion off of tv: https://twitter.com/jeff_gluck/status/323881834175950848

graphic obvs

Scary stuff. I was just out watching the marathon/cheering the runners on an hour ago. Stay safe everyone.

Holy shit, just seen this. Echoing aero: hope for as little harm as possible of course but hope especially that all Boston ilxors are OK.

State of New York upping anti-terrorism measures

oh god

REUTERS: NYPD DEPLOYING COUNTER-TERRORISM VEHICLES AROUND LANDMARKS IN MANHATTAN, INCLUDING PROMINENT HOTELS

(source: Reuters twitter)

cad - it's the mandarin. i imagine it is a false alarm.

fucking hell

ppl collecting stories on Reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1cen7i/explosion_at_the_boston_marathon/

did anyone point out that it's tax day

also patriot's day in MA

ugh, i hope it has no connection to that

oads of people on twitter calling it an "attack", but has it in fact been confirmed it was an attack?

As opposed to 2-3 things accidentally exploding at roughly the same place and roughly the same time?

Stay safe, Boston people.

^^^^ Been on my mind

Notice people still call it "attacks" when in fact that is not (still) sure yet.

In any case, it looks pretty terrible.

xxxxp

My first thought was that there might be connection between tax day and anti government groups, but I guess I shouldn't actively speculate about this until we have more data.

The Boston Globe ‏@BostonGlobe 36s

rt @JOSreports Police say are they still finding "secondary devices," pleading with crowd to go home

Does this building have any significance other than being close to the finish line?

taxes + boston = not a totally crazy connection to make

but who knows with these things

Have all Boston ILXors checked in?

wtf dont bomb the marathon

Boston ilxor roll call!

also 4/20 nutbar day coming up - hitler's birthday, columbine. oklahoma city was 4/19.

boston ilxor checkin, yes, please

Between here and Facebook I'm pretty sure we've all checked in and are OK.

the building is nothing special.

would be great to hear from djp soon.

dan p/enbb aight

4/20 is also Record Store Day this year.

Thoughts are in/with Boston right now.

He was working from home today according to fb.

awful news.

i know it's an inevitability, but, it there are a myriad possible causes for this (including accident) so can i ask for ppl to keep speculation to a minimum. don't pull a cnn here.

at least 3 confirmed dead

DJP has been active on Twitter so he's okay.

cad, dan's fine. i'm fine too (live in the suburbs)

it'd be interesting to see if smart defense attorneys could start selecting for matters such as that, but they are limited by law in how much they can ask of a potential juror and on what terms they can (explicitly) rule out a juror.

their argument is that eg “social dominance orientation” as a trait that can be assessed at jury selection, /predictably/ causes jurors to disfavour socially non-dominant groups

and this is news to you? this is merely social science confirming what everyone already knew already. people are creatures of cultures and cultures have deeply embedded biases. some of these are unconscious, just as we are rarely conscious of our hearts beating.

I would point out that even while this trait is discernible, it is not eradicable via the current rules for jury selection. Nor would a new set of rules ensure anything other than a guaranteed lengthening and complication of the process, creating even greater expenses for both sides, without necessarily securing a better result.

just helping you understand an article you couldn't understand by yourself, no assessment of the legal value of their research was offered beyond that

so kind of you

and this is news to you? this is merely social science confirming what everyone already knew already

is there not a value in confirming something like this through research?

btw i highly doubt that every NYT reader fully understood the implications of the effect of racial/ethnic bias on juries. convincing people of this is potentially one step toward ameliorating the problem, no?

i just don't get why you seem to be so cynical about this, aimless. it's an interesting article, has the potential to open a few folks' eyes.

honestly it seems like you posted a knee-jerk reaction to the headline (not the substance of the article) and are trying to maintain that position. it's an interesting article; it has value in confirming in a fairly objective matter what many of us--but by no means everyone--suspects is the case.

Krgyzstan is on the wrong side of the Caspian to include any of the Caucasus mountains.

They were born into the Chechen diaspora of Kyrgyzstan, fwiw. They are not ethnic Kyrgyz.

It's an interesting article.

their ethnic background and geographical origins are a little complicated as i recall, because they moved around a fair bit as kids--and the two brothers didn't necessarily grow up in precisely the same places-- and their parents are from different places/ethnicities. but that sort of thing is common in the former USSR.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/us/dzhokhar-tsarnaevs-lawyers-prepare-to-argue-against-death-penalty.html?referrer=

hmm, death penalty or life in solitary for a 21 year old? go america

he'd have > 18,500 hours of life out of solitary if he lives into his 70s tbf

I'm fine with either.

yup. no biggie, imo.

I live here, I don't want him dead, beyond that, fuck him for life

🎻

death sentence for D.T.

rah

http://www.zz7.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Rito-e-sacrificio-in-Grecia.jpg

The jury of seven women and five men, which last month convicted Mr. Tsarnaev, 21, of all 30 charges against him, 17 of which carry the death penalty, took more than 14 hours to reach its decision.

lame but not predictable

I mean BUT predictable

gah

Xps: did they wrap that dude all up in louis Vuitton and drain his blood into a Louis Vuitton bag?

surprised it took fourteen hours for the irate and voluble deems types of the jury to emotionally blackmail the wavering (probably women) into executing someone for crimes they committed as a teenager

anders breivik all nodding in approval eh folks

trenchancy will have occurred

yes but apart from deems this is a civil forum and u are within the clemency exemption clause for today

is putting a photogenic young person to death a good thing to do when they are also agitating about losing young impressionable people to ISIS? Or perhaps that fact is being taken into account? are we really having this conversation?

doubt the jury thought much about the death penalties possible impact on Daesh recruitment

I forgot this was a jury verdict. why do juries sometimes do the sentencing and sometimes not?

very lame and very predictable yes

I forgot this was a jury verdict. why do juries sometimes do the sentencing and sometimes not?

― akm, Friday, May 15, 2015 8:40 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

juries decide sentences in death penalty cases. otherwise its the judge.

~lols~

in Federal court for felony charges, the defendant HAS to have a jury trial at guilt/innocence and at sentencing the unless the prosecution and the judge both agree to let him waive it. most defendants want juries at both phases anyway (i didn't hear anything about Tsarnaev's counsel requesting a waiver), which is kind of weird considering judges are statistically more likely to acquit and give lower sentences.

whos gonna play the handsome dzhokhar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriots%27_Day_(film)

watched the marathon in person today for the first time in 10 years, there was enough added security to make the vibe a little weirder but all in all happiness and joy prevailed on the one day a year god smiles on the city of boston.

Thinking of the Boston contingent today...