Boston Marathon

[JamesVincent]

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-a ... me-in-news

Jon Stewart, talking about CNN.

[Arthur Rubin]

Imgur link does not work.

The images have been removed. They worked when I posted it.

Obviously, a conspiracy.

[ashlynne39]

No offense, but CNN and MSNBC both of whom had people on their shows night one blaming the bombing on right wingers need to figure out that they aren't much better than WND. Here is what as t is being reported this morning

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/19/gu ... it-campus/

Looks like one suspect dead and one on the run.

[The Observer]

A polite warning. This is veering off into politics. This is why I addressed the first post regarding the WND, hoping that people would take the hint. Please return to discussing the Boston marathon tragedy and not how the right wing press, left wing press or the nutwing press is covering it.

Otherwise the thread will get locked.

[JamesVincent]

And fo course conspiracy theories have started up over Boston already. They actually started the day after but I haven't felt like looking at them until today.

[Number Six]

There is a professor that runs this blog questioning the official version of events: http://memoryholeblog.com/2013/04/18/ha ... n-bombing/

In the view of the conspiracy theorists, the bad guys always remain at large and never actually get caught while the alleged terrorists, etc., are just patsies for the real bad guys.

[wserra]

I almost didn't get past the masthead: "Republication Under Fair Use Permitted". How nice of him to permit what the law requires him to permit.

But I persevered to find the source of the remarkable perspicacious questions: "a reporter working for alternative news outlet Infowars.com". Ooh, Alex Jones.

The last straw was his reference to "the untenable official account of the Sandy Hook shooting". Shape-shifting lizards can't be far behind.

[notorial dissent]

Is "alternative news outlet" code for Fantasy News Network? Just wondering????

[fortinbras]

The paranoids were out, almost before the smoke cleared, whining about a "false flag" operation, which confused me because I hadn't seen any flag attached to this crime. They're still talking "false flag" although, even with the suspects identified and one captured, I still haven't seen anything resembling a flag.

[JamesVincent]

The paranoids were out, almost before the smoke cleared, whining about a "false flag" operation, which confused me because I hadn't seen any flag attached to this crime. They're still talking "false flag" although, even with the suspects identified and one captured, I still haven't seen anything resembling a flag.

You didn't see the flags lining the streets? The bomb was placed directly behind a flag. I'm betting the flag was the incorrect one for that nation, hence "false flag"

[The Observer]

The paranoids were out, almost before the smoke cleared, whining about a "false flag" operation, which confused me because I hadn't seen any flag attached to this crime. They're still talking "false flag" although, even with the suspects identified and one captured, I still haven't seen anything resembling a flag.

You didn't see the flags lining the streets? The bomb was placed directly behind a flag. I'm betting the flag was the incorrect one for that nation, hence "false flag"

Not sure if both of you are being facetious, but in case in you are not...

[fortinbras]

Well, I am not being sarcastic or whatever. I don't believe that the bombing was the work of the US govt, or of the Massachusetts or Boston govt, and it hasn't been attributed by our govt to any particular movement or group. Since it hasn't been attributed - given a flag - it is not, in my understanding, a false flag.

[Randall]

Oooh, it was most definitely the work of the Boston governement. A week or so earlier Mayor Menino annouced he would not seek reelection. He did not say he would not continue as Mayor. Mumbles almost pulled it off, stopping just short of declaring martial law on Friday. The plan unravelled when the stooge decided to hide in the boat instead of leaving town.

[fortinbras]

If that theory works, then Sept 11th was the work of Rudolph Giuliani. He was nearing the end of his permitted second term (Sept 11th happened to be the primary election day), and he actually suggested cancelling the mayoral election altogether and continuing him in office 'in the emergency'.

[ArthurWankspittle]

Any conspiracy theorists linked it to the very dark British comedy film, The Four Lions yet?

(rubber_dinghy_rapids_bro!)

[JamesVincent]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... ried-enem/

Mr. Carney said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is in a hospital suffering from a neck wound, will be tried in federal court and stressed that civilian courts can handle the job of prosecuting him as they have in previous terrorism cases.

[Number Six]

I was thinking that cutting-edge technology was under-utilized in this case, and by government in general, in spite of how rapidly the brothers were caught after going on a violent rampage after the pictures were posted.

Are there technologies not that could have searched databases, of passport pictures, drivers licenses, etc., and then narrowed down the suspects to a manageable pool of 50 or so, with various criteria allowing them to be nabbed instead of having more casualties and a city in lockdown for quite a bit of time?

Another worthwhile point: Why was George Orwell so wrong in his warnings about Big Brother?

When law enforcement resources become sharp and on point, then citizens will need to be extra vigilant instead of abdicating responsibilities they have in demanding proper oversight and accountability by government. By relegating oversight to some who are less than honorable while invoking divine next world accountability, they have been irresponsible. You can seek justice by public or private means, and many private detective agencies are far more unscrupulous than union employees of government at the FBI, etc.. At least in theory the government employees are accountable.

Orwell proved to be wrong more often than right in warning about supposed future totalitarian regimes that would use technology to destroy the aspirations of man in fascism. He had fascist Germany, the Soviet Union and Spain as examples but failed to be productive by projecting how people could responsibly reform government for criminal interdiction and prevention.

In response to this view of mine, a reliable anti-government critic asked:

"how people could responsibly reform government for criminal interdiction and prevention ..."

Where has this happened? Are you talking about formerly communist countries?

[Arthur Rubin]

I was thinking that cutting-edge technology was under-utilized in this case, and by government in general, in spite of how rapidly the brothers were caught after going on a violent rampage after the pictures were posted.

Have you been watching Numb3rs again? (Or, for that matter, Facebook's facial recognition software?). I'm afraid it's unlikely that the (51) drivers' license databases are fully integrated into facial recognition software at the FBI, although they probably could be. Whether it would violate some moral code, law, or Constitutional provision is another matter.

Some of those in government might propose that after the sequester is resolved.

But, again, this is pushing the limits of the political subject ban. Let's only deal with practicialities, rather than moral issues, which are clearly unsuitable for this forum.

[Number Six]

I am not up to date on the intricacies of how the facial recognition programs work in tandem with other databases, and I apologize if I was pushing the political issue and would of course be willing to edit offensive parts. I see how so many programs can be quite powerful in the hands of the right investigator, and with artificial intelligence quite a force for good in solving crimes.

[Arthur Rubin]

Is it time to repeat the old adage: "Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity"? This generally applies to users, rather than targets, but I suppose it's possible for a criminal to do something so incredibly stupid that it's unpredicable.