Two bomb blasts during the Boston Marathon

Oh. I see... but in that case, well, the police are just doing what they're supposed to, arent' they?

In other words, what other options do they have besides the ones being employed?

Well it depends on whether the response is proportionate to the threat. As an example of what I mean, if you had a guy hold up a local 7/11, you would not tell everyone in the city to lock their doors and stay inside. Obviously this isn't just a holdup of a local 7/11, but what exact threat does justify telling millions of people to hide for the day? I can't possibly imagine how the threat from one person could justify that sort of advice. Did police tell everyone near DC to put their lives on hold and not leave their homes until the Beltway sniper was caught?

Now, if you tell people to lock their doors and stay inside, you are propagating fear; you're indicating that if they leave their homes, they will be facing an acute risk. And if there's no real need for that advice, then you're needlessly propagating fear. It's important that this not happen, because the very point of terrorism is that fear. Creating fear so that you can pursue someone on the basis that they have created fear is evidently counter-productive.

So I guess I'm just wondering why, if I were a random citizen of Boston, I should feel the risk of being harmed by a lone fugitive if I leave my house, amid such heavy police presence, more than I should feel the risk of being hit by a bus if I leave my house. Is there a bomb on every street corner or something? If there is, then fair enough! But if it's just being represented that there's a bomb on every street corner, when that's not close to the truth, then who exactly is creating terror?

IMO it seems much more likely that people are being told to stay inside because it makes the job of police easier. Maybe it's a good thing for the job of police to be easier in this situation, but is instilling fear worth it?
 
Well it depends on whether the response is proportionate to the threat. As an example of what I mean, if you had a guy hold up a local 7/11, you would not tell everyone in the city to lock their doors and stay inside. Obviously this isn't just a holdup of a local 7/11, but what exact threat does justify telling millions of people to hide for the day? I can't possibly imagine how the threat from one person could justify that sort of advice. Did police tell everyone near DC to put their lives on hold and not leave their homes until the Beltway sniper was caught?

Now, if you tell people to lock their doors and stay inside, you are propagating fear; you're indicating that if they leave their homes, they will be facing an acute risk. And if there's no real need for that advice, then you're needlessly propagating fear. It's important that this not happen, because the very point of terrorism is that fear. Creating fear so that you can pursue someone on the basis that they have created fear is evidently counter-productive.

So I guess I'm just wondering why, if I were a random citizen of Boston, I should feel the risk of being harmed by a lone fugitive if I leave my house, amid such heavy police presence, more than I should feel the risk of being hit by a bus if I leave my house. Is there a bomb on every street corner or something? If there is, then fair enough! But if it's just being represented that there's a bomb on every street corner, when that's not close to the truth, then who exactly is creating terror?

IMO it seems much more likely that people are being told to stay inside because it makes the job of police easier. Maybe it's a good thing for the job of police to be easier in this situation, but is instilling fear worth it?

Like I said earlier this is a short term fear. Terrorists don't win when you are scared for just 8 hours.
 
@Camikaze: I agree and the aftermath of this shall be interesting. Shutting down a whole city the size of Boston is no joke.
On the other hand, the authorities might have info they dont share. This is currently my bet! And hope, cause otherwise its 1-0 to terrorism.
 
Boston is in lockdown, generally. No mass transit, no taxis, and people are supposed to stay home or where they presently are. This creates a huge problem for people flying into Logan airport as those folks can't get anywhere.

Hospitals are not releasing people nor are they admitting new patients unless they come in via emergency vehciles. Doctors and other staff members are apparently being turned away as well when reporting for work (which seems really weird. I would take that with a grain of salt. Might be just a transportation issue.)

Yeah, it's a bit aggravating, given that it's also my grocery day.

EDIT: I have heard scattered reporting (CNN, so taking it with a grain of salt) that there was an accomplice to the younger brother involving in the bombing.
 
Uncle's press conference was interesting. Talking about how the two brought shame to his family and ethnic Chechens in general. Father worked hard to put bread on their table and they did this!
 
It felt like he was struggling for words throughout that interview. Kudos to him for trying to give an interview in what has to be a pretty stressful time for him and his family.
 
Yeah, I felt really bad for the uncle. :(

He certainly wasn't cutting the two maniacs any slack or excuses.
 
Alleged suspects, you mean. Because of course, the police may really have been caught in a shootout with their evil twins.
 
The media has named and shamed five different people so far. I'm not going to believe a word of it until I see the guilty verdict.
 
Just wanted to point out I was right in predicting these were white males and not Arabic. I just happened to be wrong on the motive.

The media has named and shamed five different people so far. I'm not going to believe a word of it until I see the guilty verdict.

too bad our fascist police believe they are judge, jury, and executioner. As far as the police are concerned, if they are dead, they are guilty. We do the same thing with drone attacks.
 
The media has named and shamed five different people so far. I'm not going to believe a word of it until I see the guilty verdict.
Yeah, and I'm sure every single one of those people were named by the police after they killed cops and threw pressure cooker bombs at others. Yup. :rolleyes:

Look, I understand you don't trust the media anymore. That's fine. To each his own. But please, stop jumping in after people post about the bombers just to say that it's all alleged. It's annoying.

too bad our fascist police believe they are judge, jury, and executioner. As far as the police are concerned, if they are dead, they are guilty. We do the same thing with drone attacks.
Considering they killed a policeman and threw bombs at other, I think the police have a kind of legitimate reason to suspect that they're guilty. When someone shoots at me, I sometimes think that the shooter is guilty too. Maybe it's just a gut feeling as one of their bullets hits me in the gut.

A whole large city being locked down as a result of this seems like a huge overreaction, but overreaction to terrorism is nothing new
Considering the guy has a suicide vest, I don't think it's an overreaction. If they didn't lock the city down, and the guy blew himself up with 30 other people around him, many people would question why the city wasn't locked down.
 
A whole large city being locked down as a result of this seems like a huge overreaction, but overreaction to terrorism is nothing new

I can see doing it temporarily, but most likely they won't get this guy by nightfall. What then? Keep the city in lock down indefinitely? What about people who need to go to the pharmacy or doctor to get drugs to survive? What about people who have no food in their house (when I was single and young I survived off of fast food and had no food at home)? You can't shut down the economy of a major metropolitan area for days on end.
 
Yeah, and I'm sure every single one of those people were named by the police after they killed cops and threw pressure cooker bombs at others. Yup.

Look, I understand you don't trust the media anymore. That's fine. To each his own. But please, stop jumping in after people post about the bombers just to say that it's all alleged. It's annoying.

No. !?!
 
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