Explosion at the Boston Marathon.

TOM FRIEDMAN said:
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has specifically cited the U.S. war in Iraq, which ended in December 2011 with the removal of the last American forces, and the war in Afghanistan.

This is a popular meme among radical Muslim groups, and, to be sure, some Muslim youths were deeply angered by the U.S. interventions in the Middle East. The brothers Tsarnaev may have been among them.

But what in God’s name does that have to do with planting a bomb at the Boston Marathon and blowing up innocent people?
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My brain just exploded.

 
This thread is reminding me of why I've long held the opinion that all fireworks and black powder should be illegal with severe penalties for anyone caught with them.


I guess this makes me the forum wet blanket. Especially since I'm rather proud that I've never handled a firework of any size or strength. Even as a kid I thought people that use such things were exhibiting poor moral character. I was a strange kid.
 
Travis said:
This thread is reminding me of why I've long held the opinion that all fireworks and black powder should be illegal with severe penalties for anyone caught with them.


I guess this makes me the forum wet blanket. Especially since I'm rather proud that I've never handled a firework of any size or strength. Even as a kid I thought people that use such things were exhibiting poor moral character. I was a strange kid.
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Spoilsport... :p
 
Travis said:
This thread is reminding me of why I've long held the opinion that all fireworks and black powder should be illegal with severe penalties for anyone caught with them.


I guess this makes me the forum wet blanket. Especially since I'm rather proud that I've never handled a firework of any size or strength. Even as a kid I thought people that use such things were exhibiting poor moral character. I was a strange kid.
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I'd have been bored to death, literally, as a kid. We would build sparkler shows out of hundreds of sparklers broken off and put in a tin can..... and that was year round... Doesn't make you a wet blanket, but it does make you different. That's ok though.
 
triforcharity said:
Yes, the scumbag stopped talking, which is most likely in his best interest.
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I've heard a few people say this, and I completely disagree that it is in his best interest to stop talking. In most cases this would be true, and I generally advise everyone to clam up if they are ever arrested, but in a crime of this severity and with this much clear-cut evidence, I think his only chance at being granted some lenience (for example, a plea deal to avoid the death penalty) would be to be as open and cooperative as he possibly can. It's already a slam dunk to convict him, so by talking and spilling the beans about everything he's not going to risk making things worse for himself; they're already as bad as they can get.
I think his best strategy, in fact, would be to confess everything, tell everything, answer all questions eagerly, and make a big deal about how much he regrets that he ever got involved with such a terrible, terrible plot, and how much he wishes he could take it all back, but that he made this awful decision because he was so caught up in wanting to please his brother or whatever.

Not saying that this would personally make me want to see his punishment reduced...I personally think he's irredeemable and deserves the worst. I do, however, think behaving this way would be the path most likely to result in the best possible outcome for him.
 
Travis said:
...Even as a kid I thought people that use such things were exhibiting poor moral character.
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In that case, you would have held a very low opinion of me, I'm afraid. I once blew up my mother's microwave making gunpowder -- an incident that to this day still brings howls of laughter among nieces and nephews at family gatherings.
 
Doghouse Reilly said:
...I think his best strategy, in fact, would be to confess everything, tell everything, answer all questions eagerly, and make a big deal about how much he regrets that he ever got involved with such a terrible, terrible plot, and how much he wishes he could take it all back, but that he made this awful decision because he was so caught up in wanting to please his brother or whatever.
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I agree. Right now he has the opportunity to build a sympathetic persona for himself: I'm just a kid, got dragged into all this stuff by my crazy older brother and mother, I'm so sorry, I'm maimed for life and am doomed to suffer anyway, etc. It won't get him completely off the hook by any means, but this tactic probably gives him the best chance to avoid the death penalty -- assuming that's what he wants.
 
Doghouse Reilly said:
I've heard a few people say this, and I completely disagree that it is in his best interest to stop talking...I think his only chance at being granted some lenience (for example, a plea deal to avoid the death penalty) would be to be as open and cooperative as he possibly can...
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I agree and disagree. Cooperating is, realistically, the only shot he's got at gaining anything. But he needs to give his lawyer a chance to work out a strategy, see what he can get prosecutors to offer in exchange for complete disclosure.

However, given his bleak future -- death penalty or life imprisonment -- I wonder if Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might be buying in to the fantasy he's a jihadist soldier who struck a blow for Islam and is now in enemy hands. Maybe he'll be less cooperative as time goes by.

Remember Faisal Shahzad the Times Square Bomber? When he was sentenced to life-without-parole he told the judge, "I’m happy with the deal that God has given me," and warned, “Brace yourselves, because the war with Muslims has just begun.”
 
catsmate1 said:
Pretty much anything flammable can explode if dispersed as an aerosol; coal dust, flour, cotton dust.....
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An interesting clip has been shown a few times recently on Discovery? iirc with a tube maybe 1' diameter 3' deep filled with sawdust being supplied oxygen and when ignited makes a giant ?60'+-? firey plume lasting a few seconds.

http://www.safetyairbags.com/about.html
Popping one of these in a pressure cooker should be 'interesting'.
 
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The FBI is looking at Katherine Russel Tsarnaev, Tamerlane Tsarnaev's wife widow, to determine if she played any role in the Marathon bombing.

As part of the investigation, F.B.I. agents are trying to determine whether female DNA found on a piece of a pressure cooker used as an explosive device in the attacks was from Katherine Russell, the wife of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the officials said.
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Link

The FBI reportedly found a fingerprint on one of the bomb fragments and are trying to determine who it belongs to. I think the clear implication is the print does not match either of the Tsarnaev brothers.
 
Travis said:
This thread is reminding me of why I've long held the opinion that all fireworks and black powder should be illegal with severe penalties for anyone caught with them.


I guess this makes me the forum wet blanket. Especially since I'm rather proud that I've never handled a firework of any size or strength. Even as a kid I thought people that use such things were exhibiting poor moral character. I was a strange kid.
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You will take my 12 Pound Napoleon Cannon from me whan you take it from my cold dead hands....
 
Travis said:
I guess this makes me the forum wet blanket. Especially since I'm rather proud that I've never handled a firework of any size or strength. Even as a kid I thought people that use such things were exhibiting poor moral character. I was a strange kid.
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What a peculiar, sanctimonious attitude.
 
Doghouse Reilly said:
I've heard a few people say this, and I completely disagree that it is in his best interest to stop talking. In most cases this would be true, and I generally advise everyone to clam up if they are ever arrested, but in a crime of this severity and with this much clear-cut evidence, I think his only chance at being granted some lenience (for example, a plea deal to avoid the death penalty) would be to be as open and cooperative as he possibly can. It's already a slam dunk to convict him, so by talking and spilling the beans about everything he's not going to risk making things worse for himself; they're already as bad as they can get.
I think his best strategy, in fact, would be to confess everything, tell everything, answer all questions eagerly, and make a big deal about how much he regrets that he ever got involved with such a terrible, terrible plot, and how much he wishes he could take it all back, but that he made this awful decision because he was so caught up in wanting to please his brother or whatever.

Not saying that this would personally make me want to see his punishment reduced...I personally think he's irredeemable and deserves the worst. I do, however, think behaving this way would be the path most likely to result in the best possible outcome for him.
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I see what you're saying, and I agree as you're correct. Either way, he's toast, and will never see the outside of a jail cell the rest of his life.
 
triforcharity said:
I see what you're saying, and I agree as you're correct. Either way, he's toast, and will never see the outside of a jail cell the rest of his life.
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They probably already have a cell reserved for him at the Maxiprison in Colorado...and that is the best he can look forward to.
 
dudalb said:
They probably already have a cell reserved for him at the Maxiprison in Colorado...and that is the best he can look forward to.
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You're right, but I think it is a real mistake treating him like that. Don't get me wrong, he deserves everything he gets...... just don't think it helps much.
 
Looks like the Tsarnaev defense team wants to avoid the death penalty.

On Monday, another lawyer was added to the defense team of the surviving bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. Judy Clarke, one of the nation’s foremost experts in death penalty cases, took the case at the behest of Mr. Tsarnaev’s three federal public defenders.
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Judy Clarke has defended Unabomber Theodore J. Kaczynski and Arizona shooter Jared Loughner (who killed six people and severely injured Representative Gabrielle Giffords). Both Kaczynski and Loughner were convicted but avoided the death penalty and are serving life-without-parole. Link
 
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