Explosion at the Boston Marathon.

Anyone know what the story is with this laptop they were looking for in a landfill?


REQUEST: Could a moderator split all the inane bleating about the pros and cons of internet sleuthing into a separate thread so that we can get back to discussing the really important issues around the terrorist act of the Boston bombing.
 
Arisia said:
Much easier, and probably quite a bit cheaper, to drive up to New Hampshire and buy some large-scale fireworks.
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phiwum said:
Why would it be cheaper? Does a Firearms ID cost a lot in MA?

According to this page (different town, but shouldn't matter), the costs are only $100 plus a Firearms Safety Certificate.

I could see that the process is a pain in the ass, and maybe leaves a paper trail when you buy the black powder (do they keep records of such purchases?), but I'd bet the mark-up on fireworks is more.

Boy. If my redneck family only knew the hoops gun-owners have to jump through in this state.
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Arisia said:
Well, he would have needed to apply to the Cambridge Police Department to get an FID, and the police would have checked with the state Firearms Records Bureau at that point. Would he have wanted to draw attention to himself by entering into the application process?

I know that firearms/ammo/reloading dealers are often restricted by fire department rules from carrying more than a certain amount of powder in stock, so the easiest way to get a large amount of low-grade powder would be to drive a few extra miles up to New Hampshire and buy some fireworks: no permit needed, no restrictions on amounts you can buy (except the size of your bank account), no attention of state agencies drawn to you.
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It appears Tamerlan Tsarnaev did buy supplies in New Hampshire:

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder Boston Marathon bombings suspect, purchased two large mortar kits from a New Hampshire fireworks store less than an hour’s drive from Boston in early February, a Phantom Fireworks official said today.

According to store records, Tsarnaev used $200 cash to purchase two “Lock and Load” kits, each with 24 shells, from the Phantom Fireworks store in Seabrook, N.H., Phantom Fireworks Vice President William Weimer said today.

[...]

When law enforcement officials confirmed the Tsarnaevs’ names on Friday, Weimer said, his company immediately went through its databases to determine if either had purchased a Phantom product.

They got a hit — Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s February purchase — and immediately contacted the FBI.

Older Marathon bombing suspect purchased fireworks at N.H. store, official says
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What do people ordinarily do with "mortar kits"?
 
Magenta said:
It appears Tamerlan Tsarnaev did buy supplies in New Hampshire:




What do people ordinarily do with "mortar kits"?
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That sounds more military than it actually is. Fireworks are commonly fired from "mortars". It just sounds militaristic enough to sound scary. There would not be anything odd or extraordinary about such a purchase.
 
newyorkguy said:
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sounds so non-unusual. If only he would've said to his brother:
Go to the Marathon and do what now? Seriously?
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He'd be in school, his brother would be alive (as would three other people) and a bunch of people would still have both their legs. :(
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I find this baffling too and wonder how much of a role was played by the dynamic between the brothers. SBS Dateline ran a story about the Boston bombing. There was an interesting comment from a woman from the Chechnya Advocacy Network:

ALMUT ROCHOWANSKI: In Chechen society and many other North Caucuses societies, relationships inside the family are very different from ours here. They are hierarchical, older brothers have a formal authority over their younger siblings. Younger brothers all of their lives have to be loyal and obey their older brothers and respect them, and show them loyalty.

Behind the Bombings
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beachnut said:
Is Tony Cartalucci a cousin of one of CIT dolts? How can he put that much stupid in one page? Is this your primary source of news?
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The "LULz" are indeed strong on this, beachy, if you want to call the discrepancy between the corporate facade and the hits coming from real journalism amusing.

Sibel Edmonds said:
A major break in the Boston Terror CIA Connection took place last night when I came across a post outing CIA Operative Graham Fuller as the father of the woman married to Boston terror suspect’s infamous uncle Ruslan Tsarni. Further confirmation of this bombshell was received via mainstream reporter Laura Rozen here. Let me first provide a few excerpts from the original reporting site (a real alternative media):
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abaddon said:
That sounds more military than it actually is. Fireworks are commonly fired from "mortars". It just sounds militaristic enough to sound scary. There would not be anything odd or extraordinary about such a purchase.
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OK thanks, I wasn't sure what it meant. (Fireworks are now banned in most states here; too many kids blowing their fingers off, I guess.)
 
phiwum said:
Yeah. Screw the Tipathis if they can't take a joke.

I'm with you, man.
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A few people misidentified Tripathi as one of the suspects. All his family needed to do was look at the photos and they would know better. I can feel sympathy for them for having lost a son, but to blame that on an internet misidentification is pure BS.
 
smartcooky said:
Anyone know what the story is with this laptop they were looking for in a landfill?


REQUEST: Could a moderator split all the inane bleating about the pros and cons of internet sleuthing into a separate thread so that we can get back to discussing the really important issues around the terrorist act of the Boston bombing.
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As one of the inane bleaters, this sounds reasonable to me. But I think the topic may have died out on its own. Perhaps best, would be if anybody has an irresistible compunction to beat this dead horse some more they could start a thread completely dedicated to it.

ETA: Whoops, I just noticed Kestrel's dead horse beating above my post, so maybe there is life left in the topic, if not the horse.
 
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Magenta said:
OK thanks, I wasn't sure what it meant. (Fireworks are now banned in most states here; too many kids blowing their fingers off, I guess.)
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That's OK. I'm sure you have attended fireworks displays, yes/no? The mortar is simply a way of launching a firework high into the air. Military mortars work in much the same way, but their purpose is not to entertain, but to kill. The same term is used for both processes, so it is easily conflated.
 
Magenta said:
OK thanks, I wasn't sure what it meant. (Fireworks are now banned in most states here; too many kids blowing their fingers off, I guess.)
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Perhaps incorrectly, I divide fireworks into three groups:
1. Safe and sane (the actual term used in CA). Legal in CA but not legal in all jurisdictions.
2. Firecrackers - fireworks that go bang or are otherwise a bit more dangerous than the safe and sane variety. These have been illegal in CA for my whole life, but of course as a kid of the 60's I did my share of blowing stuff up with them.
3. Professional fireworks - It is news to me that these are legal for non-licensed purchasing any place in the US. As has been mentioned they involve explosive devices that can power a heavy exploding display device to a considerable height and even with careful use limited to professionals they still manage to kill a few people every year. They seem to be illegal even in Mexico which was the source of most of my illegal fireworks.
 
davefoc said:
Perhaps incorrectly, I divide fireworks into three groups:
1. Safe and sane (the actual term used in CA). Legal in CA but not legal in all jurisdictions.
2. Firecrackers - fireworks that go bang or are otherwise a bit more dangerous than the safe and sane variety. These have been illegal in CA for my whole life, but of course as a kid of the 60's I did my share of blowing stuff up with them.
3. Professional fireworks - It is news to me that these are legal for non-licensed purchasing any place in the US. As has been mentioned they involve explosive devices that can power a heavy exploding display device to a considerable height and even with careful use limited to professionals they still manage to kill a few people every year. They seem to be illegal even in Mexico which was the source of most of my illegal fireworks.
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Completely illegal here, yet somehow people get them every New Year and Halloween.
 
abaddon said:
That's OK. I'm sure you have attended fireworks displays, yes/no? The mortar is simply a way of launching a firework high into the air. Military mortars work in much the same way, but their purpose is not to entertain, but to kill. The same term is used for both processes, so it is easily conflated.
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We have firework displays here, yes, but I presume you need some sort of training and licence for the heavy duty stuff. I was a child when fireworks were available over-the-counter and remember only crackers, skyrockets, Roman candles - that sort of thing.

davefoc said:
Perhaps incorrectly, I divide fireworks into three groups:
1. Safe and sane (the actual term used in CA). Legal in CA but not legal in all jurisdictions.
2. Firecrackers - fireworks that go bang or are otherwise a bit more dangerous than the safe and sane variety. These have been illegal in CA for my whole life, but of course as a kid of the 60's I did my share of blowing stuff up with them.
3. Professional fireworks - It is news to me that these are legal for non-licensed purchasing any place in the US. As has been mentioned they involve explosive devices that can power a heavy exploding display device to a considerable height and even with careful use limited to professionals they still manage to kill a few people every year. They seem to be illegal even in Mexico which was the source of most of my illegal fireworks.
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Well, I know Americans like their firepower. I spent a 4th of July in Tennessee and was surprised that people have their own cannons.:D
 
That the suspects got their black powder from taking apart fireworks is rather odd considering that you can buy it off the shelf with no questions asked in most states. MA requires a firearms owners card, but is one of the few states that has any kind of restrictions on black powder or smokeless powder.
 
smartcooky said:
Anyone know what the story is with this laptop they were looking for in a landfill?
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Yes.

smartcooky said:
REQUEST: Could a moderator split all the inane bleating about the pros and cons of internet sleuthing into a separate thread so that we can get back to discussing the really important issues around the terrorist act of the Boston bombing.
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Yeah, c'mon mods, it's getting hard to find the real-time news feeds from Fox New Zealand in the thread.
 
Magenta said:
We have firework displays here, yes, but I presume you need some sort of training and licence for the heavy duty stuff. I was a child when fireworks were available over-the-counter and remember only crackers, skyrockets, Roman candles - that sort of thing.
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That's going to vary by jurisdiction. Bottom line is that the fireworks you see launched at displays are chucked up high in the air by mortars. All we are left to quibble with is who exactly can purchase those. Here, it's pros setting up a display, getting a licence to do it. In America, it seems to be somewhat more loose. Not a criticism, just different legal jurisdictions.

Magenta said:
Well, I know Americans like their firepower. I spent a 4th of July in Tennessee and was surprised that people have their own cannons.:D
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Brings out the inner kid in me. I like a huge fireworks display.
 
Kestrel said:
That the suspects got their black powder from taking apart fireworks is rather odd considering that you can buy it off the shelf with no questions asked in most states.
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A former FBI agent I saw interviewed on CNN said the same thing. That to produce the amount of black powder needed for the two bombs that were detonated -- never mind the other five or six they were said to possess -- would require a lot of fireworks. A lot of time and a lot of effort. He said it didn't sound entirely plausible to him.

He also raised the point that he was a bit suspicious that the two brothers could've constructed the pressure-cooker bombs on their own with no guidance other than printing out directions from an Internet site. Suspicious because they apparently worked so well.
 
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