Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Galloping off in all directions.

The reporters on the TV are just now pontificating over the significance of "BBs and ball bearings" according to a 'terrorism expert' they'd just interviewed.

Meanwhile, down in the emergency room:
Dr. Ron Walls, chair of emergency medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said doctors did not identify any shrapnel, such as ball bearings, but saw a lot of "street stuff" that had injured their patients.

"Rocks, bits of metal, soda cans, anything that is really close to a blast like that can be fragmented," he said. "Everything we saw was ordinary material that could have been propelled by the device."
At what point does speculation end and just making $#!+ up begin?

EDIT: Just saw footage of a different doctor saying something about "pellets & nails" in a Dr. Strangeloveian accent.

EDIT EDIT: Multiple other doctors' reports flatly contradict Dr. Walls. Looks like he was wrong. I've said it before: Anything you hear in the first 48 to 72 hours after one of these things is likely to be speculation at best or fiction at worst. Witness all the BS that has sprung up about "No AR at Sandy Hook" because one dumbass talking head who doesn't know a handgun from a hole in the ground said "four handguns" when he meant "four guns".

23 comments:

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

"At what point does speculation end and just making $#!+ up begin?"

Generally within the first five minutes, it seems.

Bubblehead Les. said...

Although some of us have been chatting about the nature of the IEDs used in the Boston Terror Attack...hmm, the Sky didn't Fall when I said that. Wonder why Obama is so scared to call a Spade a Spade? Anyway, whatever was used is Moot until such time as the Perp/Perps is/are caught and the details can be used in the Trial.

Unless, of course, it turns out that the Bomb Making Material is something that can be BANNED by Executive Decree, like Reloading Powders. THEN the MSM will be calling out to "Rid the World of those Materials Of Mass Destruction!"

But as for the rest of the Gory Details? I could care less. Evil was Down to Innocent People. End of Story.

Bubblehead Les. said...

That's "Evil was DONE..." Sorry.

Anonymous said...

You can't put any trust in anything nbc,cbs or abc say! They are so left wing its not funny anymore. So you must read between the lines to get the real news.

Anonymous said...

They're rampantly speculating because they're inwardly (and some, not so much) hoping it was the work of those nefarious teabaggers, it being the Bifecta of Patriot Anger: tax day and Patriots' Day.

They would be calling for calm and witholding judgement if they thought it was from their political allies.

Same song, different verse.

jf

perlhaqr said...

I'm shocked that when you put a bomb in a trash can, people get injured by flying trash.

Kristophr said...

A word from Captain Obvious:

Reporters need to report.

They don't get punished these days for reporting balderdash.

So they make stuff up.

( word verification: "covrBad" )

Joseph said...

I turned off the news yesterday after watching a news anchor newsbot ask the on location newsbot if there were any children killed. I don't think it was the question so much as the way the anchor asked it almost pleading with the on location bot. I got the feeling that in the back of the vacuum between the ears that there was a "please let there be dead children" voice repeating over and over.

I am so utterly disgusted every time I watch the national news that I wonder what sort of welts you have on your back after such self flagellation.

Geodkyt said...

Sadly, the persons who have the most personal interest in the answer, also have the least intellectual interest in whether it's parts of the bomb or random shit.

That would be the people getting the bits picked out of them, one at a time.

The next most involved persons are teh docs -- who care only in how "random trash" versus "steel ball bearings" might affect removal and treatment

Anonymous said...

Sooo.... Round balls ,black powder, slow match.. Maybe an evil re-enactor?--- Whoever did this had no clue how to build modern IED (THANK GOD!!) and the talking heads will talk shit till the cows come home.

Scott J said...

Heard on Limbaugh the devices were contained in pressure cookers.

So every little old grandmarm who owns or buys one is about to find out what it's like to have been a gun owner the past 30 years or so.

staghounds said...

I love the Gell-Mannness of this whole conversation.

Anonymous said...

My sister called last night and asked if I knew anything about the blast. She then went on a tirade about anti government terrorists.

I told he to put a sock in it and wait for 48 hours. The FBI when not forced by politics to draw conclusions, are very good at detailed investigations. The ATF is really good with explosive investigations. I'm not a big fan of either group but they should have solid leads and findings in 48 hours.

If you want to hear something watch El Gorezera or BBC. They will be the first to break the facts if the creep has Middle East ties.

And yes Mr. President, it was a terrorist attack. Pull up your panties and admit it.

Gerry

Steve Skubinna said...

By now everyone ought to to be conditioned to expect uninformed bullshit from the media for at least the first 48 hours after a major event like this. Often times it lasts much longer - how long after Katrina were we hearing about gang rapes and cannibalism in NOLA?

The other thing we can always expect is "Now we don't know enough to speculate..." followed by detailed explanation why the perpetrator is obviously a right wing racist homophobic anti-government Tea Partier.

But fear not - Obama will get the guy. Just as soon as he wraps up that Benghazi thing.

Bram said...

They used pressure cookers, which I'm pretty sure are made out of metal. When they explode violently enough, the metal breaks into smaller pieces and flies around pretty fast. You could even call it shrapnel.

TigerStripe said...

"We've had domestic incidents around this day or April 19th such as Oklahoma City and Waco." TS

Kristophr said...

Rusty at the Jawa report says that these plans for pressure-cooker bombs are from published AQ material:

http://minx.cc:81/?post=208787

Kristophr said...

From Rusty's post:

Below you will find details of the items that were found in Abdo's hotel room and backpack. Some of the items seem either strange or mundane and might leave one wondering if he really was in the final stages of making a bomb. But by comparing what was in Abdo's room with the directions given in AQAP's Inspire magazine, you'll see that Abdo was dead serious about killing.

Let me remind you what was found in his hotel room:

[S]ix pounds of smokeless powder, Christmas lights and battery operated clocks which were apparently intended to create a timing and triggering device of some type, sugar, shrapnel, pressure cooker, shot guns shells that were in the process of being dismantled to obtain their raw explosives.

Below are some quotes and images from former Charlotte, NC resident and now al Qaeda propagandist Samir Khan's Inspire magazine (issue#1, p. 33 - 40).

On using a pressure cooker:

The explosion that results from this device is a mechanical one. It results from the pressure caused by the gases and therefore it only works if contained in a high pressure environment. So you may use iron pipes, pressure cookers, fire extinguishers, or empty propane canisters....

The pressurized cooker is the most effective method.

Tam said...

Kristopher,

I'm pretty sure that using a pressure cooker as a bomb casing is in the Anarchist Cookbook, too.

Maybe the guy was a Vietnam protester? ;)

Firehand said...

Or an Ayers disciple?

Firehand said...

I'm really surprised we haven't seen more of two things:
People punching journalists out, and
People looking in amazement at the monitor, and asking the journalist "What the hell is WRONG with you!"

Nylarthotep said...

Sadly with the involvement of gun powder of various sorts as the explosive in recent reports you can guarantee that there is going to be screaming for banning reloading powder. Works with the anti-gun narrative Obama and his ilk are using, so more fuel for the fire.

Sucks.

mariner said...

"At what point does speculation end and just making $#!+ up begin?"

As soon as a reporter opens his mouth.