Boston Marathon Bombing Thread

[LongBlade]

Crush them.

Two suspects who have been taken into custody in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings drove a car with "Terrorista #1″ printed on the front plate.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/01/new-boston-suspects-drove-car-with-terrorista-1-license-plates/

[JasonPratt]

I feel that they may soon have a date with gangstas.

Maybe multiple dates.

[Gusington]

And they will be asked to pay for those dates dearly. I saw that bit about the 'Terroristas' license plate a few days ago too and grew almost as pissed as I was when I read about these jerkoffs being on welfare. This case is starting to encapsulate everything that pisses me off on a daily basis.

[GDS_Starfury]

Im somewhat surprised that plate made it past the dmv.
I know I shouldnt be, but I am.

[Gusington]

AFAIK it wasn't a state plate, it was something tbey bought somewhere or made. What gets me is that they were able to drive around with it.

[JasonPratt]

AFAIK it wasn't a state plate, it was something tbey bought somewhere or made. What gets me is that they were able to drive around with it.

No laws against front vanity plates, freedom of speech there.

Soon they shall have the freedom of investigating first-hand what the attitudes of institutional criminals are to those who kill or maim children.

[LongBlade]

AFAIK it wasn't a state plate, it was something tbey bought somewhere or made. What gets me is that they were able to drive around with it.

I don't care if some pothead wants to drive around with a funky license plate.

However, there are starting to be so many dropped balls and red flags on this case that I'm losing track.

Russia sends us a warning that the ringleader might be a bad guy. We clear him. He flies to Chechnya and goes to one of the hottest regions for training. We miss that. He comes back and uploads YouTube vids of his radicalism. We miss that. He hangs around with friends from other potentially dangerous areas of Russia. We miss that. Two of those potentially dangerous people drive around with a license plate that says "Terrorista #1" and attend a mosque known to have radicals in it. We miss that.

At some point we have to ask ourselves why we're spending billions of dollars and suspending all these civil liberties if we can't get basic tradecraft accomplished.

It isn't the sexy tech that is dropping to ball, it's basic brainwork and common sense that is needed.

[GDS_Starfury]

but if my parking meter runs over by 15 seconds Ill get a ticket!

[mirth]

AFAIK it wasn't a state plate, it was something tbey bought somewhere or made. What gets me is that they were able to drive around with it.

I don't care if some pothead wants to drive around with a funky license plate.

However, there are starting to be so many dropped balls and red flags on this case that I'm losing track.

Russia sends us a warning that the ringleader might be a bad guy. We clear him. He flies to Chechnya and goes to one of the hottest regions for training. We miss that. He comes back and uploads YouTube vids of his radicalism. We miss that. He hangs around with friends from other potentially dangerous areas of Russia. We miss that. Two of those potentially dangerous people drive around with a license plate that says "Terrorista #1" and attend a mosque known to have radicals in it. We miss that.

At some point we have to ask ourselves why we're spending billions of dollars and suspending all these civil liberties if we can't get basic tradecraft accomplished.

It isn't the sexy tech that is dropping to ball, it's basic brainwork and common sense that is needed.

+1 It boggles the mind that such simple, obvious signs can be missed, overlooked or ignored.

[Centurion40]

but if my parking meter runs over by 15 seconds Ill get a ticket!

Perhaps the FBI should hire some meter maids!!

[JasonPratt]

but if my parking meter runs over by 15 seconds Ill get a ticket!

Perhaps the FBI should hire some meter maids!!

And just like that, children, our wonderful country both eliminated crime and became the foremost police state in all world history! :) Now, class, what kind of conclusions can we draw from this? Nancy? -- become a meter maid when you grow up? um... splendid! All A's for you this year!

[bayonetbrant]

Russia sends us a warning that the ringleader might be a bad guy. We clear him. He flies to Chechnya and goes to one of the hottest regions for training. We miss that. He comes back and uploads YouTube vids of his radicalism. We miss that. He hangs around with friends from other potentially dangerous areas of Russia. We miss that. Two of those potentially dangerous people drive around with a license plate that says "Terrorista #1" and attend a mosque known to have radicals in it. We miss that.

One question I have is how that information is compartmentalized.  If it's 12 different agencies, each with 1 piece of the puzzle, and sharing no information with each other, then it's no wonder the bigger picture isn't recognized.  Even if it's 4 agencies, each with 2 pieces of the puzzle, and a willingness to share, if the FBI has 4 things on Suspect A and 5 things on Suspect B and 2 things on Tsarnaev, I don't fault them for shopping around for info on A & B first. 
Moreover, we don't know if focusing on A & B first actually stopped some other significant plot elsewhere because of the focus on guys with more indicators, or if they were merely distractions from a puzzle that was more spread out.

Now, if it turns out that all this information was in the same agency, in the same corner of the office, and either (a) didn't get properly prioritized, or (b) was bumped down because of other pressing needs and therefore not investigated b/c of a lack of manpower, then there are other issues to address.

But as it is, just from the excerpt above, what seems like an open-and-shut case of gov't slackitude may not be quite so obvious.

[Centurion40]

Too bad that they don't share a common bad-guy database.  They could upload notes and activities, so that they'd all know what each other was up to related to individuals tagged as potential terrorists.

[GDS_Starfury]

didnt the Your-o-peeins start this thing called Interpol for cases like this.

[bayonetbrant]

or they could potentially tag perfectly fine people as bad guys by triggering single, isolated indicators from a variety of unrelated activities into an over-investigation of otherwise innocuous behavior.

Read post #56 here  http://www.wargamer.com/forums/posts.asp?t=270194&pg=3 and the rest of the discussion around it.

Let's say I play violent video games...oh, let me make something up...Call of Duty.  Let's say I buy a gun.  Now let's say I visit the airport every couple of weeks with my wife but I don't fly.  What is happening?  Actually, my wife is renting a car for business travel and the airport has the best selection of cars.  And I play games.  And I hunt.  Is this activity enough to be suspcious?  Only if you've got a couple of screws loose.  Yet from what I gather, that's precisely the line of thinking that is being proposed by expanding the Patriot Act.  Does it really take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is a waste of money and an abuse of power?  How much more incrementally safe will we be?