Despite some questionable reporting to the contrary, there are still no arrests in the twin bombings that shattered the Boston Marathon’s finish line exuberance yesterday. Authorities, promising a “worldwide” investigation, are seeking out any and all video footage of the area in the moments prior to the attack.
The death toll from the bombings remains at three, including 8-year-old Martin Richard, who was waiting for his father to finish the race. Roughly 170 people were injured in the attack.
By the way, Boston police had carried out two bomb sweeps of the area about an hour before the explosions, which does not inspire a lot of confidence in bomb sweeps.
And, oh great, the bomb threats are starting to trickle in.
Just as the US Justice Machine kicks into gear to respond to this fresh act of terrorism, a new report has some bleak, if wholly unsurprising, conclusions about our reaction to September 11. The nonpartisan review on interrogation programs concludes “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture” and that the nation’s highest officials bore ultimate responsibility for it, says The New York Times.
There was a lot of good feeling and hope over the fact the Senate will debate new gun control legislation this week. The only problem: There aren’t currently the votes to pass expanded background checks, the proposal’s most-sweeping reform.
New home construction is chugging right along in the US. That’s typically seen as a great economic bellwether, but we’ve got one question: WILL THERE BE OFF-STREET PARKING?
UH O! The Oregonian’s got the scoop on the University of Oregon football recruiting scandal. According to documents the paper obtained Monday, the university has agreed its payments to a Texas-based talent scout were a major violation. ” As a result, the university has proposed to self-impose a two-year probation for the football program and a reduction of one scholarship for each of the next three seasons,” says the O. (Now do you see why I spelled “UH O” like that? Clever.)
Weather widget’s looking decent today.
I’ve already made the conscious decision never to watch another PSY video, but I’m posting his newest one, “Gentleman,” here. For some reason I want him to succeed. Seriously, I haven’t watched it. Sorry if there’s some heavy stuff.
In other news: two major earthquakes in a week, on the Iran/Pakistan border. 50 people dead and 870 wounded.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/16/…
Not a good week for news so far.
I hope everyone’s day goes well. I’m staring at a breakfast burrito, so things are looking up.
Incidentally, I saw Sarah Mirk a couple weekends ago at the Rebuilding Center and 1) she was looking for bike parts, and 2) gurl is so tall, wow. I bet the Bitch blogtown is a lot more fun/difficult to moderate.
I believe the second bomb sweep was an hour before the first _finishers_, or ~4 hours before the bombs went off. That’s what all the other news said yesterday:
“Bomb-detecting cops had wept the finish-line area twice yesterday morning, once early in the morning and again an hour before the first runners crossed, Boston police commissioner Ed Davis said.” I know the goal here was to point out inept police or whatever, but just to keep facts straight.
From http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/obam…
Little Martin’s dad was not running the race, they were just there watching.
eprophet: Right you are. There were conflicting reports on this, which are now resolved.
Geez: No I wasn’t calling the police inept. It raises a question about the efficacy of bomb sweeps, is all. I was citing the NYT on that bit about the timing. It reported this morning: “Commissioner Edward Davis of the Boston Police Department said two sweeps for bombs had been conducted in the area before the explosions, including one an hour before the attack. However, he said, people were allowed to ‘come and go and bring items in and out.'”