[prinz]

Yes Robin he is a naturalized US citizen.

[Robin_K2]

Saw that later in the NYT, thanks. There's absolutely no excuse,then. Agreed, Mirandize him.

[TheZookie007]

Sound advice. It was the only way I could remain sane during the wall-to-wall coverage.

[SwitcherX]

Saw that later in the NYT, thanks. There's absolutely no excuse,then. Agreed, Mirandize him.

earlier MSNBC seemed to imply that he's unconcious in the hospital.  It wouldn't do much good to read them to him now.

[SwitcherX]

Sound advice. It was the only way I could remain sane during the wall-to-wall coverage.

Now, now.  We don't people thinking for themselves.

[TheZookie007]

Will need to confirm but I hear that they're asking him questions and he's responding by writing on a pad. Let's hope they've Mirandized him first. And let's hope that Rep. Peter King sucks a lemon:

MSNBC: "After Boston, we should put Muslims under surveillance, says Rep. King"

President Obama cautioned the nation not to rush to judgment about the Boston Marathon bombers. But that’s not stopping Republican Rep. Peter King.

King, who chairs the House subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, is urging authorities to beef up their surveillance of Muslims in the U.S.  following Friday night’s arrest of bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Police must “realize that the threat is coming from the Muslim community and increase surveillance there,” the New York lawmaker told National Review.

King—who spearheaded controversial hearings on the radicalization of Muslim-Americans in 2011—also told CNN that “we can’t be politically correct. I think we have to see, has radicalization extended into the Chechen community?”

Sure. Because of course only Muslims do such terrible things on American soil. Riiiiiiiight.

[pedonbio]

"After Boston, we should put Muslims under surveillance, says Rep. King"

Well, as a former fundraiser for a different foreign terrorist organization, King should know.

[Nyer]

Massive overreaction to an arguably pathetic attempt. Why lock down the whole city? The immediate area would make sense, nothing more.
And pressure cookers and black powder? Lowest-tech bomb I can imagine.
I guess they did not do research...

Sure. Because of course only Muslims do such terrible things on American soil. Riiiiiiiight.

When it comes to casualties in the contiental US, Muslims are on top of the table.
Also, it's  human nature to be more suspicious of aliens or those who are different.

Also, worldwide, Muslims terrorist groups have been more active than those of any other affiliation.
Look at this table and count the death tolls by religion/politics..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battles_and_other_violent_events_by_death_toll#Terrorist_attacks

Rep.King is a moron though, and there's no need for extra surveillance. Though, maybe there ought to be bounties for good information..

And more jarringly, though atheists haven't been active on the terror front in the US, they're even more despised than Muslims..

[rtpoe]

So....

What happens to Sunil Tripathi, and all the others who were accused via the Internet? Does "Blue Robe Guy" get to sue the NY Post for defamation of character? Will apologies be enough?

And from Yaakov Katz, of the Jerusalem Post, who knows of terror bombings (and was in Boston at the time):

"There was no lockdown in Israel and there was no order by the mayor to seek shelter. Instead, people were out in the streets, filling up coffee shops right next to the one that had been bombed or standing at bus stops waiting for the next bus from the same line that had just exploded. This has always impressed me as a sign of true resilience, of a refusal to allow terrorism to change our way of life....

"Also, it was strange when considering that from Monday – when the bombings took place – until Friday, there were two terrorists on the loose and there was no consideration of a lockdown. Now, with one terrorist still free there is a lockdown? Shouldn’t the opposite have happened? But even ignoring the operational considerations, there is symbolism when one of the US’s largest cities paralyzes itself in face of terrorism. Is this the message the US wants to send around the world: That a single terrorist can disrupt so many lives and possibly more important – the American way of life?

[SamV]

And perhaps the reason the Brush administration never found any "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq, was because they spent all their effort looking for nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, rather than fragmentation bombs made out of pressure cookers.

Sam "perhaps they never saw a Sunday dinner blown-up to realize what a WMD a pressure cooker is" V

[pedonbio]

So....

What happens to Sunil Tripathi, and all the others who were accused via the Internet? Does "Blue Robe Guy" get to sue the NY Post for defamation of character? Will apologies be enough?

Defamation law has concentrated on "public figure" cases for the last fifty years; but before that there was the "hot news" defense. I would assume it applies here--If a newspaper "defames" someone in an article of "hot news", but prints a retraction as soon as they know of its falseness, they are immune.

[rtpoe]

Over at the New Yorker, John Cassidy posts an interesting question.

What if the Boston Bombers used guns instead?

Being the "liberal elitist moron" that he is (according to the commenters on his essay), he wonders what effect it would have had on gun control.

I'm not going there. Instead, I'm just going to ponder the matter and ask follow up questions.

First, let's work off the assumption that the casualty figures would be exactly the same. Even though I suspect that with guns, there would be more deaths and fewer injuries.

Right off the bat, I note that given the FBI's current definition, the "shooting" might not count as 'mass murder'.

Anyway... If they used guns...

Would the press be harassing relatives who had no contact with them in years?
Would people be making such a fuss over their plans to go to Times Square next?
Would we be talking about greater security cooperation with Russia?
Would Boston have been put under lockdown?

Just idly wondering.

[Zorlond]

Sorry I wasn't in on this discussion earlier, computer died a week before. Some of my own thoughts in response to yours, rtpoe.

"There was no lockdown in Israel and there was no order by the mayor to seek shelter. Instead, people were out in the streets, filling up coffee shops right next to the one that had been bombed or standing at bus stops waiting for the next bus from the same line that had just exploded. This has always impressed me as a sign of true resilience, of a refusal to allow terrorism to change our way of life....

To me, this sounds less like true resilience and more like the worst kind of complacency, where you've accepted pointless murder in your daily life as a permanent resident. Police deal with murder all the time, yes, but they don't accept it, and would gladly see it gone. Yaakov Katz... would he even notice if it stopped?

Anyway... If they used guns...

Would the press be harassing relatives who had no contact with them in years?
Would people be making such a fuss over their plans to go to Times Square next?
Would we be talking about greater security cooperation with Russia?
Would Boston have been put under lockdown?

Just idly wondering.

An interesting wonder...

Most likely yes. Journalists are like that, at best.
Probably.
Doubt it.
Likely yes. We've had too many public shootings to tolerate them for much longer.

Overall, I don't think it would be much different, other than deals with other countries.

[Nyer]

To me, this sounds less like true resilience and more like the worst kind of complacency, where you've accepted pointless murder in your daily life as a permanent resident. Police deal with murder all the time, yes, but they don't accept it, and would gladly see it gone. Yaakov Katz... would he even notice if it stopped?

Accepting the inevitable isn't 'complacency'. You can't dodge death, and the existence of enough murderous brainwashed fanatics is a given considering the middle East..

[SamV]

You don't have to go to the middle east to find your share of "murderous brainwashed fanatics".
Sad to say there are plenty of ones in any region about this globe. And some aren't even "brainwashed".
Case in point, the massacre in Norway by one individual.