What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread, so talk about whatever you’d like.
I’m going with the obvious.
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The 2nd Boston Bombing suspect remains in serious condition in the hospital. From ABCNews
“The alleged Boston Marathon bomber who hid from authorities for more than 20 hours was captured tonight by police, sending cheers up through the Watertown neighborhood where he was found.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was discovered by a homeowner lying in a boat in the man’s backyard around 7 p.m. The man noticed blood on the boat, spotted a body inside the boat and called 911, according to Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.
According to police, a helicopter with infrared technology then located Tsarnaev in the boat and noted that he was moving about within it. The helicopter directed officers on the ground to the boat, where they briefly exchanged gunfire shortly before 7 p.m.”
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The people of Watertown are relieved and thankful for the job police did here. They took to the streets in celebration. From TheAP
“Reporters and spectators lined up on the other side. The mood was tense, with the few neighbors who ventured out hugging and crying as they heard bangs. Others merely looked on curiously.
Then, one officer slowly started clapping. Then it spread to the crowd. Then loud cheers broke out.”
“But after the capture, celebratory bells rang from a church tower. Crowds lined the streets into the center of town. Teenagers waved American flags. Every car that drove by honked. Every time an emergency vehicle went by, people cheered loudly.”
“Hundreds of people marched down Commonwealth Avenue, chanting “USA” and singing the Red Sox anthem “Sweet Caroline” as they headed toward Boston Common. Police blocked traffic along part of the street to allow for the impromptu parade.”
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The suspect’s sister is heartbroken and skeptical. Police seized a computer from her home. From TheAP
“The FBI on Friday removed a computer from the New Jersey home of a sister of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Police said she was cooperating with the investigation and was “heartbroken, surprised and upset,” though she told reporters she wasn’t sure the accusations against her brothers were true.
The woman, identified by local police as Ailina Tsarnaeva, told federal agents she had not been in contact with her brothers for years, according to Police Director Michael Indri.”
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The father of the bombers had already alleged a set-up, now so has the mother as well. But that’s not what concerns me here. I’d expect them to say this. They’re his family. But some of the other things she has to say are troubling. From WorldNetDaily
“The mother of two brothers believed to be responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing insists her sons are innocent and were “set up,” according to a telephone interview with RT-TV, also known as Russia Today.”
““My son would never do this. It is a set-up,” the woman continued in her interview with RT. “He was controlled by FBI for like, three, five years. They knew what my son was doing. They knew what actions and what sites on the Internet he was going. He used to come home, they used to come and talk to me. They used to tell me that, you know, that they are controlling his – they were telling me that he’s really a serious leader and they’re afraid of him. They said, they told me that whatever he is, whatever country decides, whatever is there, whatever information he’s getting, they are controlling him, so how could this happen? How could they – they were controlling every step of him, and they’re telling today that this is a terrorist act. Never, ever! This is not true. My two sons are innocent.””
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Now as I said, I’d normally dismiss her opinion, except there’s another story out there that says the FBI investigated the older brother 2 years ago at the request of an unnamed foreign govt. The assumption is Russia. He spent 6 months there around the same time. From CBSNews
“The FBI admitted Friday they interviewed the now-deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev two years ago and failed to find any incriminating information about him.
As first reported by CBS News correspondent Bob Orr, the FBI interviewed Tsarnaev, the elder brother of at-large bombing suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, at the request of a foreign government to see if he had any extremist ties, but failed to find any linkage.”
“CBS News correspondent John Miller reports it is likely Russia asked to have the elder Tsarnaev vetted because of suspected ties to Chechen extremists.”
“This is an issue they’ve had in the past. They interviewed Carlos Bledsoe in Little Rock, Ark., before he shot up an Army recruiting station in 2009. They were also looking into Major Hasan Nadal before the Fort Hood shootings.”
And it’s an issue that raises all kinds of questions about how the FBI is doing their jobs. It also shows a failure in leadership that this continues to happen. And that failure is the White House’s responsibility as well. When you couple that with the story yesterday from JudicialWatch about a criminal arrest and conviction for domestic abuse, a deportable offense, then you have to question why these failures occurred. It appears that had at least 2 opportunities to remove him from the country prior to this. The FBI, INS, DoJ, and Obama Admin have a lot of explaining to do here. Why did this happen?
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Rep. Peter King would like some answers as well. He tried to get some before on other cases of extremists like Maj. Nadal Hasan, and he was ridiculed and called a racist for his efforts. Rep. Steve King recieved the same treatment. Maybe folks will be a little more receptive to having this conversation now. Although I’d expect the Obama Admin to circle the wagons and not want to provide answers. Especially when the evidence seems to imply their policies are not working. From NationalReview
““We can’t be bound by political correctness,” adds King, who chairs the House subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. “I think we need more police and more surveillance in the communities where the threat is coming from, whether it’s the Irish community with the Westies [an Irish-American gang in New York City], or the Italian community with the mafia, or the Muslim community with the Islamic terrorists.””
““I’ve been talking about radicalization of the Muslim community,” he remarks, “and I think this is an example of it.””
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And this also raises questions about the Admins preference for downplaying Islamic radicalism.
From TheTelegraphUK
“Mr Obama and his intelligence community know the threat from al-Qaeda affiliates, but have chosen to downplay it to the US public.
Even when that fight does directly touch on American lives, as it did last September when the US ambassador to Libya was murdered in Benghazi by an al-Qaeda linked group, the administration appears at pains to deny the connection.”
“But as many counter-terrorism experts have been saying – their voices often drowned out or ignored in favour of the pleasing simplicity of the Obama administration’s narrative – the threat from al-Qaeda is too amorphous and shifting to ever have been discounted.”
And it would be foolish to think this has nothing to do with the muslim influence in the Obama admin. That influence is reflected in their policies, and the decisions here to not investigate further and to not deport. And it’s reflected in places like Syria, Egypt, Libya, and pretty much the Middle East as a whole. These are the people they’ve backed in all those countries. That’s not a coincidence.
Like I said, lot’s of questions. But will we get answers?
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But I must say I agree with the President and DoJ on this part. From WeaselZippers.
“During the press conference this evening, the question of whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been read Miranda rights arose. Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney, noted that they had not read him the rights, but were employing the “public safety exception”. The following is a good explanation of the exception.”
“At least 7 IEDs were reportedly found in their home in Watertown, as well as other bomb making equipment. So the question of more bombs were a very real possibility and the exception likely wisely invoked.”
He should be treated like an enemy combatant, because he is. Still, it will be interesting to see if the left get’s as upset about this as they did when Bush did it. But I won’t hold my breath.
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Wandering Views 
You don’t read Miranda rights to somebody who’s shooting at you.
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Or who may have information that can save lives that could be in danger in the immediate future.
Pray that he will be cooperative — and, beyond that, that there will be a personal Christian witness God will bring to him from among those tending him in the hospital, amen?
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You know, if the FBI was controlling him, wouldn’t they have known what he was doing? That doesn’t make any sense, but the woman, obviously, is in shock. Interesting article here about the Chechen situation and thoughts on these young men:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2013/04/29/130429ta_talk_remnick
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Someone tweeted “amazing day, two kids shut down Boston.”
Dangerous, obviously, and many people’s lives have been changed by these two evil men.
But more people were affected by the fertilizer blast in West, Texas. More died, more homes were destroyed; I don’t see any news out of there.
Maybe it’s because of the type of people whose lives were affected–and certainly more were in lock down yesterday for safety because Boston is a large town?
I guess some people are just more important than others. 😦
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Michelle, you’re right — more casualties in the fertilizer blast. But I think because Boston was deliberately caused at the hands of men, it makes it horrifying in a unique sense. That’s my take anyway.
But all in all, a crazy and deadly week. And it should be a sobering week for us all as well. God’s hand is over all and when calamity befalls us, it’s time to pause and pay attention.
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More drama in the Boston case, Michelle, you know that; I’m certain Donna does.
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They won’t corner some relative and ask, “How did you feel when you heard about the blast?”
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Well, there was lots of drama with the fertilizer blast — and it was covered live by CNN and other stations (not FOX news, curiously).
If it had happened at a time when there wasn’t another very big competing national news story playing out, it would have drawn more coverage in the aftermath that it did.
But as it was, it got sandwiched in between the Boston Marathon & manhunt, so in the ned it got overshadowed when the police pursuit kicked into high gear Friday night.
As they say, a big news week. Drama drives stories, to be sure. But it comes down to logistics and resources for news crews.
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As a youth watching TV, I was always amused by the Miranda reading. A little common sense — just make sure the suspect is fully informed at an appropriate time ie before interrogation. Canada has no Miranda but people watch so much American TV they expect to hear it.
My first impression centered on the huge deployment of force with APVs, helicopters,etc failed to find him. It was only when a homeowner went outside was the suspect found. I know this won’t happen but the “takeaway” from this should be less “toys” more boots on the ground but you know thats not going to happen.
I refuse to go along with the conspiracy-lite theories floating about. The FBI probably receives numerous requests from Russia to interview just about every Chechen in America. The FBI probably treated it as routine and unless something was thrown in their face, they left the house lecturing the mom who obviously is distraught and remembers the meeting differently.
Thus, its hard to ascribe any blame, incompentence or otherwise. In terms of how far this goes up, unless you find a smoking gun (perhaps an FBI/CIA type memo read at a cabinet mtg) your stuck at lower level mistaken judgments.
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The comparison of media coverage between the events is instructive. I would argue both blasts were purposeful one driven perhaps by religious-nationalism and the other by profit. The former receives coverage because of its simple narrative and of course drama. The latter is a more complex event to analyze and thus we use the term “accident” and its relegated to “sh.. happens” and the community/gov’t helps the victims and we pretend the corporate drive to profit is not part of the conversation. FOX was missing in action because its a narrative driven to news maker — if it doesn’t fit their purposes they move on. And discussing a blast due to corporate accident/malfeasance is not a narrative they wish to discuss. Its much easier to discuss the “other” which is what the Boston events provide.
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hwesseli, no, Fox somehow missed the boat on the event unfolding live that night and I’m not sure how or why. Perhaps they picked up the ball later in the night, but when I was watching, CNN and several other networks were there. Fox was stuck on running recycled commentary shows from earlier in the day.
Fox not covering the event live was unusual, the station is generally very competitive at live coverage. (You really, honestly think they figured, oh, it’s a for-profit business so we don’t cover an inferno that’s taking out entire neighborhoods? really?)
Big news is big news. That’s the only motivator in cases like this. No underlying ideology that real news station or newsperson has will get in the way. Trust me.
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All the national news outlets now are juggling major stories, the largest of which is Boston. I have no doubt that, in time, Fox & all the others will also vet the Texas explosion.
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And, as an aside, I think the network (fox) did cover the fertilizer plant blast the following day as every station did, justifiably. (I was only surprised they didn’t have live feeds in at least the 2-3 hours I was watching it on the night of the event; they typically will hook into local affiliates for stories like that, not sure what happened that night.)
With the release of the videotape of the bombers (the next day?) — and then the ensuing and pretty wild manhunt — news crews were pulled away for what was, arguably, the bigger and more immediately compelling story of the moment.
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Interesting to see also (at least from something I spotted online recently) that Fox again got the biggest ratings throughout the Boston event. I have to say NBC did a very good job covering the manhunt, however. CNN apparently took a beating in terms of misreporting some things, but they wouldn’t be alone in that.
News organizations are under tremendous pressure now with twitter & other consumer demands for reporting events immediately. Double-checking with independent sources will usually prevent you from being “first.” But it also prevents you from stepping in it and reporting something wrong.
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I was fascinated that the Boston PD asked people listening to police scanners not to report on social media. Do you think it was the age of the bombers that sent out that call–how they used social media?
Another important piece if the story. How, for example, were people supposed to hear of the city wide lock down?
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Interesting to read some of the twitter feed of the bomber, who was using the medium right after the bombing. Surreal.
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Oh, and I forgot about the ricin letters. Lots of news in the space of just a few days.
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Tweeting bomber:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boston-marathon-bombing-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-tweets-run-article-1.1322163
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No, I’m not suggesting it was deliberate but I am suggesting they were far more equipped and prepared to deliver the Boston coverage because its the type of news best suited for their network.
Cable news makes their profit with on-going stories with great drama ( actual reality tv) and Boston provided that better than Texas.
CBC mentioned that the NBC reporter was by far the best on the ground in terms of accuracy. They more or less followed his coverage.
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For those with a conspiracy bent;
http://www.globalresearch.ca/contractors-at-boston-marathon-stood-near-bomb-left-before-detonation/5332069
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NBC did a great job, I also pretty much wound up watching that station.
I still disagree about the Boston coverage, I think all the stations were pretty equally immersed in that from beginning to end.
As horrible as the fertilizer plant explosion was in terms of devastation, Boston was simply a more compelling news story (for everyone). In a different week, it would have led with all of them and been covered more extensively.
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I have no problem in delaying the Miranda warning, but once there’s no longer any immediate danger then there’s no compelling reason to delay. And in reality if a boy raised in the US doesn’t know his Miranda rights ahead of time, he probably didn’t watch much television. From this story, the delay seems to be unreasonable and worrisome.
And health care raises its head again. Boston bombing victims need to hit the internet to beg for cash to cover their health care …. …… there’s really no excuse for this. Universal health care is needed.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/04/19/1896951/bauman-crowd-funding-medical/
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FoxNews says one of them was partying Wednesday night. If those dunces had left town, gone to Canada or Mexico on Monday, they could have escaped to Chechynia and gotten away with it.
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Chas, it does raise the question of how they thought they’d not be caught, especially with all the cameras, picture-taking and filming (including some from area surveillance cameras which most of us would assume are operating in this day and age) going on at the finish line — and considering that they basically dropped the backpacks in plain sight.
These guys obviously weren’t dumb, so you wonder what their thinking was in terms of what would happen afterward.
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Unless they accepted the idea of being caught as part of the mission. Since they also had other bombs in their possession, one might assume that maybe they weren’t “done” yet, either. Lots of curious questions in this one.
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I found that peculiar, too. They shot a police man on duty at MIT, went to a local 7-11–which they had to know would have a surveillance camera– hijacked a Mercedes and told the owner they had bombed the marathon before dropping him off (why not kill him, too?), threw pipe bombs out of the car as they drove with the police chasing them . . .
It would have been so much easier to have gotten into their car or rented a car after the marathon bombs went off, driven to their aunt’s house in Canada and flown to Chechnya.
An article I read today suggested, however, that the police decision to release the photos forced their hands and they had to act (with the decision now being called into question). But, if they were worried about being caught, they should have acted on Monday–why wait until Thursday?
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Which makes me suspect they wanted the notoriety–which is why we should not have read all about it in the paper. 😦 This just encourages the next foolish kid. (Though my twenty-something friends keep reminding me the older brother was NOT a kid).
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hwess… Canada may not have the Miranda, but we do have Charter rights 10a & 10b which must be read to a suspect before interrogation – pretty much the same thing.
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Wasn’t the older brother wearing a bomb, implying he was ready to go out if caught?
I suspect these guys operated mostly on their own, although they may have had training from someone at some point. But it doesn’t have the marks of an organized terrorist hit.
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I agree with Michelle. Some stories rate more attention. It seemed like Hurricane Sandy got a lot more coverage than the tornadoes that hit the South in 2011. Also I remember Time Magazine named a shooting at a Jewish daycare with one casualty as an event of the year and ignored a shooting at a Baptist Church with, I think 7 causalities.
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Their post-bombing planning is rather strange and non-existent, which points to an amateur effort. The older brother may have spent time in Russia but making crude IED type devices only requires google. The drive from Boston to lets say Montreal really isn’t that long (about 6 hours) and they could’ve been on a plane to Europe within 12 hours from the blast.
kare2012 — well you learn something new everyday. Never been arrested so I did not know.
kbells — sometimes its rather strange what gets attention and what doesn’t. It fuels conspiracy theories, charges of bias, etc. Most of the time it may simply be accessibility and ease of reporting.
Of interest in the Texas explosion, they had so much fertilizer it was supposed to be reported to the DHS but wasn’t. Self – reporting and self regulation doesn’t work.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/20/us-usa-explosion-regulation-idUSBRE93J09N20130420
Hopefully this will spur the effort towards greater regulation but i doubt it.
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hwesseli – I’ve never been arrested either 🙂 (but I do know someone who arrests those who break the law)
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HRW, I suspect it has a lot to do with what gets the ratings and what sells magazines. News is a business first and a service second.
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Anything on commercial television is about profit. Profit determines whether you address a story or not. In the case of cable news, you need to ask if your core audience want to hear it. If not, don’t cover it. The problem with FOX (and MSNBC) is they have acquired a loyal audience and thus they not only respond to their wants they also create their wants through a strong narrative that compels the audience to return.
Facebook Meme “West Texas Fertilizer Plant: 14 Dead, 100s Injured, Neighborhood Flattened. Suspects Are Rich White Capitalists So Don’t Worry” — a bit blunt and overboard but should give pause to think.
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Conspiracy theories all over facebook about Boston. Crazy. I am back from T-Town and off to Red Stick (figure it out)
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Baton Rouge!
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“suspects” as in people who may have violated regulations (and should be prosecuted)? There was no intentional explosion created there; it was an accident albeit possibly (an investigation will tell) an accident that should never have happened.
I think Fox has covered some political stories that haven’t been covered by other stations. And different stations will cover stories differently — I noticed before they had identified any suspect in the Boston case that many in the MSM focused on so-called “right-wing” perpetrators likely being the cause … While Fox focused more heavily on Muslim and overseas terrorism being the more likely source.
Covering big, breaking stories, however, will send most news stations — left, right and in between — into a very traditional and aggressive news gathering mode, no matter where it takes them.
You have to separate the commentary portion of these stations from their news gathering operations. That’s why I flipped the channel off of Fox the other night once O’Reilly took over narrating the breaking news story of the bomber having been caught.
Fox, I think, has proven itself to be a solid news-gathering operation. Some of its commentary shows I like, many I don’t. And I believe MSNBC is much more partisan than Fox, to the point that I’m not sure they even have much of a news gathering operation.
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Kim, I’ve seen a few conspiracy theories myself. The sci-fi fan in me finds them interesting. I keep wondering which ones would make the best TV series.
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