> > > I like you Uncle Tantrum. However, sometimes you are > > > a complete dick when you double down on previous > > > statements. There are people experiencing fear. > > >
(snip) > > My point was then -- and is now -- twofold. First, that > > JohnR's title for this thread was DUMB, PANICKY, and > > DUMB again. Boston was not "under terrorist attack." > > Some police were chasing *two guys*, who gave them > > trouble when cornered. This is NOT a "terrorist attack." > > > > Second, and more important, what you describe as the > > people of Boston "experiencing fear" is my larger and > > more important point. THE FEAR IS MISPLACED. One's > > chances of being killed or injured by a terrorist in > > America are orders of magnitude smaller than one's > > chances of being struck by lightning TWICE. > > authfriend: > Totally bogus "statistic." The appropriate comparison > in this case would be between one's chances of being > struck by lightning when outside during a thunderstorm > versus being killed or injured by a terrorist *in > Boston yesterday* before he was caught. > > (snip) > > as it turned out, "emptying the streets" had nothing > > whatsoever to do with finding the last suspect. He > > was found fairly near to the area he fled, hiding in > > a boat or something like that. > > > The point of shutting down the city was to make it > much more difficult for the suspect to leave the area. > So in fact it had everything to do with his being > found and captured. > > (snip) > > > Apparently, 1 perp was killed, one captured, and > > > one is being hunted. > > > > > I don't remember the last part. The articles I've > > seen haven't mentioned anyone still at large. > > > There were many such reports. Law enforcement was > checking out any number of leads to possible > accomplices. They may still be doing so for all we > know, just not announcing it. > > (snip) > > > Apparently the perps were armed with grenades and > > > other explosive devices. > > > > > Now you're doing the same thing Dumbo...uh...I mean > > Jimbo did. In NO article have I see the word "grenade." > > They had clumsy and cumbersome homemade explosive > > devices. > > > Barry won't do this, but if he were to search for > +"Marathon bombing" +Watertown +grenades > he'd find many such articles. Yes, they ultimately > turned out to be homemade grenades, among other > explosive devices, but that wasn't clear for some > time. What they threw out the car windows into the > path of the police as they were being chased into > Watertown were pipe bombs, not cumbersome at all. > > (snip) > > Yes they did. More important to the point I'm making, > > they caused BILLIONS OF DOLLARS of losses to the city > > of Boston, and caused MILLIONS OF PEOPLE to cower in > > their homes. > > > Most people in Boston were not "cowering in their > homes," they were obeying orders from law enforcement. > The "cowering" folks were mostly in Watertown, where > the suspect was thought to be hiding following a > ferocious gun battle with the police in their streets. > And the cops found a number of explosive devices the > two suspects had left on the streets of the > neighborhood. The people of Watertown had good reason > to cower inside as long as the suspect was on the loose > in the area. > > Plus which, having people stay indoors made things a > lot safer for the police, because if necessary they > could shoot the suspect before he could shoot or throw > explosives at them, without having to worry about > civilians getting in the way. > > And according to Matthew Yglesias in Slate, the cost > of the shutdown won't be anywhere near even $1 billion: > > http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/19/shutting_boston_down_won_t_cost_1_billion.html > > http://tinyurl.com/cv37tgd > > Bottom line, Barry was wrong in just about everything > he's said, other than that John's thread title was dumb. > John's title was on target - terrorists had attacked Boston. Barry's reply was really dumb - thanks for the good work on this thread. > But he will never admit it; he'll continue, in az's phrase, > to be a complete dick about it. Nothing new about that, > goodness knows. > Barry would probably be cowering in fear too, if there was a armed terrorist hiding out in his boat in his back yard!
