MoJo Author Feeds: Nick Baumann | Mother Jones

How One Tweet Almost Broke US Financial Markets

Nick Baumann — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:23:37 +0000

In the January/February issue of Mother Jones, I wrote about Wall Street's embrace of high-speed computer programs that execute thousands of trades per second. These algorithms, some of which can teach themselves and operate almost entirely without human interference, present a new and challenging danger to the stability of global financial markets because they work in timeframes that people can't begin to perceive. By the time an actual person realizes something is wrong, it might already be too late to fix the problem. The concern isn't that one firm's high-speed trading program will make a mistake, but rather that a bunch of them will make the same mistake at once, launching a chain reaction that could undermine the financial system.

On Tuesday, the world saw exactly how fast these sorts of programs can respond to bad news. Many high-speed trading algorithms are designed to read headlines and trade based on that information before human traders can react. So when the Associated Press Twitter account tweeted at 1:07 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday that two explosions were reported in the White House and President Barack Obama was injured, the market fell immediately. Here's an image of the tweet in question:

Google Finance

The S&P 500 fell nearly 1 percent, wiping out more than $130 billion in shareholder value in minutes. As the market plunged, quotes—offers to buy or sell—surged. But the vast majority of those offers were withdrawn before anyone could trade on them. Liquidity—a term that refers to the ease with which traders can buy or sell a financial product—dried up, suggesting that today's highly liquid markets are in fact very fragile. Liquidity in the S&P 500 E-Mini, the most important stock futures contract, has "never dropped that quickly and that far that fast—ever," says Eric Hunsader, who runs NANEX, a firm that provides software and services to high-speed traders. "The faster that we let trading go, the faster liquidity will disappear," he adds. For ordinary traders, the sheer speed with which high-speed traders pulled out of the market in the wake of the phony AP tweet suggests that "the investor is a spectator not a participant." He continues, "There is no way [the average investor is] going to be able to get in and take advantage of something like this. The prices you see on CNBC might as well be a newspaper at the end of the day."

Continue Reading »

Things in Boston Just Got Crazier

Nick Baumann — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 05:52:33 +0000

The Boston police have confirmed a connection between tonight's incidents and the Boston Marathon suspects. Look for further updates on our Boston Marathon suspects explainer.

UPDATE, Friday, April 19, 4:21 a.m. EDT: The Middlesex County District Attorney's office just released the following statement:

Police are investigating a fatal shooting of MIT campus police officer by two men who then committed an armed carjacking in Cambridge, Middlesex Acting District Attorney Michael Pelgro, Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas, and MIT Police Chief John DiFava announced this evening.

At approximately 10:20 p.m. April 18, police received reports of shots fired on the MIT campus. At 10:30 p.m., an MIT campus police officer was found shot in his vehicle in the area of Vassar and Main streets. According to authorities, the officer was found evidencing multiple gunshot wounds.

He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced deceased.
Authorities launched an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the shooting. The investigation determined that two males were involved in this shooting.

A short time later, police received reports of an armed carjacking by two males in the area of Third Street in Cambridge. The victim was carjacked at gunpoint by two males and was kept in the car with the suspects for approximately a half hour. The victim was released at a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. He was not injured.

Police immediately began a search for the vehicle and were in pursuit of the vehicle into Watertown.

At that time, explosive devices were reportedly thrown from car by the suspects. The suspects and police also exchanged gunfire in the area of Dexter and Laurel streets. During this pursuit, an MBTA Police officer was seriously injured and transported to the hospital.
During the pursuit, one suspect was critically injured and transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. An extensive manhunt is ongoing in the Watertown area for the second suspect, who is believed to be armed and dangerous.

UPDATE, Friday, April 19, 2:27 a.m. EDT: The Boston Globe is reporting that the shootout involves the marathon suspects, and that one has been taken into custody.

Multiple law enforcement agencies converged on Watertown, Massachusetts, a city near Boston, on Friday night after a police officer was shot and killed near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge and police officers reported automatic fire and explosions. At this time it's unclear what connection, if any, there is between this incident and the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. You can listen to the Boston police scanner here, but please keep in mind that police scanner information is often chaotic and not always correct. Boston's 7 News (WHDH) and WCVB have coverage. The New York Times' Jess Bidgood and the Boston Globe's Wesley Lowery are tweeting from Watertown.

7 News meteorologist Chris Lambert took a photo of the scene in Watertown.

Is This the Hat Worn by Boston Bombing Suspect #1?

— By the MoJo News Team — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:07:37 +0000

One of the suspects' hats may be this Bridgestone Golf hat:

Here's a second side-by-side of the back of the Bridgestone cap and a photo that Reddit user streetsim says he or she took at the marathon (text is also visible on the back of Suspect 1's hat in the video the FBI released):

Right-side image by Reddit user streetsim

See the rest of the photos the FBI released of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects here.

Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Charged With Using WMD

— By the MoJo News Team — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:39:20 +0000

We have capped this explainer. Major developments will be covered on our main political blog.

UPDATE 36: Monday, April 22, 1:59 p.m. EDT: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against people and property resulting in death.

UPDATE 35: Monday, April 22, 1:26 p.m. EDT: Multiple sources are reporting that Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arraigned at his hospital bed, and that the complaint against him was sealed.

UPDATE 34: Saturday, April 20, 1:01 p.m. EDT: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is in a heavily guarded hospital room at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. As press attention turns to deciphering the bombers' motives and the coming trial, Josh Gerstein of Politico has written a piece explaining some legal issues surrounding the case, including the pre-trial interrogation rules facing federal prosecutors and whether Tsarnaev may face the death penalty; Slate's Emily Bazelon explains the history and law behind the "public safety exemption" to the Miranda rules under which Tsarnaev is being questioned.

UPDATE 33: Friday, April 19, 11:12 p.m. EDT: BarstoolSports.com has posted dramatic amateur video of a pitched fire fight, said to be a recording of police closing in on Tsarnaev's boat hiding place on Friday evening.

And a photo has surfaced that appears to show law enforcement officials administering medical care to the suspect shortly after his arrest.

UPDATE 32: Friday, April 19, 10:34 p.m. EDT: Tsarnaev was not given a Miranda warning because of the "public-safety exemption in cases of national security and potential charges involving acts of terrorism," United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz said. But the Obama administration is emphatic about giving Tsarnaev a civilian trial, according to NBC correspondent Pete Williams.

UPDATE 31: Friday, April 19, 10:14 p.m. EDT: Following a press conference held by Mass. Governor Deval Patrick and law enforcement, President Obama delivered a statement addressing the capture of Tsarnaev, the tragedy in Boston, and also the explosion at the West, Texas fertilizer plant on Wednesday. "All in all, this has been a tough week, but we have seen the character of our country," Obama said.

Here's the video and a link to the full statement.

UPDATE 30: Friday, April 19, 10:00 p.m. EDT: According to the Boston Police Department, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is in serious condition. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

UPDATE 29: Friday, April 19, 9:42 p.m. EDT: The FBI wanted poster for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been updated with "Captured":

UPDATE 28: Friday, April 19, 8:45 p.m. EDT: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been taken into custody. He was found hiding in a boat resting on a trailer in a Watertown backyard.

UPDATE 27: Friday, April 19, 7:15 p.m. EDT: Moments after law enforcement officials lifted the city's lockdown, an exchange of gunfire was heard in Watertown. The Boston Globe and local television are now reporting that police have cornered a suspect.

UPDATE 26: Friday, April 19, 2:09 p.m. EDT: Here is the FBI wanted poster for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, suspect in the Boston Marathon attack:

More MoJo coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings

How the FBI in Boston May Have Pursued the Wrong "Terrorist"

READ: Here Are the Federal Charges Against Boston Bombing Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

The 11 Most Mystifying Things the Tsarnaev Brothers Did

What We Know About the Tsarnaev Brothers' Guns

What These Tweets Tell Us About Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Stunned Reactions From Former Classmates of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Did Boston Bombing Suspect Post Al Qaeda Prophecy on YouTube?

Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Charged With Using WMD

UPDATE 25: Friday, April 19, 1:08 p.m. EDT: At noon on Friday, Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC with five other Muslim community leaders. While they emphasized that the suspects' motive are not yet known, CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad said in a prepared statement that, "as God tells us in the Quran, if you murder one person, it is as if you murdered all of humanity." He stressed that, "we're very angry," and another participant stated that, "unfortunately every faith in it has heretical elements...but nobody can separate us from being Americans."

When asked by Mother Jones about the Al Qaeda prophecy video posted by a YouTube user by the name of deceased suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a CAIR spokesman responded: "I mean, it's Al Qaeda-inspired stuff, man. It's a lot of crazy on the internet."

The group also thanked "the media for not jumping to any conclusions." (This is debatable.)

UPDATE 24: Friday, April 19, 12:45 p.m. EDT: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick just held a press conference in which he urged Bostonians to stay in their homes, and warned that the crime scene may go through the weekend.

UPDATE 23: Friday, April 19, 12:15 p.m. EDT: BuzzFeed is reporting that this is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Twitter account. Here are some highlights:

I don't argue with fools who say islam is terrorism it's not worth a thing, let an idiot remain an idiot
— Jahar (@J_tsar) January 16, 2013

I am the best beer pong player in Cambridge. I am the #truth
— Jahar (@J_tsar) August 22, 2012

I meet the most amazing people, spent the day with this Jamaican Muslim convert who shared his whole story with me, my religion is the truth
— Jahar (@J_tsar) December 31, 2012

update: Mother Jones has a story on what these Tweets tell us about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The Tweets include statements about Islam, observations on pop culture, and trash-talk about women.

UPDATE 22: Friday, April 19, 12:15 p.m. EDT: The suspects' uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, pleads for his nephew Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is still on the loose, to turn himself in. From NBC:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

UPDATE 21: Friday, April 19, 12:10 p.m. EDT: CBS reports that the suspects' uncle said that the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was "a loser." Watch:

UPDATE 20: Friday, April 19, 12:00 p.m. EDT: BuzzFeed reports that the Chechen president, Ramzan Kadyrov, has released a statement on the bombings, blaming the suspects' American upbringing.

Tragic events have taken place in Boston. A terrorist attack killed people. We have already expressed our condolences to the people of the city and to the American people. Today, the media reports, one Tsarnaev was killed as [police] tried to arrest him. It would be appropriate if he was detained and investigated, and the circumstances and the extent of his guilt determined. Apparently, the security services needed to calm down the society by any means necessary.

Any attempt to draw a connection between Chechnya and Tsarnaevs — if they are guilty — is futile. They were raised in the United States, and their attitudes and beliefs were formed there. It is necessary to seek the roots of this evil in America. The whole world must struggle against terrorism — that we know better than anyone else. We hope for the recovery of all the victims, and we mourn with the Americans.

Also, the president of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center released a statement about the patient who died here this morning:

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center received an unknown male patient with significant injuries at 1:20 this morning.

After he arrived, he suffered a trauma arrest and expired at 1:35 a.m.

We have no information on the identity of the patient and cannot speculate on whether he has any connection to any criminal activity. Nor are we prepared to speak to the exact nature of his injuries.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is open for business. But we will be restricting access to some entrances to ensure the safety of our patients, staff and visitors.

UPDATE 19: Friday, April 19, 11:50 a.m. EDT: The Boston Police Department is reporting that the vehicle associated with the armed carjacking by the two suspects in Cambridge has been located.

UPDATE: Vehicle (MA Plate: 316-ES9) found unoccupied. Car being processed for evidence by authorities. twitter.com/Boston_Police/…
— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 19, 2013

UPDATE 18: Friday, April 19, 11:33 a.m. EDT: A former schoolmate of Boston bombing suspect speaks out. (Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is still at large.)

UPDATE 17: Friday, April 19, 11:19 a.m. EDT: Mother Jones has posted a wrestling photo of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev:

Former classmates react to the news: "I cant believe i went through 4 years of high school and was friends with someone who carried out a terrorist attack," one wrote on Facebook.

UPDATE 16: Friday, April 19, 11:15 a.m. EDT: Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is believed to be on foot:

State Police: Suspect abandoned carand is believed to have fled on foot.
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 19, 2013

UPDATE 15: Friday, April 19, 11:13 a.m. EDT: CBS Boston interviewed Ruslan Tsarni, said to be the uncle of suspects in the bombings:

UPDATE 14: Friday, April 19, 11:05 a.m. EDT: A spokesman for the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth stated that a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing is "a registered student on campus." The university has announced that the campus will be closed today and evacuated.

UPDATE 13: Friday, April 19, 10:37 a.m. EDT: A user by the name of Tamerlan Tsarnaev has posted a video to his YouTube playlist extolling an extremist religious prophecy associated with Al Qaeda. It is not clear yet whether the user is the same Tsarnaev as the deceased bombing suspect.

UPDATE 12: Friday, April 19, 6:37 a.m. EDT: NBC and the Associated Press report that the remaining suspect is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old resident of Cambridge. The deceased suspect, who was killed in a firefight with police this morning, is his 20 26-year old brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev. According to NBC, "both men had international ties, had been in the United States about a year and had military experience." Meanwhile, much of the Boston area has been locked down—with schools closed and authorities asking businesses not to open—and thousands of police have been called in for a manhunt involving a door-to-door search in Watertown.

UPDATE 11: Friday, April 19, 6:37 a.m. EDT: Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told reporters Friday morning that the remaining suspect was someone the police "believe this to be a terrorist," and "a person who's come here to kill people."

UPDATE 10: Friday, April 19, 6:17 a.m. EDT: Around 5:20 a.m., doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston held a press conference announced that a patient who had been brought in at 1:20 a.m. under police guard with "multiple injuries, a combination of blast, potentially gunshot wounds." Doctors said they were "unable to count" the number of gunshot wounds the patient had. They spent 15 minutes unsuccessfully trying to revive the patient, but he was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m. The surgeon who treated the patient was asked whether he believed him to be the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, he responded that "You give the best care to every patient that comes to you, regardless of who it may or may not be."

UPDATE 9: Friday, April 19, 5:44 a.m. EDT: Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis tweeted an image of what he said was "the latest picture of the suspect" in the Boston Marathon bombing around 5:40 a.m. Friday morning. It appears to be an image of suspect #2. Police told ABC News earlier that the image was taken by a security camera during a hold-up of a 7-11 in Cambridge.

UPDATE 8: Friday, April 19, 4:32 a.m. EDT: Boston police confirmed in a press conference Friday morning that the explosions and gunfire Friday night in Cambridge, Boston, and Watertown, Massachusetts were connected to the Boston Marathon suspects whose photos were released Thursday afternoon. The suspect pictured in the black hat is reported dead, while the suspect with the white hat is reportedly still at large. Police have established a 20-block perimeter around where they believe the suspect is.

The Middlesex County District Attorney's office released the following statement:

Police are investigating a fatal shooting of MIT campus police officer by two men who then committed an armed carjacking in Cambridge, Middlesex Acting District Attorney MichaelPelgro, Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas, and MIT Police Chief John DiFavaannounced this evening.

At approximately 10:20 p.m. April 18, police received reports of shots fired on the MIT campus. At 10:30 p.m., an MIT campus police officer was found shot in his vehicle in the area of Vassar and Main streets. According to authorities, the officer was found evidencing multiple gunshot wounds.

He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced deceased.
Authorities launched an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the shooting. The investigation determined that two males were involved in this shooting.

A short time later, police received reports of an armed carjacking by two males in the area of Third Street in Cambridge. The victim was carjacked at gunpoint by two males and was kept in the car with the suspects for approximately a half hour. The victim was released at a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. He was not injured.

Police immediately began a search for the vehicle and were in pursuit of the vehicle into Watertown.

At that time, explosive devices were reportedly thrown from car by the suspects. The suspects and police also exchanged gunfire in the area of Dexter and Laurel streets. During this pursuit, an MBTA Police officer was seriously injured and transported to the hospital.
During the pursuit, one suspect was critically injured and transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. An extensive manhunt is ongoing in the Watertown area for the second suspect, who is believed to be armed and dangerous.

UPDATE 7, Friday, April 19, 2:25 a.m. EDT: The FBI has just released two more photos of the suspects showing an "up close" view of their faces.

Suspect 1

Suspect 2

Suspects together

Suspect 2

UPDATE 6, Friday, April 19, 1:40 a.m. EDT: A police officer was shot and killed at MIT this evening. Another officer was wounded, a high-speed chase took place, and the local police scanner reports automatic weapons fire and grenades. One suspect has been taken into custody, the other is at large. It is not known whether this event is related to the Boston marathon bombings. We have more details on this incident in a separate post.

UPDATE 5, Friday, April 19, 12:40 a.m. EDT: A photo that first got broad attention on Reddit, and whose authenticity was debated by journalists on Twitter for hours, appears to be legitimate. It shows a new, high-resolution shot of suspect #2 (white hat, far left). The New York Times reports: "Shortly after finishing the Boston Marathon this week David Green, 49, was walking to meet friends when two bombs exploded in front of him as he faced east on the corner of Fairfield and Boylston Streets. He snapped a photograph with his iPhone before rushing to help those wounded. It was time-stamped at 2:50:15 p.m."

What appears to be suspect #2 can be seen at far left David Green

The debate over the photo's veracity ended when it was established he posted it on Facebook on Monday, long before the FBI released its cache of photos and videos. See a very large file of the photo here.

UPDATE 4, Thursday, April 18, 10:30 p.m. EDT: Bloomberg has a major scoop: Jeff Bauman, the young runner who lost both his legs in the explosion and whose iconic photo has come to symbolize the tragedy, woke up in the hospital and helped ID the suspects.

"Minutes before the bombs blew up in Boston, Jeff Bauman looked into the eyes of the man who tried to kill him." bloom.bg/12r6GZB
— Jared Keller (@jaredbkeller) April 19, 2013

UPDATE 3, Thursday, April 18, 10:20 p.m. EDT: CNN reports that "other footage, still unreleased, shows that the two suspects stayed at the scene to watch the carnage unfold, a federal law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation…'When the bombs blow up, when most people are running away and victims were lying on the ground, the two suspects walk away pretty casually,' said the official, who has seen the unreleased video. 'They acted differently than everyone else,' he added."

UPDATE 2, Thursday, April 18, 10:15 p.m. EDT: Journalists, Redditors, and citizens across the country are sharing and in some cases claiming to add to the photos the FBI has released:

This picture is incredibly awful. Martin Richard, 8-year-old victim, circled in blue. Suspect in red. fm4.fm/ZB4Cdj
— Farhad Manjoo (@fmanjoo) April 19, 2013

UPDATE, Thursday, April 18, 5:45 p.m. EDT: One of the suspects' hats may be this Bridgestone Golf hat:

ORIGINAL POST: The FBI has released images of two "persons of interest." "No one should approach them…Do not take action on your own," they said during the press briefing. Here is the FBI's YouTube clip of the two individuals; each had a backpack:

The bureau posted the photos online:

The Government Didn't Shut Down Cell Service in Boston. But With SOP 303, It Could Have.

Adam Serwer and Nick Baumann — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:00:15 +0000

Shortly after the horrific explosions that interrupted the Boston Marathon Monday, the Associated Press reported that the government had shut down cellphone service in the area. That wasn't true—but it's not impossible.

"No one in Washington or in any statehouse or bunker anywhere can press a button and shut down phone service," explains Harold Feld, vice president at Public Knowledge, an advocacy group focused on communications and technology policy. But although there's no physical kill switch, there is Standard Operating Procedure 303, a secret agreement between telecommunications giants and the government that outlines "a shutdown and restoration process for use by commercial and private wireless networks during national crises," according to a government report on the subject. The government can shut down cellphone service—but it didn't do so in Boston on Monday.

More MoJo coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings

How the FBI in Boston May Have Pursued the Wrong "Terrorist"

READ: Here Are the Federal Charges Against Boston Bombing Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

The 11 Most Mystifying Things the Tsarnaev Brothers Did

What We Know About the Tsarnaev Brothers' Guns

What These Tweets Tell Us About Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Stunned Reactions From Former Classmates of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Did Boston Bombing Suspect Post Al Qaeda Prophecy on YouTube?

Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Charged With Using WMD

Because SOP 303, also known as the Emergency Wireless Protocols, is classified, the public doesn't know under which specific conditions a shutdown could occur. But in 2006, the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), a group of major telecom company executives and government officials, issued a report that revealed some details about SOP 303. The committee's report explained that the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications (NCC), an emergency telecom coordination body set up by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, would serve as a clearinghouse for requests to shut down wireless networks "within a localized area, such as a tunnel or bridge, and within an entire metropolitan area." The NCC—which includes representatives from the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Security Agency, every important cabinet department, and a few dozen big telecommunications and defense companies—would take shutdown requests from state and national Homeland Security officials, verify whether they are "necessary," and pass those requests on to wireless carriers in the affected areas. The same process would happen in reverse once the NCC determines the shutdown is "no longer necessary."

So how did an unelected group of telecommunications and defense industry representatives, spies, and government bureaucrats get the job of determining whether to pull the plug on cellphone service? It all started in July 2005, after the London subway bombings that killed over 52 civilians and four suicide bombers and wounded more than 700. Shortly after the London attacks, the US government, fearing follow-up strikes, decided to shut down wireless telephone service in four tunnels between the island of Manhattan and the surrounding areas of New York and New Jersey. The "resulting situation, undertaken without prior notice to wireless carriers or the public, created disorder for both Government and the private sector at a time when use of the communications infrastructure was most needed," according to the NSTAC report.

That August, after having annoyed both industry and government by abruptly shutting down cell service in the tunnels, the Bush administration convened a panel of telecommunications company executives and government officials to discuss how to do it better next time. The task force issued its recommendations in January 2006, and two months later, the National Communications System—a now-defunct government agency—approved SOP 303.

Boston's top cellular service providers maintain that they did not shut down service in Boston in the wake of Monday's bombings. Contacted by Mother Jones Monday afternoon, a Verizon spokesperson said that service had not been shut down, and that Verizon had not been asked to shut service down. AT&T tweeted that users might have trouble because of everyone trying to use their phones at the same time, but that the network was still up.

There are no publicly known instances of SOP 303 being used. In 2011, after Bay Area Rapid Transit shut down cellphone service in its stations to scuttle a planned protest, the Federal Communications Commission called for public comment about when and whether it's appropriate for authorities to interrupt communications in the name of public safety. But the agency never issued any new rules or regulations on the subject—because, Feld says, it didn't want to anger law enforcement authorities who want broad authority to act in emergencies.

It's unclear whether SOP 303 is constitutional—the specifics of the agreement are secret and the limits of government authority in this area have never been tested in court. According to Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, governments "in places like China" "regularly" shut down cellphone service to quell protests. "They did it in Egypt as well," she explains, during the protests that deposed former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Feld says that the United States government would be on stronger constitutional footing if it asked telecommunications companies to shut down service in order to prevent bombs from being triggered than if it tried to shut down service to curtail a protest. "Pulling a Mubarak" on demonstrators is probably unconstitutional; shutting down communications to prevent an unfolding terrorist attack may not be.

"The context is important," Feld says. "If the shutdown is because we're concerned about what [protesters are going to] say, that raises much more fundamental First Amendment concerns than [if the government says] 'we're afraid there's a bomb in the area that could be triggered by a cellphone.'"

Another problem is that it's not clear that shutting down communications would be helpful during a terrorist attack.

"You would have to make the case that it would more harmful to accidentally trigger this bomb than to prevent all of these people from communicating with each other in an emergency," Galperin says. "The benefit of people being able to communicate on their cellphones in times of crisis is enormous, and cutting that off is in and of itself potentially very dangerous."

What We Know About The Boston Marathon Explosions

— By Asawin Suebsaeng and the MoJo News Team — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:49:03 +0000

This explainer is being regularly updated; click here for the latest post or jump to these recent updates:

FBI photos and video of the two suspects
Teen fingered on front page of the New York Post as a suspect: "It wasn't me."
President Obama addresses the Boston Marathon memorial service.
The FBI weighs in on false media reports.
The life-saving soldiers who did the Boston Marathon wearing 40-pound packs
Meet Carlos Arredondo, a hero of the bombings
Map: Where the explosions occurred along the marathon route
Watch video of the first and second blasts

On Monday, two blasts were reported near the finish line of the annual 26.2-mile Boston Marathon, resulting in at least ~~two~~ three dead and ~~scores~~ ~~132~~ 176 injured, according to the Boston Police Department and news reports. The explosions—the first of which was on the north side of Boylston Street—occurred roughly ~~three~~ two hours after the winners crossed the finish line. "There are a lot of people down," runner Frank Deruyter of North Carolina told the Associated Press shortly after the explosions. The cause of the blasts were not initially known.

Here's video of the incident, via MSNBC:

Here are two photos from the scene (warning: graphic):

David L. Ryan/Twitter

Jackie Bruno/Twitter

Here is the initial update from the Boston Marathon, via Facebook:

From the Boston Herald:

"I saw two explosions. The first one was beyond the finish line. I heard a loud bang and I saw smoke rising," said Herald reporter Chris Cassidy, who was running in the marathon. "I kept running and I heard behind me a loud bang. It looked like it was in a trash can or something. That one was in front of Abe and Louie's. There are people who have been hit with debris, people with bloody foreheads."

In response to this news, New York City counterterrorism units were dispatched. "We're stepping up security at hotels and other prominent locations in the city through deployment of the NYPD's critical response vehicles (CRVs) until more about the explosion is learned," New York City Police Department Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne said in a statement Monday afternoon. Washington, DC, and Los Angeles security were also put on high alert. The White House is in contact with state and local authorities in Boston and Massachusetts. "Our prayers are with those people in Boston who have suffered injuries. I don't know how many there are," Vice President Joe Biden said while on a conference call about gun legislation, when he was informed of the blasts.

More from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency:

If you are trying to reach friends or family and can't get through via phone, try texing instead (less bandwidth)
— MEMA (@MassEMA) April 15, 2013

RedCross Safe and Well is active. Individuals can register themselvs as safe or search for loved ones at redcross.org/safeandwell
— MEMA (@MassEMA) April 15, 2013

If you are concerned for a friend that ran the #BostonMarathon today, you can see their last check-in here: raceday.baa.org/individual.html
— NowThis News (@nowthisnews) April 15, 2013

An intelligence official told the AP on Monday that two additional explosive devices were found at the Boston Marathon, and were being dismantled, but those reports were later refuted by law enforcement and government officials.

Via the New York Times, here is a street map of where the explosions occurred:

UPDATE, Monday, April 15, 4:40 p.m. EDT: Via NBC News broadcast, Alasdair K. Conn, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a press conference that the hospital is treating six severely injured patients who required immediate resuscitation. They have 19 patients in total; 5 are "pretty badly off," according to Conn. "This is like a bomb explosion we hear about in Baghdad or Israel," he continued.

UPDATE 2, Monday, April 15, 4:44 p.m. EDT:

Here is footage of the initial blast near the finish line, via Boston.com

Here it is from the perspective of a runner headed toward the finish line:

And here is video of the second blast, which occurred about 10 seconds after the first blast:

UPDATE 3, Monday, April 15, 5:02 p.m. EDT: Edward Davis, Boston police commissioner, said at a press conference Monday:

At 2:50 p.m. today, there were simultaneous explosions that occurred along the route of the Boston Marathon at the finish line. These explosions occurred 50 to 100 yards apart. Each scene resulted in multiple casualties. At this point in time all the victims shave been removed from the scene, we have sent officers to hospitals to be in touch with family members and possible witnesses. We immediately activated a system of response that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and federal government has in place for these types of incidents…We have at this point in time determined that there has been a third incident that occurred. An explosion that occurred at the JFK library. This is very much an ongoing event at this time. We are not certain if these incidents are related, but we're treating them as if they are.

There were no injuries at the JFK library that the police know of, per commissioner Davis.

If you are trying to locate someone, call: 617-635-4500. If you have any information about the explosions, call: 1-800-494-TIPS.

Update: The incident at the JFK library was later determined to be unrelated to the initial explosions.

UPDATE 4, Monday, April 15, 5:22 p.m. EDT: A law enforcement official told the AP that cellphone service was shut down in the Boston area "to prevent any potential remote detonations of explosives." Other reports cast serious doubt on this story, given reports of functioning cell phones and other factors. The FAA announced a ground stop for Boston's Logan airport.

UPDATE 5, Monday, April 15, 5:25 p.m. EDT: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick released the following statement:

This is a horrific day in Boston. My thoughts and prayers are with those who have been injured. I have been in touch with the President, Mayor Menino and our public safety leaders. Our focus is on making sure that the area around Copley Square is safe and secured. I am asking everyone to stay away from Copley Square and let the first responders do their jobs.

UPDATE 6, Monday, April 15, 5:47 p.m. EDT: Amtrak issued the following statement via Twitter, regarding the Boston Marathon explosions:

At this time all Amtrak trains are operating as scheduled. We will provide an update if this changes. We are increasing security at stations & track right-of-ways. We ask passengers to […] report anything suspicious to 1-800-331-0008 or 911.

UPDATE 7, Monday, April 15, 6:16 p.m. EDT: President Obama held a press conference on the explosions, starting at 6:10 p.m. ET. "We still don't know who did this or why, but make no mistake, we'll get to the bottom of it," the president said.

Obama: "Boston is a tough, resilient town and so are its people."
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 15, 2013

Here's video of the press conference:

Click here for the full text of Obama's statement; the speech lasted about three-and-a-half minutes. Here's an excerpt:

We still do not know who did this or why. And people shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. But make no mistake -- we will get to the bottom of this. And we will find out who did this; we'll find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.

Today is a holiday in Massachusetts -- Patriots’ Day. It’s a day that celebrates the free and fiercely independent spirit that this great American city of Boston has reflected from the earliest days of our nation. And it’s a day that draws the world to Boston’s streets in a spirit of friendly competition. Boston is a tough and resilient town. So are its people. I'm supremely confident that Bostonians will pull together, take care of each other, and move forward as one proud city. And as they do, the American people will be with them every single step of the way.

UPDATE 8, Monday, April 15, 8:00 p.m. EDT: The New York Times reported three other unexploded devices, including one in Newton, which is on the marathon route (there were however conflicting reports on this. Update: On Tuesday, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said during a press conference that no other explosive devices were uncovered at the scene of the Boston Marathon). CNN is reporting 132 bombing victims so far, and at least 10 amputations. Doctors are reportedly pulling ball bearings, or some sort of metallic objects, out of victims. One of the ~~two~~ three confirmed dead is an 8 year old boy. One bit of good news: The runners representing the families of the Newtown, Conn. mass shooting—including Laura Nowacki, whose daughter survived the shooting—are safe.

Boston is such elite race, 90% runners are sub-4-hrs. Sparing thousands from attack. In NYC bombs @ 4-hr mark woulda been more deadly.
— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) April 15, 2013

UPDATE 9, Monday, April 15, 9:00 p.m. EDT: There are now three confirmed dead. The FBI has taken the lead role in the investigation.

UPDATE 10, Monday, April 15, 9:15 p.m. EDT: Did you see this amazing picture taken by Boston Globe photographer John Tlumacki? He'd just finished running the marathon himself:

Police react in aftermath of explosion #bostonmarathon #boylstonst (John Tlumacki photo) twitter.com/BGlobeSports/s…
— Boston Globe Sports (@BGlobeSports) April 15, 2013

Now there's a story about the runner on the ground, Bill Iffrig, who got up and finished. You can see a picture of Tlumacki taking the picture here. John Eligon, one of the writers of the lede New York Times piece, had also just run the marathon and somehow managed to file this story.

UPDATE 11, Monday, April 15, 9:15 p.m. EDT: A group called the NYC Light Brigade projected various NYC Loves Boston signs on the side of the Brooklyn ~~Art Museum~~ Academy of Music, a.k.a. BAM:

thank you NYC light brigade #brooklyn #boston #home twitter.com/bright_moments…
— bright moments (@bright_moments) April 16, 2013

UPDATE 12, Tuesday, April 16, 12:15 a.m. EDT: One of Monday's most gripping—and graphic—images was a picture of a young man who appears to have lost both of his legs being frantically wheeled to an ambulance. On Reddit, a poster says he is friends with the victim, that the young man's name is Jeff, and that Jeff is at the Boston Medical Center ER and in stable condition. The thread also has a Facebook message from someone asking for prayers for his son, Jeff Jr., who was injured in the blast:

Can everyone pray for my Son Jeff jr who was at the finish line today in Boston. He is in surgery right now with injuries to his legs. I just can't explain whats wrong with people today to do this to people. I'm really starting to lose faith in our country.

On Twitter, there's been a lot of discussion about the ethics of running the picture without blurring the young man's face, as the Atlantic did for over an hour on its site before altering the image. The Washington Post chose to crop the image so the victim's legs are visible only above the knee.

One of the responders in the photograph—the man in the cowboy hat—has been identified as Carlos Arredondo, a Costa Rican immigrant whose Marine son died in action in Iraq in 2004. The day he learned of his son's death, Arrendondo â€‹locked himself in a van with five gallons of gasoline and a propane torch and set the van on fire. He survived, became a peace activist, and was among the spectators who rushed toward the fumes after the explosion today. After tying a tourniquet onto the young man's legs and wheeling him past the finish line to emergency help, Arredondo, seen badly shaken and trembling in this video, gripping a small American flag drenched in blood, talks to some bystanders on the street about the explosion:

UPDATE 13, Tuesday, April 16, 10:53 a.m. EDT: On Tuesday morning, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and FBI Special Agent Rick DesLauriers held a press conference. "Two and only two explosive devices were found yesterday," Patrick said. "All other parcels in the area of the blast have been examined, but there are no other unexploded bombs found." The tally of injured has increased to 176, with 17 in critical condition. Officials stated that no one had yet claimed responsibility for the blasts.

UPDATE 14, Tuesday, April 16, 11:30 a.m. EDT: President Barack Obama issued a statement Tuesday morning referring to Monday's attacks as an "act of terror." The president emphasized that the government does not yet know who carried out the attack or why. Here's a transcript:

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. I've just been briefed by my national security team, including FBI Director Mueller, Attorney General Holder, Secretary Napolitano, and my Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco, on the attacks in Boston. We continue to mobilize and deploy all appropriate law enforcement resources to protect our citizens, and to investigate and to respond to this attack.

Obviously our first thoughts this morning are with the victims, their families, and the city of Boston. We know that two explosions gravely wounded dozens of Americans, and took the lives of others, including a 8-year-old boy.

This was a heinous and cowardly act. And given what we now know about what took place, the FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism. Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians it is an act of terror. What we don’t yet know, however, is who carried out this attack, or why; whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization, foreign or domestic, or was the act of a malevolent individual. That's what we don't yet know. And clearly, we’re at the beginning of our investigation.

It will take time to follow every lead and determine what happened. But we will find out. We will find whoever harmed our citizens and we will bring them to justice.

We also know this -- the American people refuse to be terrorized. Because what the world saw yesterday in the aftermath of the explosions were stories of heroism and kindness, and generosity and love: Exhausted runners who kept running to the nearest hospital to give blood, and those who stayed to tend to the wounded, some tearing off their own clothes to make tourniquets. The first responders who ran into the chaos to save lives. The men and women who are still treating the wounded at some of the best hospitals in the world, and the medical students who hurried to help, saying “When we heard, we all came in.” The priests who opened their churches and ministered to the hurt and the fearful. And the good people of Boston who opened their homes to the victims of this attack and those shaken by it.

So if you want to know who we are, what America is, how we respond to evil -- that’s it. Selflessly. Compassionately. Unafraid.

In the coming days, we will pursue every effort to get to the bottom of what happened. And we will continue to remain vigilant. I’ve directed my administration to take appropriate security measures to protect the American people. And this is a good time for all of us to remember that we all have a part to play in alerting authorities -- if you see something suspicious, speak up.

I have extraordinary confidence in the men and women of the FBI, the Boston Police Department, and the other agencies that responded so heroically and effectively in the aftermath of yesterday’s events. I’m very grateful for the leadership of Governor Patrick and Mayor Menino. And I know that even as we protect our people and aggressively pursue this investigation, the people of Boston will continue to respond in the same proud and heroic way that they have thus far -- and their fellow Americans will be right there with them.

Thank you very much. And you can expect further briefings from our law enforcement officials as the day goes on. When we have more details, they will be disclosed. What I’ve indicated to you is what we know now. We know it was bombs that were set off. We know that obviously they did some severe damage. We do not know who did them. We do not know whether this was an act of an organization or an individual or individuals. We don’t have a sense of motive yet. So everything else at this point is speculation. But as we receive more information, as the FBI has more information, as our out counterterrorism teams have more information, we will make sure to keep you and the American people posted.

Thank you very much, everybody.

UPDATE 15, Tuesday, April 16, 1:20 p.m. EDT: A few updates from the Mother Jones news team: Adam Serwer reports that terrorist attacks on sporting events, especially marathons, are rare compared to attacks on other sorts of targets, and Andy Kroll reminds everyone to question what you hear and read in the hours after an attack like this, because early information about similar tragedies has repeatedly turned out to be wrong.

Along those veins, the Washington Post's Greg Miller reports that early stories from the New York Post and others about a Saudi citizen being detained or treated as a suspect in the wake of the bombings were incorrect:

U.S. law enforcement officials said Tuesday that a Saudi national injured in the Boston Marathon bombing is regarded as a witness, not a suspect. The Saudi, who is recuperating at a Boston hospital, is in his 20s and is in the United States on a Saudi scholarship to study at a university in the Boston area.

UPDATE 16, Tuesday, April 16, 2:55 p.m. EDT: Several news organizations are reporting that the explosive devices were hidden inside backpacks transported to the scene. A second Boston Marathon victim has been identified as Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old woman from Medford, Mass.

UPDATE 17, Tuesday, April 16, 3:04 p.m. EDT: Via the blog SpyTalk, here's a post on the Facebook page of Richard Clarke, who served as a counterterrorism adviser to both Bushes and Clinton. The post, titled "How they will investigate the Boston Bombing," runs down how investigators will likely go from here. Here's an excerpt:

While detectives and federal agents have started the laborious process of interviewing thousands of people in Boston, much of the work that is likely to be key to solving the Boston Bombing is technical and forensic.

First, the FBI will stitch together hundreds of hours of video camera recordings from private and public surveillance and traffic cameras, as well as recordings made by private citizens attending the race. They will look for when the bombs might have been left behind and then examine the faces of everyone who was in the area around that time. They will try to put names to those faces, using facial recognition matching software, drawing on drivers license, passport, and visa databases. In the case of the Mossad operation in Dubai, the police in the United Arab Emirates were able to recreate most of the the assassination operation by using snippets from dozens of surveillance cameras. For the FBI in Boston, a similar process has now begun.

Second, FBI and NSA will look at phone records...

Read the rest here.

UPDATE 18, Tuesday, April 16, 4:15 p.m. EDT: The Boston Globe is reporting that investigators have uncovered the circuit board they believe was used to trigger the explosions at the Boston Marathon.

UPDATE 19, Tuesday, April 16, 4:26 p.m. EDT: Mother Jones interactive editor Tasneem Raja has the story on soldiers (participating in "Tough Ruck 2013") who ran the Boston Marathon wearing 40-pound packs to honor comrades killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, or lost to suicide and PTSD-related accidents after coming home. And when the bombs went off, the soldiers sprang into action. Here's an excerpt:

When the explosion went off, Fiola and his group immediately went into tactical mode. "I did a count and told the younger soldiers to stay put," Fiola says. "Myself and two other soldiers, my top two guys in my normal unit, crossed the street about 100 yards to the metal scaffoldings holding up the row of flags. We just absolutely annihilated the fence and pulled it back so we could see the victims underneath. The doctors and nurses from the medical tent were on the scene in under a minute. We were pulling burning debris off of people so that the medical personnel could get to them and begin triage."

Read the whole story here.

UPDATE 20, Tuesday, April 16, 4:39 p.m. EDT: The AP reports:

The father of a man who was photographed being pushed away from the Boston Marathon bombing in a wheelchair says his son has had both legs amputated. Jeff Bauman says his son, 27-year-old Jeff Bauman Jr., is the man in an Associated Press photo taken shortly after the bombing.

His father says on his Facebook page that his son had to have both lower limbs removed at Boston Medical Center because of extensive vascular and bone damage. He says his son also had to have another surgery because of fluid in his abdomen.

One of the men who rescued Bauman was identified as Carlos Arredondo—"the man in the cowboy hat." Read our story on Arredondo's heroism at the Boston Marathon here.

UPDATE 21, Tuesday, April 16, 5:43 p.m. EDT: Boston University has released a statement confirming that the third victim of Monday's bombing was a BU graduate student who attended the race with two friends. The school is not releasing the student's name for now, citing the family's wish for privacy.

UPDATE 22, Wednesday, April 17, 10:35 a.m. EDT: A report from a Chinese state-run newspaper states that the third victim is Lu Lingzi, a Chinese graduate student who was attending Boston University.

UPDATE 23, Wednesday, April 17, 10:42 a.m. EDT: Here's Amy Davidson of The New Yorker on the Saudi citizen wrongly labeled a "suspect." An excerpt:

A twenty-year-old man who had been watching the Boston Marathon had his body torn into by the force of a bomb. He wasn’t alone; a hundred and seventy-six people were injured and three were killed. But he was the only one who, while in the hospital being treated for his wounds, had his apartment searched in “a startling show of force,” as his fellow-tenants described it to the Boston Herald, with a “phalanx” of officers and agents and two K9 units. He was the one whose belongings were carried out in paper bags as his neighbors watched; whose roommate, also a student, was questioned for five hours (“I was scared”) before coming out to say that he didn’t think his friend was someone who’d plant a bomb—that he was a nice guy who liked sports. “Let me go to school, dude,” the roommate said later in the day, covering his face with his hands and almost crying, as a Fox News producer followed him and asked him, again and again, if he was sure he hadn’t been living with a killer.

UPDATE 24, Wednesday, April 17, 10:59 a.m. EDT: Here are two photos of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who was killed in Monday's attack. A vigil was held for the family on Tuesday night in Dorchester, Mass.

Whitehotpix/ZUMA Press

Whitehotpix/ZUMA Press

UPDATE 25, Wednesday, April 17, 1:22 p.m. EDT: We'll have more on this as details are confirmed:

UPDATED: Bombing suspect possibly identified. bostonglobe.com
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 17, 2013

UPDATE 26, Wednesday, April 17, 1:54 p.m. EDT: CNN is reporting that an arrest has been made based on two different videos. The Associated Press also reported that an arrest has been made; NBC and CBS say otherwise.

UPDATE 27, Wednesday, April 17, 2:38 p.m. EDT: The Boston Police have said definitively that, "Despite reports to the contrary there has not been an arrest in the marathon attack," and CNN has backed off its previous statements. Our Adam Serwer has a story on the catch-22 that Arab Americans face while waiting for news in the wake of these sorts of attacks.

UPDATE 28, Wednesday, April 17, 3:35 p.m. EDT: The FBI released the following statement on recent media reports. The statement comes from the bureau's Boston division Special Agent Greg Comcowich:

Contrary to widespread reporting, no arrest has been made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack. Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate. Since these stories often have unintended consequences, we ask the media, particularly at this early stage of the investigation, to exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting.

UPDATE 29, Thursday, April 18, 11:15 a.m. EDT: President Obama attending an inter-faith memorial for the victims of the bombing.

Watch live now: President Obama to speak at Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston nyti.ms/11h79fA
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 18, 2013

UPDATE 30, Thursday, April 18, 12:36 p.m. EDT: President Obama addressed the inter-faith memorial service, emphasizing that "We will finish the race... We will finish the race."

"I have no doubt you will run again. You will run again! Because that's what the people of Boston are made of," Obama said. "It should be pretty clear they picked the wrong city [to mess with]. Not here in Boston! Not here in Boston."

Obama: "You welcomed me when I was a state senator and few people could pronounce my name right." #boston
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) April 18, 2013

update Click here to read the president's prepared remarks. Here's an excerpt:

Boston may be your hometown, but we claim it, too. It’s one of America’s iconic cities. It’s one of the world’s great cities. And one of the reasons the world knows Boston so well is that Boston opens its heart to the world.

Over successive generations, you’ve welcomed again and again new arrivals to our shores -- immigrants who constantly reinvigorated this city and this commonwealth and our nation. Every fall, you welcome students from all across America and all across the globe, and every spring you graduate them back into the world -- a Boston diaspora that excels in every field of human endeavor. Year after year, you welcome the greatest talents in the arts and science, research -- you welcome them to your concert halls and your hospitals and your laboratories to exchange ideas and insights that draw this world together.

And every third Monday in April, you welcome people from all around the world to the Hub for friendship and fellowship and healthy competition -- a gathering of men and women of every race and every religion, every shape and every size; a multitude represented by all those flags that flew over the finish line.

So whether folks come here to Boston for just a day, or they stay here for years, they leave with a piece of this town tucked fimly into their hearts. So Boston is your hometown, but we claim it a little bit, too. (Applause.)

I know this because there’s a piece of Boston in me. You welcomed me as a young law student across the river; welcomed Michelle, too. (Applause.) You welcomed me during a convention when I was still a state senator and very few people could pronounce my name right.

UPDATE 31, Thursday, April 18, 1:54 p.m. EDT: The New York Post is at the center of another Boston-related media controversy. The Guardian reports:

The New York Post on Thursday has printed on its cover an image of two men standing together at the marathon under the headline "BAG MEN: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon." The image shows two young men, one with a duffle bag and one wearing a backpack, talking to one another.

The problem – a very big problem, for any media organization that would aspire to meet the most basic standard of accuracy – is that neither man appears to be a suspect in this attack.

Yep.

UPDATE 32, Thursday, April 18, 2:36 p.m. EDT: The teen boy pictured on the controversial cover of the New York Post speaks out. ABC News has the story:

The teenage boy authorities once investigated as possibly being connected to the Boston Marathon bombing told ABC News today he was shocked to see his face pop up on television and all over social media.

Salah Barhoun, 17, said he went to the police yesterday to clear his name after he found himself tagged in pictures online. He had just gone to watch the race, he said, but soon after the explosions, he was singled out by internet sleuths as looking suspicious. Federal authorities passed around images of Barhoun, attempting to learn more information about him, sources told ABC News... Barhoun's younger brother, who declined to be identified, said that it made his mother "sick and upset" that her son had been connected to the tragedy."

"It made her think he had done something wrong," the teen's younger brother said. "My brother is not the bomber."

Here's the "BAG MEN" New York Post cover from this morning:

UPDATE 33, Thursday, April 18, 2:56 p.m. EDT: The editor of the New York Post said Thursday that the paper "stands by its story." But it has taken remarkable heat, even by its usual standard, for the potentially damaging misinformation it has spread in the wake of the attack.

The NY Post put an innocent 17-year-old runner on its front page as a "potential bombing suspect." Nice going. deadsp.in/3zIw5ME
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) April 18, 2013

Is the New York Post trying to set a kind of "Worst Reporting In A Single Week" record or something? bit.ly/13kPOmf
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisi) April 18, 2013

Think of something that would be interesting if true. Now, blurt it out. Congratulations, you're a @nypost editor!
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) April 18, 2013

Perhaps the Post has started to get the message; it has since posted a follow-up story reporting that the "two men probed" in the Boston Marathon bombings have been cleared by investigators.

UPDATE 34, Thursday, April 18, 3:02 p.m. EDT: The Atlantic Wire has a solid rundown of the federal investigation. (Click if you need a refresher on the supposed and misreported "suspects.") According to the Boston Globe, "[a]uthorities have clear video images of two separate suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings...and are planning to release the images today in an appeal for the public's help in identifying the men." The Globe cites a source reportedly briefed on the case. However, CBS News' John Miller maintains that images will be released Thursday, but only of one "person of interest." (This is a reminder to question everything you read or hear—particularly in early reports—about the Boston Marathon bombing.)

UPDATE 35, Thursday, April 18, 5:26 p.m. EDT: The FBI has released images of two "persons of interest." "No one should approach them...Do not take action on your own," they said during the press briefing. Here is the FBI's YouTube clip of the two individuals; each had a backpack:

The bureau posted the photos online:

For continuing coverage of the FBI's suspects, click here.

Watchdog Group Files Ethics Complaint Against McConnell Over Judd Tape Revelations

Nick Baumann — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:10:04 +0000

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit government watchdog, has asked the Senate ethics committee and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to probe whether aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell improperly conducted political opposition research on federal government time.

A tape of a February McConnell campaign meeting that Mother Jones released Tuesday includes a section in which a McConnell aide states that McConnell's "LAs"—congressional parlance for legislative assistants—helped gather background information on Ashley Judd, who was at the time considered a potential opponent in McConnell's 2014 reelection race. The tape also refers to a "Josh" who worked on the research, which CREW's complaint speculates might be Josh Holmes, McConnell's congressional chief of staff.

Senate ethics rules forbid legislative assistants and other Senate employees from participating in political activities on government time. "In general, however, the ethics rules do not bar staffers from engaging in campaign activity provided they do it on their own time and do not involve government resources or property," Tara Malloy, a government ethics expert at the Campaign Legal Center, told Mother Jones on Tuesday. You can read the relevant section of the ethics rules here. Bottom line: If McConnell's aides did the research in their free time, they're in the clear. But if they used government resources or worked on political matters on government time, they could be in trouble.

The Weekly Standard's Daniel Halper has suggested that the McConnell aide on the tape explicitly says that the LAs who worked on the opposition research did so "in their free time." Jesse Benton, McConnell's campaign manager, made the same argument in an interview with WHAS-11, a Louisville television station. But "it doesn't really matter" whether the McConnell aide on the tape claimed that the political work was done in the LAs free time, explains Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director. "The question isn't what somebody said, it's what they did," she says. "We need to know if it was on office time and with office resources. Those are the relevant questions here."

Benton has acknowledged that McConnell's Senate staffers do campaign work, but says they only do it in their off hours. "We do have several legislative staff that do contribute their free time, which is perfectly fine, perfectly legal, and cleared ahead of time by the ethics committee," he told WHAS-11.

The FBI is currently investigating how the tape of the McConnell meeting was made. But Sloan says the bureau should expand its probe. "McConnell should welcome a review of the tape," she says. "If McConnell thought it was so important for the FBI to investigate, the FBI should investigate everything about the incident. I think that's hard to argue against. The tape certainly gives you probable cause to believe something improper occurred. It clearly merits investigation."

Did Mitch McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?

Nick Baumann and Adam Serwer — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:11:42 +0000

A secret recording of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and aides discussing in February how they might attack actor/activist Ashley Judd, then a potential 2014 challenger to McConnell, attracted widespread attention after Mother Jones published it Tuesday morning. Much of the news coverage focused on the McConnell team's comments about Judd's religious views and her mental-health history. But the tape might raise ethics questions for McConnell and his staff.

Senate ethics rules prohibit Senate employees from participating in political activities while on government time. But the tape indicates that several of McConnell's legislative aides, whose salaries are paid by the taxpayer, were involved with producing the oppo research on Judd that was discussed at the February 2 meeting.

More Mother Jones coverage of Mitch McConnell and the 2014 Kentucky Senate race.

Secret Tape: McConnell and Aides Weighed Using Judd's Mental Health and Religion As Political Ammo

Did Mitch McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?

Louisville Courier-Journal: McConnell Tape Contents Are "Despicable" and the "Real Story"

Full Transcript and Audio of Mitch McConnell Campaign's Meeting on Ashley Judd

McConnell Asks FBI to Investigate Secret Tapeâ€”Then Fundraises Off It

Watch: McConnell Says "Political Left Bugged My Headquarters"

Mitch McConnell Will Fundraise With Billionaires After Saying the GOP Is Not The Party of Billionaires

CPAC: Where Ashley Judd Rape Jokes Happen

Here's the relevant section of the transcript:

Presenter: So I'll just preface my comments that this reflects the work of a lot of folks: Josh, Jesse, Phil Maxson, a lot of LAs, thank them three times*, so this is a compilation of work, all the way through. The first person we'll focus on, Ashley Judd—basically I refer to her as sort of the oppo research situation where there's a haystack of needles, just because truly, there's such a wealth of material. [Laughter.]

Ah, you know Jesse slogged through her autobiography. She has innumerable video interviews, tweets, blog posts, articles, magazine articles.

The presenter was explaining that the opposition research on Judd was compiled by several people. "LAs" is congressional parlance for legislative assistants; one of the legislative assistants, Phil Maxson, gets his own shout-out. The question is whether Maxson and the other McConnell LAs were digging up material on Judd while on government time. If they were engaged in this research while on annual leave or vacation—or working outside Senate hours—they wouldn't be violating Senate rules. But if this was done on Senate time, McConnell could have a problem.

[UPDATE: The Weekly Standard's Daniel Halper suggests that the aide in the transcription isn't saying "thank them three times," he's saying "in their free time." That's plausible, and if it's true, McConnell and his aides are in the clear. You can listen for yourself here. UPDATE 2: On even closer listen, "in their" isn't plausible, but "free time" is. You should decide for yourself.]

Here's how Tara Malloy, an expert on ethics rules at the Campaign Legal Center, described the issue in an email:

Any assessment under the Ethics rules would require some more facts—most particularly whether any official resources were used in connection to the conversation or oppo research, and/or whether the conversation or other activities took place on government property. In general, however, the ethics rules do not bar staffers from engaging in campaign activity provided they do it on their own time and do not involve government resources or property.

Here is the relevant excerpt from the Senate Ethics Manual:

As discussed more fully below, Senate Rule 41 prohibits Senate staff, with the exception of specified "political fund designees," from handling federal campaign funds. Subject to that restriction, however, and as long as they do not neglect their official duties, Senate employees are free to engage in campaign activities on their own time, as volunteers or for pay, provided they do not do so in congressional offices or otherwise use official resources. An employee's "own time" includes time beyond regular working hours, any accrued annual leave, or non-government hours of a part-time employee. Staff may not be required to do political work as a condition of Senate employment. Just as Senate employees are free to campaign for their employing Members on their own time, they may also use their free time or, with the permission of their employing Members, reduce their Senate hours (with a commensurate reduction in pay) to campaign for presidential candidates, other federal candidates, or state or local aspirants. With respect to the question of leave time to perform campaign activities, it is the Committee's understanding that the Senate does not recognize a "leave of absence."

We asked Jesse Benton, McConnell's campaign manager; Allison Moore, a spokeswoman for his Senate office; and Phil Maxson, the LA named on the tape, to explain whether the oppo work was done on Senate time, but they did not respond.

Guy Cecil, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is working to defeat McConnell, sent out a series of tweets on Tuesday noting this issue:

@zekejmiller Neither does using official Senate staff to do opposition research on potential opponents.
— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

How many McConnell Senate staffers participated in gathering opposition research on Democrats? Was this part of their day-to-work?
— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

Did McConnell know that his legislative assistants were engaging in negative political research? Did the NRSC?
— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

@hotlinejosh @alex_roarty @kasie Does he think it is OK for his Senate Legislative Assistants to do opposition political research?
— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

@rebeccagberg Did they comment on the legislative staff who was doing opposition political research?
— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) April 9, 2013

South Buy Southwest: At America's Biggest Tech Conference, It's All About the Sell

Nick Baumann — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:00:08 +0000

The giant plush Oreo is friendly enough—it waves its stubby, T-Rex-scale arms when it realizes I want to take a photo. We are at South by Southwest, the annual music, film, and interactive (read: tech) festival that's drawn huge crowds to Austin, Texas, for more than 25 years now. I'm here to figure out how to convince more people to read MotherJones.com so we can sell more ads. The Oreo is here to sell more Oreos.

Almost everyone at South by Southwest is here to sell you something. Much of the conference is about marketing—and you're the mark. The guy who promises to teach you how to make your videos go viral is gunning for a cut of your resulting YouTube ad revenue. The folks who claim to know all about social-media metrics want you to subscribe to their service, which tracks social-media metrics. A woman who has "spent her groundbreaking career redefining orgasm" wants to sell you classes in orgasmic meditation. Nearly every panelist has a book to sell, too. Al Gore wants to sell you on the idea that his sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera, an international news network backed by a Middle Eastern petrostate, somehow dovetails neatly with his climate change crusade. (He also wants you to buy his book.) The internet security company CEO who's warning you that "you are exposed" wants you to persuade your company to buy his web security services. (He has a book, too.)

You can't walk more than a block near the Austin Convention Center without someone trying to get you to download their app. LevelUp lets you pay for $3.50 Pepsis and $7.00 sandwiches with your phone. Hater, an app that takes seriously the tongue-in-cheek argument for a Facebook "dislike" button, lets you "share the things you hate." I've counted at least four different taxi-related apps. The startup apps are promoted by nervous young women in colorful T-shirts, or pedicab advertisements, or giant foam mascots, or just signs taped to trees, or all of the above.

The kings of the SXSW salesmen are those who don't have to fake enthusiasm for what they're selling: They're not paid $12 a hour to twirl a sign around or dress up in a foam suit or ask strangers to download apps. Elon Musk wants to send your satellite into space. Bre Pettis hopes you’ll to buy a 3D printer for your kid, so she can make her own plastic toys and grow her imagination. By the way, Pettis' MakerBots start at $2,200. 3D printers are undeniably cool, but it gnaws at your soul to watch a speech and realize you're sitting through a dressed-up infomercial for a product few Americans can afford.

"SXSW As Cool And Real As It Gets, Reports Marketing Associate," the Onion snarked on Monday. But even the marketers realize what's happened here. SXSW is now "as much a marketing event as it is a tech gathering," Digiday, a digital media and marketing website, proclaimed Monday. Digiday's coverage of the conference was—no joke—"sponsored by Centro," which is "a provider of media services and software that aims to improve campaign performance and digital media teams' productivity," whatever that means. How much Centro paid for the privilege isn't listed on Digiday's rundown of the costs of different SXSW marketing maneuvers.

The constant SXSW marketing is most obvious at the interactive conference, but it extends to the music and film portions, too. The smaller bands are here to score record deals. The indie filmmakers are here to sign distribution deals. The big bands here are half hidden under the coattails of their sponsors: Passion Pit, brought to you by Taco Bell. When Jay-Z was here last year, you had to have an American Express card to attend the show.

SXSW is the 21st-century equivalent of a medieval market town, just with more horseshit. It's an orgy of capitalism, an unrestrained, unselfconscious celebration of sales, marketing, branding, and "gamification." Even the dumbest of memes have been recruited in the service of sales. Grumpy Cat is here, and she wants you to buy Friskies.

For a gathering so driven by the pursuit of money, the question of who has it—and who doesn't—goes almost completely unmentioned. There are talks about social and civil rights issues—feminism, race, female genital cutting—but words like "inequality" literally aren't on the schedule. (A search for "taxes" returns a session that mentions how awesome it would be to have a robot who could do them.) Maybe that's because everyone knows that almost everyone here coughed up several hundreds of dollars for a conference pass, and hundreds more for lodging. Conversations about inequality are awkward. Conversations about futurism, tech triumphalism, entrepreneurship, and the "intersections" thereof reign supreme. There's almost no talk of religion, electoral politics, or labor unions—anything that smacks of old-school collective action. This is a place of unfettered technological optimism, where coders and entrepreneurs can solve any societal problem. SXSW has a politics, but it's one that mirrors the technolibertarianism of the Reddit generation: civil liberties (read: free speech, Larry Lessig, and Aaron Swartz), entrepreneurship, and individualism.

Maybe it's unfair to expect a conference that's essentially a glorified trade show to concern itself with a broader sort of politics. But SXSW is a big deal: Hundreds of media outlets cover it, and its overall tone sends a message to attendees and the broader culture. And too often, SXSW's focus on buying and selling can devolve into self-parody. One Tuesday panel promised to teach entrepreneurs about "engaging government" for "fun, profit, and meaning." On Sunday, Dan Wagner, the chief analytics officer for President Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign, joined Zac Moffatt, the digital director of Romney for President, and two of their former colleagues, for a panel about how they culled electoral, internet usage, viewing habits, and other personal data to better target potential voters. Tom Serres, a former Romney aide on the panel with Moffatt and Wagner, made sure everyone knew about his new online fundraising startup, which is neither indieGoGo nor Kickstarter, but a third thing that is somehow different. The audience, meanwhile, evinced no apparent revulsion towards the idea of national political parties collecting intimate details about the eating, drinking, TV watching, pleasure reading, and weekend relaxation habits of average Americans. Another panel asked whether "crowdfunding can save local government budgets." Maybe one local government budget: The total amount pledged to all Kickstarter projects in 2012 is about $7 million less than Detroit's 2013 budget deficit.

There are things to love about SXSW. The food is even better than you've been led to believe, there are lots of movies and bands to see, and Passion Pit put on a great show, Doritos® Locos Tacos and all. There are many sincere, interesting people here—although it's often hard to talk to them in the context of the conference itself. (I found myself learning a lot more while sharing meals with people than I did going to panels.) If your phone doesn't have enough apps, that problem will be solved. And hey—free Oreos! Did I mention my startup? We have an app. You can buy my boss David Corn's book here.

The Trouble With the SEC's "Cars"

Nick Baumann — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:23:02 +0000

On Monday, we posted my story on high-speed trading from the January/February print issue of Mother Jones. (Read it!) Here's the nut:

As technology has ushered in a brave new world on Wall Street, the nation's watchdogs remain behind the curve, unable to effectively monitor, much less regulate, today's markets. As in 2008, when regulators only seemed to realize after the fact the threat posed by the toxic stew of securitization, the financial whiz kids are again one stepâ€”or leapâ€”ahead...

...[Knight Capital's big loss on August 1] wasn't the worst-case scenario. Not even close. A lot of high-frequency trading is done by small proprietary trading firms, subject to less oversight than brand name financial institutions. But big banks have also tried to get in on the act. Imagine a runaway algorithm at a too-big-to-fail company like Bank of America, which manages trillions, not billions, in assets. Or, says Bill Black, a former federal regulator who helped investigate the S&L crisis of the '80s and '90s, imagine trading algorithms causing "a series of cascade failures"â€”like the domino effect that followed Lehman's collapse. "If enough of these bad things occur at the same time," he says, "financial institutions can begin to fail, even very large ones." It's not a question of whether this will happen, Black warns. "It is a question of when."

Years of mistakes and bad decisions led to the 2008 collapse. But when the next crisis happens, it may not develop over months, weeks, or even days. It could take seconds.

One quote I couldn't fit in the final story illuminates the point that the nation's watchdogs are behind the curve. When I asked Gregg Berman, the Securities and Exchange Commission expert who headed the agency's inquiry into the flash crash, how he'd describe the SEC's role, he responded with an extended metaphor:

Berman compares the agency's role in the marketplace to how traffic laws are created and enforced. A town can pass rules setting speed limits that take into account traffic flow and safety, and patrol officers can use radar guns to measure the speed of individual cars, issuing tickets when violations occur. But the officer is not actually in the car and cannot step on the brake pedal as soon as the driver begins to violate the speed limit. Similarly, the SEC is not generally an active market participant "steering the car" in real time. Instead, it acts through policies that do act in real time. For example, the single-stock circuit breakers, put in place after the flash crash, are designed to automatically hit the brakes and halt trading under disorderly market conditions, akin to programing the car to hit the brakes automatically when a potential collision is detected.

That the SEC isn't "in the car," steering in real time, is obvious to anyone who works in financeâ€”as Berman notes, the agency is limited to accident-avoidance technologies that are programmed in advance. It's obvious why this is: Giving the SEC the ability to monitor and shut down trading in real time would be enormously expensive and would likely slow down trading considerably. (Imagine if someone sitting in the passenger seat while you drive, with their own wheel and set of brakes. You probably wouldn't like it.)

To the uninitiated, though, this point might seem pretty scary. The SEC is relying on automatic measuresâ€”designed in response to the last disasterâ€”to slam on the brakes if a potential collision is detected. But the "cars" (trading firms) are hurtling down highways faster than ever before, and many of them are being "driven" by robotsâ€”sophisticated trading algorithms that buy and sell securities automatically, without human intervention.

One crash, and the demise of one trading firm, isn't such a big deal. But what about a chain-reaction crash? What about a multi-car pileup?

Here's the bottom line: If the SEC's automatic measures fail, it won't be able to react in time to avert a crisis. It will only be able to come in after the fact and try to clean up the mess. We accept this sort of thing when it comes to cars. But even the largest of car crashes can't wreak the kind of economic havoc that a series of cascade failures in the market could.