No poultry contact in some Chinese bird flu cases - WHO

GENEVA/BEIJING (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that a number of people who have tested positive for a new strain of bird flu in China appear to have had no contact with poultry, adding to the mystery about a virus that has killed 17 people to date.

Chinese authorities have slaughtered thousands of birds and closed some live poultry markets to try to slow the rate of human infection, but many questions remain unsolved, including whether the H7N9 strain is being transmitted between people.

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl confirmed that "there are people who have no history of contact with poultry", after a top Chinese scientist was quoted as saying this applied to about 40 percent of those infected.

"This is one of the puzzles still (to) be solved and therefore argues for a wide investigation net," Hartl said in emailed comments.

http://in.mobile.reuters.com/article/idINDEE93G01G20130417?irpc=932

Arrest Warrants Issued For Leaders of Venezuelan Opposition Party

Luisa Estella Morales, the Supreme Tribunal chief in Venezuela, has issued arrest warrants against Henrique Cabriles, the loser of Sunday's presidential election, and members of Voluntad Popular for instigation to commit crimes.

In addition to Cabriles, Chief Morales has also issued arrest warrants for members of Cabriles' team, as well as Leopoldo López, the leader of Voluntad Popular.

All of this comes after the election results elicited massive protests accross the country with claims that the election was fixed. Since then, Chief Morales has stated that there will be a manual recount of the election results. The official results of Monday's election was 50.8% to 49%, in favor of Hugo Chavez protégé, Nicolas Maduro.

José Ignacio Hernández's piece in the Venezuelan paper, Prodavinci, explains why a recount should and must take place (H/T Juan Cristobal Nagel).

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/17/arrest-warrants-issued-for-leaders-of-venezuelan-opposition-party.html

Freepers insulted at Southern Poverty Law Center comments...lol.

Anonymous Hacks the Westboro Baptist Church's Facebook Page

In the wake of yesterday's bombing at the Boston Marathon, the Westboro Baptist Church—the small yet noisy bunch who gained national attention for picketing the funerals of American soldiers in the name of hating gay people—did what they do: It announced its plans to yell at people attending funerals of Boston Marathon victims for not being godly enough.

The hacker group Anonymous wasn't a fan of this, so today it threatened the Topeka, Kansas-based church with unspecified retaliation. Earlier today, Anonymous members apparently hacked WBC's Facebook account, rewriting bio information and plastering its wall with an assortment of meme-heavy images. Here are some screenshots of what this looked like:

1. In which the church founders include beloved cereal box character "Captain Crunch":

More...

This isn't the first time Anonymous has targeted the Westboro Baptist Church. In mid-December, after WBC announced that they would crash the Newtown funerals, the online collective apparently hacked the church's website (the predictably titled godhatesfags.com) and the Twitter feed of Westboro-er Shirley Phelps-Roper. It also posted church members' personal information online.

http://m.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/anonymous-hacks-westboro-baptist-church-facebook-boston-marathon?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The Boston Marathon Is in Boston, and Other Things The New York Post Got Right

Everyone is talking about all the things The New York Post got wrong during the course of its reporting on yesterday’s bombings in Boston. One example, per The Huffington Post (no relation!): “Soon after the blasts struck on Monday afternoon, the paper, citing law enforcement sources, said that 12 people had died. It stuck to this assertion all day, even as every other outlet put the number at two or, at the most, three.” And then there was the bit about a Saudi man being “in custody” of the Boston Police Department. The Boston Police Department—one of the top 10 sources, at least, for information relating to the Boston Police Department—disputed the report, saying that it did not have anyone in custody, Saudi or otherwise. As far as what’s been confirmed, the Boston Police Department still does not have anyone in custody.

The Atlantic, also taking note of the paper’s mistakes, hedges that it’s certainly possible the daily was “so far ahead of the story.” Meanwhile, The Washington Post (no relation!) threatens that the New York tabloid “better have good sources.” Sure, yes, naturally. What’s that old journalistic expression? “All sources are good sources”? We’ll pause to look it up in the Post.

While we are grateful that a battle-weary and heartbroken nation is able to come together and heal by mocking and/or criticizing The New York Post, in the interest of fairness, we do feel some responsibility to point out all the things the paper got right. Let’s give ’em some credit for the following:

The New York Post correctly reported that the Boston Marathon takes place in Boston, Massachusetts.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/04/the-boston-marathon-is-in-boston-and-other-things-the-new-york-post-got-right?mbid=social_retweet

Rachel did an excellent job explaining the bomb evidence.

She went through the attempts and noted that most here have been duds due to the inability to ignite the bomb. This prompts the question if the person had training such that they were able to detonate 2 of these bombs.

The one bomber who was trained overseas used concentrated peroxide (iirc), but he was caught prior due to good intelligence.

Also it doesn't seem to be a signature Al Qaeda bomb, and the materials were crude and widely available. That may make it difficult to trace. The expert she had on says the significance of the circuit board is it may be traceable. Rachel asked if the circuit board trigger showed sophistication in itself and the expert replied that the most sophisticated bomb is one that detonates as planned.

The scary thing is that pressure cooker bombs were used in India, on 7 different buses killing over 200. The pressure cooker bombs are used worldwide.

Bomb has "elements of a sophisticated triggering mechanism"

BOSTON – The deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon were caused by pressure cooker bombs placed to act like a "homemade claymore," a powerful, directional anti-personnel device, sources involved in the investigation told NBC News on Tuesday.


These and other sources say that the bombs appear to have included a battery pack and a circuit board, the elements they said of a sophisticated triggering mechanism. Both of those elements were recovered at the scene, they said.

"It appeared to be built from scratch but with a sophisticated triggering mechanism. And frankly, at the end of the day, all bombs are crude devices, and it is the way they are triggered that can be sophisticated," said one official with strong knowledge of explosives. "They functioned as designed."

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/16/17781359-boston-marathon-bombs-meant-to-act-as-homemade-claymore-sources-say?lite

Pressure cookers help make good bombs _ and clues

WASHINGTON (AP) — In kitchens, they prepare food faster, but pressure cookers by their very nature help make good bombs, amplifying the blast and the carnage.

They don’t just hold the explosives. The tightly sealed pot that speeds the cooking of beans and meat makes easier-to-obtain but weaker explosives faster and stronger. And they may also help investigators find out who built the deadly homemade bombs that exploded at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Investigators found fragments of BBs and nails, possibly contained in a pressure cooker, said Richard DesLauriers, the FBI agent in charge in Boston. He said the items were sent for analysis.

If a pressure cooker was used, it probably cost around $100 to construct, say former federal forensic and explosive investigators. It’s like a pipe bomb but bigger and more powerful.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/04/16/pressure-cookers-help-make-good-bombs-and-clues/YAMiCr8QdZEnANwtxdkiLM/story.html

If this is someone making a political statement wouldn't they have claimed responsibility?

This goes for internal and external groups.

What is the point of killing people to make a point if you don't tell anyone what the purpose was?

Maybe it is some kind of sick score keeping type wanting their 2 days of anonymous fame.

NBCs Pete Williams discussing 20 year old Saudi man whose apartment was searched.