Boston Bomb Scare

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Do they seriously think that a bomb is going to be covered with blinky lights in the form of a cartoon character?

That's why they call it terrorism: they want you to know that it's a bomb, but you can't get to it (much less decide whether to clip the blue or the red wire, oh no! the red wire made it go faster!) because it's, like, ten feet up in the air and you don't have a ladder.

Oh my God has anybody got a ladde-BOOM!!! That's the terror part.

[Happy Monkey]

Apparently they're ads. I thought they were a bit boring for MIT.

[Flint]

"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger."

Revised from: We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger, you fucking morons.

...the objects had been in place for two to three weeks in
Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Flint

Revised from: We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger, you fucking morons.

"but we're really glad we've gotten all this free publicity"

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

"but we're really glad we've gotten all this free publicity"

I was telling my wife about this, and how they were supposedly in all these other cities for all this time, so what was it that made them a "bomb threat" in Boston? She says "Someone from Turner Broadcatsing 'reported' them in Boston?"

[Happy Monkey]

On the plus side for Turner, they can now start selling them. Boston just made them the hot commodity on college campuses across the nation.

[BigV]

I liked (not) the part about

...City and state officials tried to quell fears today at a press conference at about the time Turner Broadcasting took responsibility for the publicity stunt. Boston Mayor Thomas promised to prosecute those responsible for what was described at the time as a hoax.

"This is not playing around," said Menino, who added that each individual scare could be punishable by two to three years in prison.

Good grief. What if I thought the "lost dog" flyers stapled to telephone poles in my neighborhood were "scary"? 2-3 years per flyer? I'm going to jail because you're a ninny? What happens if the bad guys make a bomb that looks like, I dunno, say, A CAR?!?! Will I get 2-3 years for scaring people who see my car? Wait, I own two cars, that's 4-6 years.



Am I the only one that thinks the "bad guys" are wetting their pants with laughter at the overreaction here? Don't get me wrong--Terrorists==bad. I know that. But prosecuting people for, um, advertising? You're joking, right? No, I didn't think so.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by BigV

Am I the only one that thinks the "bad guys" are wetting their pants with laughter at the overreaction here? Don't get me wrong--Terrorists==bad. I know that. But prosecuting people for, um, advertising? You're joking, right? No, I didn't think so.

I can support some littering fines, but that's about it.

Here's a first-person account.

[Elspode]

I think we need to make up a bunch of these that have a scrolling display that reas, "This is not a bomb, you dimwits", and the stick them all over the place.

Then, if touched, the display should suddenly change to an animated explosion, with the word "BOOM!" in it.

[Happy Monkey]

The reporting was pretty consistently calling them "hoax devices", which upon first glance makes no sense, as they obviously were not intended to look like bombs, but that is the terminology in the terrorism law.

[Kitsune]

Funniest paranoia event of 2007 so far.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Kitsune

Funniest paranoia event of 2007 so far.

:lighter :STANDING OVATION: :lighter:

Brav-o!

They freaked out as if they had no brain, then acted like, and continue to act like, a bunch of assholes... that is all.
The terrorists have won, we have no Constitution and our "protectors" are a bunch of fucking ninnys.

[Sundae]

What can I say - get used to it. Said with sympathy and sadness.

When I lived in London I lost count of how many times my journey was disrupted by a suspect package - in my 3.5 years there not a single one turned out to be a bomb.

And in the 10-odd years of staying with my grandparents in the school holidays I wasn't able to use a litter bin on a station platform because they had all been removed. True, London was still being bombed by the IRA during this time, but it was an everyday inconvenience all the same.

I'm not suggesting that the authorites didn't over-react in this case, but this is the way the world has been for a while and it seems to have finally caught up with America. In some ways you're lucky that the terrorists only seem to want to make big gestures in your country. It makes the plots easier to uncover.

[Kitsune]

Dear City of Boston,

After witnessing the horror of yesterday's terrorist scare, I must warn you there are many more suspicious packages in your city! Included is a map of just a handful of the dozens that are hidden in many of your public, populated areas and are concealed in your parks where children play. These packages are often dangerous-looking ammunition boxes, camouflaged plastic bins, and magnetic holders attached to USPS mailboxes and benches. The contents of these packages is a mystery. They are placed by people using a system employed by the 9/11 hijackers, GPS, and are visited frequently by suspect persons attempting to keep their actions secret. Prepare your citizens for the mass panic to come! For more information on what roads to close, buildings to evacuate, and where to deploy your bomb squad/homeland security forces, simply follow this link.

We all pray for the best possible outcome, that these are hoax bombs, and that the criminals involved are quickly arrested and charged for their horrific actions.