triggers bomb scare

[Dave]

several areas of Boston were shut down over the course of the day yesterday to remove devices found secured to bridges, near train stations and major intersections. this all started around 9am and early on, police said they were not explosive devices, but they didnt know what they were. by around 3pm, several more had been found. it wasnt until late afternoon or early evening that Turner Broadcasting bothered to notify anyone that it was a "viral marketing" campaign for Aqua Teen hunger Force.
was Turner Broadcasting acting irresponsibly by placing these small electronic devices on or near key infrastructure without notifying the city of its intent or did city officials over-react to something they identified as being harmless early on?
link 1
link 2

this is what the devices looked like when lit up. they had light sensors that lit them after dark.

 

[catocom]

bunch of dumbasses.
I doubt many of the people (and not talk of just the 2, but the network)
will learn much from this, but they are probably going to pay....bigtime.

 

[spike]

The government has us afraid of Lite Brites now. They had been in 10 cities for two weeks and suddenly Boston freaks out.

Well. it's a top story on every major news outlet in the country. Pretty successful ad campaign.

 

[chcr]

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Looks like the terrorists won another battle, huh?

 

[MrBishop]

Video of Bostonian version of chicken little

 

[Gato_Solo]

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Looks like the terrorists won another battle, huh?

Only in Massachusetts...

 

[Gonz]

early on, police said they were not explosive devices

In that case what is the exact problem?

We can't blame the police. It is their job to investigate suspicious activity. Had these been dangerous items, we'd have had a shit fit if they did nothing. On the other hand, nobody on the force can recognize a simple circuit board?

chcr said it right "Looks like the terrorists won another battle, huh?". That is the curse of terrorism. Imagine this happening in Israel.

 

[Dave]

In that case what is the exact problem?

one of the early theories was the possibility that the devices were left there to test response time by emergency services. at the time, only 5 of the devices had been located. one at a train station below the interstate, 3 were on I-beams below bridges with two of those bridges crossing the Charles River and one near a major hospital.

a reporter this morning mentioned that if the police had shown a picture of the device early on, then anyone under the age of 25 would have recognized it immediately and the episode would have been over and done with by noon.

 

[chcr]

Only in Massachusetts...

True enough, but it seems to be happening more and more everywhere. Here's a case of something that had nothing to do with terrorism or practitioners thereof and yet you absolutely know that was the first thing the police thought. It's becoming ingrained in our culture that we should be afraid of terrorists (kinda like we were supposed to be afraid of "the red menace" at one time). So I ask once again, why are so many people (especially in government) so eager to give terrorists what they want?

There's a huge difference between being prudent and reacting first out of fear.

 

[Gato_Solo]

True enough, but it seems to be happening more and more everywhere. Here's a case of something that had nothing to do with terrorism or practitioners thereof and yet you absolutely know that was the first thing the police thought. It's becoming ingrained in our culture that we should be afraid of terrorists (kinda like we were supposed to be afraid of "the red menace" at one time). So I ask once again, why are so many people (especially in government) so eager to give terrorists what they want?

Police responded to a call. Not on their own.

There's a huge difference between being prudent and reacting first out of fear.

Once again, I blame rampant liberalism for this whole debacle. Government is there to protect the nation, not you, individually.

 

[chcr]

Once again, I blame rampant liberalism for this whole debacle. Government is there to protect the nation, not you, individually.

Of course you do.

I blame the federal government (not just the current administration) and the media. Terrorists haven't killed so many Americans that it should be possible for them to generate the level of fear they currently do without constant reinforcement from our government and our media. I'm not so sure (haven't been for quite a while) that their on our side.

I don't expect the government to protect me personally. As you point out, that's not their job. I think they're currently doing a piss-poor job of protecting the nation though.

 

[Gonz]

Before 1970, Americans were safe from terrorism. Since then, we have become progressively more a target. Until the current actions, we were getting hit, albeit not here, more & more often. Then we got hit here (as we also did in '93).

Before we end up like Israel, we must end the threat. It's working (unless one hates GW)

 

[Dave]

some of the signs were only up for 24 hours

Overnight Monday, Berdovsky and Stevens embarked on "Boston Mission 2" and hung another 18 devices, including one underneath Interstate 93 in Sullivan Square in Charlestown.
A little more than 24 hours later, someone in Sullivan Square spotted the magnetic light and reported it as a suspicious object. That forced the closure of the MBTA's Orange Line and northbound I-93 and ignited a wave of bomb scares as people spotted more of the magnetic lights

i find this a little bothersome.

An advertising executive at Interference Marketing Inc. instructed Peter Berdovsky to keep quiet while police scrambled across the metropolitan area responding to a series of bomb scares. Berdovsky sent an e-mail to friends at 1:25 p.m. telling them not to talk about the marketing scheme to promote the animated television show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" on the Cartoon Network.

they knew it was causing problems but decided to keep quiet.

 

[spike]

we must end the threat. It's working (unless one hates GW)

Our own intelligence agencies hate GW?

A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html?ex=1316750400&en=da252be85d1b39fa&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Well. it's a top story on every major news outlet in the country. Pretty successful ad campaign.

Quick, somebody check my lithium level...I'm agreeing with spi...sp...with sp...with him.


These cocky little pricks have been all over the news today. Lock em up and teach em a lesson in respect for the legal system they seem intent on mocking.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

And how long before the little lite-brite thingamabob becomes someone's avatar? I say less than 24 hours...

 

[A.B.Normal]

And how long before the little lite-brite thingamabob becomes someone's avatar? I say less than 24 hours...

If only I hadn't changed to the Pron Monkey only yesterday.

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Oh c'mon ab, you gotta! It is sooooo YOU!!

 

[chcr]

Before we end up like Israel, we must end the threat. It's working (unless one hates GW)

Wake up and smell the coffee. It is most assuredly not working. If it were working, wouldn't the average citizen be getting less afraid rather than more? In the meantime, citizens are encouraged to live in fear and spy on one another. So much so that a juvenile prank is now a national news story involving terrorism. I'm sure some people are laughing into their beards. After all they didn't have to lift a finger.

 

[Inkara1]

And how long before the little lite-brite thingamabob becomes someone's avatar? I say less than 24 hours...