One reason why I hate this country...

esper · Fri 02/02/2007 02:42:51

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/boston.bombscare/index.html

Ever heard of Inignokt and Err from Aqua Teen Hunger Force? Well, they're terrorists now. Damn this friggin' moronic country...

Evil · Fri 02/02/2007 04:27:08

I don't get it? I mean, were they set up like tiny displays? I'm not following why they thought they were bombs.

I guess I'll have to wear my "Mooninites > You" shirt all week.

Scummbuddy · Fri 02/02/2007 04:33:23

The "suspects" speak out at a news conference... and totally make the media look rediculous. I love them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx2ytr2Oyv4

Evil · Fri 02/02/2007 04:43:08

FUCKIN' ACE.

"Um, thats also not a hair question."

esper · Fri 02/02/2007 04:45:16

@Evil: apparently, three weeks ago they set up little 1 foot tall by 1 foot wide "lite brites" with light bulbs in the shape of Err flipping people off. They had magnetic backs and thus stuck to metallic surfaces. According to the news report, it was the "batteries and wires" that made them "very sinister in appearance." With that fully explained, you tell me how they were mistaken for bombs.

My guess: profound mental retardation.

EDIT: Just caught Kevin Pereira's take on this on Attack of the Show... He put it really well when he said "I doubt any terrorists have the sense of humor to use a bomb in the image of a cartoon character flipping us off." Then I was treated to ridiculous televised images of SWAT teams trying to disarm Inignokt.

Gilbert · Fri 02/02/2007 05:13:26

I'd seen this in the morning news.

It's funny though (well also sad at the same time), I'll say it'll be more logical if they ban all the bomberman games first.

OneThinkingGal and ._. · Fri 02/02/2007 05:20:59

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=auRN_ziN1C4A&refer=us

1. They were not charged as terrorists. They are being charged with planting 'hoax devices'. TAnd possibly with disorderly conduct.

2. Anyone who thinks that planting boxes with wires and lights under bridges and at bus and commuter stations is a good idea should be locked up indefinately anyway. Or shot.

3. A lot of taxpayer dollars were wasted to give this stupid corporation publicity.

Quote
Late today, ABC News reported on its Web site that Interference may have asked Berdovsky and Stevens to remain quiet yesterday afternoon as Boston police, aided by federal and state law enforcement, dealt with devices they had discovered under bridges, subway lines and busy intersections. ABC said an e-mail supplied by friends of the two supports the claim.

4. The sheer amount of boxes is mind-boggling:

Similar devices were placed in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas, Turner said.

Really WTF, as if we don't have enough marketing shoved in our face all day.

LGM · Fri 02/02/2007 05:22:57

It's sad when a country can get this scared over an ad campaign.

If it weren't for all the cheap food, booze, and women... I'd leave.

Evil · Fri 02/02/2007 05:26:24

I love this show. I mean, from what I read, Boston is the only city that had issues. People do shit like this all the time. The only reason it's a big deal is because it's a major corporation and the people of Boston are pretentious.

esper · Fri 02/02/2007 05:35:49

Good heavens...

Quoteanyone who plants a device ``that would cause a person reasonably to believe that such device is an infernal machine'' could face 30 months to five years in jail and be fined $5,000.

So a lite brite showing a cartoon character flipping the bird is mistaken, "by experts on the scene," as an "infernal machine?" Makes me feel really comfortable about the "experts" in this country.

Thanks so much, George Dubya, for purposely instilling fear in this country so you can wrap it around your finger. We cringe and cower every time someone spills some baby powder or displays a light-up cartoon character and you get richer and richer thanks to your oil crusades in the Middle East that no one stands up to you about because we are too concerned about Orange Terror Alerts. Pretty brilliant plan for an imbecile.

IMHO, I'd rather have "ads shoved in my face" for a cartoon that mocks that crap than listen to everything the government tries to pass off as logical for all the stoolies that sit around and listen to it. And, by the way, enough taxpayer dollars go to testing the flow rate of ketchup and the effects of second hand smoke on dogs that "taxpayer dollars" being wasted anywhere doesn't bother me anymore. WHAT THE HELL actually cost the city of Boston $750,000.00 ?!??!!!?!?!??

"I'm an expert."
"Is that a bomb."
"Yeeeesssssss......"
"Okay. Good enough for me. Here's three quarters of a million dollars..."

Snarky · Fri 02/02/2007 05:59:41

While I agree about excessive paranoia, it would be pretty stupid to just ignore an unexplained device with wires and stuff placed under a bridge just because it had a cartoon character on it. Don't you think if you wanted to blow up a bridge, you might be able to come up with a disguise like that?

Besides, guerilla marketers are assholes anyway, and if someone is going to get thrown in jail I couldn't think of someone I'd rather choose.

Kweepa · Fri 02/02/2007 07:09:11

Quote from: Snarky on Fri 02/02/2007 05:59:41
While I agree about excessive paranoia, it would be pretty stupid to just ignore an unexplained device with wires and stuff placed under a bridge just because it had a cartoon character on it. Don't you think if you wanted to blow up a bridge, you might be able to come up with a disguise like that?

Did you look at the pictures? It's a circuit board covered in LEDs with some batteries at the bottom. This isn't Alias. It's not a bomb.

Quote
Besides, guerilla marketers are assholes anyway, and if someone is going to get thrown in jail I couldn't think of someone I'd rather choose.

I choose you!

How about swindlers? Murderers? &c.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 02/02/2007 08:43:43

With situations like this I think it's important to try and understand both sides of the issue. First off, I think that Adult Swim did this with no malice of forethought and merely thought they were doing something cool that would attract geeks and such to their show. I also see how 'the average joe' could see one of these and think they were potentially dangerous. Not everyone is well-versed in electronics, Steve. Far from it, actually. Just because I have an engineering degree and could more or less look a circuit over and say 'hey, that's pretty neat' doesn't mean the majority of people can do the same, and it's not fair to assume that people will. I think Adult Swim is largely at fault for putting these devices in what I would label as 'suspicious' locations (under bridges, etc) rather than just in shop windows or at sign posts. Their approach is what laid the foundation for the whole situation, silly or not.

GarageGothic · Fri 02/02/2007 09:11:51

What if clever terrorists started making bombs that DIDN'T have wires and batteries sticking out? It boggles the mind

Sam. · Fri 02/02/2007 11:29:13

Don't be ridiculous GG, everyone knows bombs only explode when they have wires sticking out of them.

Radiant · Fri 02/02/2007 12:03:26

Overreacting, refusing to back down, and blaming other people. That's a good way for any government to react, no?

OneThinkingGal and ._. · Fri 02/02/2007 13:45:18

Not everyone has seen this show and altho in highsight we know its an ad campaign, there's no way to tell from the actual devices. Also, when people say terrorism now, they usually mean some middle eastern muslim terrorists - but there have been plenty of domestic ones as well.

If you have various boxes that's giving you the finger with wires sticking out in usually targeted public places, I don't think that taking precautions is overreacting.

Boston is a particularly sensitive city since 9/11. The govt. couldn't have won either way in this, if they hadn't 'overreacted', people would have said 'WELL THEY COULD HAVE BEEN BOMBS OMG DO THEY CARE NOTHING ABOUT US!' and so on. Do something, and you get flak for overreacting. No-win situation.

Kweepa · Fri 02/02/2007 14:17:29

What is this "wires sticking out" nonsense?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanderlin/sets/72157594512553078/

Quote from: ProgZmax on Fri 02/02/2007 08:43:43
Not everyone is well-versed in electronics, Steve.

That doesn't explain sending in a remote control robot. The police should know better.
http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid33016.aspx
By 10am they pretty much knew what was "in" one, and by 1pm they knew it was from an Adult Swim cartoon, yet the scare continued all day.

Da_Elf · Fri 02/02/2007 15:57:13

im just glad i live a nice simple life on a tropical island (opps. didnt mean to rub it in hehehe kidding)

Helm · Fri 02/02/2007 16:05:54

I want terrorist chairs. You just sit on them and they explode you. People in the US will be afraid of chairs forever if this happens like 3 times