"Is that why we don't get any more fan mail?"
Posted on 01/31/2007 12:04:30 PM PST by Howlin
BOSTON -- Four "hoax devices" were found at several Boston locations Wednesday, hours after officials detonated a suspicious package on an elevated structure above the Sullivan Square Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority station.
The additional packages were found at the Boston University Bridge, the Longfellow Bridge and near the intersection of Stuart and Columbus streets. A device described by officials as a pipe bomb was found in the basement of the Tufts New England Medical Center at 185 Harrison Ave.
A spokesman for the Boston Police Department said that all of the packages appeared to be similar.
"Our device was not an active device. We are still treating the area as a crime scene. There were no injuries. Everyone was evacuated properly, and everyone now back to their locations," Tufts New England Medical Center's Brooke Hynes said.
Mayor Tom Menino said that all of the packages found posed no danger, but the incidents remained under investigation. Storrow Drive eastbound was shut down for a brief time, and the MBTA suspended service on the Red Line and planned to bus afternoon commuters between Kendall and Park Street stations.
Earlier Wednesday, the state police bomb squad was called and detonated the package in Sullivan Square just before 10 a.m. Officials said it contained an electronic circuit board with some components that were "consistent with an improvised explosive device," but they said it had no explosives. They determined that the device was not dangerous, but destroyed it as a precaution.
"We determined that this device, in particular, was not explosive," said MBTA Lt. Sal Venturelli.
He said MBTA police were told about the package by a transit passenger who spotted it on a column that supports Interstate 93. The parcel was located on an elevated structure above the bus way and below I-93 in the Charlestown section of Boston at about 8 a.m.
"This is a perfect example of our passengers taking part in Homeland Security," Venturelli said.
An investigation will be conducted into how the package got there and when, he said.
Train service on the Orange Line between Sullivan Square and Wellington stations was suspended in both directions. No injuries were reported.
The northbound side of I-93 was closed, causing significant traffic backups. Motorists were not allowed to access the highway near Sullivan Square coming up from the south.
It's nice to know we have such smart people here on FR. It really makes me feel safer. The next time somebody has a gun pointed at you, I'll wait to make sure it's not a toy before I fire my weapon at the perp.
"Why bother trying to reason? The level of ignorance from the true patriots on the forum is breathtaking. I wish these folks would use their noggins once in a while. A bare circuit board does not automatically equal a bomb."
Some of the people posting in this thread would wet themselves if they walked into my bedroom, what with all the miscellaneous computer parts I have laying around. No doubt they would mistake an old sound or video card for for a suitcase nuke or something.
"Is that why we don't get any more fan mail?"
I was nearly killed by a homemade bomb constructed out of batteries, wires, a timer, and cardboard. Oh, yeah, and a dozen or so 12 gauge shotgun shells.
You got wires sticking out of it and I see the batteries and no one's around, I'm dropping the dime on it. You betcha.
I don't know what all the packages look like. Apparently, six or so different people each saw something out of place and called it in.
Are you actually saying we should shame people into not reporting unusual packages unless they "look like bombs"?
That would be great... somebody sees a package sitting somewhere... and just lets it go since they didn't see wires and batteries and blinking lights... oh, wait... these all had those. Maybe you can provide the criteria of what something must look like in order to be able to report it.
[sigh] I give up. You're right. I'm wrong.
"said the devices were part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 American cities for an animated television show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" produced by its Adult Swim brand."
Well. That worked out real well. I went to Adult Swim Fix and ATHF episodes are nononononononon-existent!
LOL - nice catch!
If they were just some hyper sensitive passerby, there was no crime committed by anyone, and we should just learn a lesson.
However, I fear someone is going to rot in prison despite the circumstances of the calls.
There's nothing more dangerous to your freedom than a throughly embarrassed government that can possibly find a way to place blame on you.
What world do you live in?
"It was a Fox alert a few minutes ago. In the crawl they state one arrest in NY and the Mayor of Boston is going to seek legal action against Turner Broadcasting and affiliates."
Trying to catch up here. What's going down? The 'Guerilla Addys' going down for this? I hope so!!
Right. Because:
1. (and I don't think that I've seen this in any of the posts here) a bomb threatening a load-bearing element would almost certainly be up against the roadway.
2. Why the hell would they light them up?
3. I have never seen a police response to a potential terrorist threat that I thought was appropriate:
I was near the former WTC site one day when alarms started going off. Of course, a lot of people started running. It took 10 min to shut them off and 20 min to say that it was a mistake.
Bag searches on NY subways: by far the stupidest things ever. Five minutes of research could tell you where you could get on without ever being searched (207th st), because there were never any cops in the neighborhood unless there was a murder. God, I miss Manhattan. And if you're carrying a bomb, you just turn around without incident and take a taxi to another station.
My mistake, they're not AA's. They're the much more deadly C's or D's. Can't tell for sure.
How about watch batteries? Puny compared to C's and D's, but still deadly at close range ;).
About 15 years ago, around Christmas time, I received an extra large edition of the New Yorker. Bound in the middle was a thick insert: an ad for some Scandinavian vodka. The theme was the Twelve Days of Christmas. Each of the days was represented by a window in which the light flashed on and off.
Being curious, I ripped the insert open. Inside were LEDs wired to a circuit that turned them on and off in sequence. There was a spring-loaded microswitch to turn the contraption on when the magazine was opened. The whole thing was powered by six watch batteries, of the sort that would cost about three dollars each at Radio Shack. Needless to say, it was made in China.
I'd really like to know how much it cost the advertiser.
You do know that the prices that you pay and the prices that they pay are at least an order of magnitude different, right?
Hey, they were just on their way to buy some Mexican beer.
It's the cheapest of all beers.
-Bruce Schneier
You do know what it means when you're debating, and you get angry and call names don't you?
I'll give you a hint. You're not putting in a good showing for your side.
You said:
"The surest defense against terrorism is to refuse to be terrorized. Our job is to recognize that terrorism is just one of the risks we face, and not a particularly common one at that. And our job is to fight those politicians who use fear as an excuse to take away our liberties and promote security theater that wastes money and doesn't make us any safer."
-Bruce Schneier
Sounds like you are in the wrong forum pal....See, most Freepers 'recognize' that the best defense against terrorism is to either join the US military or work like hell to defeat morons that want to lay down and accept terrorism as a 'risk we all face'!!!
Screw 'Bruce The Dove Heart'!!
IBTZ!!!
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