While it may improve the morale of the bombers, a taunt painted on an aerial bomb does not help the targets escape. That's not the case with a subway bomb.
A terrorist bomb is not supposed to be noticed until it's too late. So you might leave it concealed in a toolbox or wrapped in a wool sock. Or maybe slash a seat and cram it into the cushion.
You would not put flashing lights on it or have wires sticking out of it or make it tick audibly. That's just silly!
Dry run doesn't make sense, either. A live run is just as easy, so why not do it? All a dry run does is vaccinate the enemy's immune system, so to speak, making it harder to pull off the live run.
I love how the clueless newsies reported that police had "detonated" the devices but they contained no explosives. How the hell do you detonate something that isn't explosive?
I posted the stuff about painting on bombs before I learned what these signs looked like, who put them there, and when.
I agree with you, there is no way a rational person would see these things as dangerous.
I need to know what was said in the phonecall to 911 that resulted in the bomb squad being called out.
I'm going to assume that the cops did the right thing based on the threat they percieved in the call- clear the area, secure the area with the already-deployed city cops, then go oin and evaluate the threat.
Seeing a blinky toy and blasting it with a "disruptor" was perhaps overkill.
And the glee with which the press went on- I suspect some must have known about the promotion, since one reporter referred to it as a "hook device" rather than "hoax".
This is going to result in tighter controls on all of us, and could create a real fear that some innocuous act is going to result in a severe overreaction by security forces.