Posted on 02/01/2007 5:02:47 AM PST by Puppage
BOSTON -- Nine blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a marketing campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. At least one of the devices depicts a character giving the finger.
Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless.
"It's a hoax -- and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick.
Turner Broadcasting, parent company of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."
"The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement. It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said.
Police said only that they were investigating where the device came from. The Department of Homeland Security said there are no credible reports of other devices being found elsewhere in the country.
An angry Mayor Thomas Menino said a stiff penalty will be pursued against whoever was responsible for the devices.
"It's about keeping a city on edge. It's about public safety," he said.
Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires hanging from them.
The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate 93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.
Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.
The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a structure beneath the span, authorities said.
Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well.
Wanda Higgins, a 47-year-old Weymouth resident and a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, heard about the threat as she watched television news coverage while preparing to leave work at 4 p.m.
"I saw the bomb squad guys carrying a paper bag with their bare hands," Higgins said. "I knew it couldn't be too serious."
Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists.
"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.
The surreal series centers on a talking milkshake (Master Shake), fries (Frylock) and a meatball (Meatwad).
The cartoon also includes two trouble-making, 1980s-graphic-like characters called "mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err -- who were pictured on the suspicious devices. They are known for making the obscene hand gesture depicted on the devices.
I don't even think they were trying to justify their budgets. I think they were just bored. Imagine: You're part of an "elite" squad, but you're rarely called into action. Your training is rarely effective, because it's all role-playing and academic. You have all kinds of government-provided toys to play with, but you can't take them out of the box. Wouldn't you jump at the opportunity to blow something up for real? I would.
Feed some hype/misinformation to the MSM and the emergency response teams are able to do a all-out live drill.
Did we not hear/read from the MSM yesterday that the bomb squad DID find pipe bombs?
You earthlings are so naive. We moon people are so much more enlightened than you.
Thats a very good sugestion
I've been ill and haven't been able to read all the replies, but after listening to all the shock, fear, and anger expressed last night on WBZ Boston, I was struck by the following irony:
Boston liberals recoil at the idea that the city overreacted to these ads. The city had to act based on the information it possessed. But on the other hand, Boston liberals refuse to apply the same logic to President Bush's actions in Iraq.
I just find it interesting.
But the response is to the reports, not the reality of what's determined later. They don't have the luxury of waiting until they find out there's no risk, even if they're pretty sure there is no risk.
If they did, and instead there turned out to be an actual plot in action... we'd *fry* them for failing to act in time. It's a no-win for them.
What cartoons are masterfully drawn? Were the Flintstones wonderfully drawn? Was Huckleberry Hound great art? Magilla Gorilla? Heck, in most cartoons, the people just have three fingers.
The point of adult cartoons, like the ones on Adult Swim, is not great drawing, but satire. Some suck, but some are pretty funny.
The lesson here is that criminals attempt to hide their bombs using everyday, innocuous objects that do not draw attention to themselves. Magnetic signs with light-up Mooninites do not fit the profile. (If you want to ignore the profile, than yeah, anything could be a bomb. It could be someone you know. Someone you trust. You might be a bomb and not even know it.)
Truest statement so far ....
Aren't these ignorant Earth people cute with their 3 dimensions?
This just shows the competence of the Boston "authorities" Is boston even part of the USA any more or did it join with Quebec and no one noticed or cared.
Well if that's the standard we are doomed.
If someone reports something odd being dropped in a trash can in a couple of locations we have to shut down the city...
Someone could actually go look at the "device" that had been there for more than a week to make a determination prior to shutting down the city...
Posting these images is probably considered terrorist activity.
Should we turn ourselves into Homeland Security or just wait for them to batter down our doors?
The bullet is enormous, there is no escaping.
That is an EXCELLENT point, zook! Just excellent!
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