Mooninites invade Boston

[Kerad]

City of Boston completely freaks the ****out.. Embarrassed, much?

Authorities have arrested two men in connection with electronic light boards depicting a middle-finger-waving moon man that triggered repeated bomb scares around Boston on Wednesday and prompted the closure of bridges and a stretch of the Charles River

That's right. Arrested for placement of Lite Brites.

Turner Broadcasting said in written statements the devices had been placed around Boston and nine other cities in recent weeks as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote the show.
...
Turner Broadcasting said the devices had been in place for two to three weeks in Boston; New York; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Notice the part about nine other cities? Nine other cities who didn't and crap themselves when confronted with the same menacing Lite Brites?


Of course, the City isn't just going to admit they overreacted. Oh no...instead, let's try to blow this out of proportion, so we don't look like the s that we are.

Now for my favorite:
"It had a very sinister appearance," Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires."

 

[vraiblonde]

You're right, Kerad - better to ignore strange looking electronic devices planted all over a city rather than have people like you think they're foolish.

 

[desertrat]

Pretty sad, I agree. A nation of scared old women. But, wouldn't they have had to get permits to put all these things up along highways etc? Plus where to they get off giving everyone the finger? I say blow them all up and fine the company for visual pollution.

 

[donbarzini]

You're right, Kerad - better to ignore strange looking electronic devices planted all over a city rather than have people like you think they're foolish.

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You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to vraiblonde again.


Thank you!!! As a cop and a born and bred transplanted Bostonian, I gotta say that those two are complete and utter morons. To think that an unidentified electronic device planted in a public area should just be ignored is at best asinine, if not in fact criminal. They ought to bring back the stocks and lock these two in the Government Center plaza and let everyone who walks by take a whack!!!

 

[Kerad]

You're right, Kerad - better to ignore strange looking electronic devices planted all over a city rather than have people like you think they're foolish.

The terrorists have already won. Americans are afraid of their own shadow...under the constant stress of the rising state of fear that has been cultivated in this country.

Better outlaw neon signs. They could be bombs. Is that an empty soda can on the ground...or a thermonuclear device. Is that man wearing a wristwatch, or a detonator?!?!

 

[donbarzini]

The terrorists have already won. Americans are afraid of their own shadow...under the constant stress of the rising state of fear that has been cultivated in this country.

Better outlaw neon signs. They could be bombs. Is that an empty soda can on the ground...or a thermonuclear device. Is that man wearing a wristwatch, or a detonator?!?!

Tell that to the people who survived the London buses and the Spanish trains

 

[SamSpade]

City of Boston completely freaks the ****out.. Embarrassed, much?

We were talking about this at work. I'm still unclear what to make of it.

Another article I read said these things had been in place for WEEKS. Which means either they turned up already in nine other cities and nothing came of it - or they haven't even noticed them yet - which you have to admit is even more scary ---- because.......

Because of the placing of the devices. They didn't just leave them on crowded street corners or subway stations. They left them in medical center basements and at the base of highways and bridges. And it wasn't one or two, it was several.

Which leads me to only one conclusion - as innocuous as a Lite Brite mooninite is, it was intended to be mistaken for a bomb.

It does seem kind of hilarious - but unless you really think that a possible terror attack is as unlikely as the ten plagues of Egypt, I can't fault them for erring on the side of caution. People who DON'T report what they think is a bomb sometimes end up dead before they can say anything about it.

BTW - my dad was in a cafe in England during the height of the bombings back then with the IRA. The place he had lunch blew up within hours of his lunch. I guess nobody saw anything.

 

[Kerad]

Tell that to the people who survived the London buses and the Spanish trains

Tell that to the dinosaurs who were wiped out by an asteroid!

Yes...these lite brites look just like those devices. If I was going to plant bombs around a city, I'm certainly going to make sure they stand out as much as possible. "I know...I'll have a lit up cartoon character to help these things blend into the background."

 

[SamSpade]

Tell that to the dinosaurs who were wiped out by an asteroid!

Yes...these lite brites look just like those devices. If I was going to plant bombs around a city, I'm certainly going to make sure they stand out as much as possible. "I know...I'll have a lit up cartoon character to help these things blend into the background."

And I admit, that's one point every one here has made - if you're going to blow someone up, you don't make it too obvious. You HIDE bombs, not leave them in the open.

Then again, how come we still haven't heard much about the other nine cities?

 

[Kerad]

Which leads me to only one conclusion - as innocuous as a Lite Brite mooninite is, it was intended to be mistaken for a bomb.

It does seem kind of hilarious - but unless you really think that a possible terror attack is as unlikely as the ten plagues of Egypt, I can't fault them for erring on the side of caution. People who DON'T report what they think is a bomb sometimes end up dead before they can say anything about it.

C'mon. Yes. It was intended to look like a bomb. That's exactly what must be the case.

Unless it was supposed to look like the Mooninite thing on the cartoon.

 

[SamSpade]

C'mon. Yes. It was intended to look like a bomb. That's exactly what must be the case.

Unless it was supposed to look like the Mooninite thing on the cartoon.

Then why wouldn't you stick it on the Freedom Trail near Faneuil Hall? Why wouldn't you plant it right in the middle of the Boston Common? Why would you shove it under Boston University Bridge, the Longfellow Bridge, the McGrath O'Brien Highway in Somerville, and under the McCarthy Overpass?

C'mon, it may seem comical, but that had to be the intent. Nothing else makes sense if you're doing a publicity stunt.

 

[Kerad]

And I admit, that's one point every one here has made - if you're going to blow someone up, you don't make it too obvious. You HIDE bombs, not leave them in the open.

Then again, how come we still haven't heard much about the other nine cities?

I'm not necessarily blaming the citizen who phoned it in...I'm questioning the overblown response to it. Surely an explosives technician would be able to ascertain it wasn't explosive, even if they decided to blow the first one.

My guess is that in the other nine cities it was determined these were not dangerous. In a much more subtle manner, obviously.

 

[bohman]

All I know is, having watched Adult Swim back before my daughter "encouraged" me to go to bed early and get as much sleep as possible, is that millions of stoners and geeks will be giggling all day today. Mooninites,

 

[donbarzini]

If I was going to plant bombs around a city, I'm certainly going to make sure they stand out as much as possible. "I know...I'll have a lit up cartoon character to help these things blend into the background."

Actually, sunshine, that WOULD be the best way to do it. Make it look as blatantly stupid as possible, so people like you would say: "Oh that's funny, and since it caught my attention, it can't possibly explode."

 

[Kerad]

All I know is, having watched Adult Swim back before my daughter "encouraged" me to go to bed early and get as much sleep as possible, is that millions of stoners and geeks will be giggling all day today. Mooninites,

Adult Swim

Though they could have done this better, it certainly has to have exceeded any projections as far as visiblity in advertising.

 

[SamSpade]

I'm not necessarily blaming the citizen who phoned it in...I'm questioning the overblown response to it. Surely an explosives technician would be able to ascertain it wasn't explosive, even if they decided to blow the first one.

I kind of thought that, myself. But having worked - albeit briefly - with bomb techs a few years ago, I know they're extremely cautious. One guy I talked with described how clever bomb makers are - and how they often design bombs with the means to kill the bomb tech should he make a mistake - and he described how. My job was to help them maintain an updateable manual because the bomb maker's strategies and techniques change rapidly.

It would be an easy thing to do to make several easy to find bombs as duds - hoping to kill bomb techs later on. These things have happened. Wasn't it in Atlanta where that guy made a bomb go off - and a second to go off moments later, to kill the technicians coming to investigate?

 

[Kerad]

Actually, sunshine, that WOULD be the best way to do it. Make it look as blatantly stupid as possible, so people like you would say: "Oh that's funny, and since it caught my attention, it can't possibly explode."

There are many, many things we need to start blowing up then...starting with Bill O'Reilly.

 

[Kerad]

I kind of thought that, myself. But having worked - albeit briefly - with bomb techs a few years ago, I know they're extremely cautious. One guy I talked with described how clever bomb makers are - and how they often design bombs with the means to kill the bomb tech should he make a mistake - and he described how. My job was to help them maintain an updateable manual because the bomb maker's strategies and techniques change rapidly.

It would be an easy thing to do to make several easy to find bombs as duds - hoping to kill bomb techs later on. These things have happened. Wasn't it in Atlanta where that guy made a bomb go off - and a second to go off moments later, to kill the technicians coming to investigate?

Yeah...I think it was Atlanta.

Thing is...if someone wanted to make a bomb and have it go off in random areas, there's pretty much no way to stop 'em. A bomb can be made into anything. The keyboard you're typing on can be wired with explosives. If you ever hit that "Scroll Lock' key....boom.

That's what the whole point of "terrorism" is...to make the public live in fear of everyday situations.

 

[donbarzini]

Yeah...I think it was Atlanta.

Thing is...if someone wanted to make a bomb and have it go off in random areas, there's pretty much no way to stop 'em. A bomb can be made into anything. The keyboard you're typing on can be wired with explosives. If you ever hit that "Scroll Lock' key....boom.

That's what the whole point of "terrorism" is...to make the public live in fear of everyday situations.

Yes it was Atlanta, just ask the home of Mr Olbermann, NBC, they're still paying that "person of interest".

I have seen underarm deodorant containers and jumpropes made into IED's, so the response to a device that size with an obvious power source made all kinds of sense to me.

 

[juggy4805]

So if the NFL put up light bright lights in the shape of a football would this same thing happen? probably not