Originally Posted By DlandDug Boston was effectively shut down after a series of suspicious devices with circuit boards and batteries were found in various locations. After police secured and blew up at least one of them, Turner Broadcasting 'fessed up and admitted they were part of a promotional campaign for the Adult Swim series Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Here's the coverage from CNN: <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/boston.bombscare/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/ 31/boston.bombscare/index.html</a> MSNBC's coverage is a lot funnier, and includes a photo of one of the devices: <a href="http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/01/31/46757.aspx" target="_blank">http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.c om/archive/2007/01/31/46757.aspx</a> Incidently, CNN was covering this live, along with the other 24 hour news nets. When it was revealed that they were not explosive, but before they were identified as promotional devices for Cartoon Network, the CNN reporter said, "In this day and age, whoever placed these devices is a moron."
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka <<"In this day and age, whoever placed these devices is a moron.">> I agree. It's a different world.
Originally Posted By jonvn They arrested the guy who they hired to put them out. Felony charges. Kind of just a schmoe who Time Warner paid to do this, and he's getting in trouble for it. Time Warner is going to pay a huge fine.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I notice that the noise machine has not missed this opportunity to turn what's probably just a stupid mistake by a marketing person in one division of a huge corporation into something that implies an inherent defect in the "mainstream media."
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 <<I notice that the noise machine has not missed this opportunity to turn what's probably just a stupid mistake by a marketing person in one division of a huge corporation into something that implies an inherent defect in the "mainstream media.">> I would say that if one marketing guy had the ability to plant fake bombs to promote a show... that DOES reveal an inherent defect in the mainstream media.
Originally Posted By LVCajun <I would say that if one marketing guy had the ability to plant fake bombs to promote a show.> But they were light displays I'm sure at no time did anybody say hey let's plant fake bombs to promote a show. They have a light display of an alien flipping the bird. Not the greatest promotion ever but to assume there was any deliberate attempt to create panic is ridiculous.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Also, these things were placed in other large cities weeks before. We've had them in NYC for a while and nobody was upset. I think it helped that the NYPD was notified about them and exactly where they were being placed. Perhaps they did not consult the police department in Boston. I think it's stupid to arrest the guys who placed them though, as they were just doing a job. Either Turner or the ad agency ought to bail them out, it's their fault.
Originally Posted By DlandDug According to statements, these have been in place for "weeks" in other cities. I would say that in Boston a misunderstanding snowballed. The devices do look suspicious, though. Arresting the guy who designed, built and placed them is not right, in my opinion. He's just a guy who was doing a job. (Have you seen him, though? He LOOKS like a terrorist! Or a college art major.) The morons in this story are the creative geniuses who came up with the idea of doing this.
Originally Posted By DlandDug As far as indicting the MSM goes, the only consistent thing I have seen is Fox digging at CNN, which is owned by the same parent network (Turner Broadcasting) as the Cartoon network. It is the nature of Fox to loudly trumpet the errors of others...
Originally Posted By DlandDug Chicago has weighed in. The statement by their Chief of Police was sobering, actually. They picked up and questioned the two men who placed the devices. (They were all taken down yesterday.) The COP pointed out that with the Super Bowl just around the corner, the potential for panic was high. Apparently the whole effort was spearheaded by a New York marketing firm. I think Turner will finger them for failing to notify every city about what they were doing. As far as I know, there are regulations in most cities about unauthorized placement of advertising media. So that, anyway, could be the basis for prosecution.
Originally Posted By DlandDug The two men arrested in Boston are giving their first press conference. They are idiots. With their attorney at their side, the two are answering all questions with long involved non sequiturs about hair styles.
Originally Posted By Mr X >>>I agree. It's a different world.<<< A very bizarre, stupid world if you ask me!
Originally Posted By Mr X >>>Also an inherent defect in homeland security.<<< I'd be a whole lot more concerned if they somehow failed to respond to a co-ordinated, multi target attack. Oh, wait. That already happened.
Originally Posted By Mr X >>>plant fake bombs<<< They were not bombs. They were not planted. They did not set off to "create a panic" (that new law is pretty scary in and of itself!!).
