CT Nutjob Hunger Force!

[Overman]

I'm surprised by the reaction by so many folks that the think Boston police were idiots. What should the Boston PD's reaction have been in handling a device like this found on a bridge?

Mabye the same as the police did in 10 other major cities. Just take it down.

 

[VespaGuy]

Mabye the same as the police did in 10 other major cities. Just take it down.

Link?

 

[Overman]

10 other major cities had these up for 2 weeks.

Not one single person called 911 about it.

I understand the line here is fuzzy, and I am an advocate of adbusting , I don't like ads shoved down my throat everwhere I go...

but come on,

10 Other major cities, including NYC, had these up for 2 weeks, when police saw them they took them down, when pedistrians saw them they either laughed or had no clue. Not one call to 911, and you don't think that Boston may have overreacted just a bit?

Kiwi's great post seemed to pretty clearly explain the type of paranoia based on unfound claims and shadows in the dark that happen after major events...

Is Boston Parinoid, jumping at shadows? Are you?

I see the reasoning behind being paraniod, but reread Kiwi's post and see how many of the parinoid people were acting unreasonable.

 

[Overman]

Link?

Link

Also, I stand corrected after rereading article...

"Turner said the devices have been in place for two or three weeks in Boston; New York City; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

However, only in Boston did the light boards create such a furor. In Seattle and several suburbs, the signs were removed without fuss, according to The Associated Press.

"We haven't had any calls to 911 regarding this," Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb told AP on Wednesday."

So mabye just Seattle had no calls. I concede, however it is likely that other cities had no calls, but the data is not found.

 

[Kiwiwriter]

A little more...

10 other major cities had these up for 2 weeks.



Kiwi's great post seemed to pretty clearly explain the type of paranoia based on unfound claims and shadows in the dark that happen after major events...

Is Boston Parinoid, jumping at shadows? Are you?

I see the reasoning behind being paraniod, but reread Kiwi's post and see how many of the parinoid people were acting unreasonable.

The other side of this issue is that if you don't react, and you don't go, and chaos results, you're in the soup along with the victims.

I had a pal named Amy Burns who was a Park Ranger at the Statue of Liberty in the early 1980s. She was a part-timer, paying for college. Her last task of the day was to sweep for bombs and packages left behind.

She had one day off to study for mid-terms, and on the TV news, she learned that a bomb had gone off in the Statue at closing time, and damaged the exhibits. It was by the FALN guys. On TV, her supervisor spouted some face-saving rhetoric.

Turned out he had done the search that day on her route, had seen the bag, thought the cleaning ladies left it, and ignored it. Boom.

Blasted if you do, blasted if you don't.

My advice to the marketeers for this show was that they should have got on their phone and got the cops aware and involved...it isn't worth chaos and arrests and panic.

 

[Overman]

Spouting wisdom out of every fingertip.

You need to post way more.

 

[Stainless_Steel_Rat]

A trashcan is not suspicious. A big blue mailbox is not suspicious. An unclaimed duffle bag at an airport is suspicious. A strange electronic device is suspicious.

Exactly, if you were a terrorist, wouldn't you want your device to be inconspicuous?

 

[robinson]

The NYPD had not received any complaints about the devices prior to the Boston scare, said police spokesman Paul Browne. But when the police department became aware of the situation in Boston, it contacted the New York marketing firm Interference Inc., which cooperated and provided a list of locations so the devices could be removed.

Police said Interference gave them a list of 41 locations where they had planned to place the signs — on an awning in the trendy Meatpacking District, on a metal door frame in Greenwich Village, on a fence-top on the Lower East Side — but it was unclear how many were actually dispersed.

Officers went to the various locations amid the hysteria in Boston, and found only two of the devices — both attached to an overpass at 33rd Street and the West Side Highway.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/493858p-415985c.html

 

[VespaGuy]

10 other major cities had these up for 2 weeks.

Not one single person called 911 about it.

I understand the line here is fuzzy, and I am an advocate of adbusting , I don't like ads shoved down my throat everwhere I go...

but come on,

I agree.

10 Other major cities, including NYC, had these up for 2 weeks, when police saw them they took them down,

You already said this. I hadn't heard of this. Do you have a link?

when pedistrians saw them they either laughed or had no clue. Not one call to 911, and you don't think that Boston may have overreacted just a bit?

Do you live in one of the cities that 'hosted' these devices? If so, were you aware of their existance before yesterday?

You state that pedestrians laughed or had no clue. Do you think it was unreasonable for a pedestrian who was unaware of the ad campaign and spotted one of these on a bridge or landmark to call the police? Do you think it was unreasonable for the police to treat it seriously?

Kiwi's great post seemed to pretty clearly explain the type of paranoia based on unfound claims and shadows in the dark that happen after major events...

Kiwi's post is excellent. I remember quite a bit of hysteria after 9/11 (airports shut down because of a suspicious package, etc) and even after the anthrax mailings (a local Post Office was shut down for a dady because of a suspicious package).

Is Boston Parinoid, jumping at shadows? Are you?

I don't feel that they are. Cautious and paranoid are not the same thing.

The devices were strewn about the city, near landmarks and on bridges. The police were not notified that they were part of an ad campaign of any sort. At night they may have resembled a Lite Brite, but by day they were a device with visible wires.

Again, I do have my own questions regarding the events (i.e. Why did it take so long to make a connection to Turner? Why wasn't the public notified immediately upon discovering that the devices were harmless?). But with the information I have seen so far, I think the Boston PD were reasonably cautious.

I see the reasoning behind being paraniod, but reread Kiwi's post and see how many of the parinoid people were acting unreasonable.

I just don't see yesterday's events as paranoia.

A real explosive would not be a black cartoon ball with a wick and the word "Bomb" written on it. Anything suspicious should be treated with caution.

As I said above, how do you distinguish a credible threat from a hoax? The police, unfortunately, cannot win.

 

[VespaGuy]

The other side of this issue is that if you don't react, and you don't go, and chaos results, you're in the soup along with the victims.

I had a pal named Amy Burns who was a Park Ranger at the Statue of Liberty in the early 1980s. She was a part-timer, paying for college. Her last task of the day was to sweep for bombs and packages left behind.

She had one day off to study for mid-terms, and on the TV news, she learned that a bomb had gone off in the Statue at closing time, and damaged the exhibits. It was by the FALN guys. On TV, her supervisor spouted some face-saving rhetoric.

Turned out he had done the search that day on her route, had seen the bag, thought the cleaning ladies left it, and ignored it. Boom.

Blasted if you do, blasted if you don't.

My advice to the marketeers for this show was that they should have got on their phone and got the cops aware and involved...it isn't worth chaos and arrests and panic.

Excellent post.

That's exactly how I feel about the Boston PD (and any other police department for that matter). If they get a call and don't handle it as a credible threat, they run the risk of endangering people.

ETA: I wondered allowed several times yesterday, "Wouldn't it have been easier and more responsible of the ad company to simply alert the police prior to this?"

 

[Overman]

As I said above, how do you distinguish a credible threat from a hoax? The police, unfortunately, cannot win.

Too true, and a damn shame.

 

[Calcas]

Spouting wisdom out of every fingertip.

You need to post way more.

I agree. Excellent stories Kiwi, got any more?

 

[VespaGuy]

The NYPD is on edge a lot more than the BPD and yet were able to not shut down the City.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/493858p-415985c.html

There you go Donal. The NYPD never received any reports of the devices, and only two devices were located*. It's impossible to speculate on how the NYPD would have reacted if they had actually recieved a report of the device, and discovered 38 of them throughout the city.

(*As the article says, we do not know how many may have been planted and removed by others)

Thanks for the link, robinson.

 

[robinson]

SAN FRANCISCO San Franciscans are reacting more calmly to suspicious devices that shut down parts of Boston yesterday.
San Francisco police say 20 blinking signs advertising a cartoon show were scattered in various city neighborhoods without causing a stir.

The company that placed the ads for the Cartoon Network TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" pledged to take the signs down.

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6023714&nav=9qrx

 

[VespaGuy]

Apparently, a similar type of advertising was done before, with similar results.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A newspaper promotion for Tom Cruise’s upcoming “Mission: Impossible III” got off to an explosive start when a county arson squad blew up a news rack, thinking it contained a bomb.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12553521/

 

[Donal]

There you go Donal. The NYPD never received any reports of the devices, and only two devices were located*. It's impossible to speculate on how the NYPD would have reacted if they had actually recieved a report of the device, and discovered 38 of them throughout the city.

(*As the article says, we do not know how many may have been planted and removed by others)

Thanks for the link, robinson.

Hmmm, but I don't remember the East River being shut down. Or the Major Deagen being choked off. The NYPD probably took them down because we have a bunch of Lost Bostonians around here that might have gotten jumpy.

And how many thousands of New Yorkers passed these things without having to call 9-1-1?


It takes 2 weeks before the honchos in Boston think, "hmm, maybe we should do something about this", and then shut down major arteries of the city?

And I love Mush Mouth Menino's screaming for heads from TNT.

 

[A W Smith]

Maybe it was the Prosecuter in Boston that needed a publicity stunt?


I haven't laughed so much since Opie and Anthony created a rumor that the mayor of Boston was killed in an auto accident on WAAF. (while he was away on vacation in Florida). yeah they got fired.

 

[Angry Skeptic]

I agree with the general idea here that the BPD was doing their job, and good for them.

What got me was I was waiting for some food on my lunch hour when I saw the story unfolding. It was kind of alarming at first, "reports are coming in that Boston Police are inspecting several devices placed in key locations around the city. The BPD has sent their bomb squad to the devices in an effort to try and determine how dangerous they might be.."

Kind of scary when taken at face value. I'm not a fan of being afraid, so I thought, "That sucks, I hope everything turns out okay."

The guy behind the counter making my calzone says, "Those damned terrorists, it was only a matter of time!"

Then, like a punchline delivered with perfect timing...

"We have breaking news in regards to the suspected terrorist attack inside of Boston. We now go to Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room, Wolf?"

Wait for it...

Here it comes...

"Well Diane, it has now been confirmed that the devices are actually light up circuit boards depticting a character from the cartoon network adult themed show, 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force' and in fact have been placed in almost every major city in the United States."

Whoa. I blasted sprite out of my nose I laughed so hard.

Poor BPD, mobilized for a cartoon that they probably never heard of.

 

[VespaGuy]

Hmmm, but I don't remember the East River being shut down. Or the Major Deagen being choked off. The NYPD probably took them down because we have a bunch of Lost Bostonians around here that might have gotten jumpy.

Did you read the link? Nowhere does it say that the NYPD knew about the devices prior to yesterday's events. Why would they shut down the East River or choke off the Major Deagen if they were unaware of any devices there?

And how many thousands of New Yorkers passed these things without having to call 9-1-1?

I don't know. Only two devices were found in NY. But, go ahead... How many New Yorkers passed them and didn't call 911?

BTW, since they were in Boston for as long as 2 weeks, it's safe to say that many Bostonians noticed the 38 'ads' in Boston without incident as well.

I'm not sure the point you are trying to make.

Are you saying that the Boston police over-reacted and the NYPD didn't? That's not a fair comparison, because it doesn't appear that the NYPD was even aware of them (and only 2 were found).

The reason everything snowballed yesterday is because the Boston PD received 5 seperate reports around the same time. If the Boston PD were unaware of these devices and learned of the presence of several of them, all within a short amount of time, I understand their cautious reaction.

It takes 2 weeks before the honchos in Boston think, "hmm, maybe we should do something about this", and then shut down major arteries of the city?

Are you claiming that the honchos in Boston new about these things for two weeks? Proof?

And I love Mush Mouth Menino's screaming for heads from TNT.

I'm not a fan of Menino, but Turner used poor judgement in their choice of ad campaign. Look at the link above; this type of viral marketing has been attempted in the past with similar results.

Boston resources were tied up and millions were spent because of these devices. A simple phone-call from Turner (or the ad company) before placeing these things around the town would have saved a lot of confusion.

 

[njslim]

I'm with KIWI WRITER - even our small FD (which I belong) has had problems
with terrorist hoaxes. We have offices of major banks here - after anthrax
incidents stood by at several calls of suspect powders. In one case woman
thought smelled something funny and fainted. When the AL QUAEDA suspect
with plans/photos of banks/stock exchange in NY area was arrested 2 years
ago the driveway which which lead right up to front of building was blocked
by concrete "Jersey Barriers" to prevent anyone from driving into the building.

Sometimes can't be too careful with all the nuts on the loose.