On January 31, Boston and Massachusetts officials terrorized that city and made asses of themselves in the national news. And they extorted $2 million and almost ruined two people’s lives over a cartoon character they intentionally mischaracterized as a threat. Apparently trying to repeat their performance, they sent the bomb squad out again Wednesday to blow up another “suspicious device” in Boston’s financial district. Only this time, the plan to extort some other hapless company backfired in their faces.
Last month’s incident, in which officials tried to call electronic light boards depicting cartoon characters from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force show threats, even well after their true nature was known, resulted in two people being arrested on trumped-up charges, Turner Broadcasting having to pay the city $2 million for its incompetence, and actually wound up dividing security experts on whether officials acted appropriately.
Wednesday, it became clear that not only did officials act inappropriately then, they still are acting inappropriately. This time, though, they weren’t able to terrorize the city as last time.
While details are sketchy right now, what’s known at this time (courtesy FOX 25, the only media outlet so far to actually dignify this stupidity with coverage) is that the bomb squad detonated a suspicious device in the financial district. The device turned out to be a traffic counter owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
Traffic counters count the number of cars which pass by a given location during a specific time period. The box itself was found chained to a street sign where it was presumably supposed to be counting traffic.
Unfortunately, since FOX 25’s media player is a complete piece of crap, I haven’t been able to actually watch the segment, only the commercial which precedes it. Morons, you too. So I don’t know whether they actually got any high-ranking officials to comment on why they’ve moved from blowing up harmless cartoon characters to blowing up their own equipment.
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that Boston and Massachusetts officials involved in both of these incidents need to resign or be fired. Or perhaps, out of an overabundance of caution, called in to the bomb squad as suspicious devices.
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
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Karl Marx would love the popular moves among politicians in various state governments and the federal government to ban so-called "junk" food in schools, and to "put healthy food in" convenience stores and on the tables of those they define as poor. It's a very elitist and arrogant mindset that promotes this ideology, and it needs to be addressed.
Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
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fleeb
Mar 01, 2007
I was able to view the media coverage you provided in your link.
Basically, the city deemed the device suspicious because it was painted a different color than other devices of this nature, and the people who installed it had not cleared the device with the city first.
Frankly, considering how much those things probably cost, I suspect the private firm who installed the device is already feeling the pinch.
Ray
Mar 01, 2007
Any of these devices I have ever seen are labeled on top with the contact information of the exact set of people who installed it. One has to wonder if this one was so labeled, and if it was did anyone like make a phone call?
Mar 01, 2007
Never Yet Melted » Boston Panicks Again
Frank from Boston
Mar 01, 2007
I think many Boston-area residents like me are embarrassed by incident. But we’re also taking perverse pleasure in the fun that people are having at our expense. So many people here don’t have a clue what a laughingstock we are.
I was watching a local PBS talk show the other night where two 50-ish people (ahem, like me) — one a public official, the other an alleged marketing professional — were tsk-tsking over the Aqua teen Hunger Force incident. They solemnly declared that such guerilla marketing has to be regulated.
Ugh.
Sure, two of the 9/11 planes took off from here. Almost every adult here is just one or two degrees removed from someone who died at the World Trade Center. The community’s wounds may be more tender here than anywhere but NYC and WDC.
But that doesn’t give us an excuse to be stupid.
Please, everyone, KEEP poking fun at Boston. It’s the only way that people around here are ever going to get a clue.
trash
Mar 01, 2007
Its spreading.
Pray for the bomb squad
Q
Mar 01, 2007
and they have now become the government who cried terrorist…
the burning bush
Mar 01, 2007
maybe they should blow up each other
JZP
Mar 01, 2007
non-fox links:
Mar 01, 2007
Wonkette
Mar 01, 2007
FinanceBoy for President » Two funny things on the internet
Derek
Mar 02, 2007
In other news, the Boston police have recently detonated a suspicious-looking pile of rags and debris that was found downtown. Authorities only later discovered that the heap turned out to be a sleeping hobo.
Someone
Mar 02, 2007
The City of Boston should now have to give back the 2 million it EXTORTED from Turner Broadcasting the first time around, and issue a formal apology to the two guys they arrested.
And Frank, the planes only departed Boston. There was no terrorism in Boston on 9/11. I fail to see why you all are so shell-shocked over it– apparently still.
This current situation is not funny. It’s actually quite pathetic.
Q
Mar 02, 2007
what worse is they continue to justify their stupidity, blaming everyone but themselves, i bet they’ll bury any records that show the company already had permission to do what they were doing.
this time we know who started it, it was the guy in the restaurant, who said he saw a “pistol”
I guess you can say he was being a good citizen, but I’d still poke fun at him.
Joey
Mar 02, 2007
I completely agree with Q. Why did it seem that all of the artists envolved with this caught the blame? Oh yeah, they did. If you thought this whole situation was as ridiculous as I did, you should click here and check out this funny music video by Cold Bazooka about the whole Mooninite “Bomb Scare.” (If you have trouble viewing youtube video’s try clicking here.)
Mark Roth
Mar 02, 2007
Is my understanding about the danger of bombs incorrect? I keep reading about “bomb squads detonating suspicious devices.” If the devices really were bombs, wouldn’t blowing them up be dangerous (especially if they ended up containing plutonium or some other material used for much more dangerous bombs). Funny, but I thought the idea behind bomb squads was to PREVENT detonation.
Sounds to me like they know these items are not bombs, or they would not be detonating them. Although, other than theatrics, I cannot fathom the motive for doing such a thing in public.
If Homeland Security funding is given out on the basis of how many “suspicious devices” are found in YOUR city, then we all need to start addressing this issue now before local authorities everywhere start this obscene practice.
eplenista
Mar 02, 2007
it’s “make work” for the thugocracy.
faust1200
Mar 02, 2007
I’m curious as to what page in the bomb squad textbook does it depict the lite-brite bomb? Who the F looked at those Aqua Teen things and thought bomb??? And if by some stretch of insanity it was a radiological or biohazardous device, is blowing it up the correct course of action????
Firethorn
Mar 02, 2007
Mark Roth – I’m a part of the military and have talked with the EOD(Explosive Ordinance Disposal) guys many times.
The idea is that you have to render the explosive inert;IE no longer capable of going boom. There are a number of ways to do this. The one you frequently see in the movies, disarming it by hand, is the most dangerous as it might be booby trapped and you have a person right there. The same idea with moving it. Frequently the simplest answer is to evacuate everybody to a safe distance and blow it up using your own explosives. That way you get the usage of the area back, though you have to fix the area damaged by the explosive. Oh well…
They can even get fancy and try to not set off the explosives, merely using the blast to seperate the bomb into multiple pieces that won’t detonate. There are some fancier methods with robots or water cannons.
Still the cheapest and fastest is often to simply blow it up.
yeowzuhx3
Mar 03, 2007
Let’s see, blameless, paranoid, and unable to learn from past mistakes – classic alcoholic behavior. What? In Boston?
faust1200
Mar 03, 2007
Firethorn, Yes I can understand your point if we are talking about the simple “go boom” bombs. But suppose the “device” has a biological agent. Wouldn’t you just end up spreading it once you detonated it in a “safe” bomb range?
epenista
Mar 03, 2007
these guys know what’s a bomb or not.
this is a circus.
have some peanuts.
two million a bag.
geri
Mar 05, 2007
And the real terrorist are STILL winning.
Mar 05, 2007
Open Mic News » Blog Archive » Show #3 - More fun with PowerGramo
Ronnie R
Mar 12, 2007
As a person that could identify the “suspicious bomb” right away (Jamar Trax series counter)I must say I’ve been amused by this incident. In 25 years of setting traffic counters, law enforcement never once blew one of them up. Don’t any of the cops there know what traffic counters are for? Guess not. Or is it just the Bostonian thing. Remind me not to do any traffic studies in Boston, I can’t afford to loose $1000 machines to entertain law enforcement personnel. What else gets blown up in Boston? Imported autos? Exotic street trees? Fire hydrants?
Andy
Mar 28, 2007
Re. the biological thing, there are very few biological or chemical waepons that like being at the heart of an explosion, so detonating such devices with external explosives is usually a good way of rendering them harmless. Few things are as sterile as the heart of an explosion.
Apr 18, 2007
Backpacks give Newton, Mass., school officials bomb scare - Homeland Stupidity
May 09, 2007
Terrorist hoaxes can only get better? - Homeland Stupidity
Jun 15, 2007
Studets arrested on felony charges for alarm clock prank : HungSquirrel.org
Jun 25, 2007
Bombs in boston? - Page 4 - MX6.com