Seriously, they were scared of Aqua Teen Hunger Force? The Fry guy? If you're going to be scared, be concerned about the meat patty.  That dude is devoid of logic.

It's hilarious when newspeople who don't get Aqua Teen Hunger Force try to write about Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

That is all.

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I thought the marketing group said these signs have been up for a couple of weeks.  If that is true, then the level of incopetence of the Boston city government and the Boston PoPO is enormous.  

I agree, it's hilarious -- in retrospect. We can now all laugh about it.

But the fact of the matter is that what local officials saw (and let's face it, they're not hip to Adult Swim) was a series of blinking lights underneath bridges across the city. From the position these were in, it was extremely hard to tell whether there were any explosives or whatever behind the light-brights. And even if you knew the reference, you might wonder if the terrorists are not of the Al-Qaida type but of some other nature with a sense of humor.

Was there incompetence? Absolutely. And at every level. Is it hilarious/scary that a bunch of blinking lights could monkeywrench an entire city? You bet. But let's not forget who caused the trouble for the city. Not the local officials, not the police.

I live in Chicago, one of the cities this campaign was run in. We have a mayor who always struts about how tough he is (he's one W's favorite mayors), but somehow we didn't shut down the streets when these widgets dropped in. Maybe nobody saw them, but I can't help wondering what they're smokong in MA

Your analogy is nonsense. In fact, you are defending the right of corporations to deface public property, to take over public space, to do whatever the hell they want. I opposed even the attack on Afghanistan and all the overreaction in response to 9/11, but I don't know what else law enforcement was supposed to do in response to calls about these odd things displayed. CNN exploited it and publicized it to the hilt, spreading alarm--when THEIR OWNERS WERE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE. Their stupidity is the most egregious. I most deeply resent the continued incursion of marketing and corporations into every aspect of our lives--and the willingness of many supposed progressive to acquiesce in it.

I'm confused - did Time Warner perpetuate a bomb hoax, or did the cops get an advertisement CONFUSED with a hoax? If I spill a sugar/salt mix on my dorm building's kitchen floor while cooking and leave the room to get a broom, and someone else walks into the room while I'm gone and calls the cops because of the white substance, am I in trouble for perpetuating an antrhax hoax because the cops were confused? Or did these guys actually mean to fool people into thinking these were bombs? I'm confused...

On another note, I'm sure they're taking this seriously. They're facing jail time and big fines - they're probably taking this a lot more seriously than most of the reporters. But I would highlight the difference between taking the charges and "crime" seriously and taking the media seriously.

You know, every time I make a bomb, I'm sure to put lots of blinking lights on it.  Especially if I'm going to place it under a bridge.  

The ONLY reason Boston will pursue this in court is for appearances.  The authorities made a mess and now they have to pretend it's serious in order to look tough.  

Not much different from the reason al Libi was tortured.  
.

I live only a few miles away from several of the sites where these devices were placed. If I hadn't made the mistake of turning on cable news, I would not have known about it until it was long over. There was no panic in Boston or surrounding areas. There was a huge unnecessary cost to law enforcement because of corporate arrogance and stupidity, the arrogation of all public space by marketing.

Assume for a moment that by sending a major American city into a panic, shutting down roads, and spending a million dollars of taxpayer money on their own paranoia the authorities in Boston were just being prudent and responsible.  It would then follow that the authorities in Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, and 7 other major US cities were acting irresponsibly by not losing their fucking minds at the same advertisements.  Is that really the position that Boston wants to stake out?  That they're right, and everybody else is just incompetent or careless?

I love this video.  Awesomely pomo.

Just another step in the "securitization" of America. That the news agencies went along with it is disappointing, but routine at this point. Any kind of non-government approved public intervention (and yes, I get the flip side which is do we want a corporation doing it, but that's a separate issue) -- terrorism.

Don't be surprised when they come for you! Yeah, you, the guy putting up that sign! You are perpertrating a hoax and will have some serious jail time! WE ARE AT WAR

First the came for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and I did not speak up, because I was not Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

OMG, I just watched the video. These guys are my new heros.

Reporter: Please justify our coverage of this non-event!
Dreadlocks guy: This is how ridiculous you are.
Reporter: Widespread panic! Don't you understand that our advertisers have to move these widgets?
Seventies guy: What I am currently saying is ridiculous, but you will, if you look carefully, realize that while we are "rubber" you, on the other hand, are "glue."
Reporter: Are you not taking us seriously?
Deadlocks guy: No, we are not. And neither is anybody else.

Boston clearly over-reacted, but I think that ad is in EXTREMELY poor taste, playing off of 9/11 like that. There's fryguy giving everyone the finger to boot. I watch the show pretty often, but what the hell were they thinking?

I think the best we can do with this situation is to make fun of the Boston police department's overreaction, making them the butt of jokes for a few years.  Get it into the culture enough, and the next cop that sees a non-threatening "suspicious" package will think "hmm, will I make the whole dept. into the next boston police department"?  Shame is a  powerful feedback mechanism.

Never forget 1-31-07, the day they came for our blinky lights.

I've been around Boston. It's a strange place. It's not like a normal city. It's very small, just a small as could be, and still be eligible to be a 'big city'. Now, it has OVER 20 COMPLETE COLLEGES, not even counting all the junior colleges. It has Harvard, but here's one thing about them: they completely did away with their fine arts program because it wasn't academicy enough for them. In fact, almost a decade ago, the city had a really first-rate art center, where for no charge, you could go in and look at lots of really great stuff. But nobody in Boston wanted to fund it, so they just let it die. Meanwhile, the 'big dig', which was mainly about building tunnels for autos under the city, had 3x cost overruns, costing 30 billion dollars, 9 billion of which wet to build a tunnel to Logan Airport (which, I hear, is just a spot in the Atlantic that was built up with landfill or something, and will go under soon with a few more inches of ocean. Like New Orleans, really.) The people in Boston are notoriously uppity, on average. But hipness is not acceptable there. They are way above that! So it's not that surprising. That all those other cities could handle it without a witch-hunt (which they really had up a few miles north in Salem!) will put them in a poor light. They should just quietly get over it. Maybe just fine the company for littering or something, and for removal costs. They should play it low key. But it's Boston, you know.

Anyone out there willing to describe a device or object that could under no circumstances be mistaken for an explosive device?

did you see any over-reaction there?

no. nor did you here in portland.

This is a report from a kid in Chicago who was pulled over and interrogated because he stopped to take a picture of one of the blinking things after the Boston madness.

I swear this country is going insane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDa9jyEvX DE&eurl=

We need a lot more of these pranks that stir up the Homeland Security Theater apparatus and show it for the absurd, clueless, hysterical, pointless, fake-tough, Keystone Cops routine that it really is. A while later the security apparat will tire of being manipulated and shown for fools, the media hyping these stupid pranks will have even more egg on their puzzled frowning faces. The American public will realize its leg is being pulled and the only way to quit being played is to just get a friggin clue, take a deep breath and RELAX.

Let's face it. The terrorists have won. We got ridiculous liquid carry on laws at airports where citizens surrender to this lack of commnon sense obediently like sheep. I don't want to live like people in Israel or Iraq where one must fear constant threats. That is not living.

We got people owho want to enjoy a ballgame forced to go through searches just because there is a TINY chance some NFL game gets bombed. There is just as much of a chance of these people dying from an accident.

And now this. THough I gotta admit, why didn't the people at the Cartoon Network notify CNN right away? Why the delay once it was obvious Boston was overreacting?

I never thought I woud see the day when liberals and right wingers would agree on something. I just looked at a thread over there and some of them actually think the Boston cops fucked up too. Of course, they have a higher percentage of cowards who think these two irreverant guys deserve jail. But all in all, there is some tiny hope for some of them.

These two guys remind me of the time on the shortlived COmedy Cental show CROSSBALLS, MAtt Besser has the following exchange with some uptight woman
Woman: YOU ARE A JEOPARDY TO SOCIETY!
MATT: Well, you are a WHEEL OF FORTUNE to society.

Boston's police, Mayor and the state's governor are morons, plain and simple. Plenty of other cities didn't run around crying like babies, and screwing up as bad as they did. Watch- in the future,when a real terror threat hits, they'll fail to respond.

I laugh at Boston's bozo leaders. I feel really sorry for the people of Boston - they're good people and deserve much better!!!!

thankee!

-C.