Boston vs. ATHF/Turner

[Dreamstalker]

I'm sure most of you have heard about the Adult Swim ad campaign--or more precisely one city's reaction to it.

Link to Slashdot discussion: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0...14214&from=rss

I didn't see any of these signs before they got taken down/blown up, but IMO that does not look like a bomb and I don't see how it could be mistaken for one. Even under a bridge, it would seem to me the amount of explosive required to do any real damage would be more than the surface area of a PCB.

Yes, two fake pipe bombs (as well as some boxes of electronics)were found during the ruckus, but I have a hard time believing that those were connected to the original signs.

Yes, you can say "but what if they were bombs?" The what-if argument is a fallacy as it immediately deviates from the facts.

If anyone should be nailed to the wall, it's the person who decided to call this in as a panic and the officials who blew it out of proportion. These were in place for weeks before they were found, and other cities IIRC had no problems with them (although they were taken down, possibly to avoid such a situation as this).

IMO, that $750K loss is the city's problem. This could have been handled much, much better than it was.

I was trying (fruitlessly) to explain my stance on this to my mom, who immediately compared the two guys with Dubya going into Iraq..."X told me to do this, therefore it's OK". She says it has to do with denying all responsibility...for what? They were hired to put up ads and they did it. For the hoax charge to stick, IIRC it must be proven that the intent was to perpetrate a bomb hoax.

Meh....she also tends to trot out "if you don't have anything to hide then you shouldn't be worried about anything" when the topic of domestic surveillance comes up.

[rahmota]

Personally I dont watch the show as i like to keep some brain cells alive as much as possible.

However from what I've seen on the news and all it does seem like Boston has over reacted majoly. Now maybe they are being sensitive after the NYC 9/11 situation and that is not a bad thing. Constant vigilance against danger can prevent a lot of disasters. Howeer it should alo be empered by common sense.

Lets look at a few facts:
1: these thigns where found in out of the way areas of bridges over passes and tunnels.
2: they where about the same size as a satchel charge for demolitions. (I called my cousin in the military and he confirmed that a bomb made of simplex or C-4 about that big would be sufficient to damage a bridge enough to shut it down. Rememebr the goal of terrorism is not always mass death but mass confusion, panic and disruption.)
3: These things had blinking lights and some kind of display on it.
4: There where no threats, intelligence reports from the government or other indications that they where intended as a threat.

So what I think they should have done was have the bomb squad check one of these displays out, realize what they where and yank the rest down without issuing major alerts and panic attacks.

As for the guys from the ad agency maybe inducing panic is a bit much but community service to clean up those areas would be a good idea. What justification? Littering or vandalism jump to mind.

As for your mother does she have property of King George II tattooed on her anywhere?

[Dreamstalker]

Sheesh. 13 other cities and nobody else made a peep, and these signs had been in place for what, 3 weeks bvefore somebody decided to complain?

I agree with you that one should have been checked out calmly, and once discovered it was harmless...gee, maybe a call to the station that initiated the campaign (as IIRC other cities did) to find the guys who installed them and thus the rest for purposes of removal in a calm and orderly fashion was in order. The only charge that could possibly stick for the guys who put them up is vandalism and I'd agree about community service and maybe a discussion on why the precise actions were bad (as in, this is where you should not have placed these things).

My mom didn't used to be like this. She despises the Shrub, and yet seems to now agree with some things he does (or at least appear to with some bizarre logic that I can't figure out).

[rahmota]

True this all doesnt say much for Boston's readiness/response to an actual emergency.

As for your mother. Dont know what to tell you. Sometimes if they look him directly in the eyes his hypno beams can enthrall someone. NEVER MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE BUSHBOTS>>>>>>>......

[Dreamstalker]

To me this whole thing just seems like Rumsfeld crying wolf all over again. Get everyone jumping at their own shadow and if/when anything "real" happens it'll be an absolute disaster. "Readiness" my ass...

So now what happens to anyone who brings computer parts on public transport?

"EX-TER-MI-NATE!" (Bush is really a Dalek...that would explain a lot actually)

[rahmota]

hehehe. Exactly. Like in 1984 keep everyone jumping at shadows to distract from any real issues at hand like mass unemployment, inequality of social and economic advancement and erosion of civil liberties.

Bush of Borg: Resistance is FEW-tile you will be assimilated.

[Puckishone]

Someone please correct me if this is inaccurate, but wasn't Boston's Logan Airport one of the ones found to be lacking in security when the FAA (or whomever) ran random undercover types through the security lines with box cutters, knives, rabid dogs and flamethrowers? All I could think of when this story broke was, methinks the city doth protest too much.

[Dreamstalker]

IIRC Logan was one of them. Generally, the screeners there seem to not know what they're doing...I was once almost denied boarding because the ID person at the security checkpoint thought my New Mexico ID was from Mexico (um...there is a USA address and zip code on it with the NM state seal). Luckily I had my passport on me as well (I was waiting for the woman to try to tell me it wasn't US-issued).

Interestingly, I've had less trouble with the screening process for international departures...or maybe those screeners are much better trained. They're a lot friendlier, at any rate.