Cartoon Network CEO Resigns Over Aqua Teen Scare 710
DesertBlade writes "Jim Samples, CEO of Cartoon Network, has resigned over the bomb scare prompted by the Aqua Teen marketing campaign. Turner (CN's parent company) ended up paying over 2 million in restitution to the city of Boston, and a man with a thirteen year record at the company has lost his job. Though many people have been citing this as 'the ultimate successful advertising campaign', there have obviously been real consequences from the incident." By virtue of the consequences of the campaign, was this now officially a bad idea? Or is your opinion that this is all far too much knee-jerking? Have your say in the comments.
Overreaction of course (Score:4, Insightful)
Very disappointing overreaction (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Well that sounds like a personal problem. (Score:4, Funny)
Resigning from your job is easy. Getting a 10-speed, filling it with illegal substances and sending it across the border is not.
America Is Officially Retarded (Score:5, Insightful)
The government has been very successful in scaring the public into thinking that the terrorism threat is real. The fact is, more people have died from lightning strikes in the past fifty years than from terrorist acts on American soil. This is fueled by the new status of new media as entertainment rather than information, which creates a sea of idiotic speculation before any facts are actually discovered. Witness the media trial of the man accused of Jon Benet's murder, or any of the number of bomb scares that have turned out to be simple security breaches.
There's no simple solution, but I think we as a society need to admit first that we have a problem.
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe (Score:3, Insightful)
COME ON! It's a huge pile of electronics with a display that's giving you the finger! What retard would possibly not know it's a bomb?
Parallel Universe Fallacy (Score:5, Insightful)
Which one? Bizarro World? :] (Score:5, Insightful)
The kind who knows that real bombs have payloads. The kind that knows that a device that small isn't going to cause structural damage to something like a bridge even if it was 100% high explosive. The kind who knows that they were very, very poorly placed as anti-personnel devices, called unnecessary attention to themselves, and probably wouldn't have been able to kill anyone at all, unless that person had been standing right next to them.
You know, the kind of person who might be found on a bomb squad
--
Every time you panic, the terrorists win.
Re:Which one? Bizarro World? :] (Score:5, Insightful)
Mod parent up.
I live in Boston. The city screwed up, badly. Pretty much everyone I know thinks city officials made us look completely ridiculous. This was not a case of reasonable precautions, even, as they say, in a post-9/11 world.
All these people keep saying "But it could have been a bomb, you don't know!" or "Well if it had been a bomb, you'd be glad they responded the way they did!"
No. I agree wholeheartedly with the parent here. It couldn't have been a bomb. Literally, physically, something that looks like those devices could not possibly be an explosive device of any serious power, nothing that poses any danger to any structure or even any human who wasn't essentially holding them in his hands.
An ordinary person off the street might not know this. That's fine. But a bomb squad member damn well better know this, and it terrifies me that the bomb squad members in our city apparently don't. What the hell are they going to do if there is a real bomb, and they have to try and disable it without blowing up anything important? If they don't even have the basic grasp required to know there should be a payload, what exactly do they know about the construction of bombs? Seriously, I'm not nearly as bothered by the possibility of some terrorists planting a bomb as I am knowing that if there is a bomb, our trained professionals whose job it is to handle that sort of thing won't be able to do anything about it, even if they know where the bomb is and have plenty of extra time. What the hell is the bomb squad for?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
What the actual bomb squad guys thought / knew and what the managers and politicians decided to do with the information, those are different things.
Doin' a heck of a job, Bean Town (Score:5, Funny)
Good ol' boy politics, nothing ever changes. (Score:5, Insightful)
Did I miss anything?
Most overblown story ever (Score:5, Insightful)
These 38 lighted signs which were mistaken for bombs, never should have made the news. They did not look like bombs in any way shape or form, and had been in place for a considerable amount of time before people started going apeshit over them. People seem to fail to mention the "real" fake bombs which were planted in Boston on the same day (http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.
Security will never come through "preparedness" against an enemy which doesn't care whether it lives or dies. If terrorists/crazy dictators/serial killers/thugs want to kill you badly enough, they probably will. The only way we will ever be secure is to make people not want to harm us
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
What does a bomb look like?
Plastique as mailable as a child's ball of clay? The cartoonist's stock grenade or stick of dynamite? A farmer's truck, weighted down with fertilizer and diesel?
The parcel where there should be no parcels? Movement where there should be no movement? Lights where there should be no lights?
What does a bomb look like?
Re:Most overblown story ever (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
This is what is meant by the expression... (Score:5, Insightful)
Let me see if I have this right... (Score:3, Insightful)
But these guys are getting fined and losing jobs over something that was truly harmless?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The PSP campaign wasn't in the US.
If I were Jim Samples (Score:3, Funny)
YTMND as always -- (Score:5, Funny)
Atlanta Reacted Better (Score:5, Insightful)
There is such a thing as bad publicity (sort of) (Score:4, Informative)
My gift to the fine people of Boston (Score:3, Funny)
I know you can't see this, but I'm doing this harder than I've ever done it before.
Meta Comment: A Comment About the Comments (Score:3, Insightful)
Its amazing to me how this state of paranoia and fear has not only become so widespread, but ACCEPTED even - as if everything really changed on 9/11. Here's a fact for you: NOTHING CHANGED AFTER 9/11. The ONLY thing that is different in America is the amount of surveillance we are being subjected to and the number of rights that are being eroded before our eyes.
More people die every year from peanut allergies or swimming pool accidents than terrorism. Terrorism IS NOT A BIG THREAT. Beyond that, it is IMPOSSIBLE to completely stop. The war on terror is a FARCE and its SOLE PURPOSE is to subjugate a nation enslaved by comfort and convenience - with their consent.
The people who should have to pay for this are the idiots who overreacted. Did you see those signs? THEY LOOKED LIKE LITE-BRITES and had a CARTOON ALIEN FLIPPING THE BIRD. What muslim extremist would use that as their terrifying logo of doom?!?!
HOW THE HELL DID YOU PEOPLE GET THIS WAY!? AREN'T YOU LOOKING AT THE WORLD AROUND YOU?! Don't you see how absofuckinglutely ridiculous it is to consider the reaction to these HARMLESS and FUNNY signs in any way justifiable?
"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither" - Thomas Jefferson
Chew on that.
Utter failure of threat assessment (Score:5, Insightful)
Anybody who's ever been stuck in traffic can understand the knee-jerk "those bozos should pay" response.
But anybody who cares about national security and terrorism should be sobered by what happened in this case: an utter failure of threat assessment. Our ability to survive terrorism is not just reliant on the ability to detect and respond to threats: it's crucial to be able to detect the lack of threats and not respond to them.
What Boston demonstrated is that they are ripe for terrorism. After all, terrorism is about creating terror, not about inflicting actual damage. Boston showed you can terrorize them with some children's toys and no explosives at all.
Of course, the knee-jerk conservative reaction will also include the phrase "abundance of caution" and "we can't take any chances". The problem is if you have an abundance of caution and can't take any chances, then a real terrorist action can have you dancing all over the place trying to respond to decoy threats and missing the real action.
Correctly assessing situations that are not threatening is just as important to security as correctly assessing situations that are.
Massachusetts attorney general quote (Score:5, Insightful)
I think this quote, by the Attorney General [state.ma.us] of the State of Massachusetts, Martha Coakley, sums up the overreaction and the unwillingness to look at the situation rationally:
(My source for that quote is a Boston Globe article [boston.com].)
Oooooooh! Batteries and wires!! Run away!
My feeling is this: if I lived in the state, I'd damn well make sure I stayed away from Radio Shack, because I'm likely to get caught in the crossfire when someone buys a few electronics components and the SWAT team comes in to take out the "terrorist" with a storm of bullets. Have these people never, ever seen a homemade electronics project before!? For God's sake, MIT [mit.edu] is located in their state!
Where to draw the line? (Score:5, Insightful)
The truth is that a car parked underneath a bridge is a much more realistic and simple solution for a terrorist. However, the city isn't calling out the bomb squad for every car parked under a bridge. In fact, I cannot think of more than one case that I've heard about where such an event has happened. I wonder why this hasn't happened more?
Really, the line should be drawn somewhere, and I think that line is 'common sense'. I think that this is a case of misunderstandings. The artists were too naive, they underestimated the stupidity of other people. The city reacted based on THEIR OWN concerns. This was not a hoax, the devices were not bombs, they weren't intended to look like bombs. Could some people mistake them as bombs? Apparently. However, I do not believe that one should be legally responsible for the mistaken actions and responses of another. The artists did break some laws, but nothing more than vandelism, trespassing, or littering.
Is this the result of the last presidental elections when Kerry was called a 'flip-flopper'? You know, sometimes people make mistakes. Maybe the city of Boston should realize that and consider changing their stance. Sometimes it is better to admit mistakes and correct one's actions, rather than carry a bad idea forward just because you're afraid of a little change. For that matter, I'd rather have a "flip flopper" as president than one that can't admit that they were mistaken in their judgements and decisions, and continues to drive our country forward like a Lemming off a cliff.
Bottom Line (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe it was, indeed, a bone-head idea to "tag" public spaces, but the government and media need to quit making stories out of nothing. There's plenty of stupidity to go around on this one.
The clue phone is ringing:
Boston, Line 1:
Your anti-terror "heroes" went all Barney Fife over nothing. You guys just need to chill the f**k out and learn to triage terror from shennanigans. If you go the full-monty everytime some paranoid citizen dials the bomb-squad over flashing light and some wires, you're gonna have to figure out a way to pay for that kind of over-kill out of your own budget instead of drama-queening your way into restitution.
Viral Marketers, Line 2:
WTF? Maybe go for something a little less obscure the next go-round, eh? Only about 1 in 5,000 people driving by those signs had any kind of clue what the hell those bird-flipping little dudes were anyway. Way to spook the natives, dorks. Don't forget to include some useful information about your "product" next time. Seriously, this is like the corporate version of "JACKASS."
Bottom Line: Two stupid parties did two stupid things. One was the government the other wasn't. Guess which one wins?
I think Meatwad summed it up like this:
I'll touch 'em all the way to the trash can is what I'll do...
Terrorists.win == True (Score:4, Insightful)
They won.
America the brave. It is to laugh.
Comments from a bostonian... (Score:3, Informative)
While there is no question that the reaction of the BPD was an overreaction, there is no question that the actions of Cartoon Network and Interference were totally unacceptable. The first "device" that was found was placed at a critical intersection of the major North-South Interstate highway that feeds the city, a major subway train line, and the commuter rail that services all communities north of the city. Further, it was adjacent to (a few feet away from) the main fiber optic right-of-way between the city and northern communities (a fact that was missed by media - surprise, surprise). Finally, despite the fact that many try to blame this on post-9/11 hysterics, a group of anti-Semites attempted to blow up this same bridge/highway on 4/20/01 (Hitler's birthday - classy) so forgive us for our post 4/20 paranoia.
An explosive device - even one with a limited payload - if successfully detonated would have impacted the ability for more than a half million people to travel to or from and communicate with the metro area. Further, the other devices were placed on every single bridge that allows people to travel out of or into the City of Boston from/to the North.
Finally, the foolish duo that installed these devices were filmed an hour into the incident watching the BPD and bomb squad in their investigation and decided to remain silent for several hours, allowing the situation to continue to snowball out of control.
There is plenty of blame to share here amongst all of the actors involved. It is tempting to blame "the man" for overreacting, but the reality is there is no one that should escape criticism. It is not ever - no - not ever - acceptable for a marketing campaign to be based on the illegal placement of advertisements on publicly owned infrastructure, especially not on critical pathways into and out of a major metro area.
Source: I was there (if only my personal experience could be validated in a wikipedia entry...)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
So the CN is responsible because there _could_ have been a bomb. This reminds me of the guy on the British subway who was gunned down because he _could_ have had a bomb, since his jacket was a little bulky, and he was running for the train. I'm believe both cases came about through fundamentally flawed reason and response, not to mention unreasonable levels of fear
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyways, I'm glad he took the fall for it, as he most likely has savings as opposed to the young guys who actually put up signs. Another sacrifice is made to the new State of paranoia.
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
The irony is that this is just the sort of person you actually want at the top, and now he is gone.
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
Having previously worked in DC at 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue I've seen firsthand how the "authorities" love to play with their toys. "Look, there's a small duffel bag sitting on that newspaper box...it might be a bomb. Let's blow it up because we have the means and it's fun. Crap, it was just someone's work out clothes. Well, at least we got to close down the street, run our lights and sirens, blow something up, and get on TV".
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:4, Interesting)
"What we need right now is a clear message to the people of this country. This message must be read in every newspaper, heard on every radio, seen on every television. This message must resound throughout the entire Interlink. I want this country to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion. I want every man woman and child to understand how close we are to chaos! I want everyone to remember why they need us!"
Everyone should see that movie, and then take a good, hard look around them.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, I saw a benign interpretation for benign event. It's not like it was an unknown, bomb looking device, that had a countdown running. While I might expect a bomb to be disguised, I certainly wouldn't expect it be disguised as a carto
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:4, Insightful)
"...the morons who thought that an LED cartoon character giving the finger could be a bomb."
It only looks like an LED cartoon character if you're actually familiar with the character. Otherwise it just looks like a panel of randomly placed LEDs. I believe the people who mistakenly thought it could be a bomb did so with the most earnest of intentions. It would be like throwing round red capsules that explode in a puff of smoke into subway tunnels, then being surprised that no one understands it's a pokemon marketing ploy.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:4, Informative)
Please, for the love of all that is sane and logical, admit that this looks nothing like a random collection of LEDs, no matter who you are.
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd say it would be pretty familiar to anyone who'd ever played "space invaders" too. (ie pretty much anyone under 40.)
Otherwise it just looks like a panel of randomly placed LEDs.
If by "random" you mean "a clear image of something giving you the finger" I suppose so.
I believe the people who mistakenly thought it could be a bomb did so with the most earnest of intentions.
True but we don't really have much use for people who report things that aren't bombs. How many innocent cardboard boxes, guitar cases, gymbags, abandoned Dells, old speakers, and other nondescript "potentially suspicious looking" debris is lying around Boston? They could shut the city down for an entire decade with earnest intentions.
People should know better. When I see a plane flying low I still assume its landing, not attacking the city...
I can understand how this got out of hand but it'll happen again. Around here Telus is putting up pink flamingos all around the city as part of its latest campaign... they're hollow and in public places and they weren't there yesterday... could be a bomb in there.
Seriously if the 'terrorists' were planting bombs everyone they'd make them look like run of the mill every day items like transformer boxes... hmm... wait... i saw a transformer box on one of the support columns in my parkade... i don't remember that being there before... excuse me...
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:4, Insightful)
The evil genius of Osama bin Laden was to realize that there is a "critical switch" in American psychology that he could flip. He doesn't have to take us down himself, just set the process in motion and watch as the government and society slowly destroy themselves.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Exactly, the point is not to "take one for the team", the point is to stand up and fight until the end.
Patton said it best:
"The object of war is not to die for ones country, its to make the other poor bastard die for his"
This isn't just applicable to war. It's also a lesson about life. What's better than taking the heat for someone else? Fixing the broken system and making the world a better place.
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
Please, don't provide any encouragement or validation to this flawed line of reasoning. As a free and open society with limited resources, we have to be prepared to accept a certain amount of risk. "Erring on the side of caution," (i.e. maximum panic-mode) for such an obviously low-risk situation is irresponsible, expensive, and counterproductive.
Rather than live in a fantasy world where Bostonians are applauded as heroes because they disarm lite brites filled with imaginary explosives, we need to rationally think about this. Otherwise, there's no end to this madness.
Anything could be a bomb. Can you ever rule out the possibility of "the terrorists" surgically implanting bombs within their abdominal cavities? Or what if evil terrorist surgeons implanted bombs into unknowing patients? In which case... maybe YOU could be a bomb! Maybe I'm a bomb! What if they've been at work since we were all born. Maybe... we're all bombs! So, in light of this, what should we do now? Surgically operate on everyone--just to be sure? My God! We'd be heroes, the saviors of a very thankful nation if we were right!
So, the question is then: why should we discard my obviously silly possibility but still consider the similarly ridiculous killer lite-brite scenario?
-Grym
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree (Score:5, Insightful)
* No source of shrapnel, that plus the odd placing makes them incredibly ineffective as anti-personnel weapons.
* They're WAY too small to cause structural damage, even if the batteries were supposed to be shaped charges. I'm sorry, but I don't see an explosive that size as being able to even scratch a bridge like that.
* No payload -- batteries don't explode (Sony's catch on fire, at most) and even if they did, and even if they were shaped charges, they're oriented completely wrong on the device, so I don't see how they were supposed to cause anti-personnel damage.
* You do NOT call attention to a device like that with blinking lights. SOME of us would know it was a bomb even if it had a cartoon on it and others would assume it was one anyhow. Now, it's true that the IRA used to do something somewhat similar, but what they did was have a small explosion to attract rescue workers & such, then a larger one to kill them. You don't attract people with blinking lights, you'd never be able to properly time the explosion unless you were standing there, waiting to get caught.
So what have we learned here? Hopefully that a terrorist's purpose is to cause terror.
Every time you panic, the terrorists win.
Re:I agree (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Considering Boston was the only city out of a dozen or so to even bat and eye at this let alone through down a gauntlet and put the entire city under seige is proof enough for the rest of us that they overreacted on a whole new level.
Those stupid things were here in Seattle too and people thought they were an intriguing gimmick. I think it's sad that innocent people are suffering by getting arrested and charged for criminal action
Re:I agree (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd much rather the Boston police take it seriously, and be wrong, than take it casually and be wrong.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
From the Seattle PI article:
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't quite remember where they were all placed but even if they were placed around an airport, I still personally think it's an overreaction simply on technical grounds. Given the size of the devices, they would have to be attached to a plane or be within several dozen feet to cause any noteworthy damage, even if they were pure C4. Since none of them were placed on airport grounds, they posed absolutely no threat to aircraft.
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Interesting)
A. Yes
Q. Is it forseeable that pouring boiling water on a person will cause an earthquake in Uganda.
A. No.
Q. Is it forseeable that a lite-brite advertisement placed w/o permission will get taken down and a fine sent to the party who put it up w/o permission?
A. Yes
Q. Is it forseeable that a lite-brite advertisement placed w/o permission will cause an entire city to "duck and cover".
A. No
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
i think the fact that numerous signs posted in other cities caused no disruption or panic is a sure sign that boston's reaction was NOT the correct ex-ante expectation of what would happen.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Obvious counter-counter-argument: The examples you describe are all rather ordinary events. The lightboards were anything but, being crude electrically-powered devices of no apparent use or
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
We're spewing hippopotamus repellent and then claiming victory because there are no hippos. All 9/11 opened the door for was paranoia and jingoism.
Stop Spreading Terror! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Stop Spreading Terror! (Score:5, Insightful)
So if Boston leaders are of the same caliber of leader as Jim Samples: They should accept some responsibility, admit they over reacted, and absolve Mr.Samples of this "heat" which has given him reason to step down. The marketing campaign was not at fault, Boston was.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
(not to mention that -- if yo
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Stop Spreading Terror! (Score:5, Insightful)
I couldn't agree more. However, I take serious issue witih the first part of your comment...
This kind of attitude is exactly what is wrong with this country right now. Living in fear of LED signs is exactly what the terrorists want. They're called terrorists. They intend to terrorize us. If we can't walk down the street without freaking out when we see some blinking lights, they have achieved their objective.
Just because we're in a "Post 9/11 World" doesn't mean that we have to freak out and assume that everything out of the ordinary is a terrorist plot. Keep your wits about you, think critically, and respond accordingly. People running around freaking out is only going to make us less safe.
The government has been playing the game right out of the Cold War Play Book. An enemy attacks us, they obviously have a goal to conquer or destroy.
Unfortunately, terrorists aren't playing by the same set of rules. Their goal is to destabilize through fear. They launched a single attack almost 6 years ago, and the American response is "Oh my gosh, it's another attack!" We are terrified. We're scared of each other, of the government, and of some vague group on the other side of the world, who don't have the means to stage a traditional war, or even a single battle.
But hey, we're defending ourselves from terrorism, even if it means scaring all of our civilians into believing anything may be the next attack, and reinforcing the idea that the next attack is coming, even though there is no need for a next attack, because the first one is STILL doing it's job.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Nah, I'm pretty much just scared of our government. It represents far more of a threat to my safety and well-being than any Al-Qaeda terrorist.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I forgot to mention your irony. Well, not exactly irony, but you've spelled it out well. The terrorists used one action to set in motion their real goal. The US has been destabilized for almost 6 years. People trust their government less, and a couple kids putting light-brights around town can cripple one of America's largest cities due to the fear. Oh my gosh Martha, what shall we do? There's a light bright! It must be the bad guys finally back to get us.
I guess I see t
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No, they can't.
The function of a booby trap is to tempt the greedy and the careless into doing something supremely stupid.
It is the big red button that screams "Do Not Touch!"
But the Geek is way too smart to be taken in by anything so utterly ridicuous.
The Geek ---to paraphrase Asimov --- is logical, but not reasonable. He'll accept conspiracy theories that are wildly implausible so long as they are internally consistent.
But madness he
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The devices were not large enough to cause significant structural damage and neither contained the shrapnel nor were placed correctly to be antipersonnel weapons.
Anything could be a bomb, but the question is, what would be effective as a bomb. It's far easier to make an effective bomb out of a trash can or a parked vehicle - we have, in fact, seen both in this country in multiple high-profile incidents. The ATHF signs had neither the size nor correct placement to be particularly effective.
Re:Stop Spreading Terror! (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm reasonably sure NYPD would have freaked out if one was reported as an unknown electronic device on the (distinctly longer) GW or Brooklyn bridges. None in NYC were in subway stations or critical infra--the most concerning was on a highway onramp.
And, most importantly, LEDs are freaking scary! Boo!
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And it has some choice quotes, like this one:
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
It happened because it's Boston (Score:5, Insightful)
But other than causing 9/11, what else is Boston known for?
Well, there's always wasting billions of federal tax dollars to bury a highway to improve the city skyline [wikipedia.org], which lead to
crushing a woman [wikipedia.org] when three-ton ceiling tiles that had been glued to the ceiling fell.
Apparently Boston wasted billions of federal dollars, only to glue three-ton concrete ceiling tiles to their tunnel.
If you want to look at government waste and horrible mismanagement, look no further than Boston. The only reason this happened is because Boston is run by incompetent idiots. The part 9/11 had with this is that 9/11 is Boston's most well known failure, one that they're not eager to repeat.
Re:It happened because it's Boston (Score:5, Informative)
There were huge criminial-negligence-caliber mistakes made. But the simple fact that they decided to glue ceiling tiles to the ceiling wasn't one of them.
Re:It happened because it's Boston (Score:4, Interesting)
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No (Score:5, Insightful)
They won't be leaving fucking light-brites at the side of the road.
Some things just aren't plausible.
Re:No (Score:5, Insightful)
It would be a grave error in judgement to confuse those of us who fear extremists in our governments more than we fear extremists a thousand miles away as merely narcissistic.
Re:No (Score:5, Insightful)
Having a child is the best reason to be cavalier about this. The world is full of risks, and this particular risk (terrorist litebrite bombs) is well on the "might as well worry about being hit by a meteorite" end of the risk spectrum. Yet, tour child is watching your reactions and noting your opinions in order to develop his or her own sense of reasonable.
Furthermore, your child will eventually be living under the heel of the authorities -- the same authorities who are subconsciously but quickly realizing how much control they can take due to incidents like this... and how much fun it is to control others.
So take care when you are tempted to demand a padded world for your child. That kind of safety, at that price, is not a blessing, will not make them usefully safer, and will not cause them to develop fortitude and strength of character.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe, if you really are that fucking scared that your child is going to become a victim of a terrorist attack, you should lock them in a room in your basement, and feed them by sliding trays under the door. Because, and I suppose you didn't know, al
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it's not. The only 'container' it had was just big enuf for 4 D batteries. And with the 4 D batteries in it, there was no other room for your "explosive charge and projectiles".
Your answer is to have someone mess with it as people walk by. If you're wrong and it explodes, the person messing with it definitely dies.
By all means, if you really think it suspicious, have the bomb squad clear
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Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
Praise Allah, the batteries were not even connected and the infidels shrieked as if they were set afire with fuel.
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
I was never suspicious of a Hello Kitty doll, but now that I've chosen to be suspicious of it, I'm doing my part! In fact, cars explode on the streets of Iraq every day, so now I call 911 everytime I see a parked car. Yet, for some reason, I'm being blamed with clogging the system full of rhetoric and empty false alarms. I just don't get it. Cars explode way more often than Hello Kitty dolls, but my vigilent attitude is not being appreciated!
I love Americans, truely, but this is one particular case wher I am absolutely thrilled that I live in a country in which you can't score political points for making a mountain out of a mole hill. Its getting to the point where you can make yourself look good by selling creative, tangential, and obtuse terrorist threats rather than workmanlike every day global occurances that kill and maim dozens to hundreds of people at a time.
You really have to give the 9/11 atrocity commiters some credit. Crash a few planes, and inspire scenarios of exploding C4-laden Hello Kitty dolls. I mean what the fuck, even domestic bombers know that letters, pipes, and cars is really all you need to be successful. If you want to kill lots of people, creativity is the domain of comic books, not reality.
He should not have resigned (Score:3, Interesting)
He should not have resigned. He should have taken those responsible for this gross overreaction to task by produced a show about how stupid the response was. Using industry/military experts in bomb making, demolition, target selection and mission execution.
And it goes with out saying that he would not use the talking head pseudo terrorist experts, read political appointees, that spouted as fact that is possible to successfully get the components of on and to mix binary explosives on a moving plane l
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
What exactly are cops supposed to look for when looking for bombs? The nature of bombs is that they are fairly easy to hide. Put them inside a computer, a cardboard box, a large melon, hello kitty dolls, inside a car, under your clothes, whatever. To try to find bombs based on what they look like is therefore largely futile and a waste of everyone's time. But on the other side, the benefits
Re:Buck Stops At The Top (Score:5, Insightful)
Time to burn some Karma......
I am sorry, but if you dumbfucks in the USA think that giving up all of the freedoms you held dear because 2,000 people died when thousands die yearly from more foolish causes in your country, then your brilliant marketers and others that actually show intelligence, will be jailed as enemies of the state or have their lives ruined in some other way. Any individual that ever thinks independently is going to end up jailed in your 'post 9/11' world. The only thing that truly died on 9/11 was your freedom.
Post 9/11.... What's different? More state control? Less Freedom for Amercians in their own countries? The terrorist attacks of 9/11 were what Ronald Reagan dreamed of, yet Georgie let it happen. The great country of 'America' is dead and lost to the fascists. (yes, I'll say it). Autocratic Conservatives controlled by Corporations. Short Form.. Fascists. I used to look up to you in the US, now I pity you.
I'm sorry for the swearing and all this, but damn this is absolutely ridiculous. An incredible marketing campaign gets several million dollars worth of fines and the guy at the top fired??? Hello!!!
Post 9/11 world. If I hear that phrase again I'm gonna puke. Post 9/11 world .
If any American on this forum actually thinks that a situation like this should just be chalked up to a 'Post 9/11 world', read your fucking constitution, feel half of the outrage that I'm feeling right now, and do something other than put new programs in your Tivos. Your 'Post 9/11 world' is as much a fiction as the Simpsons.
Peace out to those that are outraged about this. Not from an ATHF point of view, but a what is wrong with the US point of view. This is not a slag to the parent, which is actually a thoughtful post, but a absolutely gut-wrenching reaction to 'Post 9-11 world'. The World did not change on 9-11, you did.
Re:Aqua Teen Hunger Force sucks (Score:4, Funny)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the Bomb
Re:They should've given police a heads-up (Score:5, Insightful)
In a post-Hitler world, should we allow just any idiot with a radical idea to speak freely?
Re:They should've given police a heads-up (Score:5, Insightful)
This exact same public advertising campaign took place in nine other cities with enough brain cells to force a fart out of their asses, and not rampantly overreact to OMG!!!! PINK PONIES FLIPPIN' ME THE BOMB PACK BIRD!!1111 In fact, they had enough brains not to react at all.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_Teen_Hunger_For
The Boston PD and its authorities are Proof #1 of Einstein's theory that "two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
Re:Yes, it was a bad idea. (Score:4, Informative)
For graffiti.