Aqua Teen Hunger Force shuts down Boston!

[wingnutx]

I'm told that it's about $30 worth of parts.

[Cosmoline]

The fascists are trying to save face by arresting people now.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/01/31/ap3383229.html

Sometimes I think we ought to get hit with a few nukes.  Preferably on DC during a joint session of congress when the Mayors convention is in town.  Certainly Coakley needs to have some C4 shoved inside him so he'll learn the difference between advertising and terrorism.  What a sick joke our "leaders" are. 

[HForrest]

"I hope they can see this, because I'm doing it as hard as I can."

[280plus]

Problem is, there was no hoax. If the things were desigend to LOOK like a bomb, THAT would be a hoax. The problem is they made the whole LE community in Beantown look like a bunch of A-holes and the truth hurts so somebody needs arresting.

[Perd Hapley]

First I've heard of it.  And other members can vouch I'm on the web frequently. 

Hint.  Millions of people have never heard of ATHF or seen them on the internet.

I've seen them over the past couple of weeks on Flickr and as memes and virals, they've been in about 10 cities over the past 2-3 weeks.

The show isn't on the web, it's part of Adult Swim on cartoon network, meant for adults, along with shows like Sealab 2021 and Venture Bros., viciously cynical spoofs on classic cheesy adventure cartoons. Though clips of it often show up on Youtube.

Flickr, memes, virals? 

I know what ATHF and Adult Swim are (I have a good friend who's quite an Adult Swim fiend).  The point was that not everyone lives in this little Gen-X world of Adult Swim.  My comments were in regard to this:

These have been ALL OVER Flickr and other sites, having been in other cities before! WTF?! NOBODY in the entire state police force or government uses the web?!

I guess municipal administrators are responsible for watching cartoons and monitering related web sites so they know that the blinking "circuit boards" are not terrorist devices? 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

I guess municipal administrators are responsible for watching cartoons and monitering related web sites so they know that the blinking "circuit boards" are not terrorist devices?

Yes, they are responsible for having some connection to the real world and popular culture, so they can have an idea of what is going on.  I've only watched Adult Swim once in my life and am not into that sort of thing, and I have still found ATHF hard to avoid.

But even if you have never heard of the show, (and I hadn't seen a Mooninite until now) the fact that a blinking sign could be confused with a bomb is astounding.  I don't see anything that looks like a circuit board and wires, but even if I did see that, I would certainly conlclude it was for the LED lights.  The fact that dozens of these have been up in major cities for weeks without causing any sort of problem shows that these things do not resemble a bomb to virtually everyone.

That major L.E. operations could confuse this with a possible terror attack is a bad sign--if people this clueless are in charge of protecting us from real terrorists, we are in trouble.

[Perd Hapley]

Yes, they are responsible for having some connection to the real world and popular culture, so they can have an idea of what is going on.  I've only watched Adult Swim once in my life and am not into that sort of thing, and I have still found ATHF hard to avoid.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the Real World now?  Our civic officials now have a constitutional requirement to be "down"?  That is truly funny.     I've watched Adult Swim more than once, but I still wouldn't have recognized these moon-thingies.  Don't know if I would have found them suspicious, though.

How about if, to know what is going on, they read up on terrorist tactics?  One of which is to cause fake scares so they can examine how we react to them.  Am I saying that was the case?  No.  I'm saying LE needs to be thinking that way, given our current situation.

[wingnutx]

Nine other cities have had these things up for weeks, and none of them have freaked out.

I know we have these in Phoenix, I just wish I knew where so that I could go get one 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the Real World now?  Our civic officials now have a constitutional requirement to be "down"?  That is truly funny.

Yes, they do, it is also called street smarts and is something cops are supposed to have.  You don't have to watch the show to be able to tell this is "guerilla art/advertising".

[Perd Hapley]

Now they're responsible for knowing that anything out of the ordinary is "guerilla advertising"?  Where does it end?  I didn't know they were even supposed to know what guerrilla advertising was. 

And sorry, knowledge of odd cartoons does not qualify as street smarts.  Homey.

[Manedwolf]

Now they're responsible for knowing that anything out of the ordinary is "guerilla advertising"?  Where does it end?  I didn't know they were even supposed to know what guerrilla advertising was. 

It keeps us from turning into North Korea. One of the nice things about America is, or was, that people could do this thing called "free expression" or even "art" without fear that anything, no matter how innocuous, could be mistaken for "OMG TERRISTS!" and get them beaten, arrested, cause a panic, etc, etc.

If that's the case, now, that you cannot ACT OUT OF THE ORDINARY or face getting stomped, then, well, the terrorists won.

[Creeping Incrementalism]

Now they're responsible for knowing that anything out of the ordinary is "guerilla advertising"?  Where does it end?  And sorry, knowledge of odd cartoons does not qualify as street smarts.

The street smarts is being able to recognize the kind of unusual art/advertising that tends to appear in urban areas, not in knowing the cartoon show.  On the off chance that someone is too clueless or paranoid to be able to tell the difference, or just ridciculously careful, it should be caught early, and not escalate to the level it did in Boston.

[m1911owner]

Now they're responsible for knowing that anything out of the ordinary is "guerilla advertising"?  Where does it end?  I didn't know they were even supposed to know what guerrilla advertising was. 

fistful, are you really intending to imply that anybody who does anything "out of the ordinary" should be locked up for terrorism?  Because that's exactly what it sounds like you're saying.

[Manedwolf]

If someone really wanted to place a bomb or WMD dispersal device in an urban area, there'd be an easy way to make people ignore it.

Disguise it as a big-brother camera in plain sight, right in the middle of a busy area.

Think about it. 

[Perd Hapley]

This is really too good.     Boston Police don't know about Moonites, therefore the terrorists have won.  Beautiful.   

1911owner,

It appears someone was arrested for this whole thing.  I don't have enough info on the situation to know whether that is warranted.  I'm more interested in this point of view that city governments now have a duty to keep current on every cult TV show or to know that wierd artifacts scattered throughout the city are obviously some kind of art or advertisement.  And they should therefore never be concerned that any of those things might be terrorist-related.

Goodness knows I do unusual things in public all the time. 

The street smarts is being able to recognize the kind of unusual art/advertising that tends to appear in urban areas

I thought the whole point of such things was to be unexpected, so I'm not sure how we're all supposed to automatically know what is or is not art/advertising.  Then again, I make a point of avoiding urban areas, so what would I know? 

[slzy]

FREE THE AQUA TEEN 2!

[Perd Hapley]

If someone really wanted to place a bomb or WMD dispersal device in an urban area, there'd be an easy way to make people ignore it.

Disguise it as a big-brother camera in plain sight, right in the middle of a busy area.

Think about it. 

Right.  Next time I see something suspicious, I'll just ignore it.  Obviously, the terrorists wouldn't slip up like that.  Nor would they plant hoax devices just to see what we would do, thereby learning how best to kill us. 

[Manedwolf]

If someone really wanted to place a bomb or WMD dispersal device in an urban area, there'd be an easy way to make people ignore it.

Disguise it as a big-brother camera in plain sight, right in the middle of a busy area.

Think about it. 

Right.  Next time I see something suspicious, I'll just ignore it.  Obviously, the terrorists wouldn't slip up like that.  Nor would they plant hoax devices just to see what we would do, thereby learning how best to kill us. 

A hoax device, by definition of law, APPEARS to be a threat. A timer stuck in a block of modeling clay is a hoax device. If you declare ANYTHING, including an electronic sign of a cartoon character (!) to be a hoax device, then you've basically instituted a policy of fear, and nobody should do anything out of the ordinary. That means no art, no posters, no accidentally dropping your iPod and leaving it, no accidentally missing the trash with a cup and leaving it on the floor, because ANYTHING could be a "hoax device" and get you arrested. Oh, and no touching anything in a suspicious manner, either, because you might have planted something. Hands in pockets, eyes on your feet, go about your business in a straight line, citizen.

Not my country.

And if you live in that kind of FEAR every day, I do feel sorry for you. I watch for threatening behavior and actual threats, and I carry a weapon to deal with any direct lethal threats. But jumping at shadows is a pretty sad way to live.

[Perd Hapley]

Sorry for being so cryptic.  I don't know and don't much care whether the cops acted correctly in this matter.  I just find a lot of cases where people laugh at others when they might well have made the same mistake themselves.  And what's always at the top of the list for signs of terrorism?  Suspicious objects left unnattended.  Most people have no idea what bombs look like, (and they could look like almost anything) so I'm not at all surprised or amused that soome people got worried. 

Those of you being so scornful should realize that no one is obliged to be as hip as you think you are.  Some of us have other things going on in our lives. 

[Perd Hapley]

And if you live in that kind of FEAR every day, I do feel sorry for you.

FEAR!  Oh, the FEAR is killing me.  You guys are really killing me. 

[m1911owner]

1911owner,

It appears someone was arrested for this whole thing.

That's one of my big problems with all that.  No one should have been arrested.  Nothing was done that on any reasonable planet is criminal behavior.

I'm more interested in this point of view that city governments now have a duty to keep current on every cult TV show or to know that wierd artifacts scattered throughout the city are obviously some kind of art or advertisement.  And they should therefore never be concerned that any of those things might be terrorist-related. 

I think the point of view that "they should have known about the cartoon show" is a red herring.  The real point is that these signs weren't bombs, nor are they designed to look like bombs.  To arrest and charge their makers with creating a "hoax" is absurd and evil.

I'm not saying that officials should ignore strange things.  If they are concerned that something may be a terrorist device, they certainly should check it out.  But when it proves to be something else entirely, then that should be the end of the story, not going around arresting everybody who has the audacity to create something they weren't familiar with.

I note that practically anything at all can be made into a bomb.  A cell phone.  A Game Boy.  A lunch box.  A Coke can.  And I further note that there are lots and lots of things "with circuit boards and wires" that are not bombs.  I've worked with "circuit boards and wires" almost every workday for the last thirty years, and not one of them was a bomb.

If you can turn somebody into a criminal for making a sign, you can turn anybody into a criminal for anything.

[Perd Hapley]

Owner, you might be right.  I won't claim to know.

I didn't intend to comment so much on this thread.  At first I was mildly annoyed at the idea that the average person would be expected to know what these things were.  ("Don't none of them boys use the intronet?)  Then I was floored by the comical suggestion that city government types had a "responsibility" to be able to identify odd objects left in public places as "guerilla art/advertising."  If it doesn't shock, confuse or offend those types of people, how is it "guerilla"?  Besides, people in charge of managing large cities usually got there because they are NOT "wasting their time" on cartoons or internet forums like this one.  Most of them wouldn't know much about cable television cartoons because such things don't further their power or income level. 

Then it went to a whole other level of comic genius when I was accused of totalitarianism, or whatever.  Well, get in lock-step people, because the Republic of Uniformity will be strong and unified when I assume the seat of power.  Bow down!

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

If that's the case, now, that you cannot ACT OUT OF THE ORDINARY or face getting stomped, then, well, the terrorists won.

Ding ding ding!
You got the right answer.  The terrorists have won.  And no, they haven't won because Boston PD aren't up on current cartoons, they won because now anytime anyone does anything a little odd, they are branded a terrorist.  This wasn't a hoax, it was advertising.  There was no intent to make people think these things are bombs.  And yet, the government  has their panties in a bunch screaming terror.  Why do you think that is?  Perhaps because they need to justify their existence.  They need to keep us
safe from all this "terror".
Frankly, I'm not afraid of terrorism, and I'm especially not afraid of some blinking light cartoon thingy flipping the bird.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Yes, they are responsible for having some connection to the real world and popular culture, so they can have an idea of what is going on.  I've only watched Adult Swim once in my life and am not into that sort of thing, and I have still found ATHF hard to avoid.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the Real World now?  Our civic officials now have a constitutional requirement to be "down"?  That is truly funny.     I've watched Adult Swim more than once, but I still wouldn't have recognized these moon-thingies.  Don't know if I would have found them suspicious, though.

I wouldn't necessarily expect the popo to be "down".  But I would expect them to display some common sense.  These blinkie contraptions are nothing more than high tech graffiti.  It shouldn't take a bomb squad to figure out that there's nothing explosive or dangerous about them.

And even if you do send in the bomb squad to check out the first sign you find and learn that it's obviously not a bomb, then why on earth do you send the bomb suqad to check out the dozen other identical signs?  How senseless can you be?

"Hey look!  It's a circuit board with lights and a picture of a cartoon character.  I wonder if it's a bomb?  Send in the bomb squad!" 

"Hey look!  It's another one of those circuit boards with lights and a picture of a cartoon character, just like the last one.  That last one wasn't a bomb, but this one is identical so it's gotta be a bomb.  Send in the bomb squad!" 

"Hey look!  It's two more of those glowing cartoon character signs.  Those first two weren't bombs, and these new ones are identical to those.  That can only mean these new ones are bombs.  Quick, send in the bomb squad before they explode!" 

"Hey look, it's yet another one of those glowing cartoon character signs.  We've found half a dozen of 'em so far today, and none of those were bombs.  That can only mean that this new one is a bomb.  Send in the bomb squad!"

I wouldn't expect civic officials to watch ATHF, but I do expect them to display some common sense.  Shutting down all the major roads and bridges in Boston over these stupid things is not even remotely sensible.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

No, not common sense at all, but it certainly appears to justify their existence.  Without them, we wouldn't be safe from all this terror!