Hey Boston--- Your Mayor's making you look like a bunch of pansies.

[trumad]

“It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme,” Mayor Thomas Menino said Wednesday. “I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today’s incidents.”

This guy aint got shit...

[WilliamPitt]

1. deleted

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Also deleted.

It's a nice picture though...

[JacksonWest]

8. When in Rome

[HoneyBee]

5. .

[BurtWorm]

95. This is a very informative subthread.

:crazy:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Yeah, he's digging himself into a hole.

Just how stupid does he want to look?

[Warpy]

75. The judge had a whole lot more sense

and the $2500 bail set for the two "terrorists" was a meaty slap in the face to Merino and to DHS. The judge obviously knows it's whipped up hysteria over absolutely nothing.

Boston has had more than its share of grandstanding pinheads as mayor. Other officials usually display competence.

[JacksonWest]

4. It's outrageous in a post 9-11 world we would shut a city down over a few lite brites.

That had been in place for two weeks.

And were in ten other cities.

And were in no shape, way, or form dangerous.

But, Turner's got deep pockets. Someone has to pay for the big dig.

What a jackass.

[stillcool]

70. do you read?

The ordeal began around 8 a.m. when an MBTA worker spotted one of the devices affixed to an Interstate 93 ramp near Sullivan Square in Charlestown, forcing the shutdown of the northbound side of the Interstate and tying up traffic for hours. The State Police bomb squad blew the object apart with a water cannon at about 10 a.m. Then, in quick sequence just after noon, reports of similarly suspicious devices flooded police lines, sending anti terrorism forces to over a dozen locations in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/02/01/froth_fear_and_fury/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News

[bicentennial_baby]

6. Well, are you gonna pay for it?

'Cause if not, then....

I'm with Mayor Mumbles on this one...

[meegbear]

13. Exactly!

I don't see people "passing the hat" to cover this.

[originalpckelly]

23. A dollar per Bostonian.

Not too much. A dollar for a lesson in why we need to stop being afraid, I think it's worth it.

[KittyWampus]

65. So you are supportive of fucked up corporate marketing campaigns? Apparently,

you and other DU'ers feel corporations should be allowed to do or say anything at anytime, anyplace.

After all, they have the same rights as individiuals, right?

[meegbear]

82. Since you're so generous, you can pay mine

[Deep13]

7. Half a million bucks, a city in panic, a highway stopped for hours.

All for some prank to promote some stupid cartoon. I agree with the mayor.

[JacksonWest]

10. It wasn't a prank. It was an ad campaign. The police caused the panic.

Shouldn't there be someone in a police department, in the city the size of Boston, that can determine whether or not one of these devices were bombs in about three minutes?

[trumad]

11. No they continue to say it's a prank

to justify their argument.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. To justify their witch hunt.

[JacksonWest]

14. For the largest college town in the country, you think the police would be used to "pranks".

Someone call and ask the Mayor if he has Prince Albert in a can. That should push them into defcon 3.

[trumad]

15. ROTF... excellent

[Jim Warren]

16. LOL that's seriously funny dude nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. Actually...

given how Bush uses fear to his advantage, I wonder if the Mayor's doing the same.

[JacksonWest]

24. Couldn't agree more.

I don't know anything about this Mayor-but I don't like the way he's handling this.

[hedgehog]

57. Bingo !

I was telling my husband about this and realized that both the mayor and governor were hoping this was their "Guiliani Moment"! No one remembers today, but as of 9/10/00 Guiliani was considered one of the worst mayors in the US!

[danalytical]

19. exactly

It wasn't a prank or a hoax. It was a mooninite lite bright flashing a middle finger at night. Oh no close the bridges and arrest some advertising guy and call it all a bomb hoax so we don't look like a bunch of bumbling idiots. Can't show the world we overreacted, gotta make up some bullshit about a bomb hoax.

[Deep13]

25. How the hell can they do that? X-ray specs?

Unless it explodes. Then they would know.

[HoneyBee]

26. How did the other cities handle it without being blown to bits?

hmmmm?

[Deep13]

28. They didn't know about it.

[kiahzero]

38. That's flat out not true.

Other cities knew about them. Other people knew about them. There was just an interview on MSNBC with a police department that had one hanging inside after they took it off a wall.

[Deep13]

41. Didn't see the interview.

So the police department of this anonymous city knew. Doesn't make Boston unreasonable.

[kiahzero]

48. It was Seattle.

Boston was unreasonable.

[HoneyBee]

55. Boston was totally unreasonable.

[stillcool]

71. what's unreasonable about...

the Boston Police Department responding to calls regarding suspicious devices? where you live, do they just hang up?

The ordeal began around 8 a.m. when an MBTA worker spotted one of the devices affixed to an Interstate 93 ramp near Sullivan Square in Charlestown, forcing the shutdown of the northbound side of the Interstate and tying up traffic for hours. The State Police bomb squad blew the object apart with a water cannon at about 10 a.m. Then, in quick sequence just after noon, reports of similarly suspicious devices flooded police lines, sending anti terrorism forces to over a dozen locations in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/02/01/froth_fear_and_fury/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News

[HoneyBee]

72. Well, first.... "flooded" is an unqualified and relative term.

No, they should have responded to the calls and then used common sense rather than invoking panic.

But, what the fuck, invoking panic is all the rage these days. All the cool cities are doing it...

[stillcool]

74. the media you watch 'invoked'

panic..not the police or the mayor. You must be watching that CNN/Time-Warner/Turner Broadcasting 'terrorism expert'..as you seem so well informed.

[HoneyBee]

76. Who called in the bomb squad and "anti terrorism forces"? Fox??

CNN/Time-Warner/Turner Broadcasting??

Thought not...

[stillcool]

86. oh...I see...when several suspicious packages..

are reported in various parts of the city..you think the police should assume they are all the same, and do nothing. Even the bomb threat reported at one of the hospitals earlier that day. Oh yeah, and I guess we really don't need that bomb squad anymore if suspicious packages don't need to be checked out. Okay, I get it.

[HoneyBee]

87. My point is...

That when they were investigating the first sign (yes, it was an electronic sign), they started the panic ball rolling. They sent the bomb squad right away and the "news" traveled fast... "suspicious packages". Well... Aunt Mildred heard about this and she saw some blinky lights, too... and Uncle Fed and cousin George thinks they saw something... and look, panic ensues.

Again, Seattle and other cities handled it without a huge fear-mongering event. I just think Boston could have and should have done a better job as to not over-react and envoke fear.

Yes, I read. No, I do not get all my information from "teevee". I am not a bandwagon-jumper nor am I am "asshole" or high for holding a different opnion than you. OK? I am a liberal, I can listen to you and your thoughts without making those accusations. I would appreciate the same courtesy.

Thanks.

[stillcool]

88. it just get's better all the time...

By examining a suspicious package...which is kind of what the 'bomb-squad' is used for, and blowing it up, they created a 'panic'? Where was the 'Panic'? Did you see the panic? Do you have a link to the 'panic'?

The ordeal began around 8 a.m. when an MBTA worker spotted one of the devices affixed to an Interstate 93 ramp near Sullivan Square in Charlestown, forcing the shutdown of the northbound side of the Interstate and tying up traffic for hours. The State Police bomb squad blew the object apart with a water cannon at about 10 a.m. Then, in quick sequence just after noon, reports of similarly suspicious devices flooded police lines, sending anti terrorism forces to over a dozen locations in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/02/01/froth_fear_and_fury/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News

[HoneyBee]

89. Let's agree to disagree. If you want to keep calling people names, have fun.

k?

[frylock]

93. they weren't packages

[HoneyBee]

46. They DID have these "devices" in 10 cities.

Chicago, Seattle, New York...

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/16596501.htm
the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia...

In Seattle and several suburbs, the removal of the signs was low-key. "We haven't had any calls to 911 regarding this," Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said Wednesday.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003550583_ploy01.html
"In the Seattle area, the first device was found Tuesday by a Woodinville Public Works Department crew working on a railroad trestle over Highway 202, said Woodinville Police Chief John McSwain.

"Public Works found it and took it down and didn't even bother to call us" because the device didn't appear to be threatening, he said."


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/302011_devices01.html
The King County Sheriff's Office confirmed Wednesday that several illuminated "cartoon figures giving the finger" have been turned in, but it is reacting differently from law enforcement authorities in Boston, where the devices caused a bomb scare, shutting down streets, bridges and a section of the Charles River and forcing an evacuation of a hospital. Two men were arrested.

"To us, they're so obviously not suspicious," said King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. "They're not suspicious devices or packages. We don't consider them dangerous."

[RaleighNCDUer]

49. Just saw on another thread that Seattle called to tell Boston they

had the same things - the question is, when?

A city the size of Boston has to have a good, experienced bomb squad. They surely could have figured out they were NOT bombs in the first half hour. Why did it go on for hours and hours and hours?

Wasn't DHS notified about multiple bomb sites across the city? Wouldn't someone have sent DHS pictures of the bombs to identify the type, figure out how to best deal with them? Wouldn't DHS have already known about them, from the others across the country?

Somebody sat on this to ratchet up the Terra - gotta keep people mindful that we're in a war, otherwise we might object to attacking Iran.

[LSK]

was this the 1st time in history a bomb squad had to be used???

I havnt heard of entire cities shutting down other times when the bomb squad is needed.

[Deep13]

31. There were multiple...er...whatever they were.

One was on a major highway.

[originalpckelly]

33. Actually, they do use X-rays.

:rofl:

They managed to pick it up and put it on the ground so they could blow it up or "deactivate" it, so why the hell couldn't they swab it for traces of explosives? Doesn't Boston have that equipment?

[Deep13]

36. This isn't CSI!

Who's "they?"

[originalpckelly]

42. They being the bomb squad or whatever they call it in Boston...

I've seen lots of these suspicious packages, they X-Ray them to see how they're constructed.

[jayfish]

68. Tell That To The TSA Folks Who Swab...

your laptop PC/MAC for explosives.

"Your not on CSI."
"Your not on CSI."
"Your not on CSI."

[WI_DEM]

9. you know, though, he is right--it was a stupid thing for them to do.

[JacksonWest]

21. Why? Ten other cities didn't have any reaction like this.

It seems the only stupid thing here was the reaction of the Police and the media. I don't think we should be forced to live our lives having to abide by what the stupidest people do. What's next, small canopys under urinals so people don't piss on their shoes?

[Deep13]

27. I don't think the other cities found them by then.

[JacksonWest]

30. Yeah....

They weren't hidden. they were put places where people could see them. At night, lit up. So....

[Deep13]

34. I heard the other cities did not know.

[kiahzero]

39. You heard wrong. (n/t)

[Deep13]

44. references?

I heard on NPR during the day.

[kiahzero]

51. Yesterday?

You mean when they were insisting that these were "packages consistent with an IED?"

Yeah, that's reliable.

[Deep13]

53. So no quotes of officials of other cities saying they knew about them?

:shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

56. How about this one?

"To us, they're so obviously not suspicious," said King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. "They're not suspicious devices or packages. We don't consider them dangerous."

Did you even read that post?

[Deep13]

59. Nope, haven't seen it.

I heard the news on NPR and then late at night on BBC.

[kiahzero]

58. It was a TV interview.

I don't have Tivo to rewind and record for you.

I can tell you that you're wrong, that other police departments did find these things and were intelligent enough to realize that they were not explosives. If you want to persist in your delusion, that's your prerogative.

[Deep13]

61. It's not a delusion to decline to rely on opinionated conclusions...

...on an internet website without proof.

[kiahzero]

64. Whatever makes you happy.

It happened. Feel free to not believe me and persist in your delusion that it didn't.

[Deep13]

78. I'm not saying it didn't happen.

I'm only refuting your definition of "delusion."

I WAS saying it didn't happen (past tense). A delusion is refusal to accept a fact in the face of overwhelming proof. I have seen a lot of opinions thrown around about the mayor of Boston, a Democrat, being some kind of paranoid fear-monger. I had not seen or heard anything that to support that until you posted that quote from a different city. Even so, the fact that officials of two different cities drew different conclusions does not necessarily make one of them wrong.

[JacksonWest]

66. There really wasn't anything to know...that's the point.

The signs were visible in Boston and in the other cities. Some weird chain of events happened in Boston that caused a panic. The other cities didn't "know" about them as a city-there would be no need to. But they were up in the other cities, according to the Turner people. And now they are coming down, or have come down. Which is a shame, because I'd love ot have one.

[HoneyBee]

69. For the FOURTH TIME... look:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/302011_devices01.html

The King County Sheriff's Office confirmed Wednesday that several illuminated "cartoon figures giving the finger" have been turned in, but it is reacting differently from law enforcement authorities in Boston, where the devices caused a bomb scare, shutting down streets, bridges and a section of the Charles River and forcing an evacuation of a hospital. Two men were arrested.

"To us, they're so obviously not suspicious," said King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. "They're not suspicious devices or packages. We don't consider them dangerous."

[Deep13]

80. See post #80

Have we discussed this before?

[frylock]

94. from HoneyBee - post 43..

Chicago, Seattle, New York...

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/16596501.htm
the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia...

In Seattle and several suburbs, the removal of the signs was low-key. "We haven't had any calls to 911 regarding this," Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said Wednesday.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/20035...
"In the Seattle area, the first device was found Tuesday by a Woodinville Public Works Department crew working on a railroad trestle over Highway 202, said Woodinville Police Chief John McSwain.

"Public Works found it and took it down and didn't even bother to call us" because the device didn't appear to be threatening, he said."


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/302011_devices01.ht...
The King County Sheriff's Office confirmed Wednesday that several illuminated "cartoon figures giving the finger" have been turned in, but it is reacting differently from law enforcement authorities in Boston, where the devices caused a bomb scare, shutting down streets, bridges and a section of the Charles River and forcing an evacuation of a hospital. Two men were arrested.

"To us, they're so obviously not suspicious," said King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. "They're not suspicious devices or packages. We don't consider them dangerous."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x102175#102480

[HoneyBee]

60. Yes, they did.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/302011_devices01.html

The King County Sheriff's Office confirmed Wednesday that several illuminated "cartoon figures giving the finger" have been turned in, but it is reacting differently from law enforcement authorities in Boston, where the devices caused a bomb scare, shutting down streets, bridges and a section of the Charles River and forcing an evacuation of a hospital. Two men were arrested.

"To us, they're so obviously not suspicious," said King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. "They're not suspicious devices or packages. We don't consider them dangerous."

[JacksonWest]

67. Thanks for the link!

Great post.

[Hosnon]

85. Wow! I believe Boston just got caught wetting itself.

Apparently the "adult" cities didn't freak out.

[catgirl]

18. You've got something against democrats?

Another bashing post from you. You're true colors are out.

Mayor Menino has been elected how many times? Yah, "he aint got shit", right.

[danalytical]

22. So what he's still an overreaching moron

pretending this thing was a hoax. It wasn't, it was a bunch of ads. They are trying to act like they did this so that people would think they were bombs, but that's a lie. The Mayor knows it, but he's trying save face. So he's a jerk in my opinion. Throwing some young ad guys under the bus because of law enforcement and administration stupidity. What a jerk.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[graywarrior]

20. It's Mumbles, fer crissakes. What do you expect, professionalism?

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[trumad]

35. Don't plan on it...

oh and BTW> Boo

[sharp_stick]

40. How could he move there

the roads are all closed. I hear someone was using a flashlight near Fenway ;-)

[trumad]

43. Oh now we're piling on....

LOL

Too funny.

[originalpckelly]

45. I think Martians are invading...

oh wait, that's Mooninites!

[datadiva]

37. It seems to me

although I'm not an expert on this sort of thing, but did no one inspect any of these things before they ran around blowing them up? It would seem to me that even a little inspection would have shown what they were. What if, heaven forbid they had contained bio weapons? Blowing them up without knowing what they were just seems a little foolish. Not only that but these things were in place for two full weeks and no one noticed them?

[Deep13]

47. Some bombs are rigged to explode if moved or opened.

The opportunities to inspect a suspected bomb are pretty limited and are usually confined to intentionally blowing it up then looking at the pieces.

[originalpckelly]

52. What about the little bomb robots?

I've seen those used before, why doesn't Boston, a city about the size of Denver, have this equipment like our bomb squad does?

[Deep13]

54. Maybe they do, I don't know.

[hedgehog]

62. It would be interesting to find out if a lot of smaller cities out west

have the equipment and Boston doesn't, given the way Homeland Security funds were distributed!

[Marrah_G]

73. bomb robots climb bridges?

[originalpckelly]

50. I know, I've seen lots of these and they usually X-Ray them...

and I know that there's technology to detect chemicals that make explosives, though I am unaware if that can be put on a mobile unit.

They had to take one of them off the bridge in order to blow it up, didn't they see what it was then? Why not take a picture? It's just crazy.

[hedgehog]

63. On the other hand, at least Bostonians don't panic when it snows!

[Midlodemocrat]

77. LOL.

:applause:

Not like in Richmond, where we practically call out the guard.

And, FWIW, I totally understand the panic. We've been told for six years that 'they're' out to get us. Whoever they're is.

[demrabble]

91. But You Can't Drive In Boston

It's true that Bostonians don't panic when it snows.

But it's also true that driving is impossible in Boston when it snows.

In fact, it is almost impossible to drive in Boston even when it doesn't snow.

[Ian David]

79. Two "simulated pipebombs" were found earlier in the day

See:

Bombs, hoax bombs, and a hoax hoax ("simulated pipebombs" found before the Mooninites)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=116&topic_id=13870&mesg_id=13870

[Red Right and BLUE]

81. Your response is your own damn fault, mayor. Suck it. nt

[IronScorpio5]

90. BWAHAHAHAHA

NT

[JVS]

83. Your floraphobia sickens me!

Leave the pansies and other flowers alone!

[walldude]

84. Yesterday, before I knew what this all was I stood up for the cops

and everybody. After learning the truth and seeing the "devices" for myself I've changed my mind slightly. Well maybe more than slightly. It's really embarassing...

[dogday]

92. It is not what they planted all over the city, it is the fact

that they could plant them anywhere which means it could of been the real thing... Shows you doesn't matter how much you try to make a country secure, if someone wants to attack, they will, and they can... That is what everyone should be afraid of....

[Catherine Vincent]

96. So true!

[Stu DeBeouf]

97. Pansy?

In my part of the world it's spelled: Pussy. Fuck the Baked Bean shit...Boston will be known for it's chicken products from now on...I think that Perdue asshole just found a new untapped supply for his slaughterhouses.

[WindRavenX]

98. This is why I miss NYC

x(

[mdmc]

99. Mayor Thomas Menino would be a DU hero if this was a Walmart PR

stunt.