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2007-02-01 Home Front: WoT
Cartoon Stunt Freaks Out Boston
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Posted by Bobby 2007-02-01 05:34|| || Front Page|| [11133 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1  It said 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.

...Which, as I pointed out to the G/F last night, says something for the overall effectiveness of the program insofar as nobody recognized anything.

Mike
Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2007-02-01 06:03||   2007-02-01 06:03|| Front Page Top

#2 Adult Swim is a regular lefty, clueless endeavor. Their forums are politicised to hell, The Network is run by a refuge from CNN. It's no wonder they didn't get it before they pulled this stunt. I hope some one goes to jail, maybe they will "get it."
Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2007-02-01 06:18|| www.sockpuppetofdoom.com]">[www.sockpuppetofdoom.com]  2007-02-01 06:18|| Front Page Top

#3 Meanwhile, Euros are refusing to produce postage stamps in honor of China's "Year of the Pig," in servitude to the cult of terror. France caved in first. China withdrew pork scented stamps. Canada had the guts to issue the commemorative.

http://www.canadapost.ca/personal/collecting/default-e.asp?stamp=stpdtl&detail=1787
Posted by Sneaze 2007-02-01 06:39||   2007-02-01 06:39|| Front Page Top

#4 Adult Swim is a regular lefty, clueless endeavor.

Yeah, probably. They gave "Boondocks" a time slot, after all.

But, damn, I do love "The Venture Bros."
Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford  2007-02-01 07:36|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/]  2007-02-01 07:36|| Front Page Top

#5 The strangest thing about this story is that the same devices have be in many cities & have excited nothing. Those devices are being removed as well.
Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-02-01 07:54||   2007-02-01 07:54|| Front Page Top

#6 What set off the alarms in Boston was that a device was found attached to a main road artery bridge support.
Posted by ed 2007-02-01 08:08||   2007-02-01 08:08|| Front Page Top

#7 I will credit Cartoon Swim with being the most innovative, surreal, bizarre, and creative adult-oriented animation around. They do take the big risks as far as comedy goes, and much of their fare can only survive in a late night slot--like a funny version of Art Bell.

I'll second The Venture Brothers as being among their best, along with Harvey Birdman and Sealab 2021.
Posted by Anonymoose 2007-02-01 09:14||   2007-02-01 09:14|| Front Page Top

#8 "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

What's this dumbing down of America I've been hearing about? Anybody else heard anything about that?
Posted by tu3031 2007-02-01 09:56||   2007-02-01 09:56|| Front Page Top

#9 Moose,
I'll second that, especially Birdman and The Venture Brothers. Sealab had one or two hysterically funny eps, but everything else was wildly uneven and ATHF was the same way. For my money, the best thing on there right now is Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends - the last few eps have had some humor worthy of the Marx Brothers at their best, yet it is probably the most family-safe show on CN.

Mike
Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2007-02-01 10:22||   2007-02-01 10:22|| Front Page Top

#10 What's this dumbing down of America I've been hearing about?

I'll grant that ATHF is juvenile, and that the few times I've watched it, it's not particularly funny.

But, again, "Venture Bros." "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" is pretty good, too. And "Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast". "Sealab 2021" had its moments, too. None of them are particularly high-brow, but comedy often isn't.
Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford  2007-02-01 10:23|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/]  2007-02-01 10:23|| Front Page Top

#11 Guess in the world of Trump-style marketing, these two accomplished their task.

Their company should not be sued for criminality, but for financial liability. Bet Boston lost a bunch of dough trying to secure the areas.
Posted by Jules 2007-02-01 10:25||   2007-02-01 10:25|| Front Page Top

#12 Sneaze: This is for you, try and learn something from it. URL's go between the quotes!

Off Topic, mini rant:

Folks, (this is directed at a Sneaze) the web and HTML have been around for well over ten years, not being able to competently post a link to an article is shameful. Especially when the syntax for the HTML Tag is listed for you right below the buttons that may, or may not, work with your browser.

Posting a link, goes like this:

<a href='*1'>*2</a>

*1. In this spot (between the single quotes) you put the complete URL including the "http://" tag, (omit the double quotes) and nothing else! Omit the "*1".
*2. Here, you put the text of whatever you want to call the link, you can even leave the "*2" if you like the way it looks.

There are only 14 characters you have to get in the correct order, plus the URL. Work on it.

/Off Topic, mini rant.
Posted by Chuck Darwin 2007-02-01 10:28||   2007-02-01 10:28|| Front Page Top

#13 
*2



Any chance we can get this on the sideboard? Ima think Nuwaubianism is a creeper menace.

Dang, now the thing is bold. Aw well.
Posted by Shipman 2007-02-01 11:30||   2007-02-01 11:30|| Front Page Top

#14 Little heavy on the judgmentalism there, Darwin. HTML may have been around for years, but that doesn't make it shameful that others don't have skills in writing it. I haven't tried to post an article because I have no idea what I am doing and didn't want to create headaches for moderators, but I have linked to URL's, perhaps incorrectly as Sneaze has. Rantburg will have to decide the right balance of desired participation to ineptitude.

When I look at your instructions on my Mac, there appears to be a space between the a and h and between * and 1 and * and 2. Is that correct?
Posted by Jules 2007-02-01 11:40||   2007-02-01 11:40|| Front Page Top

#15 A little time at Leavenworth or Gitmo should fix the problem. Send the bill to Ted Turner or send Ted to keep them company.
Posted by JohnQC 2007-02-01 12:33||   2007-02-01 12:33|| Front Page Top

#16 These things were up and flashing all over the country and no one noticed. That is until someone(Berdovsky and /or Stevens?) in Boston called 911 to report something suspicious going on. then the public got wind of it and VOILA panic.
Posted by GK 2007-02-01 13:22||   2007-02-01 13:22|| Front Page Top

#17 When I saw the photo of a device mentioned in this story on another site I knew who and what it was. Some ought to go to jail.

As the depicted character says, [as] long and hard as I can.
Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2007-02-01 13:47|| www.sockpuppetofdoom.com]">[www.sockpuppetofdoom.com]  2007-02-01 13:47|| Front Page Top

#18 Just saw these two dolts on TV. Had they acted contrite, they probably would have been eventually forgotten, but no, they had to be a*ses. They just dug their own graves.
Posted by Jules 2007-02-01 13:56||   2007-02-01 13:56|| Front Page Top

#19 Back off, folks. They're "artists"...
Posted by tu3031 2007-02-01 14:00||   2007-02-01 14:00|| Front Page Top

#20 I think Aqua Teen Hunger Force is HILARIOUS!
Posted by Scooter McGruder 2007-02-01 14:12||   2007-02-01 14:12|| Front Page Top

#21 Ah is 9-11 a forgotten thing?
Posted by Icerigger 2007-02-01 14:12||   2007-02-01 14:12|| Front Page Top

#22 "Halp us John Kary, we are stuck on stoopid and living in Boston. We cannot recognize anything unless you or Sugar Daddy Teddy tell us watt to due..."
Posted by USN, Ret. 2007-02-01 14:27||   2007-02-01 14:27|| Front Page Top

#23 Dreadlock Boy's from Belarus.
I wonder if he'd enjoy having his smartass sent back?
Posted by tu3031 2007-02-01 14:35||   2007-02-01 14:35|| Front Page Top

#24 Weeks in 10 major cities an nothing, then Boston panics when you see a flashing light? I saw the "Device" flashing and it looked NOTHING like a bomb. In fact, it looked more like it belonged in a pornographic stores window. The places they were put are idiotic, but the fact that Boston officials didn't try to figure out where the image was from first is....well, stupid. They were just flashing, hadn't gone off, and I'm sure if they went up and looked at the devices they would see they've been up there awhile with no harm, if indeed they were there for weeks. I just don't see how those signs could be mistaken for a bomb in ANY way. They look like Old-fashioned pixeled video-game characters! How could that be mistaken for a bomb!?

I think Common sense was lacking on both sides in this.
Posted by Charles 2007-02-01 14:39||   2007-02-01 14:39|| Front Page Top

#25 When I look at your instructions on my Mac, there appears to be a space between the a and h and between * and 1 and * and 2. Is that correct?

There is a space between the "a" and the "h" in "href" no spaces elsewhere.

Not being able to competently post a link when the directions are right in front of you is shameful. I am not a programmer, web or otherwise, but if my eight year old can do it, and I can do it, then the other posters can do it too. Just 14 characters to type, and then cut-n-paste the whole URL in between the quotes! Is that too much to expect?
Posted by Chuck Darwin 2007-02-01 15:04||   2007-02-01 15:04|| Front Page Top

#26 My brother's a firefighter up here. They didn't run on it, but watched the coverage of it pretty intently and, believe me, it was saturation coverage. Not being devotees of the Cartoon Network, as most of the cops, firefighters, and bomb squad guys aren't, they couldn't figure out what the things were in the few closeup looks that they got of them. And when you DON'T KNOW what you're dealing with, you go worst case scenario, despite taking the chance that you'll offend the local performance artist and stoned college kid cartoon audience fan community.
He loves hindsight. He wishes he had it everytime he rolls on a job. But it's not a luxury you get.
And he just called back. He just saw their press conference and would like to tie Dreadlock Boy and his Townie loser buddy to the back of the pump and run them around the block about 50 or 60 times.
Posted by tu3031 2007-02-01 15:04||   2007-02-01 15:04|| Front Page Top

#27 I saw the press conference too. Damn, those guys are complete stoners. I still think Boston Departments over-reacted and could have handled it SO much better. Why they over-reacted and no other city did I still don't know. And not everyone who watches such shows are stoners Tu3031. I'm still confused about what was so threatening about a blinking figure. A person with Binoculars could have diffused the situation if that person had said say "looks like a pixel-figure flipping us off".

It's extremely fishy that it was there for weeks in several major cities and Boston suddenly one day panics over it IMO. There's something we're not being told about this whole incident. Maybe a disgruntled employee with knowledge of the publicity stunt made a phone call and caused this whole mess?
Posted by Charles 2007-02-01 15:51||   2007-02-01 15:51|| Front Page Top

#28 Hear Hear for Tu's a Bro (you did say pump company right?) If not, only golfer clap.

Posted by Shipman 2007-02-01 15:53||   2007-02-01 15:53|| Front Page Top

#29 I saw the devices in Austin this week and assumed they were part of some goofy ad campaign, duh. The Boston authorities and media behaved like imbeciles.
Now, however, we learn that the two stoners were instructed to stay quiet about the real nature of the devices while the farce played itself out. This is absolutely unconcionable, they had an obligation to reveal the true nature of the devices as soon as they became aware of the authorities' admittedly stupid error. The "hoax device" charge probably won't hold up, since the "artists" could not reasonably have anticipated that they would be mistaken for bombs. "Disorderly conduct" will hold up and terrorism charges are not impossible, since the purpose of withholding the information was to exploit fear and panic among the general public.
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2007-02-01 15:58||   2007-02-01 15:58|| Front Page Top

#30 For the record, it took me a few years to figure out the whole posting thingy, and I only started embedding links in 2005... and I was president of my high school computer club back in the days of punch cards. Granted, they elected me because I was one of the two girls in the club, but even so. Colour me ashamed, I s'pose. Sneaze dear, most of us go through it, and you'll come out the other side as clever as the rest of us in time.

Oh, and if common sense were common, I'd have it too.
Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-01 17:25||   2007-02-01 17:25|| Front Page Top

#31 On my Mac, there ARE spaces on the areas I indicated-that's interesting. My mistake about the "link" part below the posting area in grey; I hadn't noticed that before. I think it's been added? Anyway, it's a good thing you're so gracious about the use of HTML, Derwood, otherwise, one might assume you're a smug, little jerk.
Posted by Jules 2007-02-01 17:51||   2007-02-01 17:51|| Front Page Top

#32 On my Mac, there ARE spaces on the areas I indicated-that's interesting. Anyway, it's a good thing you're so gracious about the use of HTML, Derwood, otherwise, one might assume you're a smug, little jerk.

Oh. A MAC user. That explains everything.

Graciousness has nothing to do with it. Jerk? I'm a fully fledged asshole. That not withstanding, there are a handful of individuals that consistently post incorrectly tagged links, in spite of the proper syntax being right in front of their eyes. If it is a long link, it screws the page formatting.

Anyway, I don't recall directing my comment you.

TW: You're so self-deprecating, I don't buy it for an instant. 8-)
Posted by Chuck Darwin 2007-02-01 18:05||   2007-02-01 18:05|| Front Page Top

#33 Thanks, tw, for solidarity. YOU are gracious.
Posted by Jules 2007-02-01 18:06||   2007-02-01 18:06|| Front Page Top

#34  He just saw their press conference and would like to tie Dreadlock Boy and his Townie loser buddy to the back of the pump and run them around the block about 50 or 60 times.

TU, tell him to bring the two boys up here to Colorado Springs. That way he can run around the block 50 or 60 times in the snow, with a wind chill of about -5F. Maybe he can convince these two idiotsticks to dress in t-shirts and cut-offs for their ride...
Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot  2007-02-01 18:36|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]  2007-02-01 18:36|| Front Page Top

#35 Unfortunately, every blessed word is true, Chuck Darwin. But it's flattering that you choose to think otherwise. Nothing necessarily wrong with being an asshole, which I'm not sure you are, but please give others the chance to climb the learning curve. You wouldn't believe how frustrated I get at those who continue to stick out their little finger when they drink tea, but I have faith that they'll learn before I break any off -- and in the meantime they say such interesting things!
Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-01 19:44||   2007-02-01 19:44|| Front Page Top

#36 'Twasn't mere solidarity, Jules dear.
Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-01 20:08||   2007-02-01 20:08|| Front Page Top

#37 http://wbztv.com/video/?cid=9&id=28369@wbz.dayport.com

LOL, press conference after their release from jail
Posted by Gloque Elmang4914 2007-02-01 22:21||   2007-02-01 22:21|| Front Page Top

23:54 Eric Jablow
23:44 CrazyFool
23:39 Barbara Skolaut
23:34 Barbara Skolaut
23:24 Sock Puppet of Doom
23:22 Chuck Simmins
23:17 Rob Crawford
23:09 Chuck Simmins
23:08 Sock Puppet of Doom
22:51 Chuck Simmins
22:37 RD
22:31 RD
22:29 gromgoru
22:29 mhw
22:26 RD
22:21 Gloque Elmang4914
22:14 BA
22:14 Gloque Elmang4914
22:07 BA
21:55 JDB
21:50 JDB
21:43 gromgoru
21:41 Bill Clinton
21:39 Frank G









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