The Energon Pub

dude. i was up there when it happened. i was driving through school and a cop told me to get away from the area. people are freaking out and im laughing my ass off. i love chaos

Can you smell the return of Mccarthyism.

LuckytheWonderLlama wrote:Yes I did. A 40 watt bulb and an electrical cord in a plastic box big enough to pack a few pounds of C-4, or a dozen or so viles of anthrax, smallpox or any variety of NBC agents inside.

I am not saying we should live in fear of everything now. Just like I don't live in fear of voicing my opinions in this thread. I am saying that you people should not belittle others and call them stupid for calling in a suspicious package. Not everyone is familiar with ATHF and they did not have the benefit of your hindsight.

We should also not live with our heads up our collective asses and ignore potential threats.

It. Wasn't. A. Box. It was a piece of sheet metal with holes bored through it. Nothing was encased on it. Nothing could have been hidden in it because there was no "in".

Stolen from another site:

I find this entire situation assinine.

It was a promotion that went wrong because some people are too damn afraid of everything. Maybe I should call the police the next time I see a radio station's promotional banner. You never know, someone could line it with explosives.


I agree with Zuko. This is begining to seem like V For Vendetta. We are having to cover our asses and alter our everyday actions just so we don't come off as terrorists. This whole country is getting more and more paranoid everday.

An example of this country's growing paranoia:

My Father works as the Pharmacy manager at the local hospital. One day, he forgot to bring his bookbag with him to work. I took it in to him because it had important documents he needed for work. As I walked through the hospital to his office, everyone was watching me. I was extremely uncomfortable. Within five minutes of me leaving it in his office, I was stopped by security and questioned for 20 minutes! I took them to my father and after he explained the situation to them, they proceeded to search his bag and then, his entire office! They wasted time with us while someone dangerous could have easily waltzed right into the place. I could understand them searching a stranger coming in off the street, but these people know my father and I by first name!

When harmless everyday citizens are treated as common criminals, you know there is a problem.

LOL. Yeah, people really are like sheep. Baa baa, don't upset me, baa! Sheep are dumb, by the way. Like those people freaking out over Lite Brites!

I need to see that V For Vendetta movie...

I also really want to help my friend with building a replica, working Dalek! Oh, the chaos that could be wreaked in this country (USA) that doesn't know a Dalek from Grimlock! Someone would probably call in the National Guard because some strange pepperpot robot thing was rolling around in a Walmart yelling out "exterminate!" and other racist things like "the Daleks are superior!" Oh! And then they'd sue me for belittling them and making them feel insignificant. Double whammy! Unless the National Guard took me out with a tank blast. Then it would play out like a bad episode of The Twilight Zone. "He was just a silly boy rolling around in a harmless robot thing. What have we done?"

I know I'm probably in the minority but personally I think the idiots at Cartoon Network who thought up this stunt should be fired and sent to jail. It's not funny or cool.

Remember kids, if you don't live the authentic American lifestyle THE TERRORISTS WIN!!!

And no-one wants that.

Gameovermus Prime wrote:Remember kids, if you don't live the authentic American lifestyle THE TERRORISTS WIN!!!

And no-one wants that.

Quoted for the sad truth....

Cyberstrike wrote:I know I'm probably in the minority but personally I think the idiots at Cartoon Network who thought up this stunt should be fired and sent to jail. It's not funny or cool.

see, the problem with that is there was no malicious intent. i'm sure that, like most of the folks posting in this thread, the marketing folks at cartoon network looked at these things and didn't think they could possibly be mistaken for something threatening. this wasn't intended as a publicity stunt, it was a plain old marketing campaign that accidentally, and imo rather ridiculously, caused a panic. and boston pd arresting the guy who installed the light boards is absolutely outrageous; the guy did a perfectly legal and to him probably fairly standard job that he was payed by a major national corporation to do. for him to have that job suddenly become retroactively illegal and get arrested for it just because someone misunderstood what he was given to install is flat-out wrong, no ifs ands or buts about it. basically the leadership of boston is pissed and they can't go after who they want to (cartoon network), so they've set their full wrath on whoever they can, regardless of whether that person really deserves it or not.

Just as well as there are people who overreact to glowy LED boards there are people who go overboard in calling those people dumb. Both are annoying.

For this reason, the police should have been more discrete in their investigation until they discovered is the devices were a threat or not in order to avoid panic. And yes the police should have been called. Not everyone is educated in electronics and person coming across an unknown device like that could assume that it could be a malicious device. Even the police may not know enough about electronics so they would have to call some experts, a bomb squad to see if it could possibly be electronic or not.

It's not not leaving a cell phone on a park bench or something. Though a cell phone could possibly hold explosives it's a familiar device. A device with LEDs and and battery attached to it would be an unfamiliar device and many would not know what it was. If I saw a device like that I probably wouldn't jump the gun and freak out. But the police have to protect but the smart, dumb, nervous, and calm just the same. Though like I said they should have done more to keep the whole event low key until they were sure there was a danger.

On the other hand, from what I understood a lot more people would have lived had they started to evacuate the whole area when the first plane hit the first tower on 9/11. Instead they told people to stay calm and stay where they were (at least on the second tower).

There is a difference between a plane crashing into a building and a glowy LED board though. I think the police should have a system where they keep certain things low key, while others they can be allowed to start immediate evacuations.

LuckytheWonderLlama wrote:

Senor Hugo wrote:Looking at the picture. All it is, is a baord with lights, wires and batteries. Nothing else. How is that "suspicious?" One look at it, and you can tell what it is. Theres no sign of explosives. Just batteries, wires, and LEDs.

No. It's a strange box with wires, lights, and batteries. Your hind sight lets you know that it is harmless.

Before that, it's harmless until it explodes in your face or melts it off with nerve gas.

Did you know that you can fit 1 pound of C-4 in a box as big as these "Light-Brites" as you see fit to dismiss them as?

Hell, you could probably fit more if shaped correctly. There's no telling the amout of NBC agents one could fit in those things.

You have no right to belittle people for wanting to stay safe and, you know... alive.

Yes, my Hind Sight allows me to see things that I wouldn't have known at the time. Because I am Hugo, master of Hind Sight!

Actually, it's not hind-sight that lets me deem that this board non-threatening. Which it is, only a board with lights, wires and some batteries. It's common sense.

You're walking past, and you see a board with lights, batteries, and wires. Any person with common sense isn't going to go "ZOMG BOMB THE TERRORISTS ARE ATTACKING." They look at it, and see that it's just a board that lights up. Do they know what its for? No, not everyone will. But will it be considered a threat? No, not unless the batteries corode.

Gotta love this little nugget of knowledge known as Common Sense. So many people lack it today, I'm glad that I still have mine.

Also, I can belittle anybody I want. Why? Because I can. Because I have that freedom, to look at someone and say "You're a retard." And not have to worry about being Politcally Correct, or any of that crap.

The sheer overreaction to this astounds me, and amuses me. When I heard the radio news, I thought "okay, maybe they look like bombs, so honest mistake". Then I saw the actual "devices" in question and thought, "okay, people are just stupid".

Makes me wonder what would haappen if blinking spongebob's appeard all over town. "Police have detonated 41 spongebob squarepants dolls, much to the dismay of toddlers"

A Responsible citizen did their civic duty and reported a suspicious package.

The Police did their job and kept the public safe.

A Corporation was irresponsible for not notifying city managers of their advertising campaign and what it involved.

The charges against the two individuals that were arrested are not being made retroactivly illegal. A little bit of research and education can show you that.

I don't understand why you people think the Big Bad Government is crushing our personal liberties. Unless, of course, you are all trying to undertake illegal activites?

I think you guys have watched to many movies. Bad ones, at that.

LuckytheWonderLlama wrote:The charges against the two individuals that were arrested are not being made retroactivly illegal. A little bit of research and education can show you that.

the arrests were made under a boston law that makes it illegal to be involved in a hoax that causes a panic. so the panic retroactively made the action itself illegal. and that law shouldn't apply here anyway, as the word "hoax" implies that it was intended to cause the scare, which this wasn't.

besides, are you really telling me that these guys should be arrested because the company that hired them didn't file the right paperwork with the city?

i dont get it. i mean i saw the pix and stuff, but how the hell does that relate to ATHF? plus it is funny to see that ppl thought it was a bomb. i think 9/11 scarred america for life

Trans4mers4ever wrote:

LuckytheWonderLlama wrote:The charges against the two individuals that were arrested are not being made retroactivly illegal. A little bit of research and education can show you that.

the arrests were made under a boston law that makes it illegal to be involved in a hoax that causes a panic. so the panic retroactively made the action itself illegal. and that law shouldn't apply here anyway, as the word "hoax" implies that it was intended to cause the scare, which this wasn't.

besides, are you really telling me that these guys should be arrested because the company that hired them didn't file the right paperwork with the city?

Yes. I am. Because they broke the law.

The rest will be sorted out in a court of law. Or out of court with lots of money.

LuckytheWonderLlama wrote:A Responsible citizen did their civic duty and reported a suspicious package.

It is not a package. It is a sheet with blinky LEDs and batteries, akin to a Lite Brite toy. And they were in place for weeks.

I think the people of Boston have watched too many movies. Bad ones, at that.

Fixed. Unfortunately, though, they haven't seen enough late night cartoons. Maybe they will all go see the movie in March.

Senor Hugo wrote:Also, I can belittle anybody I want. Why? Because I can. Because I have that freedom, to look at someone and say "You're a retard." And not have to worry about being Politcally Correct, or any of that crap.

Quoted for truth...

Well the suspects soke earlier. Hear what they have to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx2ytr2Oyv4

Greatest Press Conference Ever!

Ninja Sixshot wrote:i dont get it. i mean i saw the pix and stuff, but how the hell does that relate to ATHF? plus it is funny to see that ppl thought it was a bomb. i think 9/11 scarred america for life

The lights were in the shape of a Mooninite giving the finger

Phategod1 wrote:It seems noone has posted pictures of the actual thing but i saw it on AOTS and it was nothing more then battery powered Light bright. Boston natives who feared this i have the following message. You are dumb, very dumb.

You say that now, after seeing the pictures and knowing the full story. However, I think it seems different when you are a driving on the Highway and the announcements on the radio state that there is a suspicious device under the expressway. Hindsight is 20/20 but try to put yourself in the moment.

Not all of the devices were lightbright boxes. One rider said she saw a black box. No lights.

It was a woman riding on the subway who saw a black box (in broad daylight, so the lights were no visible, to her it was a black box) attached to the underside of a highway overpass. Due to subways being targets for bombs in Europe, here in Boston we are often exposed to ongoing announcements to report anything that looks out of place on the subway. That is what she did. She did the right thing.

You must understand that the people of Boston are constantly told that Boston is likely to be attacked by terrorists. I think the response was proper - people saw suspicious packages, police and bomb squads were called in to investigate. If the bomb squad thinks that the package is suspicious, they detonate the device. That's the standard protocol. Why should a bomb squad officer lose a limb or life to determine if something is a hoax?

I like jokes and pranks, but not when they are this large and affect this many people. I don't think the officials or Bostonians are stupid. The officials followed all the right procedures and warned people. I think the pranksters are idiots to attach these devices to the underside of expressways, subways, and infront of hospitals. They were obviously trying to cause a ruckous and they did.

Trans4mers4ever wrote:

LuckytheWonderLlama wrote:The charges against the two individuals that were arrested are not being made retroactivly illegal. A little bit of research and education can show you that.

the arrests were made under a boston law that makes it illegal to be involved in a hoax that causes a panic. so the panic retroactively made the action itself illegal. and that law shouldn't apply here anyway, as the word "hoax" implies that it was intended to cause the scare, which this wasn't.

Uh, the devices were attached to the underside of highways, in front of hospitals, on subways. To me, it sounds like they were trying to cause panic.

Why didn't they put these devices in less threatening places? Why did they choose suspicious targets?

First off, I don't much care for Aquateen Hungerforce myself though I have a brother and a best friend who are fans of the show and, like many, are probably laughing themselves to death over this incident. This is free publicity for what is an underground phenomenon. Though not what intended, I'm sure plenty will welcome it.

I'll say it plain and simple, those who overreacted are stupid. The "devices" in question depicted a cartoon character. Their only function was to light up at night. Does this now mean all street lights are potentially dangerous or that billboards are too seeing as that's about all they were essentially? Hell, maybe Cartoon Network is a terrorist group to the city of Boston now and should be banned from TV screens. Seriously, all they were there for was to advertise. Just like a billboard touting some hotel, a new fastfood burger, a brand new car, or whatever.

There is one thing that does bother me about those that took notice. If these people were so damned concerned, why weren't these spotted with days to a week after being distributed? Not several weeks after the fact.

As for Cartoon Network, they shouldn't feel compelled to do anything about this other than defend their employees. They were in the right to advertise and did so legally. They can't be held accountable for some woman's delayed paranoia. For all we know she saw these since they were placed and only a day or 2 ago finally called it in. Their guys did their job and were unjustly arrested. If Turner Broadcasting has any sense of right, they'll see to it that their legal team is ready to protect these guys.

Repainted_Transformer wrote:The "devices" in question depicted a cartoon character. Their only function was to light up at night. Does this now mean all street lights are potentially dangerous or that billboards are too seeing as that's about all they were essentially?

There is difference between suspicious objects and familiar objects. A black box on a subway with no lights seems little out of place to me.

Repainted_Transformer wrote:As for Cartoon Network, they shouldn't feel compelled to do anything about this other than defend their employees. They were in the right to advertise and did so legally.

No, they advertised illegally. They did not report their stunt to the authorities as required, and they solicited in illegal places - hospitals, highways, and subways.

Why did they place the devices at these places? Why didn't they report this to the authority? Perhaps they knew their stunt would draw media attention. And isn't media attention what they wanted all along?

lmao, you americans are so damn funny. The world wouldn't be nearly as delightful without you guys here to entertain me.