For some reason this Mooninite in Boston scare has really captured my imagination. It is a cautionary tale about how we are spending our security dollars. If, after all this time and all this money, we have a security apparatus in place that needs to shut down Boston to determine that a Lite Brite magnet of a cartoon character flipping the bird is not dangerous, we have real problems and our money probably hasn’t been well spent.
But, that’s sort of the lesser of my concerns. More disturbing, I think, is the media terror porn industry. I’m reminded of Kent Brockman asking a scientist, “Should we panic?” Response: “Yes, yes we should.” A commenter on Boing Boing had a comment on the insistence of media types and government officials using the term “hoax” to describe what happened here:
Next, let’s all get out our dictionary and look up “hoaxâ€, shall we? Because while “War of the Worlds†was a hoax, this was not. There was no subterfuge involved, and no effort made to convince people that these devices were bombs. If I see a scary looking tree out my bedroom window, think it’s a monster, and then discover upon closer inspection that it isn’t, it doesn’t mean the tree has perpetrated a hoax against me. What it means is that for a moment I took leave of my senses. And just because I’m embarrassed about it doesn’t give me the right to go cut down the tree.
While there are legitimate security threats out there, we have to be concerned that there is a massive security industry out there that has to justify its existence, there are media companies that can sell more ads if they have you scared and watching, and we have a population that demands perfect safety. Sort of a toxic, expensive mix that probably doesn’t use our resources in the most efficient way.
Update Wonkette has an update on the prosecution of the two unfortunate punks who apparently hung the Mooninite lights:
The harmless cartoon Lite Brite thingies might just be harmless cartoon Lite Brite thingies, but the prosecutor still has to be very tough and extra-crazy in such a terroristic situation: “Assistant Attorney General John Grossman called the light boards ‘bomblike’ devices and said that if they had been explosive they could have damaged infrastructure and transportation in the city.â€
Yes, and if prosecutors were actually barrels of shit wrapped in dynamite, courthouses around the country could be severely damaged and extremely unhygienic.
Thanks for blogging this Doug. You wrote exactly what I was thinking. I agree completely – it was an over-reaction and now they want someone to blame since they have egg on their faces.
Boston’s pissed because they made themselves look stupid in comparison to other cities exposed to the same campaign. Now, rather than just shutting the hell up, they insist on drawing more attention to themselves. This, from the city previously most recently known for the Big Dig, and the collapse of the Big Dig. They’re a city in need of an intervention before they spend more money, time, and embarrassment on this episode.
Looking at the video of all the snarled traffic, I must ask: What kind of blast radius did the authorities think these devices had? If something the size of a laptop can shut down a city, then we’re hopeless. Meanwhile, we don’t inspect all of the giant cargo containers in our ports…
You post definately “nails it.”
This is ABSURD.
If they really feel it is necessary to press charages I might suggest they start with various Boston Officials…
Mike Sylvester
Right on, Doug… and Bil, too! How hard is it to confess that you screwed up, and forgot the good ol’ Lite Brite of your youth?
Didja see the press conference with the two guys? What a riot- talking endlessly about hair styles, to the irritation of the media.
I assume this means that since all cell phones can be used as detonation devices, we’ll be forced to reinstall the phone booths.
Manfred,
Awesome! Clark Kent will have a place to change again.
Thank goodness. I was getting a little tired of him just showing his junk to everyone right there in the middle of the sidewalk.
I can’t help it…I just keep reloading this post to check out that sweet picture.
It makes me laugh every time.
I’ve been sorto “obsessed” by the Boston incident, also. I think that Boston officials overreacted by many degrees, especially after the fact with all the blustering by the mayor. BUT…I also believe that any overreaction could have easily been avoided by the marketing firm asking for permission before putting up the lite brite signs. I have to get a permit to repair the roof on my own house. Who thinks that it is okay to put up signs on public infrastructure (or private property, for that matter) without getting some sort of permit or at least alerting the authorities?
In the last few days, I’ve heard several people who claim to be involved in guerrilla marketing say that they always get permission from the appropriate authorities and always put a web address, a telephone number, or the name of their firm on whatever signage they post. Apparently the firm involved in this instance didn’t get permission and did not put any contact information on the signs. So, while the Boston reaction was way out of line, the marketing effort was botched, too. I think there was stupidity all the way around.