People are Stupid with a Capital S

Authorities arrested a man in connection with electronic light boards depicting a middle-finger-waving moon man (pictured left) that triggered repeated bomb scares around Boston on Wednesday and prompted the closure of bridges and a stretch of the Charles River. Meanwhile, police and prosecutors vented their anger at Turner Broadcasting Inc., the parent company of CNN, which said the battery-operated light boards were aimed at promoting the late-night Adult Swim cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Boston officials condemned Turner for not taking proper steps to end the bomb scares earlier and for not issuing an adequate apology to the city. Turner Broadcasting said in written statements the devices had been placed around Boston and nine other cities in recent weeks as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote the show. "We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger," Phil Kent, CEO and chairman of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., said in one of two statements issued by the company. "As soon as we realized that an element of the campaign was being mistaken for something potentially dangerous, appropriate law enforcement officials were notified and through federal law enforcement channels, we identified the specific locations of the advertisements in all 10 cities in which they are posted. We also directed the third-party marketing firm who posted the advertisements to take them down immediately." [source]

Are they seriously serious? They were afraid of a Lite Brite? What the hell is this world coming to? This reminds me of a really stupid event that happened in the DC Metro area recently. During the middle of rush hour they shut down a crowded (yet totally not bomb worthy) section of the beltway because a 6 inch piece of pipe fell off a truck and someone thought it was a bomb. They sent a state-of-the-art bomb robot out to find out it was a 6 inch piece of plastic pipe that fell off a truck. Try explaining that to like 12 miles of bumper to bumper traffic. I generally don't like to think that I'm smarter than everyone and/or the world is full of idiots but seriously people...a Lite Brite and a 6 inch piece of plastic pipe. The terrorists are winning.