Boston: The Dumbest City in America
By Bob Parks (02/01/07)
It was bad enough when cartoons caused rioting in Muslim countries. As
a native Bostonian, I am embarrassed at the level of hysteria caused
by cartoons in my home city.
In an effort to promote a late night Cartoon Network show called "Aqua
Teen Hunger Force", Turner Broadcasting hired some guerilla marketers
to attach magnetic boxes with the lighted image of one of the
characters on several locations around the city of Boston.
Now I don't know much about making terror bombs, but city officials
were notified and later considered the boxes dangerous. Have any of us
ever heard of a bomb with the lighted image of a "mooninite" on it?
Was there any reason that cable news stations spent the whole
afternoon on a non-story?
Is Boston that stupid?
Why am I dumping on Boston? Because similar promotions were in place
for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Did New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland,
Austin, San Francisco and Philadelphia freak out?
According to published reports, "Governor Deval Patrick praised the
response of law enforcement and said that he was "dismayed to learn
that many of the devices are a part of a marketing campaign by Turner
Broadcasting."
Fancy word to justify stupidity: "devices".
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said that residents should not be
afraid to enter or leave the city and that additional police resources
have been deployed to help ensure people that they are safe.
Safe from what? Cartoons?
Boston Mayor Tom Menino said, "Public safety officials are all working
together. There is no time for anyone to panic. We believe we have the
situation in hand. Go about your business. The individuals who placed
these packages should be warned that there is a heavy penalty — two to
five years imprisonment for each one of them. We are not playing
around."
They called this a "hoax." They arrested a young artist making a few
bucks on the side for putting up the "devices" around town. The tab
for the overreaction is a half million bucks. It's against the law to
place a hoax device in a public place that may cause a panic.
The only ones who caused the panic were the idiots in the City of
Boston, the Governor, the Chief of Police, and the Attorney General
who is going to try and sue Turner Broadcasting because Boston can't
take a joke.
Boston. One of the dumbest cities in America. So much for Homeland Security….
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