mooninites terrorise Boston.

[thenerdguy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/...icious_devices


BOSTON - More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless.

"It's a hoax — and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick, who said he'll speak to the state's attorney general "about what recourse we may have."

Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

"The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement, issued a few hours after reports of the first devices came in.

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.

"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said.

The marketing company responsible for the campaign, Interference Inc., had no immediate comment. A woman who answered the phone at the New York-based firm's offices on Wednesday afternoon said the firm's CEO was out of town and would not be able to comment until Thursday.

There were no reports from police Wednesday of residents in the other nine cities spotting similar devices.

Austin police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said the marketing company told the department about the devices Wednesday afternoon and was working with the city to remove them. She did not know where the devices were placed and said no one had contacted police about seeing one.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he'll seek to punish those responsible, and indicated that the penalty could be two to five years in prison per count.

After Turner made its announcement, Menino said he was "prepared to take any and all legal action" against the company and its affiliates "for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents."

"That would include any criminal or civil action," Menino spokeswoman Meaghan Maher later clarified. Boston Police would not comment on any potential charges.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke praised Boston authorities for sharing their knowledge quickly with Washington officials and the public.

"Hoaxes are a tremendous burden on local law enforcement and counter-terrorism resources and there's absolutely no place for them in a post-9/11 world," Knocke said.

Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires hanging from them.

The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate 93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.

Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.

The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a structure beneath the span, authorities said.

Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well. A similar device was found Wednesday evening just north of Fenway Park, police spokesman Eddy Chrispin said.

Wanda Higgins, a 47-year-old Weymouth resident and a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, heard about the threat as she watched television news coverage while preparing to leave work at 4 p.m.

"I saw the bomb squad guys carrying a paper bag with their bare hands," Higgins said. "I knew it couldn't be too serious."

Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists.

"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.

The cartoon also includes two trouble-making, 1980s-graphic-like characters called "mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err — who were pictured on the suspicious devices. They are known for making the obscene hand gesture depicted on the devices.

[stncttr908]

I saw this earlier. Hilarious! I just hope sometime doesn't get out of hand and push back the movie date or affect the show.

[Blakhart]

Quiet Err, I am transmiting rage.

[stncttr908]

There's tons of good stuff all over the web regarding this one...

http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/arc.../31/46757.aspx

Hahahaha...

[Q]

YES!

Much better than the Super Mario scare a few months back.

[malachi1313]

If you were on SWAT or a BOMB squad in that city this would SO not be funny. I guarantee they would want to throttle those guys...I on the other hand find it hilarious. Still think they should of notified someone it was coming. If nothing else it made for some excellent training scenarios.

[retsam]

i hope they fine time warner to hell for this little stunt.

[Q]

Originally Posted by retsam

i hope they fine time warner to hell for this little stunt.

On the moon, we've evolved beyond fines and money.

[Tyr-Sog]

I hope someone fines the city for excessive usuage of government resources and funds for a none issue. Talk about paranoia.

[retsam]

Originally Posted by Qlitchford

On the moon, we've evolved beyond fines and money.

man sex is evolved?

[nrdstrm]

They mayor said something about going after them hardcore (ok...not his words, but you get the gist)...I think TW will be paying ALOT of money for this one...Odd that some are in LA also, but the police won't say a word about it...

[sillyeagle]

LOL this is hilarious. The two suspects in this took questions from reporters after being released on bond, this is what they had to say.....


At a news conference after the hearing, Stevens and Berdovsky stepped to the microphones and said they were taking questions only about 1970s hairstyles.

When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, "We're taking it very seriously." Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously.

Reporters did not relent and as they continued, Berdovsky disregarded their queries, saying, "That's not a hair question. I'm sorry."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/01/bos...are/index.html