Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

That wasn’t funny … but this is.

By

From UHub.

Actually, I find myself a little appalled by both the stupidity of the marketing campaign and the hysterical overreaction of the authorities. I mean, this has got to be the most overblown case of littering in Massachusetts since Alice’s Restaurant.

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  1. That “never forget” is the best. I want a bumper sticker. I think it should have a permanent position on BMG (if UHUB doesn’t mind)

      • I always assumed there was something fake about the story.  When I first heard the news at 10AM, I assumed it was a govt-staged event, because we are supposed to bomb Iran soon.  The next time I heard anything about it, at 6:30, it turned out not even to be a “real” fake bomb threat!  So I did a victory lap.

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        I did that with the runaway bride, too.  Saw it on TV, and said “phony story.”  Paid no attention.  If you want to know what news is fake, I’m the dude.

        • That we invade the moon in the sake of freedom.  Selected intelligence indicates that there are sites on the moon tha tmay harbor Weapons of Mass Distraction, and the moon has not had a democratic election in modern history.

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          Thus, for freedom and apple pie, we must invade the moon.  Cheney has assured us that we will be greated by a grateful atmosphere, and bulky equipment like spacesuits and oxygen will merely slow down this modern army.

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          The people who did this will hear from all of us real soon!

  2. What’s important is that it looks like we’re doing something.  Remember, 3.4oz of toothpaste is ok, 3.5 is a threat to national security. 

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    Fertilizer still for sale at the local home depot or wherever.

  3. As a suburban resident lucky enough to miss the traffic jam, I was cracking up.

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    It was distressing.  It caused a lot of people a lot of trouble, and now some kid’s in jail because the police overreacted.  And frankly, the reaction is a disgrace to our commonwealth.

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    But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hilarious.

  5. This entire thing is insane:

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    1. The folks putting these things up should have had an “in case of questions call…” sticker on ’em.  Duh.

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    2. Any electrical engineer could have taken a quick look at a picture of one of these things and determined if it was potentially dangerous or not, e.g., had radio-frequency components or just some LED-flashing circuitry.  I’m sure that an electrical engineer can be found somewhere in the Boston area…

  6. Everything about this entire incident was EXTREMELY funny, except perhaps that it showed just how bad we are at determining what a threat is and reacting with the proper level of response. These things have been up by the thousands in 10 different cities, and Boston is the only place that collectively shat its pants.

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    Now, they’re determined to make their punishment match their initial over-reaction. To do otherwise would expose the reaction as foolish (which it was). But let’s be clear, this WAS NOT a hoax. That would mean that the devices were placed in order to make people believe they were bombs. This was clearly not the intent here.

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    The terrorists HAVE already won, if all it takes to shut down a city is an LED cartoon character giving the finger. Jesus, show some common sense, Boston.

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    And Governor Patrick? I’m disappointed in your response.
    “This is a hoax-and it’s not funny”
    Wrong on both counts, Deval.

    • This has quickly become my personal pet peeve about the whole thing.  A hoax is an act intended to decieve.  This was not a hoax!  It was a marketing campaign and the (over?)reaction to it.  Nothing more or less.

      • With one addition: The next person to say “Post 9/11 world” in my presence is getting smacked upside the head.

  9. I agree 100% – well said.  The combination of no one noticing for weeks, scape goating an artist, and hysteria is really appalling.

  10. Would say “yeah, we where stupid in proclaiming a BriteLite with 4-D cell batteries a bomb, and we will take some names and kick some butt of the people responsible”. And I do not mean the names of the Turner people and the poor Arlington guy placing these around for $7/hr.

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    I mean the “Homeland security” people making a fuss about OBVIOUSLY nothing, inconveniencing the very taxpayers they are supposed to protect.

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    Patrick would be a real hero if he did that, instead of the expected, patting these morons on the backs and encouraging them to do it again.

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    But that would require common sense, would it not …

  11. From Boston.com

    Police last night arrested Peter Berdovsky, 27. The artist, originally from Belarus, told the Globe earlier in the day that he installed the signs for an ad firm hired by Turner Broadcasting. He faces up to five years in prison on charges of placing a hoax device in a way that causes panic and disorderly conduct.

    His lawyer and friend, Michael L. Rich, said he hoped in court today to get Berdovsky’s bail reduced and “end this craziness.”

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    Putting an artist who was working for an ad agency in jail because the BPD doesn’t know what a bomb looks like is ludicrous. This case should be dismissed immediately. The D.A. should be ashamed.

    • There is no basis whatsoever to charge this guy under the hoax statute, which requires “the intent to cause anxiety, unrest, fear or personal discomfort to any person or group of persons.”  (HT: JK.)  They’ll never show that — this guy was obviously just trying to make a few bucks to help out with a very poorly thought-out marketing campaign.  He had no way of knowing that the ad agency or Turner or whoever hadn’t bothered to clear it with the cops.

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      Let him go; get Turner to cough up some money; and move on.

      • If there was no basis at all, the judge would have immediately thrown out the charges. I think that they can probably make it stick if they can shown that he should have anticipated that this type of reaction could have resulted. In any case, they won’t have much problem getting him on the lesser charges of trespassing and vandalism. Obviously, Turner and the marketing firm are the most to blame for this, but anyone they hired should have known that it is illegal to put advertising on public property or someone else’s private property without permission.

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        Anyway, my guess is that the two guys that were arrested will end up pleading guilty in return for a suspended sentence and a fine, which will be paid by Turner.

        • Vandalism I can kinda see(though its a ridiculous application of a statute intended for actual property damage…) but trespassing?  These were placed in the kind of public spaces that are open 24/7, no?

        • Get real.  These things have been up for weeks, in plain sight, here and in other major cities throughout the country.

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          Yesterday was the big brouh-ha-ha.  Weeks later.  In one city out of what, a dozen?  Those numbers seem to indicate to me that it’s reasonable to anticipate that there won’t be the kind of reaction we saw yesterday, based on a sample size of two dozen days times a dozen cities.  One bad reaction in over 200 identically distributed samples.

      • …would you perform a public installation WITHOUT a copy of the sign permit and bond?

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        I think that’s what’s going to croak him – he should have known, as a professional artist, that the city requires these things.  And if he HAD them, he’d have brought them to the arraignment, no?  Since his quasi-adoptive stepfather-figure who took him in when his visa expired is an attorney?

        • but David is far more well trained w.r.t. the law.  Ignorance of the law or otherwise, I wouldn’t have expected him to have any idea there was a law prohibiting these installations, especially since he was hired by an advertising business to do so.

          • I saw an interview with the person who had taken him in, at the house he was arrested at, on Ch. 7 – the gentleman is an attorney.  The artist’s relationship and visa status were somwhat garbled in the TV reporting, but it was clear that his housemate is an established attorney. 

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            He seems to have had access to legal advice – and remember the chestnut, ignorance of the law is no defense.

            • you are automatically assumed to acquire all of their knowledge? I don’t think it’s normal for a minimum wage go-fer dude who has no knowledge of the legal system to think to consult an attorney before taking a minimum wage job for an ad agency, who should certainly be presumed to know all the relevant regs. I can see the kid being charged with trespassing, but those who hired him should bear ultimate responsibility. They knew what they were doing was illegal–and they hired some ignorant, immigrant kid to do it for them.

              • The attorney in whose house he was living stated he was representing him.

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                What makes you think he’s minimum wage?  He described himself as a working artist, he’s an adult, and his houseowner has already intervened with INS for him when his visa expired.

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                This isn’t some high school kid, Alice.  It’s a thoughtless adult.

        • So bring him up on those charges — installing advertisements without permits etc. The “hoax” thing is ludicrous. What’s the punishment for not having a permit? A fine? 30 days’ suspended sentence? I really don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it ain’t 5 years…

  12. The artist has a web pagelink.  There is a video of him and a friend placing these things around the city.  It is worth seeing and is only about 2 1/2 minutes long.

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    After reviewing the whole thing he is my opinion about what happened.
    1. The initial police response, including the bomb squad, was probably the correct thing to do.
    2. After the first one was destroyed they should have known what these were and called off the rest of the lunacy that happened yesterday.
    3. The press conferences were insane and over the top with hyperbole.  Mennino, Deval, Coakley, et al should just shut the hell up.
    4. The intent of the art work was not to be a bomb hoax, I don’t think he should be charged with this crime.
    5. He should pay a fine because I am sure there was some permit he was supposed to get to put these up and he probably didn’t.  (Soon you will need a permit to wipe your ass in Massachusetts.  They will call it the “Biological Contaminant Cleanup Permit” or something.) 
    6. He should not have to pay any money to the city, state, etc. for their over reaction, he shouldn’t do any jail time and he should not be liable for any civil law suites. 

    • killed his website.

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      If the guy doesn’t get a long jail sentence, he might be able to capitalize on his 15 minutes of notoriety.

  13. Maybe this isn’t as laughable as we once thought? I caught this at Universal Hub via The Boston Herald

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    The two devices found in an office at Tufts-New England Medical Center and attached to the Longfellow Bridge yesterday morning were not the marketing devices that sparked a daylong panic in Boston, but simulated pipe bombs, police officials said last night.   Boston bomb scares: 

    “There were two conventional pipe bombs that were found at the same time that this started to unfold,” said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

      • And given the “real hoax bombs” and the limited information available, if you were in charge of sending people out to dispose of these things, what would your gut feeling say? Each and every device is a hoax, or let’s treat each device with extreme caution?

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        If my boss sent me out there yesterday, I’d tell him I ain’t going unless I had all of the proper percautions.  That’s just me. 

  14. I believe what happened in Boston yesterday can best be summed up in the following two quotes:

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    “Americans will tolerate just about anything so long as you don’t tie up traffic while doing it.” – Dan Rather

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    And

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    “We’ve become a nation of nitwits and assholes.” – George Carlin

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