February 01, 2007
Protecting the Public
I'm a little worried. Boston was shut down yesterday afternoon because suspicious boxes appeared in funny places all over the city. Here's the part that worried me:
The 1-foot tall signs adorning bridges and other high-profile spots had hanging wires and batteries. Most depicted a boxy, cartoon character giving passersby the finger — a more obvious sight when darkness fell.
On the basis of this, the authorities slammed us into emergency mode. Had this been a terrorist plot, it is perfectly clear from the traffic jams that ensued that Boston needs a much better emergency response plan.
Frankly, if I were an authority and I saw a box with a cartoon character in flashing lights giving me the finger, my mind would not go immediately to terrorist activity, even though I consider myself a Preparedness Person. . Doncha' think it would be unlikely that a terrorist would mount flashing lights on his or her device? S/He might use an inconspicuous black box, or disguise a little something in a stuffed pumpkin or an SUV-- but flashing lights, no. I no longer believe that my safety is in the hands of anyone with common sense. Did I ever?
I am not a bit relieved to learn that the men who were hired by Time Warner to mount the ads for Aqua Teen Hunger Force" (THREE weeks ago!?!) are under arrest. Personally, I think the officials who pushed the button should be held accountable for the mess. But, of course, self righteousness abounds:
"It's clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location," Assistant Attorney General John Grossman said at their arraignment.The campaign was launched in ten other cities without incident, by the way.
Because I am across the river in Cambridge, and didn't get stuck in the monumental traffic jam that ensued, I did not hear about the suspected terrorist attack until after dinner. If it had been a real terrorist attack, that would have been too late
How will we communicate to the populace in case of a real emergency? The Times Magazine reported that the simplest of notification networks, the radio, may not be a functional avenue anymore -- due of course to deregulation and the corporatocracy.
Peter Berdovsky, one of the installers is an artist. He has turned this into a bit of an art project. He's getting so many hits on his website, he's temporarily out of business. Bet we're all going to tune into "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" too.
If you hurry, you can buy a terrorist device on ebay
Photo note: Beware of mysterious boxes mounted in unusual places -- they may contain dangerous material
Posted by Dakota at February 1, 2007 09:30 AM