Latest on the Mooninite War of the Worlds panic:
The two men accused of plunging metropolitan Boston into a panic with illuminated advertisements for a cartoon pleaded not guilty today in a courtroom packed with supporters and a crush of reporters.
The two men smiled broadly throughout much of the brief proceeding as Assistant Attorney General John Grossman described the battery-powered characters as "bomb-like devices." The men, Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, face charges of placing a hoax device in a way that causes panic and disorderly conduct.
The artists shuffled into Boston Municipal Court in handcuffs. Stevens was particularly animated, grinning at the gallery of about 40 supporters and raising his cuffed hand to give a low wave.
Judge Paul K. Leary seemed skeptical of the state's case, telling Grossman that the law requires that people must intend to create a panic to be charged with placing hoax devices. This case, the judge said, seemed to involve two men who relatives say were paid to place unorthodox advertisements throughout the city.
[link]
Picture of the dudes in court (scroll down): [link]
Above link also has closeups of one of the devices (it's on sale on eBay). I had thought that the things were all handmade/thrown together, but the circuit board shows some quality construction.
Am I flogging a dead horse? This Wonkette thing cracked me up: America's New Enemy Has Dreads, Watches Cartoons
The harmless cartoon Lite Brite thingies might just be harmless cartoon Lite Brite thingies, but the prosecutor still has to be very tough and extra-crazy in such a terroristic situation: “Assistant Attorney General John Grossman called the light boards ‘bomblike’ devices and said that if they had been explosive they could have damaged infrastructure and transportation in the city.”
Yes, and if prosecutors were actually barrels of shit wrapped in dynamite, courthouses around the country could be severely damaged and extremely unhygienic.
Am I flogging a dead horse?
I'm endlessly amused by it, actually. I just have a lot of work on my desk, so I keep zipping in and out of here.
I have to say, that Wonkette picture sums up the situation pretty perfectly.
I'm with Steph. Plus it's keeping me from killing people at work. (If there are checkboxes with different choices on a bunch of questions, which you seem to have been working with just fine until it comes to gender, where you write 2 in the box. Why?!? What does that mean!?! Are you trying to tell me that even with a name like Jonathan, you are twice the woman?).
I think I'm going to have a smoke.
A few random thoughts on the whole thing:
It should be a big public relations black eye for the Turner media empire if it isn't bankrolling the defense.
It would be a big public relations plus for the Turner media empire to make a sizable charitable contribution to a fine, upstanding Boston charity of its choice. Donating a thousand Lite Brite sets to a children's charity would not be the best choice.
Given the contemporary zeitgeist, I can see how someone could consider the Lite Brite thingies to be terrorist-related. However, this is more a commentary on the contemporary zeitgeist than on the Lite Brite thingies.
Zeitgeist is a pretentious word, but sometimes you can't think of any other appropriate word.
If those two are terrorists, a lot of people who currently aren't widely considered terrorists should be.
From tommy's link- Hee. They're only answering reporter's questions about 70's haircuts.
Except that they wrote 2 in the box next to female. Wouldn't a hermaphrodite check both boxes?
