There’s a good timeline here.
You got e-mails? You lucky stiff. I got nothing.
from the Boston Globe article:
That’s the one I saw in Atlanta. It is within a block of a large police station, and police cars drive past that location at frequent intervals (every 5 minutes or so). None of them mistook the Lite Brite for a bomb, apparently.
As I showed earlier, the situations in Seattle and Chicago (and, on preview, Atlanta) weren’t all that different.
And are you prepared to say the device was identical, and identically placed, to the one that caused the initial report in Boston’s Sullivan Square? No, of course you aren’t, because you have no idea.
Between “not all that different” and “identical” is a gulf as wide as the Atlantic. I’m beginning to think it’s bizarre that people keep bringing up these comparisons when they in fact have no idea how meaningful they even are. And the obvious implication of the comparisons is that the police in Boston are simply stupider than those in Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, wherever. Why on earth should that be?
Thanks for that. It’s a little hard to read, and some items are out of order. But it’s comprehensive.
I thought you and I work for the same parent company, but the e-mails I got were addressed only to this institution.
Try sending a message via Outlook to tpn, with the header “SDMB test.” I want to see if I get it.
Two words: Bill Buckner.
I don’t know, maybe because out of ten cities where these things were placed, only Boston closed roads, held a press conference, and charged two artists because they thought LiteBrites with a cartoon character flipping the bird were bombs.
That might have something to do with it.
That addresses because they’re stupider. It doesn’t address why.
It was the same as the devices in Boston as far as I can see.
The point is that the situation in Boston wasn’t as unique as you are trying to portray.
On or near bridges: Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago & Boston; unknown for other cities.
On or near public transportation: Chicago & Boston; unknown for other cities.
On or near a major highway? Boston; unknown for other cities.
I’m beginning to think that the hole you’re digging is going to end up in the South Pacific.
Because you are completely missing the point.
So tell me why I should think that you, who obviously didn’t see the device planted in Sullivan Square, should be trusted as a more reliable guide to what it looked like than the Boston Police bomb squad, who did.
Obviously it’s you who is missing it.
He didn’t ask whether the cops here did something stupid. He’s asking WHY they’re stupider. BEFORE the events of 1/31. I’ve asked it several times myself much earlier, and no one has yet answered it.
Is it something in the water? Donut ingredients? Inferior training?
I’ve seen the pictures of the devices used in Boston. Didn’t seem any different from the one I saw in Atlanta.
And I for one am not saying the Boston police are stupid. A little too tightly-wound maybe…
Great! Good enough for me. Next time I see something suspicious, I won’t bother calling the local police, I’ll just contact a random person through the Internet who’ll be able to tell me, “Well, it sounds like what you’re describing is similar to something I saw the other day that was perfectly innocuous. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
The feeling of comfort that this decision brings to me is indescribable.
I blame the baked beans.
Maybe because it’s the wrong question. There has to be a claim of stupidity on the part of the Boston authorities before anyone can say why they’re stupider. I’ve seen no such claim so I say Sal is missing the point.
Sal, it sounds like you have exactly the police you want. Good for you!
The claim was implied, but let’s back up for a second.
If Boston cops aren’t any stupider, then why did they handle the situation differently?
Depends on what you consider suspicious.