Artists face jail after cartoon stunt sparks US terror alert

The Independent reports further evidence of the irrational paranoia in the US about potential terror attacks in Artists face jail after cartoon stunt sparks US terror alert

" Two artists from Boston found themselves in court yesterday facing the possibility of a prison sentence after signs they had placed around the city to advertise a late-night animated show triggered a traffic-snarling terror scare.

Boston police closed major commuter arteries, underground stations and even a section of the Charles River on Wednesday after receiving phone calls from concerned citizens who had spotted the devices and apparently mistaken them for bombs. The scare crippled parts of downtown Boston.

The Cartoon Network, owned by Turner Broadcasting, later acknowledged that it had contracted with a publicity company, Interference Inc, to distribute the foot-tall, magnetic signs around Boston and nine other cities, including New York and Chicago."

Meanwhile the real terrorists are rolling around on their floors laughing at the fear and panic in downtown America, stoked up by politicians, the media and a wide-eyed populace that is collectively responsible for facilitating this timid mindset, merely because it does nothing effective to counter it. And two blokes are now facing a jail sentence for putting up neon lights promoting a cartoon for goodness sake! The lunatics are well and truly in control of the assylum.

Meanwhile on this side of the assylum, Home Secretary John Reid has been attempting to use the recent terror raids as an excuse to push through longer detention-without- charge limits. The West Midlands police involved in detained the terrorist suspect are less than pleased that Reid waded in. A police insider said:

"There was no need for the Home Secretary to wade in and get his name on the job. He was clearly trying to make political capital out of it. This was not appreciated."

For evil to triumph it requires only that good people do nothing...

Update from Declan:

"So I read the Massachusetts attorney general's press release about the
Aqua Teen Hunger Force lights:
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=986&id=1803

And was interested in what law the "only hair questions" guys are
charged with violating. I've placed the statute here:
http://politechbot.com/docs/massachusetts.infernal.hoax.device.020107.txt

The law is actually one prohibiting "infernal machines." No, I am not
making this up. Yes, only in Massachusetts."