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What sort of idiot straps an old TV to a light pole?
By adamg on Wed, 12/12/2007 - 11:38am
Main Street at Mass. Ave. in Cambridge shut down, evacuated; police sent in a bomb robot, then used high-pressure water to destroy:
An old, gutted television set
An old, gutted 19-inch television set strapped to a light pole that was missing the front of an electrical panel. Make sure to read to the very end of that link for some comments from somebody who really knows what's important in life.
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Comments
And what sort of idiot calls the bomb squad over this?
People abandon TV sets on the streets, in various states of disrepair or disassembly, all the time. It's illegal (since TV sets are hazardous waste) but hardly cause for panic. This could have been dealt with late at night instead of disrupting a busy city neighborhood.
In general, yes
But I don't mind the police being cautious. The story does explain why the police went beyond simply calling the DPW.
Should read first
I admit that I didn't read the article before I replied to Ron. One demerit for me. Maybe the benefit of the doubt is warranted here. I don't know. It's borderline. Still, my general point about police departments freaking out stands.
Amen
re: "And what sort of idiot calls the bomb squad over this?"
Somehow the only response to anything suspicious now is overwhelming force. Overreacting to a non-threat is not "playing it safe". It's actually making us less safe. For one, if another threat materializes we'll be out of position. Also, if we keep reacting in this manner people won't trust future responses, thinking they're just another overreaction. Think Homeland Security threat level always being at elevated.
I can see area police departments screwing this up a few times. It's understandable. But after a while they need to learn how to respond to things with the appropriate amount of resources.
One can never be too careful these days, but
overreaction to a given situation or situations here in the United States and, for that matter, throughout the world, seems to be the order of the day. Scary, indeed.
My money
is on an MIT connection here...
Second-best bet
is some local artist connected to a local institution such as Art interactive, Boston Cyberarts Festival, Cambridge Science Festival, Cambridge Arts Council, etc. There's some intersection between these folks and the MIT crowd.
Hey,
That's the $9800 tv set the guy in Natick wanted to buy. How'd it get all the way over there?
First the moonites Then
First the moonites
Then logan
Now this...
Mumbles has some splainin' to do, the BPD is starting to look as over reactive, incompetent, and useless as the MBTA.
We really are becoming the laughing stock of the nation....
(edit, I know it cambridge, but still).
Instead of editing, maybe you should have deleted?
since you now realize this had nothing to do with Tom Menino or the BPD at all?
I *knew* someone would do it
I just new that someone would blame "Mumbles." Things I have learned...
* People who call Menino 'Mumbles' either listen to Howie Carr (and thus should be ignored at all costs) or are non-Boston residents. Boston residents who have any interest in the goings of the City have insight into Mayor Menino and his policies and workings. It does not mean we agree with them all but we don't just bluster and call him 'Mumbles'
* If they are Boston residents, they have never voted in a local election and couldn't name their state rep, city counselor, governor's counsel rep or quite possibly their senators.
Ruh roh
I admit it: I don't have a clue who my governor's councilor is. But that probably speaks more to the fact that it's a body that should have been excised from the state constitution eons ago, not because I don't care about city issues.
Can I still shake hands with the mayor at one of the 7,213 Christmas-tree lightings he goes to?
Likewise on the Governor's Council
James Michael Curley once described the
Governor's Council as a "hock shop".
And no, I don't know mine either.
It was a joke post, sorry if
It was a joke post, sorry if it didn't come across as one.
Oh, and I just like calling him Mumbles because I think it's funny. He's done bth great things and stupid (like trying to move city hall away from the center of the city), but you ahve to love that nickname!
who's Howie Carr?
One of my Favorite Menino Malapropisms
"It's like an Alcatraz around my neck!"
you know it cambridge?
If you 'know it cambridge' then how does this particular instance have anything to do with the mayor of Boston?
Possibly reasonable
Given the unusual modifications to the TV, I'd say that the Cambridge police reaction in this case was reasonable, unlike the Aqua Teen Hunger Force fiasco in Boston.