These are only the ones I know of. Maybe there are more cases of Boston PD going nutso over some imagined bomb threat. It reminds me of the aftermath of 9/11, all of the soccer moms in my rural home town, running around and buying up all the bottled water and duct tape in town, like they expected The Terr'ists to be interested in bombing Middelofnowheresburg, PA.
I'm sure Boston is a great city, but stories like these make me never want to visit there, lest I worry if I forgot a half-finished Arduino blinky-light project in the back seat of my car. I don't view Boston as that important of a city for someone to want to bomb it.
It reminds me of the aftermath of 9/11, all of the soccer moms in my rural home town, running around and buying up all the bottled water and duct tape in town, like they expected The Terr'ists to be interested in bombing Middelofnowheresburg, PA.
Keep in mind that Flight 11 and Flight 175 - the two aircraft that struck the World Trade Center towers - departed from Boston Logan International Airport. It makes you wonder what happened internally in the Boston PD after that event. A very high profile incident in everyone's recent memory originated from an area under their watch, so my guess is the paranoia stems from their desire to never be associated with such an incident ever again.
The paranoia runs deep elsewhere. Though not the first skyscraper you'd ever think to target, Boston's John Hancock Tower (tallest building in New England) is similar to the World Trade Center towers in which the elevators and stairwells are all contained within the core of the building. Working in the building, I can definitely say that security gets a bit antsy when the turnstiles buzz when something may be awry.
Then the ATHF thing you referenced http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/01/mooninites_from_one...
Then a freaking traffic counter that had been put in place by the department of transportation http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/28/boston-police-blow-u.ht...
and the MIT student with the LED sweater http://boingboing.net/2007/09/21/mit-student-arrested.html
These are only the ones I know of. Maybe there are more cases of Boston PD going nutso over some imagined bomb threat. It reminds me of the aftermath of 9/11, all of the soccer moms in my rural home town, running around and buying up all the bottled water and duct tape in town, like they expected The Terr'ists to be interested in bombing Middelofnowheresburg, PA.
I'm sure Boston is a great city, but stories like these make me never want to visit there, lest I worry if I forgot a half-finished Arduino blinky-light project in the back seat of my car. I don't view Boston as that important of a city for someone to want to bomb it.