I loved that movie but I am no Chicken Little. A circuit board with battery and palydough deserves attention.
Exactly.

A block of cheese with wires that looks like a block of C-4 is no joking matter. I can't see why pointing that out is fear mongering or an over reaction.



That does not look like a bomb.

Right, like cans of cheezewhiz and twisty ties. It deserves about 5 minutes of attention, and telling the kid to either remove it or themselves and that's about it.

How about we all give up clothing, food, and travel. Then we'll all be "safe."

I'm not the one afraid of blinky stars and play-doh. That would be you.

If I'm wrong, I'm happy to be. You can CHOOSE to be fearful, or sensical.

I'll take sensical, and hopefully keep dumb MIT students out of jail.

They don't belong there. Period.


THIS doesn't look like a bomb, unless you're a stubborn doodyhole.

I can't believe NBC is promoting Bionic Woman like this. What a terrible idea.

It has two of the thee components needed for a bomb. An electrical source and a timing mechanism (possibly a clock chip on the circuit board). It lacks explosives, which could have been carried on her person. Though it's not likely that a "real" terrorist would advertise that way, it was of concern to security.

Sep 21, 2007 3:53 pm US/Eastern

Student Charged With Wearing Fake Bomb At Logan
Police Say Simpson Had Circuit Board, Wiring, and Play-Doh
Drudge -
(WBZ) BOSTON Troopers arrested an MIT student at gunpoint Friday after she walked into Logan International Airport wearing a computer circuit board and wiring on her sweatshirt. Authorities call it a fake bomb; she called it art.

Star Simpson, 19, of Lahaina, Hawaii, had a white computer circuit board and wiring over a black hooded sweat shirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport.

"She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said at a news conference. "She claims that it was just art, and that she was proud of the art and she wanted to display it."

Simpson was charged with possessing a hoax device. A not guilty plea was entered at her arraignment in East Boston District Court and she was released on $750 bail.

She could face up to five years in prison or a $5,000 fine, if convicted.

"I'm shocked and appalled that somebody would wear this type of device to an airport," Pare said.

Simpson was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used," Pare said. "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."
We'd be better off had she ended up in the morgue - what a kook and I'll bet she is on a 'gumbit' grant at MIT and what a waste of our tax $$$.

According to which set of facts and applying WHICH law did she engage in "faking terrorism"?

Boston has a long dishonorable history of overreacting to unfamiliar objects, then claiming they were "hoax devices," which are illegal under Massachusetts law. This is nonsense. A hoax bomb is something that a reasonable person could believe was a bomb, and which its owner claims is a real bomb in order to scare or coerce people in its vicinity.

Boston police pulled this same stunt with Joe Previtera, a nonviolent protester, in 2006. He was doing a silent imitation of the famous photo of the hooded guy standing on a box from Abu Ghraib. The police arrested him -- as far as anyone can tell, because they disliked his politics -- and claimed that the speaker wires hanging from his wrists constituted a "hoax device."

They did it again in January and February of this year -- [1], [2], [3], [4], [6], [7] -- after their maxed-out overreaction to lite-brite Mooninite images left the rest of the country snickering at them. The best quote on that one was from Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, on the obviously suspicious nature of the Mooninites: “[The device] had a very sinister appearance. It had a battery behind it, and wires.”

(Just a month after the Great Mooninite Scare, the Boston Bomb Squad managed to come up with an encore: they blew up a traffic measuring device that had been put in place by the Boston Transportation Department.)

Judging from their record, charging someone with possession of a hoax device is Boston's way of announcing that they've once again mistaken some harmless bit of electronic gear for a bomb.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/21/mit-s...t-arrested.html

Izzat Chinese Art, doofus?

You'd better HOPE that that bright girl from MIT and others like her are protected from ignorant, hyperactive, numbskulls like YOU, Lordship.

Otherwise, you don't stand a chance against REAL tderrorists.

That necklace or pin or anything BUT bomb, wouldn't have fooled a terrorist. Think about that, and do me a favor and TRY to educate yourself. This kind of hysteria wastes resources better used in tracking ACTUAL security concerns.

Cowards, you are all old, fearful cowards. No wonder the U.S. is such a mess.

Damn. Had it not been for the six years we've already lived through irrational, useless, annoying, psychologically defeating overeager airport security -- put in place to prevent an event that could have been solved by a single measure, locking the cockpit doors -- the prospect of a promising young student being killed by cops for wearing a battery on her back might come as a shock.

But now it elicits almost no surprise. What, police at a major airport were about to kill someone for the crime of wearing a circuit board? Yeah, what else is new.

http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/09/21/star_simpson/

That's because all of ours are moving to Europe and Australia where they pay a decent wage.
Yep, the anti-science and technology wing of the right-wing moron zealots are afraid of blinky's.

The girls name is Star.

It was a nametag. Get it?

I'm sure we'll all rest better knowing folks as foolish as LP are "on the case."

You rightwing cowards couldn't tell a bomb from a blinky. No wonder you are losing the war and running the country right into the ground.

Really Lordship?

Well keep in mind the Euro is outpreforming the dollar. Gee the Canadian dollar is worth a U.S. dollar.

First time that ever happened.

Somehow, I think you'd better start paying attention to real threats and lay off pissing your undies over blinky's.

Gee the Canadian dollar is worth a U.S. dollar.

First time that ever happened

She's a stupid kid for crissakes! If you MUST be afraid, fear something REAL.

My God, I'd hope someone could show a bit of common sense. 5 minutes with any reasonable officer should have been the end of it.

I keep forgetting how unreasonable fear makes people unreasonably fearful.

Gee the Canadian dollar is worth a U.S. dollar.

First time that ever happened

It's all fun until somebody gets hurt. Maybe somebody older who's been through a terrorist bombing has a heart attack or something.

Maybe YOU need to have a little common sense. Deliberately causing trouble is wrong.

After three dead and one severely wounded bomb-squad techs, a team in Iraq happened upon this detonator—the one time we're glad a Nokia phone didn't work right; yes, it says "01 Call Missed". Whoever made that call is going to be a little surprised when he gets a call back.


How to Make a Cheap Electronic Detonator

Oh, it's just a cell phone, you big weenie.

Defense attorney Ross E. Schreiber said that the bail amount was “completely unreasonable,” telling the court that Simpson is a 19-year-old sophomore at MIT majoring in Course VI (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Schreiber said that there was no evidence Simpson acted in a suspicious manner or that she ever pretended the circuit board was anything but art.

Schreiber added that Simpson is the secretary of the MIT Electronics Research Society, was a National Merit Semi Finalist and captain of her high school robotics team, and was at the airport for legitimate reasons. Tim Anderson, Simpson’s boyfriend, confirmed to The Tech that he arrived at the airport this morning. Anderson was on a Continental Airlines connecting flight from Oakland, Calif.

Schreiber said Simpson and Anderson are “not the type of people who go around seeking trouble.” He also added that Simpson is “doing very well” at MIT.

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V127/N40/simpson.html

Oh, it's just a cell phone, you big weenie.

Bomb makers use LEDs all the time. They usually put them in place of the blasting cap. If the LED lights up, they know they have a functioning circuit. At least that's what I do.

After three dead and one severely wounded bomb-squad techs, a team in Iraq happened upon this detonator—the one time we're glad a Nokia phone didn't work right; yes, it says "01 Call Missed". Whoever made that call is going to be a little surprised when he gets a call back.


How to Make a Cheap Electronic Detonator

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Can I mail that to my ex-girlfriend?.

It's all fun until somebody gets hurt. Maybe somebody older who's been through a terrorist bombing has a heart attack or something.

Maybe YOU need to have a little common sense. Deliberately causing trouble is wrong.

Indeed. IMO the girl should have known better. I've been thinking about it. I probably feel the way I do because I am street wise. There are places and situations where you just don't do certain things. You don't intentionally screw around with bouncers in a bar, go taking photos of military installations, mess with cops on the beat, harrass hospital workers, or security at the airports. The expected reatction from any of those will be on the side of caution. (or upside your head)

The little rig she had was not readily identifiable as jewelry. I have never heard of it before now. I saw a guy with a big foam cowboy hat with little lights that ran around the brim but they'd want to look at that too.

The playdough just strikes me as weird. Something just doesn't smell right.

Indeed. IMO the girl should have known better. I've been thinking about it. I probably feel the way I do because I am street wise. There are places and situations where you just don't do certain things. You don't intentionally screw around with bouncers in a bar, go taking photos of military installations, mess with cops on the beat, harrass hospital workers, or security at the airports. The expected reatction from any of those will be on the side of caution. (or upside your head)

The little rig she had was not readily identifiable as jewelry. I have never heard of it before now. I saw a guy with a big foam cowboy hat with little lights that ran around the brim but they'd want to look at that too.

The playdough just strikes me as weird. Something just doesn't smell right.

You don't have to be a fan to help their plans. Just wait and do nothing.

She's a stupid kid for crissakes! If you MUST be afraid, fear something REAL.

The bottom line is pretending to have a bomb anywhere is just dumb.

No, more like worn a necklace made from spent cartridges. ooooo scary.

Ooooo, I like that.

That does not look like a bomb.

MacGyver could make a bomb out of it.

This is Art, stupid girl! !

I'd bet it would arouse suspicion, at least in today’s environment. Bee is at least correct that the terrorists have succeeded in causing us to live in an excessively fearful environment.