Status: Misinterpreted April Fool's Day Prank
This story offers a sad commentary on the state of affairs in America. Five teenage girls living in Ravenna, Ohio got into the spirit of April 1st by decorating a few public places in their town with brightly colored boxes designed to look like the power-up cubes in the Super Mario Bros. game (the ones you jump up to hit and get extra energy). They got the idea from
qwantz.com. Local residents who didn't recognize what the boxes were supposed to be weren't amused and called out the bomb squad. And it seems like the police are coming down pretty hard on the girls:
[Ravenna Police Chief] McCoy said even though no harm was intended by the girls, they could face criminal charges for their actions. “The potential is always present when dealing with a suspicious package that it could be deadly,” McCoy said. “In today’s day and age, you just cannot do this kind of stuff.”... McCoy said the incident will be referred to the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office for possible charges against the girls.
Lots of blogs are posting this story, and it seems like everyone agrees that the police seem to be overreacting. The incident reminds me of
April 1, 2003 when seven young guys were charged with making terrorist threats because they posted signs reading "All your base are belong to us" around Sturgis, Michigan.
Update: It seems that the prosecutor has decided not to charge the girls with any crime:
"The girls were imitating an art project which they found on the Internet,” the prosecutor said. “None of the girls had any prior contacts with the police or juvenile court and are all good students.”
Comments
[*DEAD*]T-Mario: OMG this map sucks!
[*DEAD*]T-Luigi: they were haxing!!1
CT-Officer 1: oh yeah 1 sec left difuse!
[*DEAD*]T-Mario: OMMMMG!!!!!11 i had no money left!
[*DEAD*]T-Luigi: they haaaaaaaaaaaaaaax!!!!!11
[*DEAD*]T-MarioGurrrl: omg im quitting u suck stupid lag omg...
CT-Officer 2: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL rage quit!!!
Okay seriously, that is taking it a bit too far. I suppose dressing up as the Doom Marine and hunting my friends dressed as Imps is out of the question. :(
1-800-BOMB-SQUAD
because you'll never know we your childish fears take advantage of you...
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-331bombscare,0,4231404.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
"We're turning into a nation of wusspusses whose obsessive terrorphobia is slowly eroding any respect the rest of the planet has for us."
Yeah, but other than that...
Actually, I completely agree with you, martinelli. I'm ashamed of my generation for turning into a bunch of assholes scared of their own shadows who want to wrap their kids in bubble wrap and hide, cringing behind the curtains, in the false "safety" of their gated communities.
Here...
http://gifmashup.eyebeamresearch.org/