Vigilance is good and all but paranoia doesn't help anyone.

(I personally don't think we should all become overly paranoid just because a few bad apples did some stupid shit somewhere.[Note I said paranoid, not cautious....being cautious is alright imo, but not being paranoid like in this case with the cops blocking the area off for 2 hours to look inside a CLEAR PLASTIC BAG seems way more than necessary given the particulars of this case.])

(Also there's a huge difference between a non-see through container or piece of baggage[In Belfast or wherever.] and a clear bag imo. One could easily see inside these bags and tell if it was a bomb or not....even a layperson could've figured it out without causing a scene by blocking off the area for 2 hours & panicking people for no reason.)

I remember 15 years ago the police back home blocking off a shopping center because a piece of guerrilla art had the words 'da bomb" painted on it. That was a reasonable response even though it turned out to be something kind of silly.

This isn't a reasonable response, it's clear that there's nothing in the bag other than a light and prosecuting on the basis of embarrassing the local police is just ludicrous.

Cautious is one thing, being vindictive and paranoid is quite another.

Are you sure? It looks to me like the bag is actually full with something. And there seems to be some kind of support structure under the handles.

Yes, I'm positive, part of my job for years was to look out for IEDs and that thing there is definitely not an IED.

I can't go into specifics for obvious reasons, but it's clearly lacking at least 2 of the necessary components, and that's without even bothering to examine the wires.

EDIT: I'm confident enough about it that I'd remove the damned thing from the pole if I were there. It's clearly not substantially different from a Chinese Lantern.

No offense to GameRager, but I don't care about the story. However, I must say that, for an AdultSwim show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force has surprisingly great dialog and characters, and is quite funny at times. (Especially Master Shake) I've lol'd more at that show than at the last few seasons of Family Guy, the first season of The Big Bang Theory (just finished it), and pretty much all comedians (except for Dave Chappelle; that dude is hysterical) combined.

Anyway, carry on...

You're right. The whole world is now paranoid and in constant fear of terrorism. It's more than they would imagine to ever achieve...
So, if terrorists asked for permission to hang bags on lamps, it would be ok? :D

Permissions don't solve anything.

It's one thing if this was just some random guy putting up stuff all over the place, á la Banksy. It's also one thing if the artist in question was actually trying to put up provocative stuff (like that one artist in NYC who was putting up random black boxes in Union Square Station), but this was part of a city-wide arts festival to promote New York. Hardly a cheap stunt.

You want a cheap stunt? How about a $20,000 plywood cubical set of drawers (which admittedly does look pretty cool).

Oh yes, and according to the Free Takeshi Miyakawa Facebook group, he's just been released (no word if he's been cleared of all charges).

You know whats funny, this was nothing more than a local police blotter until the internet got a hold of it and declared "police response BLOWN (pun intended) out of proportion!!!!"

Nobody did anything wrong here and everyone acted as they should have. The so called artist", the cops, the bomb squad, etc. This is all what their here for. I suppose you could argue the psyche eval, but from the sounds of it this guy is a multiple offender whackjob.

You try and make it sound like they called in the Marines.

In other news, albeit somewhat related(It's about bags) LA is banning plastic bags..........really.

Unless the bags are an imminent threat to man or the world I don't see this as fair(to force people/stores to not use such bags.). I know, they're the devil of the bag world and all that, but I just hate when individuals/stores/etc are forced to do things a certain way(when the old ways weren't an imminent threat to anyone/etc, I mean) just because another group thinks they should.

Save teh planet
I happen to think closing an area off for 2 hours for a plastic bag they could've just looked inside right away to be a bit over the top, but maybe that's just me. :\

Alright but this is GOG, a store that sells PC games digitally.

And this is general discussion, not gaming only discussion. Plus I have to ask: why don't you bring the same thing up to the dozens of other non-gaming threads posted here every week, hmm?


LOOKED inside. ;) The tops were open I believe. Just climb a ladder and look inside. Also the bags are partially see through so one could possibly see the outline of anything inside that way as well.

->Because he's stupid?
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Would you look inside a bag and risk your life for it?
(the bomb may go off anytime)

You think I spend every second of my time checking the forums? No, people like you have already made me spend less and less time here. I occupy myself with other things. I'm a student in exam season.

I take my controversy and politics to better places with better audiences. I don't see why you can't, too. I really do not understand your obsession with this place. There are entire websites dedicated to smut huts, "stop liking what I don't like" rants and politics. This is one entire website dedicated to DRM-free gaming.

Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna post an essay on Obamacare on the Steam forums.

Why does this sound like a veiled personal insult? :\

Anyways if you're so busy then don't let me keep you.....go on, scoot.
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Controversy and politics? It was a news article and I wanted to share it and get other people opinions, that's all. Others here do the same, yet you don't chastise them. I wonder why. Why don't you stop obsessing with your seeming loathing of me for one minute and take your own advice for once?

(Also as for the "smut hut" thing, that was a long time back so why bring it up? You coud've said there's other places for topics that don't belong here/etc and it would've said what you wanted to say just fine, imo. Also I already apologized and was forgiven by many here for it(or they forgot about it and moved on like normal people)...why can't you?)
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Then take your smug little self on over there then and stop trying to stir the pot and cause a scene because of your obsession with disliking me.

Ever since I posted some stupid topics here he's disliked me and seems to every so often feel the need to tell it to my face in a childish manner. I don't think he's stupid justr a bit obsessed with me.
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Well they ARE cops. It's kind of their job to risk their lives right? :\