Or, that's what the Evil Overlords want us to think.

Of course, if one takes a second and a half to look at the pictures of the "suspicious devices," now on EBAY!, one notices that they're:

a) LiteBrites, giving passersby the finger.
b) Too small for anything explosive to reside in 'em.
c) Cute, in a sarcastic sorta way.

I've never even watched the Cartoon Netowrk, but I know a LiteBrite (and obscene finger gestures) when I see 'em. And supposedly, bomb squads are trained to look even more closely at such "devices" before declaring them "defused". Uh, guys, word to the wise: You can't defuse something that wasn't fused to begin with. Oh, and better yet? The city's serious freaking overreaction. And the Assistant DA Grossman is smokin' something.

False Alarm =/= Hoax. False alarm =/= Terrorist Hoax, for pity's sake. The $750,000 this false alarm cost the city? It should come outta the Mayor's pocket. Jeez Louise.

For a better rundown that I can give (and some really funny snark), see the thread at Making Light.

Favorite web art: here

Update: A Security blogger/maven weighs in.