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While the mayor of Boston continues in his endless quest to prove to the world that he is both utterly clueless...

A furious Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed yesterday to throw the book at the masterminds behind a guerrilla marketing campaign gone amok that plunged the city into bomb-scare pandemonium and blew nearly $1 million in police overtime and other costs.

As city and state attorneys laid groundwork for restitution requests, cops seized 27-year-old Arlington multimedia artist Peter Berdovsky, who posted film on his Web site boasting that he and and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, planted the battery-wired devices.

Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens have been released after posting $2500 bail in Charlestown District Court.

”It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location,” Assistant Attorney General John Grossman said at their arraignment.

The men did not speak or enter their own pleas, but they appeared amused and smiled as the prosecutor talked about the device found at Sullivan Station underneath Interstate 93 looking like it had C-4 explosive.

Some in the gallery snickered aloud.

Michael Rich, lawyer for both of the men, said the description of a bomb-like device could be used for any electronic device.

”If somebody had left a VCR on the ground it would have been a device with wires, electronic components and a power source,” he said.

The signs were a promotion for Cartoon Network TV show ”Aqua Teen Hunger Force,”

Yesterday, Menino promised to sue Turner Broadcasting Co., the Cartoon Network’s parent company, and criminally prosecute Berdovsky and anyone else responsible for the devices, and to petition the FCC to pull the network’s license.

“This is outrageous activity to get publicity for a failing show,” said Menino.

Attorney General Martha Coakley was put in charge of the case and said the companies behind the promotion would be investigated. She said the felony charge of planting a hoax device could be broad enough to allow prosecution even if the stunt’s sponsors did not intend a panic.

“To do this kind of placement of devices the way it was, an individual had to know or should have that it was going to create the kind of panic it did,” Coakley said last night during a press conference.

and a jackass...

"We live in a different world since 9/11," Menino pointed out. "When 9/11 hit, that changed everything."

And while the Boston Globe - a newspaper owned and operated at an enormous loss by The New York Times - seeks to outdo the mayor:

One wouldn't expect the promoters of the TV program "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" to score high on a maturity index. But anyone older than 8 or 9 should be able to understand the dangers of staging such a stunt in the post-Sept. 11 world. Homeland Security experts will need to review the response of local law enforcement. Public safety personnel may have overreacted ; local bloggers apparently identified the guerrilla advertising campaign early on. But it's hardly surprising if others who weren't in on the gag were suspicious. As a rule, first responders are left little choice but to assume they are facing a legitimate threat.

Perpetrators of terror hoaxes face prison sentences of up to five years if convicted. Police arrested an Arlington man last night in connection with the ad stunt, but potential criminal prosecution is only one consideration. The tricksters at Turner, a unit of Time Warner Inc., should pay the bill for the consequences of a lame marketing gimmick.

Terrorism hoaxes are common. Two years ago, a drug addict and smuggler gave a fake tip about a terrorist incursion in Boston that led to another massive mobilization of law enforcement. In 2005, an angry deportee used a fake threat that forced officials to close a tunnel under Baltimore's harbor. Turner officials say their devices were never meant to be seen as threats. Yet they find themselves in bad company.

And while even in DC politicians try to elbow their way into the stupidity spotlite:

"Scaring an entire region, tying up the T and major roadways, and forcing first responders to spend 12 hours chasing down trinkets instead of terrorists is marketing run amok," said US Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Malden. "It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt."

...the people of Boston prove that these two may in fact be part of a small group of people who have completely lost the plot. From an online chat at Boston.com, this:

Matthew Gilbert:: Greetings...

rooney: Hi Mathew. Regarding coverage of yesterday's events on TV, do you think coverage was overblown? Also, did you know that in Sullivan Square, just one block from the location of this "device", a cartoon network billboard had a HUGE picture/ad for this Cartoon Network character? Why wouldn't a TV crew do their own research and simply TURN THE CAMERA AROUND to show a billboard not one block away with the same image as the "bomb"?

Matthew Gilbert:: I hear you Rooney. Overblown? Of course. 24-hour news channel lust after terrorist plots, as well as faux terrorist plots.

Matthew Gilbert:: The news networks don't like to wait to get the truth. They want to be first, of course.

Stoked: Has the collective intelligence of people deteriorated so much that they can mistake light-brite TV character for a explosive? The show is incredibly funny and it would be a shame if the movie was cancelled because of one stupid MBTA employee, what impact does this event have on the upcomming movie?

Matthew Gilbert:: THere's a culture of fear going on, of course. So I'm not sure it's stupidity so much as paranoia. I'm waiting for someone to look at a Store 24 sign wrong and call the authorities...

justobservin_: This is not the first time we have seen the news media over react before knowing all the facts. At what point are they going to learn from their mistakes and approach an event with some care?

Matthew Gilbert:: The news media all got together yesterday and agreed not to overact ever again -- as of the 12th of Never.

Greg: Do you think television (or popular entertainment in general) is partially responsible for giving people the idea that any collection of exposed circuits and wires is a bomb-in-waiting?

Matthew Gilbert:: Yes, and that's why it would have been more fun and IRONIC if Fox and "24" had created all the havoc. But it's not just TV that has made people afraid; it's a government that has fed our fear in order to promote its own.... Woops -- I'll save that for another blog....

pjtaylor: Do you think real terrorists in the future will think about disguising a bomb as a viral ad?

Matthew Gilbert:: Now that you've suggested it, pj, yes, they will.

Matthew Gilbert:: I think you should be arrested for feeding ideas to terrorists.

Ann_Arbor: Any comment on why this drew such attention in Boston and apparently wasn't noticed in the 9 other cities? What does it say about Boston? Are we better prepared for a real terrorist situation or just too paranoid?

Matthew Gilbert:: Better prepared??? Ann, my friend. Those boxes were in place for 2-3 weeks. I'm glad someone checked them out, but I'm disheartened that it became overblown.

The people of NYC, too, seem to understand:

Vanderlin, a student at Parson School of Design in New York City, said he was stunned to see police bomb squads swoop in and remove the characters. "It's so not threatening -- it's a Lite-Brite," he said, referring to a popular children's game. "I don't understand how they could be terrified. I would understand if it was a bunch of circuits blinking but it wasn't. . . . It was clearly a design."

Doesn't the fact that these were there for 3 full weeks in 10 cities across the nation tell people something? Or more to the point, doesn't it tell the mayor something?

As someone over at the Boston.com message boards said, these were Lite-Brite LEDs, not IEDs. And they knew that by 10:30am.

Mr Mayor, please stop. You're overreacting now because you are embarrassed that you overreacted before. You're making your problem worse, not better.

And Gov. Patrick, where are you on this? "Together we can," right? The people of Boston know this is ridiculous. And if I'm any judge of political character, so do you. Please... can you please get everyone to step back, calm down, and give themselves time to get some perspective?

Not to take this too seriously, But really... is this the kind of nation we want to become? Where we see a few flashing lights and think the world is coming to an end? Where we are so paranoid that we jump every time we see our own shadows?

For god's sake, take a look for yourself at what caused the panic. Does this look scary to you? A Lite-Brite alien sticking up his middle finger? Do we really want to become so paranoid that something like this shuts down a major city? And so that you have some perspective, here's an image that shows its size. And here's one that shows it runs on 3 D cell batteries.

But no worries, people. The Mooninites will have their revenges. For they are coming.... sooner than we might think...

UPDATE: Chicago has decided to one-up Boston:

Chicago police last night took two men into custody after they were caught taking down the same kind of Cartoon Network Mooninite boards that threw Boston into chaos yesterday as the small lighted structures were probed as suspicious bomb-like devices. Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said they began looking for the battery-operated devices when they saw the news of the bomb scares in Boston. They discovered thebattery-operated devices posted across Chicago on structures, public transit cars and storefronts, Bond said. The two men, ages 23 and 25, have not been charged with a crime. They told investigators they were hired by a New York marketing firm, which Bond declined to name, to install and remove the devices, police said. Chicago police removed all 20 boards that had been planted using information from law enforcement sources and the marketing firm, Bond said. Police are tallying the overtime costs for the removal work, but Bond said it was too early to say whether Chicago will press Turner Broadcasting for reimbursement costs. She said Illinois Attorney General Dick Devine would decided if the men removing the boards would face criminal charges.

People, please. We already know there is nothing to be afraid of. We know there is nothing to see here. Nevertheless, the Chicago Police are considering demanding Turner pay for the overtime necessary to take the signs down. Even though, you know... its not necessary to take the signs down at all.