Starbucks Flashlight Bomb Actually Just Flashlight - Latest in Long Line of Media 'Mistakes'

www.cnn.com...

According to the above article, the flashlight bomb 'defused' by police at the Starbucks the other day was, actually, just a flashlight. Oops.

It's not like this is the first time the media lemmings have completely misled the public, often for days at a time. If this article had not been written, history would remember the bomb at starbucks. I think that fact bears mentioning. What happens in the absence of a correction story?

Everyone has an opinon on the media. If I understand popular sentiment, and I think I do, most folks tend to write it off as incompetence and over-eagerness to get the story. This very well could be the case. But could there be a larger agenda at work?

I thought people might be interested in the correction story, and also in talking about the seemingly never-ending series of media mistakes. The ball has been dropped so many times, everything from the presidential elections to those Virginia miners.

And if the media isn't making a mistake, nine times out of ten it's using some bass ackwards logic, leaping to conclusions and telling you how to think. One recent example was the blasting caps found out in the bay. They have no idea who put them there or why, but they're sure it's not related to terrorism.

Edit: Here's the original news source that I read, with the quote in question higlighted.

news.yahoo.com...

The device, which was found around 1:15 p.m. Monday, was disabled an hour later. Residents were allowed back into the building and police reopened the street around the store.

"This was a good device. If it had exploded, it would have caused injuries or damage," said Sgt. Neville Gittens.

[edit on 13-1-2006 by WyrdeOne]

Yet another change in the story. According to articles last night, the man was no longer suspected of planting the flashlight with malice, but was being held on unrelated burglary charges. Now, this CBS article states the man is being held on drug charges, and states that the bomb was authenticated by the SFPD.

Ronald Schouten, of San Francisco, was being held in San Francisco County jail on an unrelated drug charge, police spokesman Dewayne Tully said.

*snip*

The SFPD bomb squad confirmed it was definitely an explosive device, reports Manuel Ramos of CBS Station KPIX-TV. A small charge was set off to disarm it.
CBS National News

I can't, for the life of me, figure out what the Hell is going on here!


[edit on 13-1-2006 by WyrdeOne]

And hence the importance of bringing these topics here and recording the changing story that goes with them. It's amazing isn't it? What a mess.

How do you confuse a flashlight for a bomb?

Really.......I would like to know.....

It is early in the morning for me, so I may be missing something obvious, but there is defenitely a doughnut missing around here as far the news piece is concerned.......

lol seriously.
What made them think the flashlight was ever a bomb in the firstplace??
I can see that employee going into the bathroom (or where ever it was) and flipping #. OMG A FLASHLIGHT!

And what about that guy that got arrested! Imagine telling your family that your in jail because the police thought you left a "flashlight with malice intent?" at a starbucks and then wowzy zowzy our fault! Its just a flashlight. On second thought...

MemoryShock
I honestly don't know. They must have thought it was a pipebomb at first, which I can understand, sort of. But then they spent an hour disarming it, and claimed it was a bomb in front of reporters. Then, after some more time passes, the pieces get sent to the lab, and the lab guys announce, "It's a flashlight."

Is the standard of intelligence for bomb squad techs in sharp decline or something? Is there a conscious manipulation of the public psyche going on? (Be afraid, be VERY afraid!)



I really just don't know what to make of this situation, and the others like it popping up all over the country.

It seems like if you wanted to scare the short attention spanners, you wouldn't have to verify the story continuously, just scream the headline loud enough for an hour straight, then retract the story with a whisper the next day. Anyone not actively investigating the story could easily be left with the wrong impression about what happened.

I dunno. Just wierds me out is all, when the MSM does this.