[MizSterious]

No, the way you win is NOT by putting your head in the sand and ignoring what's going on around you. Lots of us missed what was going on with all the trial runs the 9/11 terrorists did prior to 9/11. To some, it might have been obvious, but if they'd have pointed it out, people like you would have laughed them out of the room.

Now, at least, the terrorists know that as long as they put a cartoon character (even ones as dubious as these) on their devices, no one will take them seriously. Until they explode.

[DB]

Wrong on both counts.

You put way to much sophistication into something simple.

If terrorist want to randomly kill people on the street there are endless ways to do it without using cartoon characters to needlessly provide cover.

Back to the trash can on the street - or parked car - or planter with bushes in it - or any number of other hiding places they can put real explosive is real quantities that can cause real damage. It is brutally easy to kill us if you have the will and the explosives to do it.

You will not win if the only way to win is to remove the hiding places - they are endless.

Cheap electronic signs are nowhere on the list of requirements to do it.

[DBrow]

http://www.gordon.army.mil/tsc/DEVICES/new%20devices/New%20Devices%20Browser/images/FGD-09-1862(B).jpg

If you see a soda can, look out! Soda cans have been used as IEDs in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and American casualties have resulted from their detonation. There is a wire on this one because it's command detonated, but a soda can IED could have a timer or radio trigger, or be set to explode when moved or kicked.

If you observe a soda can in an area where people pass by or congregate, or unattended in a food court, contact authorities immediately. Do not attempt to move or defuse the device yourself. Calmly advise everyone in the area to leave quietly until the bomb squad has cleared the device.

A soda can without an explosive or timer may be a hoax device intended to frighten you, so do not panic when you see a soda can. But it may not be a hoax- act responsibly!

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/images/ied-iraq_soda-can.jpg

[Smogger]

Now, at least, the terrorists know that as long as they put a cartoon character (even ones as dubious as these) on their devices, no one will take them seriously. Until they explode.

You mean as opposed to filling an everyday object, like a car or truck, with tons of explosives they are going to switch to small conspicuous signs?