The Nerve-Wracked Chihuahuas of Post-9/11 America

People are going psycho with terrorism paranoia. The South Bend Tribune of Indiana reports that a bartender saw a flashing red light on a window and thought it was a bomb. So he evaculated the hotel in which the bar was situated. Full story here, or you can just read it below. You know, I could start a whole separate blog dedicated solely to these nerve-wracked chihuahuas of post-9/11 terrorism-obsessed America.

Suspected bomb at Plymouth resort turns out to be Pabst Blue Ribbon advertisement

False alarm a sign of post-Sept. 11 times, manager says


By MIKE GILLOON
Tribune Staff Writer

PLYMOUTH — A suspicious object that turned out to be a flashing red light on a beer advertisement forced the evacuation of a Plymouth resort hotel early Monday morning.

Doug Leedke, general manager of Swan Lake Resort, said about 30-40 guests were evacuated about 12:45 a.m. Monday after a bartender in the hotel’s restaurant noticed a blinking red light on a white object on the wall and suspected it might be a bomb.

A Marshall County Sheriff’s officer later determined the light was part of a Pabst Blue Ribbon advertisement suction-cupped to the restaurant’s window.

Detective lieutenant Jon Van Vactor of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department said officers were first called to the resort’s Sam Snead’s restaurant, 5203 Plymouth-LaPorte Trail, at 12:39 a.m. and determined that no bomb squad was needed by 12:56 a.m.

Leedke said hotel guests were allowed back in their rooms by 1:30 a.m.

The false alarm is a sign of the times in a post-Sept. 11 world, Leedke said.

“Our employee saw something unusual and reported it,” Leedke said. “Everything is back to normal today.”

UPDATE: And in other, very much related news...

A man's grenade-shaped belt buckle has caused a Salt Lake City airport to be evacuated.

The fun just does not stop.