Month: March 2007

Greetings from Portland. (Surprise?)

I’m staying in the Hawthorne District, which so far seems to be an over-sized Capitol Hill — same shops, even.

If anyone has suggestions for that which must be done or seen, let me know. I head home Friday.

Public transportation here seems to be overpriced, but I can rent a bike for $15, so I think I might do that tomorrow. Walking around today, it looked this area was bike-friendly, but the other side of the Willamette River… not so much.

I’m off to the islands. I don’t expect to have internet access till I get back, and I don’t have the sidewinder adapter for my new phone, so communications will be scarce. See you around.

Schneier mentions a new “Citizen Counter-Terrorists” program in Manchester. The hotline asks callers 10 questions concerning their potential terrorist neighbor. Let’s see if I fit the bill.

1. Do you know anyone who travels but is vague on where they’re going? Check
2. Do you know someone with documents in different names for no obvious reason? Check
3. Do you know someone buying large or unusual quantities of chemicals for no obvious reason? No
4. Handling chemicals is dangerous, maybe you’ve seen goggles or masks dumped somewhere? Check
5. If you work in commercial vehicle hire or sales, has a sale or rental made you suspicious? n/a
6. Have you seen someone with large quantities of mobiles? No
7. Have you seen anyone taking pictures of security arrangements? Check
8. Do you know someone who visits terrorist-related websites? Check
9. Have you seen any suspicious cheque or credit card transactions? Check
10. Is someone is asking for a short-term let on a house or flat on a cash basis for no apparent reason? No

Looks like I meet 6/10 of their requirements for being a terrorist. 60% isn’t considered a passing grade, in my experience. Take that, you pesky neighbors!

As part of an article on the increase of Fort Lewis soldiers in Iraq, the Seattle Times today has an image of the Stryker Brigrade with a caption that reads

Soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team use smoke grenades for concealment as they engage anti-Iraqi forces in Baqubah last week.

Anti-Iraqi. Certainly there are citizens of Iraq who disagree with the ideals of those getting smoked by the Stryker Brigade, but the term “anti-Iraqi” implies some sort of overwhelming consensus in the country that these people are wrong — implies that the Sunni, Shi’ite and Kurds feel some sort of political unity, which I really don’t see as the case. The country of Iraq is purely a figment of the West’s imagination.

(On another note, is it just me, or are those guys in the picture wearing Multi-Cam? Shouldn’t they be in ACU? Perhaps they grew tired of getting shot at due to crappy, useless — not to mention ugly — camo. Revolt!)