fear

Took yesterday off from the blog for, you know, writing purposes. The print paper can be demanding. Crazy old media. (I'd insert an emoticon here, but isn't that just so obvious?)

1. Wine in the news. Saves lives in Greece (though the story is tragic) and especially in the Willamette Valley, heralds global warming.

2. L.A. catching up with Eugene. OK, maybe surpassing us. But Weyerhauser and NextStep do a great job even if they're not city-sponsored.

3. Pollution kills. Watch out for that rising economy thing, China.

4. More "Californication." Actually, I got nothing against Cali, but plans to screw the lower Columbia and Coos Bay don't make me happy.

5. Bush may be an idiot. But he's a loyal one!

6. Got art? Got debt? If you're a college, sell off that art! Or maybe not.

7. Stupid city ordinance. I kind of fell in love with the blog posts about xeriscaping here. (But if you're into dahlias, you'll also be happy.) Extra cool: It's by Ketzel Levine. She lives in Portland. I heard a rumor that she used to work at KLCC, but I can't find any documentation of that. Yes? No? Readers?

8. Fear and photos. A bad combination for civil liberties and common sense.

9. Idaho is a gorgeous state. But one of its senators ain't lookin' too good right now.

10. Were you awake for the lunar eclipse?

This is what it looked like in San Francisco.

So back in the "good ol' years" of the late '90s, it was good to know that fear was still a tactic used by the U.S. government to keep the populace in line, as evidenced by this rather paranoid brochure issued by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture that I've been holding onto for the past 8 years. The brochure asks questions like if you are a person who enters "elevators and expect[s] them to take you to another floor." Basically, the brochure asks if you are prepared for utter apocalypse. Well, are you?

See the document after the jump.