Every year home builders in the Puget Sound region show off their uber-upholstered cave building skillz. They call it the Street of Dreams. So far Mrs. Drang and I have resisted to urge to go gawk at How The Other Half lives. (We did "accidentally" take a tour through a "McMansion" once, but it wasn't part of Street of Dreams. I seem to recall that the master suite was bigger than our current house. Oddly, this did not cause a great deal of envy; I was calculating what it wold cost to heat the place, and Mrs. Drang was admiring all the wasted space to keep clean.)
Last year's Street of Dreams homes touted eco-friendly features, for the Microsoft Millionaire who wishes to consume conspicuously in a Green manner.
This past weekend several of these Green McMansions were torched. Five were burned, three of which were destroyed. A banner was found at one site, with the message that these homes were not "green they were black", and signed "ELF."
None of the homes were occupied at the time, which, considering the price tag and the current real estate market, is not too surprising.
There seems to be a debate among the local community as to whether this really is terrorism, or "just" vandalism. Also not surprising, as definitions of terrorism vary widely, as can be seen from this Wikipedia article: Definition of Terrorism. According to this 1988 US Army study, there are (or were, at the time) over 100 definitions.
I'll talk more about terrorism, definitions, etc., later. (In the meantime, here's a Wikipedia article on the subject of eco-terrorism.)
But, whether or not you regard it as terrorism (and even if it turns out to have been a childish prank gone wrong), this illustrates the self-limiting aspects of terrorism very well--all too easy to piss off the people you were trying to intimidate, and goad them into action against you. In the case of eco-terrorists--environmental activists, if you insist--the likelihood of someone pointing out that you have just made the environment worse by your actions is too great. In this case, not only the fires but also the environmental impact of rebuilding. Elsewhere-and-when, burning SUVs, ditto, massive environmental impact. Less obviously, whether you believe that Fur is Death or a Fashion Statement, releasing minks from a fur farm just prolongs their misery, since these critters are farm-raised and have no ability to survive in the wild.
Of course, these people seem to be long on indignation, and short on reason.
In other, related, news, the jury in the trial of Briana Waters, accused of acting as a lookout in ELF's arson of the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture, is deadlocked.
Various links related to the arson in Echo Lake:
KOMO TV, 03/03/08: 'Street of Dreams' homes set ablaze
KING 5, 03/03/08: FBI investigating 'Street of Dreams' fires
Seattle Times, 03/04/08:
Hunt is on: Who torched the Street of Dreams?
Arson probe finds no sophisticated devices
New houses becoming popular targets
Seattle Times 03/05/08: Street of Dreams arson echoes attack in '06
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 03/04/08:
'Street of Dreams' houses torched; eco-terrorists suspected
Agents comb torched homes for clues
Shadowy ELF saboteurs may be on the rise again
And one more about Briana Waters, from the P-I on 02/28/2008: Suspect denies taking part in UW arson, asserts opposition
1 comment:
We had some related loony toon group break into the (then unfinished) Ag biotech building a few years ago and attempt vandalism. Didn't do much damage and generally got themselves sneered at in the local media.
Liking the new blog, I have you linked on mine now :) As for your question on keeping cats of keyboards LOL you don't hehehehehehe. I've been trying for years, I just hope they don't hit the right key combo and erase my hard drive (knock on wood!).
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