Bloodless Coup

yeah, that story was hackneyed on any number of levels. for starters, while the story itself acknowledged that nobody really knew, the lead-in to it a few minutes before the story painted it as an ecoterrorism story; after hearing that teaser, that's what i was expecting to hear. now, i'm not a terribly sharp macaroon in the morning, but i'm pretty sure i know what i heard.

also, what was all that "only" seven motives to commit arson tripe. i mean, i suppose that would logically follow, since as the cliche goes there are only seven stories, and presumably each could culminate in some sort of fire. not to mention that i'd be willing to bet "ecoterrorism" wouldn't be one the pithy fireman would have mentioned, unless, perhaps, he was an aspen fireman.

oh, and you forgot about the "irony" reflected in the fact that one of the homeowners (of 26 damaged units, i believe) was a "nature lover" who moved into the complex to get into the woods. hunters call themselves nature lovers. so do ATV riders. obviously, notwithstanding the absence of proof on the ecoterrorism charge, and notwithstanding that the story itself hedged all over the place, this homeowner had been given the distinct impression that among the seven (eight?) possible motives for the damage to his house, ecoterrorism was probably it.

and anyway, if you're going to try on conjecture for size, the fact that the lion's share of the new homeowners were african-american is a much better direction to look: i dare say there has been, and continues to be, far more violence in service of racism than in service of the environment.

where's bob edwards when you need him?

racism 1, ecoterrorism 0.

The experts said that the serial nature of the fires here in Charles County, along with the large number of houses burned, suggested that arsonists had developed a plan of attack. That level of planning made it less likely that the fires were set by adolescent vandals, they said.

While that might point to the work of an extremist environmental group, experts cautioned that a wide variety of suspects was possible, from disgruntled construction workers to angry neighbors to rival developers.

"This fire setter had a reason," said Michael A. Schlatman, president of the International Association of Arson Investigators. "But whether it is rage or revenge, we don't know."

Some of the new houses, in an unincorporated wooded area 25 miles south of Washington, have been bought by blacks.

Although there had been reports of racial epithets being painted on at least one of the houses, Gary Monroe, an investigator with the Maryland Commission on Human Relations, said he knew of no complaints about hate crimes in or around the new development.

admittedly, the times story isn't entirely free of the same sort of speculation, and indeed it provides more support for a legitimate suspicion than NPR (the ELF's refusal to deny responsibility is sort of damning, although less so if they never answer such inquiries, which it seems to me they don't). still, it is far more thorough, evenhanded, and circumspect.

here's that link again.

This is the only item returned for "Luke Burbank" NPR ecoterrorism. So it's a good place to let you know that NPR just announced that a security gaurd from Security Services of America, who was supposed to be guarding the homes. Pardon my choice of link.

We're the only link for that? Mr. Burbank must be thrilled.