E-mail, Feeds, 'n' Stuff

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Wish this guy well

Here's an interesting tidbit: The new head of the FBI's Portland office, Gregory Fowler, has arrived here from New York City, where he was the special agent in charge of the counterterrorism division.  That made him the top supervisor of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which Portland's City Council has (more or less) refused to join. 

One wonders whether Fowler's relishing his agency's role in the ongoing investigation of suspected corruption in the Portland city parking meter operation.  Welcome to Portland, Special Agent Fowler.  Please help us clean up our city. 

Feds always have political agendas.  Something makes me think that the West Hills elite mob will make it all go away.  Would they really bring down the entire lot of the city.  And if the Feds go after the Tramwhore and others in the CoP, don't you think they'd be singing like chatty little parakeets naming all kinds of civic names including Lord Paulson's son?  This has the potential to snowball to hell.  I don't know that any Fed truly has the stones for that.  Time will tell. 

Time will tell, indeed.  If the Feds really are looking at everything, I imagine they'd stay mum about it until the day they did something, followed by a big press conference.  Portland has Blagojevich written all over it and some, the braking factor of course being that Portland is also the darling of the new urban designer dems.  My guess is Portland is an opportunity for an agent to make a career, or ruin it. 

Yeah he looks like a real sweetheart, the very milk human kindness pumping through his veins by the look of it.  He looks like he should be the local head of the secret police in a totalitarian security state. 

Oh wait....

From IVAW-Oregon: "Maybe Agent Fowler had/wants kids?  Wants to ride his bicycle more?  I can't figure any good reason this man wants to come here unless A) he's holding off on the promotion, or B) he thinks there's something here that will get him promoted, or C) there was a screw up by Agent Fowler and it's "Welcome to hippie-ville" for him." 

Would they really bring down the entire lot of the city. JK: How about a whole state.  1000 indictments! 

“...the great land fraud scandal in which the state sold most of the land intended to support public schools for a song, which led to the indictment of most of the state’s congressional delegation.  Most were convicted too, except Senator John Mitchell, who conveniently died before having to go to jail.”  From: ti.org/antiplanner/?p=5528
See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_land_fraud_scandal

In the FBI, the head of the office in Portland is a promotion from being in charge of a single part of an office in New York. 

I don't think there's a lot of interest in going after Portland's kind of corruption in the current Administration.  You can't get light rail and street cars installed in a sustainable green way without tons of it. 

I'm struggling with the idea that a Democratic administration would go after their own.  But they may think that the "D's" are so strong that another "D" could step up so the voter base would be intact for nationals. 

It could be the Feds know their is huge potential and this could be a plumb clean up job for Fowler. 

Face it, with all that has been going on for some time in Portlandia, He is here to make a show to settle things down a little, or a real effort of fighting corruption. 
With so many city's on the brink with horrific mismanagement, the mafia is small potatoes! 
The new Mafia created and runs the sheeple of Portlandia! 

It’s amazing to me that some people mistrust every little thing the City of Portland does.  But they accept uncritically what the FBI does. 

So you think it’s a good idea for a nation police force with no justification in the US Constitution and a long track record of proven incompetence to go raid someone’s home and office without actually even accusing them of anything. 

The big rumor mill that is set off WITH NO EVIDENCE OF WRONG DOING is just OK with everybody. 

Hey Mike: I'm quite sure if the FBI ever looked at some of the shenanigans that have allowed developers like Gerding-Edlen and DikeDane to do pretty much as they pleased with City Hall's blessings; they would find lots that is rotten. 

Watched 60 minutes tonight.  I see the paragons of unquestioned virtue at the National Parking Meter Police helped cover up incompetence at the NSA.  One of their tactics: home raids on people who were never charged with anything. 

What do I want to see?  Evidence.  While I accept an investigation may require a surprise raid, I want to see a clear public explanation of that raid within a day or two. 

The Feds have been out of control for a very long time.  They participated in the great violation of civil rights known as HUAC (look up Joe McCarthy if you don't know your history).  They advocated for this rotten piece of legislation - Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 which had provisions to allow armed Federal agents to enter your home without identification.  Of course, in some states, it's perfectly legal to shoot intruders who break into your house.  The FBI was deeply involved in the murder (and subsequent cover up) of Fred Hampton and others by the Chicago police in 1968.  The Feds were involved in the fire bombing of an ROTC building on a college campus in 1970 via their employee (Thomas ("Tommy the Traveler") Tongyai).  The Feds forsensics labs were falsifying evidence in the 90s.  Welcome to America. 

I, for one, welcome the FBI's investigation into public corruption here in Portland.  I think we needed an outside agency, with no ties to the Portland establishment, to come in and look into these allegations and perhaps some others while they're at it. 

As far as the appropriateness of the search goes, the information that's been published since the raid occurred has made it pretty clear that there was ample cause to conduct a search.  I have yet to see anything in regards to the Ellis McCoy case that has given me any cause for concern.  If anything, I would like to know why it's taken 3 years for a serious investigation to occur. 

Mike,

I'd love to know how the FBI is supposed to "provide a clear public explanation of [a] raid" without setting off "a big rumor mill."  I think you're conflating the actions of the FBI and the media in this instance.  Also, the claim that investigators need to have more evidence before they can start collecting evidence is a catch-22. 

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 80
At this date last year: 89
Total run in 2014: 401
In 2013: 257
In 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269