Politics

Gimme some face

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Look at me when I talk to you. Yeah, that’s right. Look at me! I want to see your face! Is that a frown I see? Why aren’t you smiling? You look frightened. Why is that? Are you afraid? What are you afraid of?

…Behavior Detection Officers, and they’re part of several recent security upgrades, Transportation Security Administrator Kip Hawley told an aviation industry group in Washington last month. He described them as “a wonderful tool to be able to identify and do risk management prior to somebody coming into the airport or approaching the crowded checkpoint.” — by Kaitlin Dirrig, McClatchy Newspapers

Link here.

Find a corner, sit down and watch the show, folks. But don’t forget to keep an eye on your bags lest some suspicious-looking BDO should offer to help you with them, all the while watching your face for that pissed off look.

Considering the TSA’s recent record of sippy cups, forcing women to drink their own breast milk and meat cleavers, I’m not so certain that this will go well.

Meat cleaver? Airport? C’mon. Admit it. You never heard of that one and you’re wondering just what the hell is coming next, aren’t you?

I lied about the meat cleaver.

So subject me to an inspection by a Behavior Detection Officer.

Politics

The trouble with Tribbles*

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*With apologies to Star Trek

Updated here.

Judge Roy Bean lives!This pathetic excuse for a man – oops, err, I mean lawyer and judge – appears to be a steaming pile of the color of his own excrement.

Judge Roy Bean lives on in the annals of jurisprudence!

WASHINGTON – A judge who lost a $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner over a missing pair of pants continues to press his suit.

Roy Pearson, a District of Columbia administrative law judge, filed a notice of appeal Tuesday.

Jin Nam Chung and Soo Chung, the owners of Custom Cleaners, had hoped Pearson would back off the case after withdrawing their demand Monday that he pay their legal fees, their attorney said. — Associated Press via MSNBC

Politics, Short trips

Border crossings

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Yesterday I rode south to the Blackfeet Nation, where warriors on horseback guard the northern entrance to the rez. Artist Jay Laber created the sculptures out of rusted car parts remaining from the disastrous 1964 flood that devastated some areas of the reservation downriver from the Two Medicine River dam. Three more of Jay’s sculptures guard the south, west and east entrances to the reservation.

To qualify as a Blackfeet tribal member, one-fourth blood is required. Approximately 8,000 tribal members reside on the rez, which encompasses 1,462,640 acres.

Chief Mountain

After a stop at Many Glacier, I backtracked and caught Montana 17 north to the border and returned to Canada. This is a gorgeous ride, but 17 is populated by lots of open range cattle lounging on the roadway. They’re all black, and difficult to see in the shaded areas of the highway. I can’t imagine riding it at night for just that reason.

I’ve become so accustomed to crossing into “the States” that for me it’s just a matter of heading south and hitting the line. Polite Customs agents, few questions and a minimum of formality are the rule, and I’ve never ever had a problem being admitted. This time, however, I had forgotten my citizenship documents.

No problem, though.

After scanning my driver’s licence and receiving a lecture about not having citizenship papers, I was allowed into the country one more time by the tourist-friendly border guard.

Here’s a tip for those of you who are new at the border-crossing game: If you’re wearing dark glasses, take ’em off. The agents want to see your shifty little eyes.

Politics

Avoid it if you can

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Those duty-free shops will be writing their letters shortly:

“Air New Zealand Offers Round-the-World Routing Avoiding the U.S.” That was a recent headline from U.K.-based Business Traveler magazine. For the past several years, fliers bound from Australia and New Zealand to Europe by way of U.S. stopovers have been raising a ruckus about security policies that require all passengers, even those merely in transit to other countries, to clear U.S. immigration formalities — a process that includes fingerprinting, photographing and baggage rechecking. Air New Zealand has responded with the launch of a service from Auckland to Europe with a hassle-free transfer at Vancouver, British Columbia, eliminating its long-standing Auckland-Los Angeles-London route. Air Canada is following suit with a nonstop Vancouver-Sydney flight, bypassing its traditional layover in Hawaii, which, in the words of the magazine, “will enable global travelers to avoid the United States.” — Ask the Pilot by Patrick Smith, salon.com

This is probably only the tip of the iceberg.

Short trips

The queen of scream

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The Fay Wray Fountain in Cardston, Alberta was built after a visit by Fay in 1962. Fay provided the money after being sent a check by festival organizers to cover her costs for attending. She mailed the check back, and the town built the fountain with the proceeds.

Fay lived on a ranch about 15 miles from Cardston. At the age of three, her family moved south to America, where her mother had been born.

This is obviously a publicity photo, but she certainly was cute.

Long trips, On the road

Geography class

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Precambrian Shield rock
The precambrian shield

Updated below.

The Precambrian Shield is 4.5 billion years old and is largely granite and gneiss, earth’s oldest rock. Glaciation scraped the rock clean of most surface debris over the millennia as it moved back and forth, exposing bare rock and lake-filled hollows. Thin soil lies on top of bedrock, while there are many bare rock outcrops, all of this caused by the last ice age, some six to 15,000 years ago, depending on location.

Originally the shield was a region of large mountains and volcanic activity, but subsequent to that the area eroded. Rock that forms the Shield surface was once far below the surface, and pressure and temperature at depth created the many minerals in the rocks.

Moose on the loose highway sign campaign
Moose on the loose

Since the last ice age, the area has become covered with a thick boreal forest of coniferous and deciduous trees. Mining and logging are common now. Shield country is a common home to single-industry towns of either pulp and paper or mining, or a combination of the two. Hunting and fishing are favorite activities of the local residents.

Night danger
You'd better keep an eye peeled

Moose are well-known to populate the Shield. If you or someone you know has ever hit a deer with a car, you’ll know what damage they do. Moose, which can weigh over 2,000 pounds, are known to bring semi-transports to their knees, and will destroy a mere automobile.

Both deer and moose are common sights along the roads, but particularly in early morning or late evening they can be seen on the shoulders or slightly off-road in the ditches. Keeping an eye to those areas could mean the difference between safe passage and a tow truck.

Deer are everywhere
Deer, on the other hand, are quite small

Shield country rapidly flattens and tapers off towards the plains and it isn’t long before the prairie breadbasket is glistening under the blue sky. Here deer are the prevalent road hazard, but their small size and stature limit a lot of the damage they can do to a vehicle. Transports don’t even blink a headlight when they encounter a deer.

Once out on the bald prairie I find the landscape to be extremely boring, but I’m always quick to discover places to stop. Granny’s Saskatoonberry pie with a scoop is a welcome relief following mile after endless mile of wheat, and Shae’s Ice Cream Oasis is the perfect place for taking a well-deserved break.

Shae's Ice Cream Oasis
Shae's Ice Cream Oasis

Unfortunately, on my most recent early morning drive-by it was closed.

Update August 2010: Shea’s has been closed. No idea why. It was a great little place to stop, enjoy some ice cream and talk to the owner about farming.

Riding farther, seeing more