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Show POINTBLANK A SMALL "VICTORY" in tue WAR on TERRORISM¢ BY MICHAEL Orange Alert WOLCOT{. The security guard met me outside the door of the visitor center at Glen Canyon Dam: “This is a Federal facility and we are on Orange Alert. No backpacks. No exceptions." If you use Greyhound, you probably know why I tried hitchhiking first. On my last three bus trips I've arrived at least a day behind schedule. I wasn't entirely surprised. I had spent the winter day hitchhiking, which imposes a sort of portable Orange Alert. Stick out your thumb and you become everybody's security threat. had bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors, and a "I understand," I said, pointing to a sign that thanked me for my cooperation. "I'll leave the backpack outside. I just want to fill my water bottle." "Unattended backpacks are not allowed," she said. I took a deep breath and plowed right into this Catch-22. "If people can park cars, trucks and RVs fifty feet from the door," I asked, "why can't I leave my backpack This time things went well -- at first. The Orange Alert did not delay my departure. But changing busses in Las Vegas, security was tight. The rent-a-cops firm sense of commitment. The guard looked me over carefully. "Are you carrying any weapons?" The absurdity of the question would have been funny ("Why yes, as a matter of fact I have a nine-millimeter pistol. How else would I manage to hijack this thing?"). But, like a lot of woods-and-mountain people, I had a Leatherman tool on my belt. out-here?" The guard did her job: “I'm sorry, but you can't come in. "Those are the guidelines." "Guidelines are voluntary,” I said. “These are rules. And they don't make sense." "Call them whatever you want," she said. The door closed behind her. I stared at my reflection in the one-way glass. I look more like Opie than Osama. I had done nothing wrong. And I'm an American citizen, which makes mea reluctant part-owner of every western tree-hugger's least-favorite dam. The ghost of Abbey seized me. I decided to give the rent-a-cop a civics lesson. But when I reached for the door handle, something stopped me. Fear. Things have changed in America, really changed. Twenty years ago, Earth First!ers put a “crack” in Glen Canyon Dam with a 300-foot roll of black plastic. Try that stunt tomorrow and see how the rest of your life goes. Think Patriot Act II. Noisy eco-cranks, public lands activists, woods hippies like me -- all of us could fit somebody's profile of potential evil doer. Here in the Western states, the War on Terrorism is pounding the latest nails into the coffin of our bygone wide-open way of life. Security checks and official surveillance are the West's new barbed wire. I stood outside the visitor center, swallowing my anger. No, I probably wouldn't end up ina cell at Guantanamo Bay for arguing witha rent-a-cop. But I wasn't sure. So I walked away thirsty. My trip from Arizona to visit friends in Montana had stalled at the dam. After a few more hours I gave up, caught a quick ride back to Flagstaff and bought a bus ticket. Nee cece. BY JIM STILES THE FUTURE FEE DEMO MEETS THE WAR ON TERROR Warning sign in front of the Carl Hayden Visitor Center at Glen Canyon dam, Pa Here in the Western states, the War on Terrorism is pounding the latest nails into the coffin of our bygone wide-open way of life. Security checks and official surveillance are the West's new barbed wire. First we're gonna SCARE YOU! Then we're gonna SEARCH YOU! Then we're WAND Then we're FRISK gonna YOu! gonna YOU... THEN WE'RE GONNA MAKE YOU PAY!!! Sh ( aeo4 |