BRIDGE AND ROSES: News and Views from the Center of the Known Universe
Cleric wanted to start terrorist camp in Southern Oregon. Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was arrested in London Thursday, is accused of trying to set up a “real live” terrorist training camp in the remote town of Bly, according to Portland-based FBI agent Robert Jordan.
Oregonian: Arrest for Bly camp
Appeals court ruling: kiss of death for Ashcroft’s intervention? Oregonians are known to be an independent-minded lot, and in 1997 they asserted the right to exit life in a peaceful and dignified manner with the nation’s first and only law legalizing physician-assisted suicide. In 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft pitted the Federal Government against the State, declaring assisted suicide “not a legitimate medical practice”. But Ashcroft received a smackdown from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, which ruled 2-1 that Ashcroft had overstepped his authority.
FBI case against Mayfield dissected. Brandon Mayfield, the Oregon lawyer wrongly accused by the FBI in connection with the Madrid bombing, was charged on the basis of a fingerprint that FBI investigators never looked at, according to the Portland Tribune. The article suggests that zealous Federal investigators found what they believed to be a strong match based on a computerized fingerprint, and then, on April 21, traveled to Madrid to pitch their case to the Spanish authorities, who were already expressing doubts about Mayfield. This stands in contrast to the Bureau’s more circumspect actions after a more recent, and perhaps more credible, suspect (Ouhnane Daoud) was identified by the Spanish police: this time, agents traveled to Madrid to see “exactly what the Spanish National Police were looking at”, according to the FBI’s Bob Jordan.
Tribune: Mayfield
Ameri sweeps GOP primary for House. Iranian-American businesswoman Goli Ameri won a decisive victory in the GOP primary for Oregon’s First Congressional District, where she will face Democratic incumbent David Wu in the main election. Ameri is running on a pro-business, pro-technology platform.
Goli Ameri
