The government responds to terrorists by creating more of them, but WWAD (what would artists do)? Well, a bunch of artists organized by Paul Thomas of the TAR ART RAT Foundation for the Continuation of Humanity are making antiterrorism propaganda for a show opening April 6 at the OK Hotel in Pioneer Square. The inspiration, according to Thomas, is the official government antiterrorism preparedness training and certification web site. For more info, email TARARTRAT@gmail.com.

Could be a good show, or not. But it does stir a fond memory of mine. A couple years ago, when The News Tribune in Tacoma was sending me and photographer Janet Jensen over to Afghanistan to write about the forgotten zone there, we had to go through a required briefing with some brass on the McChord AFB in Lakewood. They made us wait for a half hour in a holding room, and then ushered us into an even more secure room, where they told us they were sharing low-level classified information that could safeguard our lives. I thought they were going to say, bin Laden’s guys hang out on the corner of Main Street and Muhammed Avenue, so do your interviews somewhere else. But instead, they had a more devious plan: If anyone in Kandahar asks where you’re from, they said, say Canada.

That was their official advice. Then we were dismissed.