Okay, I'll be the sucker: who are they?

...huh?

They're the fairy spies.. erm ferry spies.

One of them looks like Dan Savage to me. Someone call the FBI!

Aren't you the editor...?

Or are you asking us to guess why you haven't thought the issue was as important as all the local right wing nutjobs have made it out to be?

Because it's not about "white" people?

Who are they and why should we care?

Where was I reading about this then? Seattlest?

shifty eyes...

What I'm confused about is if the ferry captain, who allegedly took this photo, didn't contact one of the many state patrol troopers who are around the ferry landings to question these men when the ferry docked. What's the story there?

Not sure what it is about them, but I'm picking up a strong "terrorist" vibe.

Amen @5. Hey Dan, why don't you write some content rather than just baiting your commenters? Besides, most of your flock won't know which side of the issue to take up until you tell them.

I was waiting for Dan to post on this, because the one on the left is a total hottie (in this picture).

Oh yeah. Seattlest mentioned it here.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, that little fanny pack thingy contains a vial of anthrax.

You are on to something Dan. It seems that no editors or reporters are interested in saying much of anything about them

most of your flock won't know which side of the issue to take up until you tell them.

best summation of slog evar!

Dan, I'll bite, and put my opinion out there (and Peter@5, I'm no right-wing nutjob; I'm a liberal Seattle Democrat). These guys were photographed by a state ferry captain after they were observed entering and photographing areas of the ferry were passengers don't usually go. Over a relatively short period (a couple weeks, I think) they engaged in the same behavior on multiple ferries. In this day and age, that kind of activity needs explanation. I think it was totally reasonable for the FBI to put the photo out there, and for local media outlets to publish it. Representatives of the Arab-American and Muslim-American communities who characterized this as racial profiling were off-base. What I can't fathom about this story is this: why on earth, as captain of a seagoing vessel, would you go so far as to photograph two men because you perceived them to pose a potential threat to your boat, but not take the further step of having them contacted and questioned by either the on-board State Patrol officer, or have them detained at the dock?

No discussion because: SAM GOT HIS FREAKIN' REBATE!

They're playing footsie on a ferry, which is why national security, and Dan, are interested.

I'm absolutely certain the the guy on the right is LeBeau from "Hogan's Heroes".

That would explain the ferry escorts I've been seeing.

I'd do'em....

re: swarthy gentlemen on ferry

we put out the info, and most people in the area took note, like the good jittery populace they are, especially at sound politics, and the PI's blog soundoff, but Slog readers alas no, they were more interested in Amy Winehose, the geeks at Pax, the hippies at hempfest, honeybuckets, anything to do with the eating of testicles, and dogs in resturaunts: though we did have some good response re; pit bulls, it seems slog readers care about important things, and more effort is needed to get them in line with our goals of implanting the fear.

Dept. of Fear
28Aug2007

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

@21 It is Le Beau. The French hate our ferry freedom.

For all those wondering, a ferry captain photographed these two men. They were acting very suspicious, taking pictures of areas of the ferry that passengers are not allowed to go in, evacuation plans, etc. and asking workmen unusual details about the ferry. They are wanted by the FBI for questioning.

having spent the better part of this month on vashon island, with a terrific view of the ferry terminal, i can add this bit of info: the coast guard seems to be escorting ferries with a much higher frequency than usual.

it is weird to see. they seem very serious about it, as do the increased cops/guards/i don't know what sort of officers that are on foot and on board.

safety drills seem more frequent, as well. i was on a boat today where once such drill took place in the middle of the sound. IT TOOK FOREVER.

but, whatever. it's nice out.

I think the one on the right is kinda hot, in a swarthy sort of way...

More seriously, my problem isn't that the captain observed them behaving oddly and became suspicious. Or that he took their photo. My problem is that if he was justifiably suspicious, why he didn't do anything besides take their photo. My problem is that the FBI circulated their photos, causing minor panic, when they knew nothing. It is basically a fishing expedition. They have no evidence of any illegal act. At best, they are vaguely curious about what these guys were up to. While that is certainly reason enough to look into it further, that is hardly reason enough for the hugely public APB.

Taking photos is not illegal, folks, even if you have swarthy skin.

These two were acting totally nuts on many different ferry crossings. One time they took a picture of the entire car deck area - one person taking a picture of the other posing from like over 50 feet away to the point where you could not have even seen him in the picture. All the commuters on the boat including someone I know saw them and they did not realize how suspicious they looked. Most did not intervene or report in the name of "political correctness." I figured if they were innocent they would be identified by now. If they were up to no good they are probably in Canada long ago. Only reasonable explanation is they were taking pictures because they are starting a “Ferry Blog.”

Bad post.

Dan, were you referring to you fellow Stranger staffers? I only ask because commenters comment on SLOG posts from staffers and rarely just randomly go off-topic (and are actually discouraged from doing so.) You guys control the framing here.

Context? Please? Please, won't someone think of the expatriates?

Where are y'all seeing this whereat Dan is referring the which to?

Are they Jewish? They look Jewish. But then again, everyone from that part of the world looks alike.

brappy wrote:

What I'm confused about is if the ferry captain, who allegedly took this photo, didn't contact one of the many state patrol troopers who are around the ferry landings to question these men when the ferry docked.

Trey wrote:

What I can't fathom about this story is this: why on earth, as captain of a seagoing vessel, would you go so far as to photograph two men because you perceived them to pose a potential threat to your boat, but not take the further step of having them contacted and questioned by either the on-board State Patrol officer, or have them detained at the dock?

SDA in SEA wrote:

My problem is that if he was justifiably suspicious, why he didn't do anything besides take their photo. My problem is that the FBI circulated their photos, causing minor panic, when they knew nothing. It is basically a fishing expedition. They have no evidence of any illegal act. At best, they are vaguely curious about what these guys were up to. While that is certainly reason enough to look into it further, that is hardly reason enough for the hugely public APB.

To everyone who wonders why these men were deemed dangerous enough to photograph and attempt to identify after-the-fact by spreading the photograph and the story of their interest in how a passenger ferry works all over the local news media, but not dangerous enough to be questioned about their activity:

If they had been questioned on the spot, there's a good chance that nothing would come of the incident and the opportunity to ramp up the public fear level would have been lost. The terrorist threat is repeatedly exaggerated in order to gain public support for increasing levels of police state activity in the United States. We all need to start asking our government to back up their assertions about the communi-- terrorist threat that supposedly lurks around every corner.

This story stinks of fear and racism. Thanks Dan.

I not a fairy, I've never been a fairy. Jiminy

They are so obviously military guys. I saw this last week and said, to nobody, because I was working at my computer alone, "Oh those dudes look like Navy SEALs, or pretty much trained military assassins from anywhere in the world.

The guy closest to the camera could easily be either Arab or Israeli or general Mediterranean. The other guy looks like ... oh what's his name, the Beatles manager who killed himself 500 years ago tonight. Or any software developer, anywhere.

Anyway, who cares. The entire West Coast will soon be blown up, by DA TERRAHISZT.

They look Jewish. Look at the hairlines. Also, the bro in the back has kind of a fro thing going. Now look up pictures of the IDF, and you will see what I mean.

#35
Will you please come with us?
We have a few questions to ask of you.

No, you can't bring your attorney.

Old timer, are you referring to the treatment those guys would have received if they had they been attended to on the spot instead of waved around like a "be afraid so we can protect you" flag, or the treatment I'm likely to receive if I continue to point out the bullshit that people are using to justify things like the denial of habeas corpus?

Problem-reaction-solution

I saw this picture posted the other day on the ferry to Bremerton, with a warning about the behavior exhibited by the people pictured.

I assumed it was part of the campaign to assure riders that despite the difficulties in protecting our transportation system, SOMETHING was being done. At least something to inspire ongoing fear.

For a city that has will not tear down the viaduct despite the risk of collapse in a strong windstorm, I suppose it is nice to know that if you survive the trip to the ferry, then maybe the ferry will be safe to ride on, if you can ignore the recent story about how a ferry with a cracked hull was permitted to operate.

I assume that the scotch tape being used to post these around the ferry has diverted precious resources for what was otherwise holding the viaduct and ferries together.

This is from a Guardian article on the possibility that the United States is in the process of becoming a closed society:

If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective.

[...]

Because Americans like me were born in freedom, we have a hard time even considering that it is possible for us to become as unfree - domestically - as many other nations. Because we no longer learn much about our rights or our system of government - the task of being aware of the constitution has been outsourced from citizens' ownership to being the domain of professionals such as lawyers and professors - we scarcely recognise the checks and balances that the founders put in place, even as they are being systematically dismantled. Because we don't learn much about European history, the setting up of a department of "homeland" security - remember who else was keen on the word "homeland" - didn't raise the alarm bells it might have.

[...]

Of course, the United States is not vulnerable to the violent, total closing-down of the system that followed Mussolini's march on Rome or Hitler's roundup of political prisoners. Our democratic habits are too resilient, and our military and judiciary too independent, for any kind of scenario like that.

Rather, as other critics are noting, our experiment in democracy could be closed down by a process of erosion.

It is a mistake to think that early in a fascist shift you see the profile of barbed wire against the sky. In the early days, things look normal on the surface; peasants were celebrating harvest festivals in Calabria in 1922; people were shopping and going to the movies in Berlin in 1931. Early on, as WH Auden put it, the horror is always elsewhere - while someone is being tortured, children are skating, ships are sailing: "dogs go on with their doggy life ... How everything turns away/ Quite leisurely from the disaster."

As Americans turn away quite leisurely, keeping tuned to internet shopping and American Idol, the foundations of democracy are being fatally corroded. Something has changed profoundly that weakens us unprecedentedly: our democratic traditions, independent judiciary and free press do their work today in a context in which we are "at war" in a "long war" - a war without end, on a battlefield described as the globe, in a context that gives the president - without US citizens realising it yet - the power over US citizens of freedom or long solitary incarceration, on his say-so alone.

Why are we required to remove our shoes at security checkpoints in U.S. airports? Why are we allowed to carry on three 3-oz bottles of liquid and an empty 9-oz bottle, but not the exact same items with the liquid instead in the larger bottle? Why are all those potentially-dangerous liquids that have been confiscated from us simply tossed into a trash can and left right there at the security checkpoint? Why is the TSA engaging in arbitrary detention and release? Anyone who thinks these things are being done to protect us is a fool. At best, they serve to create a false sense of security. At worst, they keep us afraid of that which our federal government purports to protect us by clamping down on our freedom, and also condition us to accept the characteristics of a closed society.

Conveniently all ferry personnel cited in this story are remaining anonymous. They do not exist. These two men are actors hired by Dave Reichert.

s/that which our fed govt purports to protect us/that from which our fed govt purports to protect us/

Perhaps the captain thought they were acting a bit suspicious, but didn't realize how suspicious until later when he was comparing notes with the crew (i.e. "Yeah, they were asking about this thing too"). That would be reasonable, and it kind of makes sense, that people would get together and talk about how weird these guys were acting after they had left. Of course, that also means the crew would influence each other's perception of what these guys were doing, turning geeky curiosity into terroristic assessment. But then, maybe it was terroristic assessment. Damn it! Stuck in a loop. Would have been a lot easier if someone had at least asked them their names. One thing is sure, whoever these guys are, no matter how innocent their intent, they do not want to be found. Would you?

Phil M at 43, you have to do all that crap in European airports too, and do a one-on-one interview, though at one security checkpoint I just got aggressively frisked by a dude with a wand. If I'd had a bomb in my crotch he'd have had me cold.

apparently when they swept the ferry after these guys.. all they found was a suspicious blown glass water pipe stuck behind the toilet.

So, now you're hatin on tourists who just want to get high in a port city?

What's up with that?

Don't scare away the tourist trade.

@35: And the ferry captain is somehow complicit in this?

Everyone knows ferry captains are too busy doing drugs, getting drunk, and crashing their boats -- they don't have enough time to join the police-state conspiracy.

troll.

Joykiller, I have no idea what, if any, involvement the ship's captain had in all this. Commenters have stated that the captain took the photo, but this is just hearsay.

Dan, do you know anything about this situation? Are you just going to tease us? If anyone reading this knows and reporters who might be able to do some reporting of this, it would be really cool of you to put them on the case.