Radicals in the Woodwork

Things started unraveling when Ferguson angered one of his girlfriends and she paid a visit to the cops.

In the spring of 2003, the FBI picked up Ferguson and told him he'd better start ratting on his friends before they started ratting on him. He did -- but first he made sure that he'd collect the $50,000 reward offered for information on the arsons.

Soon, Ferguson was visiting Avalon and his other comrades, chatting about their adventures while wearing a hidden recording device. Busted, Avalon committed suicide in his cell. Six other radicals pleaded guilty; five are awaiting trial.

These days, Ferguson lives outside Eugene with his 8-year-old son, studying diesel mechanics at a community college and waiting for some old comrade to kill him.

"I think that's part of the feds' tactic, leaving me out of jail so I get killed," he told Grigoriadis. "The feds are into punishment, dude."

Some Manly Advice

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Glamour, the women's magazine, has published "The Man Issue," and so editor Cynthia Leive asked her husband, Howard Bernstein, who is an authentic man, to write her column. He agreed but, he writes, "she might not like what I have to say."

He's right. She might not.

"I've been reading her magazine and the competition for years," he writes, "and frankly the advice they often give readers makes no sense to me."

Bernstein doesn't like Glamour's endless series of contradictory dieting tips: "September: Fat's bad for you! October: No, it's not! November: Only the bad fat's bad for you! December: Trans fats will eat your brain! Don't be fooled: One cheeseburger won't hurt you. Just don't have six of them."

Bernstein isn't fond of Glamour's endless exercise tips either: "Rolling on a ball? Strippercise? Celeb-o-boxing? On my flabby gut I swear: Stick with the old school and do a sit-up. Or a push-up."

And he's not enamored of Glamour's fashion advice either: "Stop dressing insanely."

In fact, Bernstein's sick of pretty much all of Glamour's advice: "Stop improving!" he advises. "Worried you're less than perfect? Here's the best advice I can give: Take a look at the man in your life and trust me, you'll feel great by comparison."

Bernstein's critique is right on the money. But if his wife followed his advice and got rid of all the dopey diet, exercise, fashion and self-improvement articles, there would be nothing left -- except, of course, the dopey articles on 12 new ways to steam up your sex life.

Apparently, Bernstein has no beef with those. Maybe that's why his wife puts up with him.