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Mexico’s and Portland’s vigilantes: Two hunters, one goddess

Forensic workers last month examine the scene where a bus driver was allegedly killed by a self-styled "bus driver hunter" in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Forensic workers last month examine the scene where a bus driver was allegedly killed by a self-styled “bus driver hunter” in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
(Raymundo Ruiz / Associated Press)
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Tried to watch “Wrath of the Titans” the other night on cable. Just couldn’t do it. But now I’m finding out that maybe this mythology thing is making a real-life comeback.

First, up north in Portlandia -- or just Portland, if you aren’t fans of the show -- someone is posting fliers in some neighborhoods threatening to “out” residents who receive government assistance.

As my colleague Matt Pearce reported:

“There are sixteen people in this neighborhood who vote and receive cash disability payments,” said fliers posted to doors across several neighborhoods in August. “The names of these people are being posted where they can be seen by taxpayers and the neighborhood can decide who is truly disabled.”

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And then, on Monday, a new batch:

“There are twenty-seven people in this neighborhood who vote and receive food stamps,” read the latest fliers, this time found in southeast Portland’s Sunnyside neighborhood. “The names of these people are being posted where they can be seen by taxpayers and the neighborhood can decide who is truly in need of food.”

So who’s the flier guy (or gal)? That’s a secret, for now. The messages are simply signed “Artemis of the wildland” -- Artemis being the Greek goddess most commonly known as the goddess of the hunt.

OK, so far, so Portland.

But down south in Mexico, things have taken a darker turn. Someone is taking aim at city bus drivers who have allegedly shown a predilection to rape and/or kill women.

The Times’ Tracy Wilkinson and Cecilia Sanchez reported Tuesday on the strange case of a woman in Ciudad Juarez who “dresses in black, has unusually blond hair — and kills bus drivers who sexually assault women”:

Two bus drivers were slain in the last week, and over the weekend an electronic message claiming responsibility was sent to several news outlets.

“You think because we are women we are weak, and maybe we are,” the message says. “But only to a certain point.... We can no longer remain quiet over these acts that fill us with rage.

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“And so, I am an instrument who will take vengeance.”

And now for the really spooky part: The message was signed “Diana, Huntress of Bus Drivers.”

That’s right. For those who paid attention in school, “Diana” was the Roman name for “Artemis.”

Cue “The Twilight Zone” music.

Sure, go ahead and scoff. But isn’t this what the NSA is doing with your phone calls and emails -- looking for patterns? I mean, what are the odds that two people, in two very different areas, are making two very different kinds of waves -- but both have adopted the same mythological goddess as their calling card?

There’s something strange happening here, and what it is ain’t exactly clear.

And I won’t even get into The Times’ story Wednesday on Northern California’s Siskiyou County -- an outdoorsy place where people like to, uh, hunt -- and the vote by its Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to pursue seceding from California. Thankfully, not one of the supervisors is named Artemis or Diana.

Maybe -- probably -- it’s all just coincidence.

But I think I’m going to read up on my Homer, just in case.

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Follow Paul Whitefield on Twitter @PaulWhitefield1 and Google +

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