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August 26, 2007

Flour felons

I don't usually have much affection for runners -- too skinny, too motivated, too smug -- but this item warmed the cockles of my heart:

http://www.1010wins.com/pages/860214.php?contentType=4

Running Club Members Face Felony Charges for Scare at IKEA Store in New Haven

NEW HAVEN, CT -- Two people who sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their offbeat running club inadvertently caused a bioterrorism scare and now face a felony charge.

The sprinkled powder forced hundreds to evacuate an IKEA furniture store Thursday.

New Haven ophthalmologist Daniel Salchow, 36, and his sister, Dorothee, 31, who is visiting from Hamburg, Germany, were both charged with first-degree breach of peace, a felony.

The siblings set off the scare while organizing a run for a local chapter of the Hash House Harriers, a worldwide group that bills itself as a "drinking club with a running problem.''

"Hares'' are given the task of marking a trail to direct runners, throwing in some dead ends and forks as challenges. On Thursday, the Salchows decided to route runners through the massive IKEA parking lot.

Police fielded a call just before 5 p.m. that someone was sprinkling powder on the ground. The store was evacuated and remained closed the rest of the night. The incident prompted a massive response from police in New Haven and surrounding towns.

Mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said the city plans to seek restitution from the Salchows, who are due in court Sept. 14.

"You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know,'' she said. ``It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious. We're thankful it wasn't, but there were a lot of resources that went into figuring that out.''

May 6, 2009

Annals of trafficstopping

Here's the way to go! Viva the Baucus Eight!

As narrated in an email from the Ralph N machine, somewhat redacted here from Ralph's staccato style:

Yesterday morning, eight doctors, lawyers and other activists stood up to Senator Max Baucus, the private health insurance industry, and the corporate liberals in Congress.

The eight activists demanded that single payer-everybody in, nobody out, free choice of doctor and hospital-be put on the table. As a result they were arrested, and charged with a so-called "disruption of Congress."

.... Baucus crafted a hearing to kick off the health care debate in the Senate yesterday where 15 witnesses would be at the table to discuss health care reform [inlcuding representatives of] the insurance industry, the Business Roundtable, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Heritage Foundation and corporate liberals like Andy Stern, Ron Pollack, and AARP.....

But not one person who stood for what the majority of Americans, doctors, nurses, and health economists want-single payer-was at the table.

When I heard about this corporate line-up last week, I called the office of Senator Baucus, and politely asked that, as a matter of fairness, a single payer doctor be allowed to testify. I was told-no way, Ralph. The deal is done....

Remember what Senator Richard Durbin said last week? Durbin said that the banks "own" the Congress. To which we might add-the health insurance industry and the drug industry own the Senate.

Faxing, writing, and e-mailing is not getting it done. Enough is enough. Time for action.

"Disruption of Congress"? Doesn't that sound like a good idea?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I26EkvnjZuQ

About stopping traffic

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Stop Me Before I Vote Again in the stopping traffic category. They are listed from oldest to newest.

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