Hashing = Terrorism?

The Hash House Harriers of New Haven, CT have been in the news lately. In case you didn’t see it, two hashers laying trail using arrows drawn in sidewalk chalk and white flour thrown on the ground are being charged with a felony by the state of CT.

At this point, if you’re wondering what a hash is and why chalk and flour are involved, click here to read my post on the infamous Hash House Harriers, a drinking club with a running problem.

Anyway, the snafu that resulted in felony charges occurred when trail went through the parking lot of a local Ikea. Long after the hashers had run through the lot, a bystander called police to alert them to two people sprinkling a white, powdery substance on the ground. A hazmat team was mobilized to determine that the substance was, in fact, harmless flour. This was confirmed when the hashers who laid the trail biked back to the scene to straighten out the situation. Click here to read an AP news article for all the details.

Actually, this is old news (Aug 25th to be precise). The mayor of New Haven is no longer seeking restitution from the hashers for the resources used to check out the flour. However, if anyone should bear this financial burden it’s the taxpayers who voted for the politicians that put this anti-terrorism policy in place. In a post-9/11 era, Americans have been willing to trade liberty for security in order to feel “safe”. They tolerate over-reaction and a lack of common sense all in the name of security. I say, let the voters reap what they sow and pay for this calamity.

Some may say that the city of New Haven acted appropriately. I say it was an over-reaction and let me tell you why. Hashers have been laying trail with powder since the 1930s. There has been a hash in Boston using powder since the 1970s. For decades (literally) hashers in the USA have used powder without incident. Never before, across the country, has there been a reaction like this.

This country's government has used terrorism to scare Americans into giving up civil rights in the name of security. Fear of terrorism is the way that the government justifies illegal wire-tapping. It is the reason that the government uses to demand that companies hand over private records (without customer knowledge, let alone consent). It is why the books you read at public libraries can be monitored. It is the reason that two people who lay harmless flour on the ground (and then return to the scene of the crime to explain) are being charged with a felony.

Frankly, this intrusion upon civil rights infuriates me to a point that I’m considering going back to school in order to become a lawyer. And I really hate debt.