Very OT - Jack-booted storm troopers

Sorry about this - I just had to get it out.

Yesterday was the first meaningful snow we have had in the Puget Sound area
for quite a few years. Kids have grown up without knowing for whatinthehell
a sled was used. Lord, did it come down! Large chunks of the working class
stayed home to avoid playing bumper cars, to tend their kids (since many
schools were closed), and just to enjoy a taste of winter.

One of the steep, long hills in Seattle was closed to auto traffic early in
the storm. Before long, several hundred people had brought out their sleds,
saucers, inner tubes and snowboards and turned Queen Anne Avenue into a good
old-fashioned sledding hill and half-mile long block party. As may be
expected, after a few hours a sled veered off the hill and went splat into
something or other. One of the riders broke her arm and the Aid Car was
called.

You guessed it. The next thing to happen was the arrival of the Seattle
Police. The news reports went something like, "The unruly crowd was
dispersed by the heroic actions of the outnumbered police". "Several people
resisted but were subdued and booked for failure to comply with lawful
orders." This was accompanied by video of a citizen apparently (and loudly)
asking an officer what authority he had to run citizens off a closed street,
whereupon this heretic was taken down, handcuffed, frisked and shoved into a
patrol car.

And then they wonder why the city government, bureaucracy, and police are
despised by many residents. I moved out when I was told the city had denied
a permit to hold a parade in honor of the returning Gulf War troops.
Instead, a permit was issued for the annual Gay Parade. The Mayor and Chief
of Police joined the celebration and marched along.

Rich S.