"Littering. Guilty. $500 each. Now get outta my courtroom, and take that idiot prosecutor with you!"

My little fantasy outcome, alas, is unlikely to be what actually happens. Too many terror junkies out there, jumping at shadows and chalk. Very sad state of affairs.

''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.''

boy i feel safe knowing these people are protecting us!

This is one of the stupidest things I ever heard. Suddenly "protecting the public from terrorists" is a convenient excuse for all kinds of thuggery -- like charging these people with a FELONY for the innocent sprinkling of flour with no intent to alarm anyone.

It's time for the torches, pitchforks, tar, and feathers. And heads on pikes.

Well, the trouble with describing the runners as "behav[ing] enough like terrorists" is that hashing has been around for a long time. Throwing flour on the ground wasn't behaving like a terrorist when I was in law school, which was the last time I participated. So the behavior hasn't changed or gotten more sinister, only the perception of it.

Besides, who has heard of terrorism consisting of powder thrown on the ground? If I had some anthrax powder and wanted to cause problems, I'm pretty sure I would throw it into an HVAC intake in a big office building, not throw it on the ground outside a Best Buy.

Another story showing that the terrorists are winning.

Spoken like a terrorist.

If they really wanted to kill someone, they would have been spreading Oregon ground beef.

The terrorists have won.

Americans have now reached full terrorist fever

We have a new alert level: "flour". Hope the On-On folks stay out of McMinnville!

''You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know,'' she said. ''It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious.

that may be the stupidest, silliest statement by a public official about "terrorism" i've heard this month.

that's right, folks--white terrorists in running clothes have decided to attack a local IKEA by visiting on a busy shopping day and sprinkling white powder, drawing arrows on the ground, then casually leaving.

i hear that next week, terrorists are planning to attack SE Portland by spray painting mysterious arrows on the road, pointing to key utility access points. using a complex code of colors and shapes.

be prepared. they'll be wearing orange vests.

If the white powder really was some sort of harardous substance, and it really was terrorists who spread it around, which of you would be criicizing the authorities for acting or not acting?

Well, Zeb, then things would have turned out differently. A bunch of people would have been injured or sickened, and we would still be searching for the culprits.

Years ago I would go out at night and mark trails and turns at the AIRPORT so they could be tracked a few hours later by a law enforcement K-9 training. I did call the control tower first and let them know I would be shining flashlights in and around buildings. Today I would be shot for that I guess.

Ecohuman has my vote for best post on this one!

When fear runs rampant, common sense takes a holiday.