CLOVIS, N.M. - A call about a possible weapon at a middle school prompted police to put armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets and lock down the school. All over a giant burrito.
Someone called authorities Thursday after seeing a boy carrying something long and wrapped into Marshall Junior High.
The drama ended two hours later when the suspicious item was identified as a 30-inch burrito filled with steak, guacamole, lettuce, salsa and jalapenos and wrapped inside tin foil and a white T-shirt.
"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," school Principal Diana Russell said.
State police, Clovis police and the Curry County Sheriff's Department arrived at the school shortly after 8:30 a.m. They searched the premises and determined there was no immediate danger.
In the meantime, more than 30 parents, alerted by a radio report, descended on the school. Visibly shaken, they gathered around in a semi-circle, straining their necks, awaiting news.
"There needs to be security before the kids walk through the door," said Heather Black, whose son attends the school.
After the lockdown was lifted but before the burrito was identified as the culprit, parents pulled 75 students out of school, Russell said.
Russell said the mystery was solved after she brought everyone in the school together in the auditorium to explain what was going on.
"The kid was sitting there as I'm describing this (report of a student with a suspicious package) and he's thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, they're talking about my burrito.'"
Afterward, eighth-grader Michael Morrissey approached her.
"He said, 'I think I'm the person they saw,'" Russell said.
The burrito was part of Morrissey's extra-credit assignment to create commercial advertising for a product.
"We had to make up a product and it could have been anything. I made up a restaurant that specialized in oddly large burritos," Morrissey said.
After students heard the description of what police were looking for, he and his friends began to make the connection. He then took the burrito to the office.
"The police saw it and everyone just started laughing. It was a laughter of relief," Morrissey said.
"Oh, and I have a new nickname now. It's Burrito Boy."
*************** "Oh my gosh, they're talking about my burrito..." I'm still giggling. :-)
Well, not exactly a jet plane. I just purchased my train ticket to the lovely town of Portage, WI (that was sarcasm...they even have a Mullet Street) to visit Bri for a weekend! In a few weeks, we'll be having a fantastic time in Madison walking up and down State Street, eating at Himal Chulie (or their new, fancier spin-off), and partying at a most-fun gay club (where I will hopefully be surrounded by a harem of lost 22-year-old Venezuelan...hmm, no, Colombian...porn stars, who are amazed at my firm, supple youth and the charisma that I virtually exude from my pores). Or, maybe I'll just get shitty on tequila shots. Either way...
Nonetheless, a good time will be had by all. I miss Bri and the amazing Abby, and I'm sure Little misses his Auntie Mike.
Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well.
Your saturation level is higher than average - You know what you want, but sometimes know not to tell everyone. You value accomplishments and know you can get the job done, so don't be afraid to run out and make things happen.
Your outlook on life is brighter than most people's. You like the idea of influencing things for the better and find hope in situations where others might give up. You're not exactly a bouncy sunshine but things in your world generally look up.
The following editorial was in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today. It was written by a (straight) resident of Clear Lake, MN. At least I'm not the only person who's outraged by this ridiculous amendment...
Jon Tufte
April 23, 2005 TUFTE0423
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It is my belief that a Constitution, whether for our nation or for a state, is an instrument that guarantees freedom and rights of the people and should not contain amendments that discriminate against any group of people. To this end, I wrote an e-mail to the chief author of H.F. 6 -- Rep. Dan Severson, R-Sauk Rapids -- relaying my disappointment in his stance on the issue and his authoring such a bill.
In the e-mail I stated that I knew we didn't see eye-to-eye on the issue of same-sex marriage, but that wasn't what I was writing about. I stated that I believed the proposed amendment was actually writing discrimination into a Constitution that guarantees freedoms and that this amendment was discriminating against a select group of people based on their sexual orientation. By adding this amendment to the state Constitution we would be changing the fundamental purpose of the document.
I went on to explain how thankful I was that this same type of thinking wasn't prevalent when our nation was working on racial equality and women's suffrage. We would have been putting amendments into the Constitution that discriminated against these groups of individuals.
I wrote to Severson saying that I understood he was not my representative; I was writing to encourage him, as chief author of the H.F. 6, to listen to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals coming down for Lobby Day on April 7 and to listen to understand, not to respond.
The following paragraph was his response to me in its entirety:
"Jon
"Let me first of all say that I don't represent you. Rep. Olson does. Second I always find it petty when people like you say 'I'm so disappointed.' You neither know me nor have enough information to be disappointed. Please contain your hatred. We think differently and that is America. Bye"
Is this the type of response we should expect from an employee of the state of Minnesota and an elected representative of the people? Personally, I don't believe that it is.
First of all, I did tell him that I knew he was not my representative. He is the author of the bill, so why shouldn't I be writing to him? Or should we be looking at another amendment so that we can't do that either? Secondly, he found it "petty when people like you say 'I'm so disappointed.' "
How could I know him? -- probably because of the news releases, his website, and his status as chief author of the bill. My question back to Severson is, "How can you refer to 'people like' me when you truly don't know me?" Or ask that I "contain" my "hatred," when I was only stating that I didn't believe we should have an amendment that writes discrimination into our Constitution? Who's showing hatred now? It scares me to think that this is the type of thinking that I got from an elected official in the state of Minnesota.
This is not a gay issue -- this is an issue of allowing this type of thinking and discrimination to be woven into our state Constitution. Where does this take us next? Who is the next group that we should discriminate against? Using the basis for this proposed amendment, perhaps it will be single parents or divorced people -- after all, theirs are lifestyle choices that don't preserve the sanctity of marriage and the traditional family.
I urge you, all of us -- lesbian, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, divorced, single parents, married, etc. -- to be actively involved in seeing that this amendment never makes it to a vote. Let it be known that you do not support discrimination in our state Constitution.
Happy Sunday, everyone! It's a beautiful day out and I've got the house all opened up, just enjoying the fresh air and the fact that I'm not doing anything today.
I read an article the other day about all of the scandal surrounding the cox-2 inhibitors: Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra. These drugs are used for arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, and their big claim to fame was that, unlike the NSAIDS (ibuprofin, naproxen, etc.), they cause less gastric irritation because they selectively target the receptors that control inflammation without also targeting the receptors that cause stomach problems. Bextra was just recently taken off the market, and Vioxx was removed a couple of months ago (although there's speculation that it may be returned to the market with strong warnings), because with long term use there's an increased risk for cardiovascular problems or a rare but fatal skin reaction. (Celebrex remains on the market, but carries strong warnings.) Anyway, the article mentions that for long-term treatment for arthritis, experts are recommending the use of a regular NSAID (like Aleve) along with a proton pump inhibitor like Prilosec or Prevacid. This concerns me. I had concerns when Prilosec was made available for over-the-counter purchase, because these drugs are not made for long-term therapy. The drugs take action to basically "shut off" the acid-producing pumps in the stomach, unlike other antacids which either neutralize the acid after it's produced or "turn the pumps down," like lowering the heat on a gas stove. The potential problem with long term use is that after a while, the lining of your stomach can begin to atrophy since your acid pumps aren't secreting the way they should. Now, there's a lot of conflicting evidence about this, but the fact is that these drugs are all relatively new (within the last 10 years or so), and the long term effects haven't been studied enough. Here's a link to some standard consumer information on the PPIs. I guess I'm just not convinced that this is the proper course of treatment for people, especially with drugs like Zantac or Pepcid on the market that don't have the same risks.
Ok, random subject change. We've started a new program in our department that I'm pretty excited about. We're trying to become more health-conscious at work, considering our jobs mainly consist of sitting at a desk for 8 hours. The supervisors talked about it, and we're making a lot of changes to our policies, but one fun thing that we're doing is a walking challenge. Heather spent some time looking up the distance in miles between Winona and several cities across the country. Participants are to choose a "city goal" and then, between now and the end of August, try to walk to that city. We were all given pedometers to track our progress, and the top three walkers win a prize. I'm not really doing it to try to win, but it's really interesting to see just how much I walk in a given day (I don't have a car, so it's usually quite a lot.) And I think it's a fantastic program: hopefully people will be encouraged to walk places now instead of driving. I'm sure it's not going to overtly improve the health of our staff, but exercise has been shown to improve one's mood.
Ok -- good book time. I read a super memoir of Augusten Burroughs called Running with Scissors. I read his novel Sellevision last year and loved it, so thought I'd try some of his nonfiction. The story is entirely true, but it almost reads like fiction -- his childhood was so dysfunctional and crazy. Burroughs's mother was also a writer, and she suffered from mental illness. She actually signed over guardianship of her child to her psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is also quite nuts, and Burroughs ends up living his teen years in a disgusting house with the doctor's family -- one of whom is a gay pedophile. The fact that he is now a productive member of society is just astounding. I'm not even going to start on all of the bizarre things that happened to him growing up (you wouldn't believe me). Just trust me. It's a very good book.
I don't really have anything new going on in my life right now, but articles like this make me sort of glad I lead a boring existance...
KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - A German cannibal and prosecutors launched rival appeals at Germany's top criminal court Wednesday against his manslaughter conviction for killing and eating a willing victim.
Meiwes admitted to killing a Berlin computer specialist, Bernd-Juergen B, he met via the Internet, but was spared a murder verdict as the victim had asked to be eaten in a startling case of sexual fetishism.
Meiwes recorded the deed on video tape and shocked the court with his matter-of-fact account of how he severed the man's penis at the latter's request, and how they both tried to eat it, first raw and then fried in a saucepan.
When I first read this, I thought it was a joke. It's not. It's also too funny to not share. So, here's your chuckle of the week:
LONDON (Reuters) - A 66-year-old British grandmother with a taste for marijuana casserole was spared jail Friday despite admitting she had shared cannabis-laced cookies with fellow pensioners.
Patricia Tabram from East Lea in the northern tip of England, who said she uses cannabis to alleviate pains in her neck and back, pleaded guilty to possession of the drug with intent to supply.
But Judge David Hodson said he would not make a "martyr" of her when she returned to Newcastle Crown Court for sentencing. Instead, she received a six-month suspended prison sentence.
The white-haired, bespectacled granny was unrepentant, and said she would keep cooking with pot.
"I had it this morning in my scrambled eggs and I'll have it again for lunch. I'm not giving it up," she told Channel 4 news.
Tabram has become a symbol for Britain's legalize marijuana campaign. On her Web Site, www.grandma-eats-cannabis.com, she promises soon to provide free recipes, as well as tea towels and mugs for sale.
Last year, Britain downgraded cannabis from the same class as cocaine and ecstasy to a lower class of illegal drug, which means police are not expected to arrest people for possessing small amounts but can jail them for supplying it to others.
Police said they raided Tabram's home after a tip-off in May last year and found 31 cannabis plants along with hydroponic cultivation equipment. In a later raid they found 47 bags of "skunk," a particularly strong form of the drug.
The set-up at Tabram's home "bore all the hallmarks of any sophisticated drug dealer," police said in a statement.
Since this whole gay marriage thing blew up, Sen. Michelle Bachman (R-Stillwater, MN) has been trying to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot The bill that she authored had to get passed through both the House and the Senate before it could be put before voters. However, she's sped up the process; I don't think anyone had expected things to be moving along already. The bill did pass the House, but was defeated in the Senate last Thursday! At least for now, no amendment in Minnesota! You can read a complete article on it here. Thank goodness; I guess we're still a blue state. :-)
I also read that the same day the Connecticut Senate approved a bill that makes CT the first state to recognize civil unions without pressure from the courts. Evidently they will have a similar setup as Vermont; the bill will provide most of the same rights as marriage, but without the license. Originally lawmakers planned to enact a law similar to the one in Massachusetts, providing an actual marriage for same-sex couples, but decided that the populace would be more accepting of this. It'd be interesting to see exactly what differences there are as far as "marriage" benefits go between this new civil union and a marriage. But -- it's a step in the right direction!
Now, if we could just keep from getting complacent -- we need to keep fighting!
I was excited at the beginning of the week because we hired a new operator for our department. It's so hard to find people that are smart enough to do the job and still willing to work for our low wages! Last month, we fired a woman (and it was a long time coming), and started the hiring process to replace her. I was more involved than usual since her shift was from 10 to 7 and she would be working under me for the majority of her shift. After a couple of interviews, the decision was made to bring her aboard. She was supposed to start today.
However, on Saturday, in the local newpaper there was an article about a theft. A 23-year-old shift manager at a McDonalds was arrested. What happened was a woman left her purse behind in McDonalds and an employee did the right thing by putting it in the office. As it turns out, the shift manager stole the credit cards and license as well as a ring valued at $1500. (Now, why someone would be so careless with a purse containing valuables like that is another question, but I won't get into that here.) The shift manager went on a spending spree at several local stores. When she was arrested, she was wearing the ring. She confessed to everything. (I tried to find the article so I could link to it, but it wasn't posted on our paper's very lame website.)
It was the same girl we hired!
My god. At the risk of sounding like a shallow socialite, it's so hard to find good help. Now, we have hired some real winners during the time I've been with the company, but this really takes the cake. The operators in our department are taking down names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, credit card numbers and social security numbers on a very regular basis. This could have turned into a huge disaster -- I guess it's lucky we found out that she was a thief before she started, because she could have ended up stealing from one of our customers, at least their money, and maybe their whole identity.
So Angie, my daytime counterpart (and the one who formally hired her), left her a message to call before she came in to work. She didn't call. No, 7 a.m. (we start people in the morning the first two weeks for training), she was waiting outside the door. Rita, my boss, was in her car and saw her out there, so she gave her a little speech about how her "background check" came back and we could no longer offer her the position. Nice, huh? Apparently she just said "Oh," and left.
Well, that's my excitement for the week. Before I go to bed, though, I want to share with you the most fantastic book I've read in a very long time: The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. It's the most amazing, touching, heartbreaking story I think I've ever read -- and it's entirely true. Lia Lee is an infant born to a large family of very recent hmong immigrants (in 1981). Her parents speak no English, so when she has a seizure, they aren't able to communicate with the emergency room doctors. Finally, after several seizures (which had always ended before they arrived at the ER), she was diagnosed with epilepsy. The hmong culture is vastly different from our own, and the way a hmong person deals with an illness is usually by performing sacrifices, burning the skin and having a shaman perform rituals. The medical community had a very difficult time trying to communicate with this family that was completely illiterate and spoke a different language. The two cultures completely clashed and after an unbelievable number of totally frustrating, horrifying encounters, the book comes to a tragic conclusion. The author is a journalist who did an amazing job of translating this whole disaster into a remarkably unbiased account. The way she goes out of her way to explain the physiology of epilepsy, the doctors' frustrations with this "noncompliant" family who don't understand and won't give their daughter her medicines, as well as the unique and beautiful hmong culture, makes it impossible to choose sides no matter how much you want to lay the blame at someone's feet. As a (former) healthcare professional, it really opened my eyes to the pitfalls of caring for someone who has very different ideas about illness. It's an amazing book that you'll never forget.
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