Today's nuggets courtesy of our friends south of the border.
Hiccups kill two
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - A Colombian man accidentally shot his nephew to death while trying to cure his hiccups by pointing a revolver at him to scare him, police in the Caribbean port city of Barranquilla said on Tuesday.
After shooting 21-year-old university student David Galvan in the neck, his uncle, Rafael Vargas, 35, was so distraught he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide, police said.
I guess "sorry" just wasn't enough.
The incident took place on Sunday night while the two were having drinks with neighbors.
Galvan started to hiccup and Vargas, who works as a security guard, said he would use the home remedy for hiccups of scaring him. He pulled out his gun, pointed it at Galvan and it accidentally went off, witnesses told local television.
The gun accidentally pulled its own trigger? Was it drinking, too?
"They were drinking but they were aware of what was going on," one witness said.
Yeah, they were completely lucid. Shooting someone who has the hiccups sounds like a great idea to me.
###
Border face-off involved men in Mexican army uniforms
SIERRA BLANCA, Texas (AP) -- Men in Mexican military-style uniforms crossed the Rio Grande into the United States on a marijuana-smuggling foray, leading to an armed confrontation with Texas law officers, authorities said Tuesday. No shots were fired.
They just arm-wrestled.
The men retreated and escaped back across the border with much of the pot, though they abandoned more than a half-ton of marijuana as they fled and set fire to one of their vehicles, authorities said.
The Mexican government denied its military was involved.
Sure. If you were the Mexican government and you were thinking about invading the U.S., would you admit it? "Hey- United States! We're coming over this river and we're gonna take over! We're gonna kick you all in the faces! With boots!"
The confrontation took place Monday and involved three Texas sheriff's deputies, at least two Texas state troopers and at least 10 heavily armed men from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, said Rick Glancey of the Texas Border Sheriffs' Coalition.
Gov. Rick Perry ordered an investigation.
"It's certainly troubling and unacceptable and a real reminder of how an unsecure border threatens all Texans and the rest of the nation," said Perry spokesman Kathy Walt.
Troubling? Ten men armed with automatic weapons driving through Texas is troubling? I'd hate to find out what scares this woman.
The Mexican Foreign Relations Department issued a statement saying that drug traffickers and other organized criminals have used uniforms and vehicles before. "It is possible that these actions were designed to damage the image of our armed forces," it said.
"It's also possible that they are members of our advanced sentry unit doing reconnaissance for our invasion force. But don't let that worry you. If we were going to wage war on you, we would tell you for sure."
Monday's incident follows a story in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario, Calif., on January 15 that said the Mexican military had crossed into the United States more than 200 times since 1996. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said reports of Mexican incursions into the United States were overblown and most were just mistakes.
They thought they were crossing some other river. It's no big deal.
The confrontation on Monday took place was near Neely's Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso, and started when state police tried to stop three sport utility vehicles on Interstate 10. The vehicles made a quick U-turn and headed south toward the border, a few miles away, Glancey said.
When the SUVs reached the Rio Grande, police saw the occupants of a green, Mexican army-style Humvee apparently waiting for the convoy, Glancey said.
Police stopped and watched as the vehicles began to cross the shallow river into Mexico. Both sides -- the Americans and the smugglers -- had their weapons drawn.
One SUV got stuck in the river, and another blew a tire on the Texas side. Its driver ran into Mexico.
Men in the Humvee tried to tow the stuck vehicle out of the river. When that failed, a group of men in civilian clothes began unloading from the SUV what appeared to be bundles of marijuana. They then torched the SUV, Glancey said.
Deputies found about 1,400 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle that had a flat tire. The vehicle had previously been reported stolen from El Paso.
Having ignored the rest of the release, thousands of El Pasoans are ecstatic that their city was mentioned on CNN.
Hiccups kill two
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - A Colombian man accidentally shot his nephew to death while trying to cure his hiccups by pointing a revolver at him to scare him, police in the Caribbean port city of Barranquilla said on Tuesday.
After shooting 21-year-old university student David Galvan in the neck, his uncle, Rafael Vargas, 35, was so distraught he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide, police said.
I guess "sorry" just wasn't enough.
The incident took place on Sunday night while the two were having drinks with neighbors.
Galvan started to hiccup and Vargas, who works as a security guard, said he would use the home remedy for hiccups of scaring him. He pulled out his gun, pointed it at Galvan and it accidentally went off, witnesses told local television.
The gun accidentally pulled its own trigger? Was it drinking, too?
"They were drinking but they were aware of what was going on," one witness said.
Yeah, they were completely lucid. Shooting someone who has the hiccups sounds like a great idea to me.
###
Border face-off involved men in Mexican army uniforms
SIERRA BLANCA, Texas (AP) -- Men in Mexican military-style uniforms crossed the Rio Grande into the United States on a marijuana-smuggling foray, leading to an armed confrontation with Texas law officers, authorities said Tuesday. No shots were fired.
They just arm-wrestled.
The men retreated and escaped back across the border with much of the pot, though they abandoned more than a half-ton of marijuana as they fled and set fire to one of their vehicles, authorities said.
The Mexican government denied its military was involved.
Sure. If you were the Mexican government and you were thinking about invading the U.S., would you admit it? "Hey- United States! We're coming over this river and we're gonna take over! We're gonna kick you all in the faces! With boots!"
The confrontation took place Monday and involved three Texas sheriff's deputies, at least two Texas state troopers and at least 10 heavily armed men from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, said Rick Glancey of the Texas Border Sheriffs' Coalition.
Gov. Rick Perry ordered an investigation.
"It's certainly troubling and unacceptable and a real reminder of how an unsecure border threatens all Texans and the rest of the nation," said Perry spokesman Kathy Walt.
Troubling? Ten men armed with automatic weapons driving through Texas is troubling? I'd hate to find out what scares this woman.
The Mexican Foreign Relations Department issued a statement saying that drug traffickers and other organized criminals have used uniforms and vehicles before. "It is possible that these actions were designed to damage the image of our armed forces," it said.
"It's also possible that they are members of our advanced sentry unit doing reconnaissance for our invasion force. But don't let that worry you. If we were going to wage war on you, we would tell you for sure."
Monday's incident follows a story in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario, Calif., on January 15 that said the Mexican military had crossed into the United States more than 200 times since 1996. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said reports of Mexican incursions into the United States were overblown and most were just mistakes.
They thought they were crossing some other river. It's no big deal.
The confrontation on Monday took place was near Neely's Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso, and started when state police tried to stop three sport utility vehicles on Interstate 10. The vehicles made a quick U-turn and headed south toward the border, a few miles away, Glancey said.
When the SUVs reached the Rio Grande, police saw the occupants of a green, Mexican army-style Humvee apparently waiting for the convoy, Glancey said.
Police stopped and watched as the vehicles began to cross the shallow river into Mexico. Both sides -- the Americans and the smugglers -- had their weapons drawn.
One SUV got stuck in the river, and another blew a tire on the Texas side. Its driver ran into Mexico.
Men in the Humvee tried to tow the stuck vehicle out of the river. When that failed, a group of men in civilian clothes began unloading from the SUV what appeared to be bundles of marijuana. They then torched the SUV, Glancey said.
Deputies found about 1,400 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle that had a flat tire. The vehicle had previously been reported stolen from El Paso.
Having ignored the rest of the release, thousands of El Pasoans are ecstatic that their city was mentioned on CNN.
10 men driving through Texas armed with automatic weapons? That's not news.
I was just gonna say. If it is news, you guys need to work on your PR.
Multiply by about 1000 and call it a typical weekend.