a funny story
one day a few weeks ago, we were sitting in the smoking area of the school, shooting the shit before we left for murupara. as people were passing their roll-your-own cigarette kits around, one of them mentioned a story of how tobacco was going to be at a premium for a few days because all of it had been taken off the shelves. it seemed that one guy bought a pack and found a packet of a mysterious white substance inside. it was believed the substance was cyanide, and related to some threats made domestically concerning bioterror. letters were sent to the newspaper and the government threatning that cyanide would be dispersed in food and in public places, such as restaurants.

about a week or so after, i was reading the newspaper and it seems that the substance in the tobacco package was flour. some doofus bought the tobacco, used most of it, and then refilled it with flour to make it appear full. he then used a heat sealer to make the package look like it was never opened and brought it back to the supermarket from whence it was purchased for a full refund of $16. the packet was put back on the shelves and purchased again a few days later, setting off the aforementioned alarms. the doofus is now charged with hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover the cost to the supermarket -- for lost profits -- the police and fire departments, and some other public services for their duties rendered during this "crisis".

heh heh.