Momo

by Michael Ende

This is the only book I ever remember my dad reading to my siblings and I; I’m not sure that we even finished. But it is an excellent book.
Momo is a young girl who comes to live in an old amphitheater. Everyone in the little village loves her, because she helps them solve their problems. Actually, what Momo does best is listen: she listens patiently, and she listens with interest. Two men who were once friends and have entered a long feud go to see Momo, and with her “help” manage to sort things out.

The main theme of the book, however, is time. The Men in Gray have begun appearing throughout the village and city, although few people notice them. They work for the TimeSavings Bank, where people can deposit the time they save – and, supposedly, withdraw it later. The result of the Men in Gray is that the citizens become obsessed with saving time, whether by converting an inn into a fast food restaurant or by creating “child depots” where children will be out of the way, learning “useful” skills.

Momo is definitely not as intricate a story as Neverending Story, but it is well-written and captivating. The message is clear and applicable. Rating: read it, but read Neverending Story first.

Cop who made pot brownies will avoid charges

DEARBORN, Mich. – A police officer will avoid criminal charges despite admitting he took marijuana from criminal suspects and, with his wife, baked it into brownies.

The police department’s decision not to pursue a case against former Cpl. Edward Sanchez left a bad taste in the mouth of at least one city official, who vowed to investigate.

“If you’re a cop and you’re arresting people and you’re confiscating the marijuana and keeping it yourself, that’s bad. That’s real bad,” said City Councilman Doug Thomas.

Sanchez, who resigned last year from the department in this Detroit suburb, declined comment Wednesday to the Detroit Free Press. Police Cmdr. Jeff Geisinger did not return calls seeking comment.

The department’s investigation began with a 911 call from Sanchez’s home on April 21, 2006. On a 5-minute tape of the call, obtained by the Free Press, Sanchez told an emergency dispatcher he thought he and his wife were overdosing on marijuana.

“I think we’re dying,” he said. “We made brownies and I think we’re dead, I really do.”

Sanchez later told police investigators that his wife took the marijuana out of his police vehicle while he was sleeping. In a subsequent interview, he admitted he got the marijuana out of the car himself and put it in the brownie mix, police said.

His wife also was not charged.

(From MSNBC.com)


Wendy’s manager shot over limit on chili sauce

MIAMI – A Wendy’s manager was shot several times in the arm early Tuesday trying to protect the restaurant’s chili sauce, authorities said.

A man in the drive-through argued with an employee because he wanted more of the condiment, police said. The worker told the customer that restaurant policy prohibited a customer from getting more than three packets.

The man insisted on 10, reports said. The employee complied, but police said the customer wanted more.

When the manager came out to speak to the man, the customer shot the manager, Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Mary Walters said. He was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

The shooter fled with a female passenger.

“I did not know I got shot,” store manager Renal Frage told WTVJ-TV in Miami. “When I went back to the office, I saw blood pumping out of my arm, and I was shocked. I was checking myself out and couldn’t believe I got shot over some chili sauce.”

Frage added: “I got shot over chili sauce. I was trying to figure while in the hospital why someone would shoot me over some chili sauce.”

(From MSNBC.com)