phr@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Paul Rubin) (10/24/85)
Yesterday I went to the store to buy a box of Twinkies, and the clerk told me that they only come in two-packs. Is this true? How can it be? Dan White must have been a determined man.
morrell@hplabsb.UUCP (10/29/85)
> Yesterday I went to the store to buy a box of Twinkies, and the > clerk told me that they only come in two-packs. Is this true? How > can it be? Dan White must have been a determined man. He must have meant he only carries the two-packs. I have bought a ten-pack of twinkies. They definitely exist.
msl5864@ritcv.UUCP (Michael S. Leibow) (11/01/85)
In article <3128@hplabsb.UUCP> morrell@hplabsb.UUCP writes: >> Yesterday I went to the store to buy a box of Twinkies, and the >> clerk told me that they only come in two-packs. Is this true? How >> can it be? Dan White must have been a determined man. > >He must have meant he only carries the two-packs. >I have bought a ten-pack of twinkies. They definitely exist. What in the hell do Twinkies have to do with suicide?
neal@weitek.UUCP (Neal Bedard) (11/05/85)
In article <8988@ritcv.UUCP>, msl5864@ritcv.UUCP (Michael S. Leibow) writes: > > What in the hell do Twinkies have to do with suicide? 1. OD'ing on Twinkies was part of Dan White's `diminished capacity' defense that subsequently allowed his charges to be reduced to manslaughter. 2. Dan White killed himself recently. He was out on parole. That's the connection. -Neal -- 55. It's a law we can do away with. UUCP: {turtlevax, resonex, cae780}!weitek!neal
jwg@teddy.UUCP (11/05/85)
In article <8988@ritcv.UUCP> msl5864@ritcv.UUCP (Michael S. Leibow) writes: >What in the hell do Twinkies have to do with suicide? They taste better than strychnine. -- -> Jim Galbiati, GenRad Inc, Production Test Division <- ->USmail: Mail Stop 6, 300 Baker Ave, Concord, Mass. 01742 <- ->usenet: {decvax,linus,wjh12,mit-eddie,cbosgd,masscomp}!genrad!panda!jwg <- ->tel: (617) 369-4400 x2459 <-
faunt@hplabsd.UUCP (Doug Faunt) (11/05/85)
> What in the hell do Twinkies have to do with suicide?
Do you remember an murderer named Dan White who got away with 2 killings
because he was an ex-cop? --
....!hplabs!faunt faunt%hplabs@csnet-relay.ARPA
HP is not responsible for anything I say here. In fact, what I say here
may have been generated by a noisy telephone line.benn@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Thomas a Coxus) (11/05/85)
[]
Not long ago, someone wrote in saying 'what in hell do twinkies have to
do with suicide?', or words to that effect. Perhaps others of
you are wondering the same thing. Well, let me give you just one
reason why it might be Extremely Relevant, and even a Pressing
Issue.
Namely, the famous Twinkie Defense. The Twinkie Defense is not a chess
strategy where you mash a twinkie over your threatened king to
hide him. It was a legal plea used in a California criminal case
where some guy [details in my mind are sketchy or nonexistent, as
usual] was accused of assault or manslaughter or somesuch violence.
Well, the defense lawyer [am I spelling 'defense' wrong? Should it be
'defence'?] claimed that his client had eaten so many Twinkies and
other junk foods with weird [spelt right] chemicals in them that
he became clinically depressed and so on and so forth, mood
alterations, blah blah blah. The accused was acquitted on this
very basis. I think. I know that Twinkies were the culprit, and
I'm pretty sure the judge and/or jury bought it.
Hence, the California criminal justice system has determined that Twinkies
can be pretty damn dangerous -- perhaps life threatening. I sure
wouldn't sell a ten-pack of Twinkies to some depressed SOB, because
his family would probably sue me for serving him. Like the bars
that are sued when the drunk driver kills the child.
So those ten-packs are out there, but you may have to sign a release to
buy them.
Yours etc.,
[will my .sig be appended for me? why risk it?]
Thomas Cox
...ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!benn
"I still have something up my sleeve, Dangermouse!"
"Crikey, look out, DM, he may be armed!"agb@reed.UUCP (Alexander G. Burchell) (11/06/85)
In article <8988@ritcv.UUCP> msl5864@ritcv.UUCP (Michael S. Leibow) writes: > In article <3128@hplabsb.UUCP> morrell@hplabsb.UUCP writes: > > > Yesterday I went to the store to buy a box of Twinkies, and the > > > clerk told me that they only come in two-packs. Is this true? How > > > can it be? Dan White must have been a determined man. > > He must have meant he only carries the two-packs. > > I have bought a ten-pack of twinkies. They definitely exist. > What in the hell do Twinkies have to do with suicide? You may remember Dan White, the killer of the mayor of San Francisco some years back. You also may remember his "twinkie defense", in which it was claimed that his consumption of junk foods (such as twinkies) made him temporarily insane. Dan White committed suicide recently. Alexander G. Burchell UUCP: ..!{decvax,ucbvax,hplabs,ihnp4,zehntel}!tektronix!reed!agb MAIL: Box 172, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Dr., Portland OR 97202
barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold) (11/06/85)
The way I recall it, Dan White's lawyer claimed that the defendant was in a state of diminished capacity when he shot the Mayor of San Francisco and a councilman. One of the signs of that change in personality was that a formerly athletic man who had always kept himself in great condition had recently taken to pigging out on twinkies and was now obese. In other words, Twinkies was never alleged to have caused White's psychological condition. I do agree that after the trial, moronic reporters summarized the defense as "Dan White went crazy due to eating too many Twinkies" -- but surely usenetters should be brighter than that. --Lee gold
waycott@mot.UUCP (John Waycott) (11/09/85)
> Not long ago, someone wrote in saying 'what in hell do twinkies have to > do with suicide?'... > Namely, the famous Twinkie Defense... > ...was a legal plea used in a California criminal case > Well, the defense lawyer > claimed that his client had eaten so many Twinkies and > other junk foods with weird [spelt right] chemicals in them that > he became clinically depressed and so on and so forth, mood > alterations, blah blah blah... As far-fetched as this seems, it is quite plausible. The man almost certainly had hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The symtoms are not specific, but I have read reports of people diagnosed as manic depressives, suicidal, antisocial, violent, etc. who were simply eating too much sugar. Even though many people's blood sugar will drop a few hours after eating huge amounts of sugar, most will suffer no ill effects. "True" hypoglycemia, were a person's blood sugar level can drop to dangerously low levels, is actually quite rare. As one who was diagnosed as a true hypoglycemic, I can see under an extreme case that someone might actually attempt suicide. I can remember being extremely depressed and paranoid for no apparent reason, even though I never got to the point of attempting suicide. The cure was simple: eat a balanced diet. -- John Waycott, Motorola Microsystems, Tempe, AZ, (602) 438-3164 {seismo!terak, trwrb!flkvax, utzoo!mnetor, ihnp4, attunix}!mot!waycott oakhill!mot!waycott@ut-sally.ARPA