Whose Planet Is It Anyway?

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Protesters Attacked by Flying Burrito Wrap

The ASAN members and cross-disability activists who protested at the Autism $peaks walk in Washington DC on Saturday, October 31st, resisted the temptation to dress in ghoulish Halloween costumes. Not everyone at the walk showed their level of maturity, however, as reported by a protester named Stan:


"I was watching the first large group of Autism Speaks walkers, and one guy looked at us and threw a burrito wrap sandwich at us. It looked like he was throwing a burrito at us. It was like watching a Monty Python burrito attack."


When I mentioned that I thought this deserved a blog post, another person suggested that I should not write negative stuff about the burrito-tosser because he was just a frustrated parent. Given the fact that Autism $peaks goes to great lengths to induce feelings of helplessness, frustration, and despair in parents for their own financial gain, I'd say that guess is probably accurate, so I'll refrain from writing a Monty Python parody of Sir Tossalot. You'll just have to imagine what it would look like.

Instead, I'll list a few reasons why I think a flying burrito wrap would be an excellent mascot for the organization. Their blue puzzle piece is getting old, and any marketing consultant will tell you that new logos and rebranding campaigns are a great way to stir up interest. Why a burrito? Well, it suits Aut$peaks in so many ways... they're cheesy, they're full of beans, and too much ingestion of their propaganda is likely to cause major gastrointestinal distress.

I'm picturing Burrito Bob with a flowing burrito-wrap cape and a big $ on his chest. I was going to sketch him for this post, but I had too much indecision about what his head ought to look like. So many snarky possibilities abound. I decided, instead, to invite those of my readers who enjoy art to design a suitable flying burrito wrap mascot. Post him on a website somewhere and put a link in my comments to give Aut$peaks some well deserved ridicule!


Edit, November 6: Neil Kapit, an autistic cartoonist who has a blog and a DeviantArt page, contributed the Burrito Bob sketch below. Thanks Neil!





Second edit, November 14: Maddy McEwen of Whitterer on Autism, who proudly looks at life through rose-colored spectacles, contributed Rosy the Flying Burrito (stuffed with cash). Much appreciated Maddy!


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22 Comments:

  • Oh my goodness. My gut is in pain from the minutes I spent laughing at this story. I also love how you referred to Autism Speaks as Aut$peaks. It is really fitting, considering how large an amount of money goes towards executive salaries (top earner was paid over $600K in one year according to this The Disability Scoop). I wonder how many people would continue to attend these hate fests if they had to put that information on their posters.

    By Blogger TheWiredOne, at 10:07 PM  

  • ... they're cheesy, they're full of beans, and too much ingestion of their propaganda is likely to cause major gastrointestinal distress.

    Oh, my. Thank goodness I wasn't ingesting any fluids when I read this! Too funny.

    Joe

    By Blogger Club 166, at 10:20 PM  

  • "Given the fact that Autism $peaks goes to great lengths to induce feelings of helplessness, frustration, and despair in parents for their own financial gain, I'd say that guess is probably accurate"

    Schools I would wager give parents far more frustration than Autism Speaks. Parents deal with schools 9-10 months of the year. Its a far bigger part of our lives than a 30 second infomercial. For parents of older children, I'm sure its other providers like departments of health service etc. Its hard to get worked up about Autism Speaks when your child is struggling in school under the weight of know nothings and the system. See Kristina Chew's blog. I doubt Autism Speaks even enters her mind very often in comparison to trying to help Charlie. Perhaps it was a parent having Chew's type of problems that through the burrito.

    Having problems with a head on the burrito, put Matthew Israel's head on it.

    By Anonymous K, at 7:20 AM  

  • I am a simple woman, so easily amused. I adored this post...

    http://hardwonwisdom.blogspot.com/2009/11/autismspeaks.html

    By Blogger Usethebrains Godgiveyou, at 10:06 AM  

  • Well hey there abfh darlin!
    I do so enjoy your posts an such. Well ya do know what all happens when ya eat too many a them burritos dont ya? It aint beans yer full of! Boy Howdy an a side o' flatulance! These aut$peaks folks is like wind through a hound dogs behind..

    By Blogger Louise, at 7:51 PM  

  • Joe (and everyone else) - when I read that part I nearly shit myself with laughter! Sorry, but that seems rather appropriate if a little vulgar doesn't it?

    *runs for cover*

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:37 AM  

  • I was thinking about the whole graphic question and I thought it might be fitting if the Burrito Bob mascot had a picture of Mr. Potter superimposed on it. Then a picture could be made of Bob Wright and Potter together, the scurvy little spiders! Great. Now I'm wishing I had PhotoShop so I could make those images.

    By Blogger TheWiredOne, at 12:01 PM  

  • Someone come to SBWG's rescue here! I love the idea!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:11 PM  

  • Here are helpful tools for anyone willing to undertake the task of superimposing a head on the end of a burrito:
    How to Superimpose a Picture onto Another: 8 Steps
    A free Burrito clipart image I found
    Any image of a person you want, as long as the head isn't ridiculously sized in proportion to one of the ends of the burrito.
    If one does want to take my suggestion of superimposing the head of Mr. Potter onto the burrito, just type "mr. potter" into the Google Image Search and pick anything that's in black and white.
    And good luck to anyone making the graphic!

    By Blogger TheWiredOne, at 4:38 PM  

  • Thanks for putting my sketch up. It's good to be able to use my cartooning as a tool against people who deserve it.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 4:47 PM  

  • "These aut$peaks folks is like wind through a hound dogs behind..."

    And why are we talking about dog-farts???

    Actually... here's why: because they're a whole shitload nicer to talk about than Autism$peaks!

    ;)

    By Blogger David N. Andrews M. Ed., C. P. S. E., at 5:04 PM  

  • @Nitz the Bloody: I love the cartoon! It's really awesome and congratulations on the chance to use it against bigots!

    By Blogger TheWiredOne, at 9:11 PM  

  • What SBWG said! *LMAO*

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:07 AM  

  • thanks sadderbutwisergirl and timelord. I appreciate the compliments.

    My background in comics means that when I think of Autism Speaks, the first connection I make is the pharmaceutical company developing a cure for mutants in the third X-Men movie/first Joss Whedon X-Men comic ( the latter being far better, but I digress ). I suppose they'd also be funneling money into giant autistic-hunting robots, if they could.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 7:33 PM  

  • Off topic, someone please update us about Zach Lassiter. The August situation seems to be repeating.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:52 PM  

  • anon - the ZL situation is not looking very good at all. and guess which piece of shite is gloating like fuck about it.

    By Blogger David N. Andrews M. Ed., C. P. S. E., at 8:30 PM  

  • NTB:
    "My background in comics means that when I think of Autism Speaks, the first connection I make is the pharmaceutical company developing a cure for mutants in the third X-Men movie/first Joss Whedon X-Men comic ..."

    Me, too.

    By Blogger Lindsay, at 12:47 AM  

  • I know what Zack is feeling now David and it sucks.

    By Blogger A better future for all, at 9:53 PM  

  • I actually was planning to kill myself this past march. I say timelord is a humanitarian.

    I think I'm going through positive disintegration as we speak. I think this is what is happening to me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_Disintegration

    I've been questioning so many things that are taken as givens here in America. I question the phrase "common sense." I say it's an old worn out cliche that means nothing. I can't even get a straight answer as to what that phrase truly means. They have a hard time answering.

    I question our(ND) usage of it as well. I do not believe common sense exists. There are too many complexities that exist.

    I've been questioning so many things that the advocates for self-responsibility say.

    By Blogger A better future for all, at 10:02 PM  

  • CD: "I know what Zack is feeling now David and it sucks."

    Indeed it does.

    And that imbecile still gloats about Zack's situation.

    By Blogger David N. Andrews M. Ed., C. P. S. E., at 6:16 AM  

  • I know how much it sucks, especially when you're not really given a chance to heal properly. Zach has gotten help, of course, but after each effort to help has been performed, he's just been screwed with again and again. I've been praying that it didn't work.

    By Blogger TheWiredOne, at 4:48 PM  

  • Ooo I'm so tempted, that's right up my street.
    Cheers

    By Anonymous Maddy, at 11:51 AM  

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