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Sunday, May 18, 2008

The Morning News

posted by on May 18 at 9:20 AM

posted by news intern Chris Kissel

Mourning
: China dedicates three days, suspends torch relay for earthquake victims.

Taking sides: Hezbollah violence sparks Sunni-Shiite tensions in Lebanon.

Joining sides: Clinton and Obama campaigns prepare to combine forces.

Immigrant haters: At least 5 dead after anti-immigrant sentiment boils over in South Africa.

Immigrant haters, Part 2: 389 undocumented immigrants arrested in Iowa.

Apology: General in Iraq apologizes after U.S. soldier uses Quran for target practice.

No, thanks: UW turns down record number of students.

Ferries: Washington’s troubled ferry system still causing problems.

River accidents: One dead, two missing after Saturday boating accidents.

RSS icon Comments

1

Apology: General in Iraq apologizes after U.S. soldier uses Quran for target practice.

Apology, huh? The right move is to send the bigoted fucktard back to West Virginia.

I mean, not to defend Islam or any other religion, but sending Christian triumphalists to a Muslim country is no way to build a bridge.

Posted by k | May 18, 2008 11:45 AM
2

We're not trying to build a bridge, we're trying to maintain a fiction. Soldiers, Iraqis, Qurans don't really matter one way or the other.

Posted by Fnarf | May 18, 2008 12:39 PM
3

I still haven't heard an apology over those soldiers putting an American flag over the face of Saddam's statue. Way to prove to the Iraqis that this isn't an imperialist war. Seriously, does the military bother with any kind of sensitivity training before launching an illegal war in a part of the world where we're widely hated?

Posted by keshmeshi | May 18, 2008 12:52 PM
4
The scene was a museum garden, where Mr. Bush and his wife, Laura, sat in wrought-iron chairs under the shade of an olive tree, joined by a dozen young people who had been selected by the American Embassy.

When the president lamented that he has been asked why he dislikes Muslims — not true, he said, it’s just what they say on television — 16-year-old Henriette Charcar, who identified herself as a Palestinian Christian, took Mr. Bush gently to task.

“I think it comes out that you don’t like Muslims,” Ms. Charcar told the president, “because in most of your speeches you do tend to relate extremism to Muslims.”

Mr. Bush looked slightly taken aback. He started to defend himself but then, in a moment rare for a president who often seems convinced of his own correctness, he switched course.

“Actually, what I say is you’re not a religious person if you’re a murderer,” he told Ms. Charcar. “But you’re right. I’ve got to do a better job of making it clear when I talk about Islam, I talk about a peaceful religion.”

from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/world/middleeast/18prexy.html

can anyone else remember another single instance of bush admitting someone else was right?

Posted by skye | May 18, 2008 1:04 PM
5

UW may have turned a whole lot of students away but WWU was more selective this year than UW.

Posted by jordan | May 18, 2008 1:32 PM
6

Ok here's the ferry story in a nutshell:

because we eliminated the car tab tax, they lost most of their funding for improvements and they had to raise fares, a lot. But they didn't change their predictions of ever increasing ridership and they just went on planning to move terminals and build newer, bigger, nicer terminals at a time of decreased ridership, lower revenues, etc.
Oh and they also forgot to check the hulls so they have suddenly pulled some boats out due to rusting hulls.

Once the car tab funding source was removed......they couldn't tell they should CHANGE THEIR PLANS AND PROJECTIONS?

How were they to know that removing their major source of funding would, you know....impact anything?

Posted by tim iman | May 18, 2008 1:37 PM
7

What is up with people launching themselves into icy cold, snowmelt-swollen rivers not wearing life jackets (which is not to mention their complete lack of even rudimentary boating skills), and THEN EXPECTING A FREE RESCUE!?

Posted by Mud Baby | May 18, 2008 2:06 PM
8

There's a problem with that argument, tim iman: ferry revenues are not lower. They're higher. Revenue in '06 was HALF AGAIN what it was in '01.

Lower ridership doesn't mean dick. They're taking in more money every year.

What's increased even faster than revenues, though, is costs. There is some reason to believe that they don't have a clue how to control costs. Building a shitload of new impossibly fancy terminals wasn't too bright, that's for sure; several of the fanciest are total boondoggles from top to bottom, and they are insanely out of whack with requirements. Bremerton is a case in point.

Notice that they spent $36 million from 2003-2006 on new terminals -- not BUILDING them, but in DESIGN AND PLANNING for six terminals.

Posted by Fnarf | May 18, 2008 2:10 PM
9

Immigrant Haters part 2 is a great read! Thanks. From the article, the nation's largest supplier of kosher beef, Agriprocessor, sounds like the most unethical business I've read about in a long time....business ethics, environmental standards, child labor laws... who gives a shit... i loves me a hot pastrami sandwich!

Posted by bella | May 18, 2008 3:00 PM

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