The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper | Slog | Morning News: Whitney Houston, the Grammys, Amanda Knox, Obama's Budget Plan, and More!

Monday, February 13, 2012

News Morning News: Whitney Houston, the Grammys, Amanda Knox, Obama's Budget Plan, and More!

Posted by Megan Seling on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 8:19 AM

Obama Is Going to Present His Budget Plan Today: Watch out, rich people, you're gonna get it!

Hey, the Grammys Happened: Adele won six awards, Jennifer Hudson sang a tribute to Whitney Houston, and notorious asshole Chris Brown not only got to perform at the Grammys this year but he also won best R&B album. Good to see he's come such a long way since the Grammys three years ago when he beat up Rihanna. OH WAIT. HE'S STILL A VIOLENT, GAY-SLUR-HURLING TURD. But now he's a violent, gay-slur-hurling turd with a prize!

In Local Grammy News: Our bands—the Fleet Foxes, Death Cab for Cutie, and Eddie Vedder—didn't do so well.

Sad Gets Sadder: Reports say Whitney Houston died of the infamous prescription drug/alcohol cocktail and her daughter, who has been rushed to the hospital twice since her mom died, is feared to be suicidal.

The World's (Second) Tallest Building to Get the World's Most Terrifying Elevator: Mitsubishi is building elevators for the Shanghai Tower in China, which will "travel at a rate of 3,281 feet per minute, more than twice as fast as those at the World Trade Center." Also, they make it sound like they're designing a car:

Ultra-high-speed elevators require the latest technology in both mechanics and personal comfort. Mitsubishi released data on drive, controllability, super high-rise cable mechanics and safety along with such …. technicalities like "advanced plunger" and "exceptional shock absorption."

Would you ride in an elevator with an "advanced plunger?"

Moving on...

Here are Some Pretty Incredible Pictures of the Riots in Greece: After the Greek parliament approved of an unpopular austerity bill 150 Athens shops were looted and 48 buildings were set on fire.

Puppy Love: A local couple is getting married at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show after their Tibetan Mastiff named Major competes in the show. (Also: I would like a Tibetan Mastiff for Valentine's Day. LOOK AT THAT DOG'S AMAZING FACE!)

Welcome to 2012, Sea-Tac: A new bill will bring much needed updates to Sea-Tac Airport, including shorter landing routes, 12,000 new jobs, and technology that is no longer from the 1950s (no seriously, apparently Sea-Tac has been operating on technology from the 1950s).

Here's the Latest Nerd News: Samsung just launched a $350 Android tablet. Meanwhile, tech experts believer the iPad 3 will be released in early March. And speaking of Apple and Samsung, Apple is taking legal action against Samsung for its Galaxy Nexus smartphones.

No Surprise Here: Big name publishers are fighting for the rights to publish Amanda Knox's book, which, according to Amanda, will "be the true and unvarnished story of what happened in Perugia, Italy." The manuscript is expected to sell for millions of dollars.

Now, here are the Smothers Brothers:

"They'll get you."

Comments (24) RSS

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Two things: it won't be the worlds tallest, but the second tallest (see Burj Khalifa), and you don't have a link to that article

Posted by Cook on February 13, 2012 at 8:26 AM

as greece burns, the poor trumpeting their rage from the dark depths of hopeless destitution, we rich fly quietly, high above, on our wings of gold.

Posted by peskypoop on February 13, 2012 at 8:33 AM

I require nothing less than an advanced plunger whenever I ride an elevator. Also, hooray for the Smothers Brothers.

Posted by Joe M on February 13, 2012 at 8:37 AM

Uh. The Burj will still be taller

Posted by SecretBYUBottomBoy on February 13, 2012 at 8:37 AM

Fixed. Sorry. Second tallest. Still impressive!

Posted by Megan Seling on February 13, 2012 at 8:51 AM

HE'S STILL A VIOLENT, GAY SLUR-HURLING TURD. But now he's a violent, gay slur-hurling turd with a prize!

...and yet, apparently they still play him in the dance clubs - many of which are patronized by gay people. Go figure. I wonder if they buy his music, too.

Posted by Bauhaus I on February 13, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Way to go Apple. You won't let your users have any freedom, now you want to take choice away from everyone else. Burn in hell Steve Jobs!

Posted by Tom on February 13, 2012 at 9:11 AM

Re iPad 3: our Will in Seattle is still claiming on Twitter that he had an "alpha tester" of this device, and that it had a 3D display.

Posted by Fnarf

on February 13, 2012 at 9:36 AM

@8: Do you really have to call him "ours"?

Posted by Canadian Nurse on February 13, 2012 at 10:15 AM

@9, he's our vestigial tail, our supernumerary nipple, our monobrow.

Posted by gloomy gus on February 13, 2012 at 10:29 AM

@9 - Oh, I see, when he says something stupid, he's Fnarf's Will in Seattle, but when he says something smart... well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Posted by MacCrocodile on February 13, 2012 at 10:34 AM

yay for amanda.

Posted by Max Solomon on February 13, 2012 at 10:36 AM

@11, that took me 25 seconds to get, but oh, how worth the wait.

Posted by gloomy gus on February 13, 2012 at 10:40 AM

Next up for Greece - all those Millionaire's Yachts in the harbor.

It's not like their owners are paying taxes.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 13, 2012 at 10:44 AM

I can't wait to read Amanda's book. I want to know if she was buying cleaning supplies right before the police found Meredith.

Posted by Vince on February 13, 2012 at 10:47 AM

@8 the power consumption was too high, the license fees for the tech were too high, and it had some problems. The form factor is about the same, though.

Smaller is better. Trust me, waiting for working 3D that doesn't cause eyestrain and doesn't drain your battery in 2-3 hours is worth it.

Thank god they took the feedback seriously.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 13, 2012 at 10:47 AM

I rest my case.

Posted by Fnarf

on February 13, 2012 at 11:42 AM

My advanced plunger is with me wherever I go.

Posted by Jerry M. Ander on February 13, 2012 at 11:42 AM

re: sea-tac... calling RADAR 50's technology is a bit of hyperbole, but its still very 20th century (like calling TV 30's technology). The best part of the new system from my perspective is less engine noise under the flight paths!

Posted by JonnoN on February 13, 2012 at 11:54 AM

@17 - I really want some of the drugs he's taking. Wait, no I don't. I can kill braincells just fine with alcohol.

Posted by Geni on February 13, 2012 at 1:07 PM

I notice that you white-guilt libtard "progressives" have once again failed to report on the shootings in SoDo. It just isn't your "demographic", I guess.

Posted by I hate you on February 13, 2012 at 1:50 PM

@21 That was posted yesterday on Line Out.

http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/a…

Posted by Megan Seling on February 13, 2012 at 2:21 PM

Reading the elevator description makes me feel like I'm suddenly in The Intuitionist.

Posted by Kitts on February 13, 2012 at 3:44 PM

Top Gear should do an elevator challenge.

Posted by Simone on February 13, 2012 at 5:12 PM