Suspicious ferry riders not so suspicious after all
Over at the P.I., they're already gloating about this:
As you'll recall, the P.I. - unlike the Times - refused to run the photo of the men, due to "civil liberties and privacy concerns, which editors felt outweighed the newsworthiness of the images." We're all for those same concerns here at Seattle Crime Blog. Problem is, this isn't a civil liberties issue.
These men were photographed in a public place. There were no names associated with their faces, nor even any information as to what country they hailed from. It's no secret that the Puget Sound's ferry system is a shockingly vulnerable terrorist target, and - rightly or wrongly - two Middle Eastern men taking photos in an obscure location of the boat is going to raise questions. Such is the world we live in.
And in their haste to earn praise as a good liberal paper, editors at the P.I. got ahead of themselves: if you'll recall, the FBI wasn't saying that they knew the men were terrorists. They never claimed that if found, the pair would be locked away at Guantanamo and waterboarded 'til the cows come home. They just wanted to talk with them...and if what happened when the pair came forth two weeks ago is any indication, it would have been determined that the men's actions were innocent enough to warrant them walking free.
Sure, the P.I. was right this time. But it would be foolish to underplay the threat of Islamic extremism in the name of political correctness. And, like a certain neighborhood blog we recently called out for not doing their job, the P.I. failed to serve the public's interest by not publishing the photos in question. More concerned about the feelings of two foreigners than the safety of the community, the paper's editors allowed their political biases to impede on good editorial judgment.
The FBI has called off a global manhunt for two men who looked Middle Eastern and were spotted snapping pictures and demonstrating "suspicious behavior" on a Washington ferry last summer.Turns out the duo was really just a pair of businessmen from the EU, who visited Seattle last July and wanted to take photos of the boat's interior (since their home country supposedly doesn't have car ferries). So much for an "inordinate interest."
[...]
Photos of the pair, taken by Washington State Ferries employees, were released to the news media in August in an effort to identify and locate them, after an investigation found that they "showed an inordinate interest in the operation of the shipboard systems," the FBI said at the time.
As you'll recall, the P.I. - unlike the Times - refused to run the photo of the men, due to "civil liberties and privacy concerns, which editors felt outweighed the newsworthiness of the images." We're all for those same concerns here at Seattle Crime Blog. Problem is, this isn't a civil liberties issue.
These men were photographed in a public place. There were no names associated with their faces, nor even any information as to what country they hailed from. It's no secret that the Puget Sound's ferry system is a shockingly vulnerable terrorist target, and - rightly or wrongly - two Middle Eastern men taking photos in an obscure location of the boat is going to raise questions. Such is the world we live in.
And in their haste to earn praise as a good liberal paper, editors at the P.I. got ahead of themselves: if you'll recall, the FBI wasn't saying that they knew the men were terrorists. They never claimed that if found, the pair would be locked away at Guantanamo and waterboarded 'til the cows come home. They just wanted to talk with them...and if what happened when the pair came forth two weeks ago is any indication, it would have been determined that the men's actions were innocent enough to warrant them walking free.
Sure, the P.I. was right this time. But it would be foolish to underplay the threat of Islamic extremism in the name of political correctness. And, like a certain neighborhood blog we recently called out for not doing their job, the P.I. failed to serve the public's interest by not publishing the photos in question. More concerned about the feelings of two foreigners than the safety of the community, the paper's editors allowed their political biases to impede on good editorial judgment.
"Sure, the P.I. was right this time. But it would be foolish to underplay the threat of Islamic extremism in the name of political correctness."
Don't go gay on me baby, you are too negative,
Farting in the bath is suspicious if you tape record it and post it to the Department of the Navy in an envelope marked 'Russian sonar'.
I was in a hotel, in Beirut with some suspicious fuckng dudes, did I call the cops, nah, there weren't any, there was a crazy Englishman though,
I am in the landing, and whoosh, stuff everywhere, these tanks are pumping shells into the hotel,
I'm dating this girl, I sort of hitched from Sardinia, it's a long story, and her family hae a tank, I was surprised at that, a Cuban vintage station wagon would have been impressive, it is a dangerous neighborhood.
So I think they owned the tank, it was a very clean T55, somebody loved that tank, her brothers are following me about, in a truck, the milage in a T55 probably isn't that great, we're holding hands and stuff, she's falange,
She'd great eyes, so it was a war zone, it was warmer than Hunts Point, and to be honest a bit safer.
My hotel is on the wrong side of fuckin towm, story of my life, it is Southie everywhere I csn get a room.
I am back in my hotel, my girl is up in Baalbek, and this English journalist walks very fast starts talking gibberish and then turns to me and says "the most shocking thing has happened".
I left a bit out, the entire Israeli army at this stage were shooting at my hotel.
The TV had yesterdays shelling on, that may have been why I was surprised at the intensity.
This Englishman, who is go for drama, I'm game for regrets, for buddies being zilched or even scattered completely, so I throw an arm around his neck and ask him if anybody is trapped,
he takes a deep breath, just points, it is emotional fucking stuff,
I go with him down the corridor, it is full of smoke, I have to give it to this guy, he's a limey but he was bracing himself, one thing about the Brits, blow off their skinny white legs, they'll reach for the tea flask, it is just like the movies.
I am outside his devastated suite, darn it, how many of them were brewed up in there, and he looks at me, his face was electric, he stared back, the way guys who have known war look at each other,
and he says holding back the emotion, "the bastards have hit the ice-making machine",
to this day, hate them though I do, there is something about the English that is difficult not to admire. A shell had went through the electric ice machine, via a partition wall, scooted along a balcony and then detonated.
That English man, walking about with a gin bottle, I was pround to know for a little while, because when you run out of ice, it is time to think about a wee gargle somewhere else.