Catostrophic Bridge Failure Means No One Talks About Anything Else

As the last few days have unfolded, I had been mandated by my Political Science teacher to gather information- same story- from several different sources. Easier said than done, because this was right after the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis. One source, a broadcast source on OPB, covered the story I needed straight away. The other, Fox news, didn't care about a massive blow to the Iraqi government. A bridge had collapsed, gosh dangit! And they were going to be the first one to announce the fifth casualty if they had to interview the same people all night, because I sat down to watch at about 11:00 PM.

Yes, it brings into account ridiculous amounts of government spending that could have been used to avert the disaster. Yes, people were injured and killed. I know people are worried that all of our bridges are going to fall down, and we should expect to see some legislation pass here in the next few months. I express my condolences, and I am glad it has drawn attention to all the stupid things built at the expense of safety.

But for crying out loud, there are other people in this world besides us, disasters and triumphs alike. As the United States, principle occupier of Iraq, we as citizens have a vested interest in it's future (cheap oil comes to mind, but it depends who you ask.) India is emerging as a world power, and they recently elected their first female prime minister. IN INDIA!!! That's AWESOME!

So I guess I'm just sort of irritated that the most live coverage my story got on CNN was a little blurb on the ticker. However, I was able to find my broadcast on CNN.com with little searching which means they did run it at some point. Fox.com had a little article on it, and was ignored on the ticker. OPB made it first on their list on their 1:00 AM broadcast the day after it happened. At least someone cares what's happining outside their own backyard.

Meanwhile, I hear the Northbound I-5 bridge over the Columbia has a safety rating of 20/100. Yeah...We should probably get that fixed...