[ExI] grim reaper suffers from underemployment

[Spike]

I have seen bizarre stuff in the news, but this pegs the needle.  A story
written from the point of view of hungry undertakers in Iraq:

"A drop in violence around Iraq has cut burials in the huge Wadi al Salam
cemetery here by at least one-third in the past six months, and that's cut
the pay of thousands of workers who make their living digging graves,
washing corpses or selling burial shrouds."

And this macabre gem:

"Certainly, when the number of dead increases I feel happy, like all workers
in the graveyard," said Basim Hameed, 30, a body washer. "This happiness
comes from the increase in the amount of money we have."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20071016/wl_mcclatchy/20071016bcusiraqceme
tery_attn_national_foreign_editors_ytop

As far as I can tell, this isn't satire.  I keep waiting for the punch line,
but there isn't any.

spike