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The Drug Enforcement Administration has apologized to a San Diego college student who said he drank his own urine to survive after being left in a holding cell for five days without food, water or access to a toilet. The man, identified by news outlets as 23-year-old UC San Diego engineering student Daniel Chong, was “accidentally” left in the holding cell after he and eight other people were detained for questioning following an April 21 raid in which agents found guns, ammunition and an array of drugs, including 18,000 ecstasy pills, the DEA said. “I am deeply troubled by the...

On Sunday, Dan Savage took to his blog to apologize for some controversial comments he made at an anti-bullying event. Savage said he shouldn’t have used the term “pansy-ass” and noted that he was not attacking Christianity, but rather, he was attacking hypocrisy. (Snip) People often point out that they can’t help it, they can’t help with the anti-gay bullying, because it says right there in Leviticus, it says right there in Timothy, it says right there in Romans that being gay is wrong. We can learn to ignore the bull**** in the Bible about gay people.

Barack Obama is a nice guy who has degrees from prestigious institutions. He speaks well and writes well, but he is nonetheless an idiot because he sees things only through the lens of himself. Where others hold a window into the world, he holds a mirror. His supporters say he plays three-dimensional chess. He cannot even play checkers. Consider his apology to Afghanistan for the accidental burning of a few Korans. Instead of calming thing down, his apology was used by the enemy to rationalize a new wave of violence in Kabul. President Obama thinks that is all A-OK. From...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Wal-Mart (WMT.N), the world's largest retailer, has apologized for selling duck meat past its expiry date in a store in southwest China's Chongqing region, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday. A store in the Jiulongpo district was caught by a local market regulator selling smoked tea ducks using the meat. The market regulator was tipped off by a consumer late in February, Xinhua said. Wal-Mart would pay the victims 10 times the price of the ducks as a penalty, the firm told the municipal consumers' association in a statement.

Tucson, Arizona -- Arizona shooting victim James Eric Fuller sent his apologies Monday for telling a Tea Party leader, "you are dead." Dorothy DeRuyter, a companion of Fuller's, provided CNN with a statement. "I would like to tender my sincerest apologies to Mr. (Trent) Humphries for my misplaced outrage on Saturday at the St. Odelia's town meeting," Fuller said in the statement. "It was not in the spirit of our allegiance and warm feelings to each other as citizens of our great country." Fuller, 63, was involuntarily committed to a county mental health facility

INDIANAPOLIS – Cartoonist Jim Davis apologized Thursday for a Garfield strip that some veterans may have found offensive. The strip ran on Veterans Day in newspapers across the country. It shows a spider daring the pudgy orange cat to squash it. The spider tells Garfield that if he is killed, "they will hold an annual day of remembrance in my honor." The final panel shows a spider-teacher asking its students if they know why spiders celebrate "National Stupid Day."

A Massachusetts school district has apologized to parents after a group of schoolchildren participated in midday Muslim prayers during a field trip to a Boston-area mosque. The incident occurred in May when a social studies class from Wellesley Middle School toured the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, one of the largest mosques in the Northeast. Parents were told their children would be learning about the architecture of a mosque and they would be allowed to observe a prayer service.

<p>WELLESLEY — Wellesley’s school superintendent apologized today for allowing middle school students to participate in a prayer service during a field trip to a Roxbury mosque last spring. The apology to parents came after a group critical of the Islamic Society of Boston Community Center — New England’s largest mosque and Muslim cultural center — released a 10-minute long video featuring footage of Wellesley students bowing their heads during a prayer service.</p>

Jerry Brown answers a reporter's question.Jerry Brown is running for the 2010 California governorship, but he's spent much of the last week reliving the politics of the 1990s. And Brown's unfortunate lurch into the past culminated Monday with an apology to former President Bill Clinton for taking shots at Clinton's conduct during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. "Bill Clinton was an excellent president," Brown, the state attorney general, said Monday at a news conference. "It was wrong for me to joke about an incident from many years ago, and I'm sorry." Brown's 1990s mystery tour began early last week when his...

CONCORD – A Democratic candidate for the New Hampshire House has apologized for posting a death wish for Sarah Palin on Facebook. Keith Halloran of Rindge made the comment in response to a Republican lawmaker’s post Tuesday about the plane crash that killed former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. When the lawmaker expressed disappointment that some news accounts of Stevens’ death focused on negative aspects of his career, Halloran responded: "Just wish Sarah and Levy were on board,"

WASHINGTON – An embarrassed White House apologized on Wednesday to a black Agriculture Department employee who was ousted for her remarks about race, acknowledging that officials did not know all the facts when she was fired. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called the dismissal of Shirley Sherrod an injustice and a mistake. He said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was trying to reach her to extend the administration's apology.

WASHINGTON — A day after top BP officials met with President Barack Obama at the White House and agreed to set up a $20 billion compensation fund, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas called the money a "shakedown" of the company and apologized for the president's action. Barton, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce committee, told BP CEO Tony Hayward Thursday morning that he was sorry about what the president had done. The money is a "slush fund," Barton said, and "unprecedented in our nation's history." "I do not want to live in a country where anything a citizen...

On Friday, Pamela Geller received word her PayPal account for her website Atlas Shrugs had been restricted. The reason? She was told she had violated PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy and was promoting hate. “… [A]fter a recent review of your account, it has been determined that you are currently in violation of PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy. Under the Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal may not be used to send or receive payments for items that promote hate, violence, racial intolerance or the financial exploitation of a crime,” the email read in part. “After five years of having PayPal on my site...

HARTFORD, Conn. – Criticized for saying he "regrets" misstatements he made about his military service during the Vietnam War, Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal is now apologizing. On Monday and late the night before, the Democrat told various media outlets that he made mistakes and is sorry for them. "I think he wants to put this behind him. He wants to start getting back to talking about the issues that matter most to the people of Connecticut and start talking about who is going to best represent the people of Connecticut in Washington," said Maura Downes, a campaign spokeswoman. The...

Tensions are rising at a California high school where five students were sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. A California high school principal has apologized for telling five students they couldn't wear U.S. flag shirts on Cinco de Mayo, the local superintendent said Friday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California first lady Maria Shriver says she's sorry for breaking a state law that requires drivers to use hands-free devices while talking on cell phones. The celebrity Web site TMZ.com posted two photographs and a video Tuesday showing Shriver holding a phone to her ear while she was behind the wheel. That prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to write about it on Twitter, where he said "there's going to be swift action." On Wednesday, Shriver said she will donate her favorite old cell phone to a program that helps domestic violence. She added: "That's my version of swift...

Ambassador Speaks to Last 73 American Survivors of the MarchThe Japanese ambassador to the United States apologized in person today to the 73 surviving POWs of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines in April 1942 during World War II. "We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people including prisoners of war, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan peninsula the Corregidor Island, Philippines and other places," Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki said at the last convention of the American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor POWs of the Japanese during World...

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano met with the American Legion on Friday to apologize for a right-wing extremism report written by her agency, and the veterans group walked away from the meeting mollified. Napolitano blamed one of her agency's analysts for prematurely sending out the intelligence assessment to law enforcement, according to Craig Roberts, an American Legion member who attended the meeting. The report says veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan could be susceptible to right-wing recruiters or commit lone acts of violence.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fighting to salvage his Cabinet nomination, Tom Daschle pleaded his case Monday evening in a closed meeting with former Senate colleagues after publicly apologizing for failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes. President Barack Obama said he was "absolutely" sticking with his nominee for health secretary, and a key senator added an important endorsement. The White House both underscored the magnitude of the problem and tried to downplay it in the space of seven words. "Nobody's perfect," said press secretary Robert Gibbs. "It was a serious mistake. ..."

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary-designate Tim Geithner said Wednesday he was careless in failing to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes earlier this decade and apologized to Congress. ... As to his failure to pay the payroll taxes from 2001 to 2004 while he worked for the International Monetary Fund, Geithner said: "These were careless mistakes. They were avoidable mistakes."

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2009 – The Army’s adjutant general apologized yesterday on behalf of the Army for a printing error that resulted in the delivery of 7,000 letters without a by-name salutation to family members who lost a soldier in operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Brig. Gen. Reuben Jones expressed his disappointment in the error and his team’s concern for the recipients during a special blogger’s roundtable hosted by the New Media Directorate of Defense Media Activity. The letters, which included the placeholder greeting of “Dear John Doe,” were printed and sent by a contractor in late December to inform...

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel apologized to an Arab-American group on Thursday for comments disparaging Arabs made by his father. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to Emanuel calling on him to distance himself from remarks made by the elder Emanuel in an interview with an Israeli newspaper following his son's appointment last week. In the interview, Benjamin Emanuel was reported as saying: "Obviously, he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House." Advertisement While some political...

CHICAGO (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff apologized to the Arab-American community on Thursday for remarks his father made to an Israeli newspaper. Last week, Benjamin Emanuel talked about his son Rahm Emanuel's new job and told the Israeli daily Ma'ariv that "obviously he'll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The leader of Canada's Green Party, unveiling an election platform that includes a proposal to legalize marijuana, apologized on Wednesday for not having smoked pot. "I am not a fan of marijuana use. I have to confess this -- I know all politicians are asked. I've never used marijuana. I apologize,"

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The woman who is the head of the Democratic Party in South Carolina has apologized for saying the only qualification vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has is she didn't have an abortion. The comment from Carol Fowler, whose husband previously ran the national party, caused controversy yesterday.

FRESNO, California (Reuters) - A top adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain apologized on Monday after he was quoted as saying a September 11-type attack before the November election would benefit McCain. The campaign of Democrat Barack Obama condemned the remark by McCain political adviser Charlie Black, calling it a "complete disgrace." "I deeply regret the comments, they were inappropriate," Black said in a statement after McCain said that if Black had made such a comment, "I strenuously disagree" with it. "I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its...

A Benton County judge has apologized for telling a woman with cancer to take a knitted cap off her bald head or leave his courtroom. "Words can't express how sorry I am," Judge Holly Hollenbeck told the Herald on Monday, a few hours after he spoke with Bev Williams by phone and offered an unconditional apology. Williams, 43, said the District Court judge told her the no-hat rule would no longer apply in his courtroom, but that his apology had nothing to do with the criticism he had drawn for his comments to her on Friday. Williams, who lost her...

A video of the apology at the link.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A burglar visited Graeme Glass' home in New Zealand twice in one day — first to steal some goods and later to return them, along with a heartfelt apology note. The thief struck while Glass was at work in the southern resort of Queenstown on Tuesday. The burglar smashed a window to gain entry and made off with a laptop computer, a camera, and Glass' wallet with an American Express credit card.

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2007 – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani apologized for the deaths of American troops in his country and vowed that his government would make sufficient progress by September to convince America that U.S. troops should stay in the region. In an interview aired today on ABC’s "This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Talabani said his government is committed to meeting U.S.-emplaced benchmarks for his country. “We are committed to doing something tangible within the next weeks and months,” he said. “I think (U.S. congressmen) are right to worry, but withdrawing forces without achieving success would be … against the...

The tuberculosis patient who sparked an uproar over his decision to fly against medical advice said he's "very sorry" for the pain he has caused. But Andrew Speaker said he didn't think he was contagious and no one ever said he would be putting people at risk.

DES MOINES, Iowa - The VonSpreckens are back on the Giuliani bandwagon. The VonSpreckens, self-described poor farmers from the tiny eastern Iowa community of Olin, became big critics of presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani after his campaign snubbed them because they weren't millionaires. But after learning of the matter in media reports, the former New York City mayor made a hasty visit to Olin to apologize in person. "He is sincere," Deborah VonSprecken said Tuesday. "I looked in his eyes. He is truthful. He is a down to earth, grassroots gentleman." Giuliani aides confirmed the meeting with VonSprecken and her husband,...

State Board of Chiropractic Examiners Chairman Richard Tyler issued a mea culpa Friday for the panel's questionable actions, even as the board refired its executive director and authorized a search for a permanent replacement. Acknowledging "gross errors in judgment," Tyler, appointed to the board by his longtime friend, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, began the meeting with a contrite statement reflecting on the board's actions in a meeting earlier this month. In that March 1 meeting, the board fired its executive director without due notice, ejected a deputy attorney general, endorsed a controversial procedure involving anesthesia and accredited a college despite the...

NEW YORK - A reporter for the new Politico Web site apologized for reporting that John Edwards was suspending his campaign for president more than an hour before Edwards said Thursday he was staying in the race. The incorrect report rocketed through the media before Edwards held his news conference announcing the recurrence of his wife's cancer. Some outlets used Politico's information; others steered clear. Ben Smith, a former New York Daily News reporter, posted the report on his Politico Web log at 11:06 a.m. EDT. Quoting but not identifying "an Edwards friend" as his source, Smith reported that Edwards...

...What really mattered was whether an Iraq freed from his death grip could hold him accountable in a way that nurtured hope for a better future. A carefully conducted, scrupulously fair trial could have helped undo some of the damage inflicted by his rule. It could have set a precedent for the rule of law in a country scarred by decades of arbitrary vindictiveness. It could have fostered a new national unity in an Iraq long manipulated through its religious and ethnic divisions. It could have, but it didn’t. After a flawed, politicized and divisive trial, Mr. Hussein was handed...

Danish toymaker Lego Group today issued a pre-emptive apology to Muslims around the world for the appearance a second time since spring - via e-mail and on numerous Web sites - of an authentic-looking Lego box showing the prophet Mohammed in a sexually compromising position, company officials said. "The picture of the box is computer manipulated and in the picture Lego elements are used to depict the Prophet Mohammed in a situation of a sexual nature - with a severely offensive text," Charlotte Simonsen, Lego's head of corporate communications, said in a company statement. Lego operates its headquarters for North...

Trying to get Governor Kathleen Blanco's attention during a rally is not that uncommon, but when a New Orleans reverend referred to the governor using the ‘B-word' -- he not only got attention, he says he also got a few threats. Monday, Reverend Raymond Brown formally apologized to the governor, and WAFB's Jim Shannon was there. Even though Reverend Brown apologized, the governor says his comments were downright painful. They came during a rally where he and others were trying to draw attention to an incident in New Iberia last month where police used tear gas to disperse a crowd....

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger apologized Friday for saying during a closed-door meeting that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally feisty and temperamental because of their combination of "black blood" and "Latino blood." He said the tape-recorded comments "made me cringe" when he read them in Friday's Los Angeles Times. "Anyone out there that feels offended by those comments, I just want to say I'm sorry, I apologize," Schwarzenegger said. He added that if he heard his children make similar comments, "I would be upset." The statements were captured on a six-minute tape made during a March 3 speechwriting session between Schwarzenegger...

SANTA ROSA A Roman Catholic church official apologized Saturday for waiting several days to notify authorities about sexual abuse allegations against a priest, a delay that may have allowed the priest to flee to Mexico. Bishop Daniel Walsh of the Santa Rosa diocese said in a one-page statement to parishioners he put "caution" before "doing the right thing" in handling the allegations against priest Xavier Ochoa. Church officials say Ochoa admitted April 28 to sexually abusing a 12-year-old altar boy, but the allegations were not reported to Child Protective Services until May 1, and Ochoa disappeared the next day. "I...

BOSTON - Gov. Mitt Romney has apologized for referring to the troubled Big Dig construction project as a "tar baby" during a fundraiser with Iowa Republicans, saying he didn't know anyone would be offended by the term some consider a racial epithet. In a speech Saturday, Romney, a Republican considering a run for president in 2008, acknowledged he took a big political risk in taking control of the project after a fatal tunnel ceiling collapse, but said inaction would have been even worse. "The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that tar baby as I...

Judge Apologizes for Muslim Holiday Order Thursday November 3, 2005 7:01 PM LONDON (AP) - A British judge apologized Thursday to a suspected Islamic militant ordered to appear in court for an extradition hearing on one of the Muslim calendar's holiest days. Haroon Rashid Aswat, 31, is accused of trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, and the U.S. government is seeking his extradition. He appeared in London's Bow Street Magistrate's Court on Thursday for the first day of the hearing. ``It is the most important day of my religion today - Eid,'' Aswat told Judge Timothy...

DENVER (AP) - A Washington-based interfaith religious group is apologizing for comments made by some of its members that compared a conservative Christian group to the Gestapo and the Taliban. The letter of apology released Thursday by the president of The Interfaith Alliance said the comments made in May about the group Focus on the Family were inappropriate for public dialogue. "We regret that personal opinions expressed by individuals have been viewed as, associated with or confused with the organizational voice of The Interfaith Alliance," the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy wrote. Clergymen representing the alliance denounced Focus on the Family...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Muslims in Afghanistan gave Washington three days to offer a response to a Newsweek story that claimed the Islamic holy book was desecrated at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, but the magazine apologized Sunday for the report, which prompted deadly riots across Afghanistan last week. Reaction across the Islamic world has been strong, with daily demonstrations since the May 9 story came out. At least 15 people died in Afghanistan after protests broke out Tuesday following the report that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, placed Qurans in washrooms to unsettle suspects, and in one case...

Fox Charlotte (WCCB, Channel 18) apologized Wednesday for airing a spoof on the Muslim tradition of visiting Mecca. Promoting a news story about elitism and snobbery at upscale SouthPark mall, the station used images of pilgrims coming to Mecca, one of the world's holiest religious sites. "The hajj, a pilgrimage Muslims take to the holy city of Mecca," the promo said. "Members of Charlotte's elite make a similar pilgrimage to the corporate altar of brand-name merchandise -- SouthPark mall, where believers gather to be among their kind," said a voice-over on the spot, which then showed the mall and the...

"Lockhart, the second Kerry ally to confirm contact with Burkett, said he made the call at the suggestion of CBS producer Mary Mapes. . . Yesterday's action comes 12 days after CBS reported that Mapes had obtained memos from the files of Lt. Col. Jerry Killian..."

NEW YORK - CBS News apologized Monday for a "mistake in judgment" in its story questioning President Bush (news - web sites)'s National Guard service, claiming it was misled by the source of documents that several experts have dismissed as fakes. The network said it would appoint an independent panel to look at its reporting about the memos. The story has mushroomed into a major media scandal, threatening the reputations of CBS News and chief anchor Dan Rather. It also became an issue in the presidential campaign. The White House said the affair raises questions about the connections between...

Florida GOP apologizes for warning Tallahassee, FL, Jul. 30 (UPI) -- The Florida GOP has apologized for sending out a flier contradicting the views of Republican Gov. Jeb Bush on the upcoming elections. The fliers were sent to Republican voters in southern and western Miami-Dade County advising them to use absentee ballots rather than trust the new touch-screen voting machines, The Miami Herald reported Friday. Bush and Secretary of State Glenda Hood have been reassuring voters for months that the new voting machines now used in the state's 15 larger counties are reliable.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - State Education Secretary Richard Riordan has apologized for joking that a child's name meant "stupid dirty girl." In a videotaped exchange at the city's central library on Thursday, a girl asked Riordan if he knew that her name meant "Egyptian goddess." Riordan, who apparently believed he'd been asked what her name meant, replied, "It means stupid dirty girl." Some in the room laughed nervously, and the girl again told Riordan the meaning of her name. "Hey, that's nifty," he said.

BBC apologises for 'misleading' Paxman editing By Matt Born (Filed: 05/02/2004) The reputation of BBC news suffered another blow yesterday after the corporation said a Jeremy Paxman interview with a police chief had been "edited misleadingly", casting the guest in a bad light. The BBC apologised to David Westwood, Chief Constable of Humberside, after he complained that the interview had been edited to make it look as though he stormed out under difficult questioning. David Westwood: lasting damage Mr Westwood welcomed the apology but said he had been the victim of a "serious injustice". "The damage done by Newsnight's manipulation...

BOISE - America Online really knows how to eat crow. After the interactive services company launched an ad campaign for its new AOL 9.0 full service Internet upgrade in New York City last month that poked fun at Boise as a hick town, AOL is making amends in a big way. AOL representatives came to Boise Tuesday, donating $25,000 to the Boise School District, announcing a free Counting Crows concert at the Big Easy Wednesday night, and passing out free T-shirts and CD-Roms. "This is wonderful," said Dr. Stan Olson, superintendent of the Boise School District, as he received a...