Assorted News Stories

First off: I was shocked to hear that Heath Ledger had died of a suspected drug overdose earlier. What a waste of a young life, he was only 28. Part of me doubts that it was unintentional. People who wish to kill themselves know they need to take more than 1 or 2 over the recommended. Also many only use low doses as a cry for help, which this is unlikely to be. It's rare that taking 3 instead of 2 would cause such a reaction, since death was a cardiac arrest and not anaphylaxic shock. I guess the world will know soon enough why he thought this would be the only way out.

Second: A lighter story since the wording has been changed. There's a new strain of MRSA. The original wording said it was attacking gay men faster than the general population. Unless it was attacking the *coughs*gay* gene (and please don't get me started on that one!) why would any bug target such an odd section of the population? Yes certain ethnic groups are at greater risk of diseases (e.g. MI) but only gay men? The crystal ball is showing an AIDS scare again! Do you want to know why I think it spread more among the group studied? Because only 1 neighbourhood within San Francisco is affected. It's like a ward or class, of course it's going to spread faster in a closed community. Ugh... it's the MMR jag / Autism study all over again. "These 12 children have autism. They also had the MMR jag. Ergo the MMR jag causes autism."
Stupidity knows no bounds, even in the healthcare system.