] cientists who study AIDS and other sexually transmitted
] diseases say they have been warned by federal health
] officials that their research may come under unusual
] scrutiny by the Department of Health and Human Services
] or by members of Congress, because the topics are
] politically controversial.

Yuck!

Certain Words Can Trip Up AIDS Grants, Scientists Say

] Scientists have completed the finished sequence of the
] human genome, or genetic blueprint of life, which holds
] the keys to transforming medicine and understanding
] disease. Less than three years after finishing the
] working draft of the three billion letters that make up
] human DNA and two years earlier than expected, an
] international consortium of scientists said on Monday the
] set of instructions on how humans develop and function is
] done

GATTACA anyone?

Human genome sequence completed

] U.S. health officials are reporting what appears to be
] the first domestic case of the respiratory disease known
] as SARS being spread at the workplace.
]
] The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is
] paying close attention to a 47-year-old woman from
] Gainesville, Florida, who is believed to have contracted
] Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. She works
] with a 60-year-old woman who recently visited Asia, and
] was hospitalized last week with a suspicious respiratory
] infection.
]
] The CDC says, if both cases are confirmed as SARS, it
] would constitute the first instance in the United States
] in which the disease appears to have been spread in the
] workplace.

Poor hand washing hygeine is listed by the CDC as the number one cause of the spread of infection.

VOANews.com

] Three men charged with terrorism for hijacking a
] passenger ferry April 2 were executed Friday after
] summary trials, the government reported.

Sighs. I am rarely for capital punishment, and this definitely is not one of them.

Cuba swiftly executes three hijackers

] A new disturbing trend seems to appear in American
] politics : talks of public health care. Like any other
] social problem, the most popular solution seems to remove
] rights from the individuals, and put them in the hands of
] the "enlightened politicians". Most people living in a
] country where health is socialised has quite another
] opinion on the subject.
]
] There are a lot of opinions, but what are the facts ? Are
] public health care systems an exception to Friedman's Law
] (the economical principle which states that private
] systems are twice as efficient as public systems) ? Or is
] this yet more statist rhetoric ?

Interesting reading, but alas, the reports upon which this article is based are among the worst in reliability about describing the health system in Canada.

How to ruin the American health care system

] An expert on the health effects of cannabis says that
] there is growing evidence that the drug is responsible
] for mental health problems.
]
] Professor John Henry, a consultant in toxicology from St
] Mary's Hospital in London, told the BBC that studies from
] Sweden and elsewhere pointed to an increase in
] schizophrenia among regular cannabis smokers.

Cannabis 'damages mental health'

quoted:
===

By Andrew Sullivan

Jan. 24, 2003 | It was an all-red, over-the-banner Drudge headline, guaranteed to grab attention. "MAG: 25% OF NEW HIV-INFECTED GAY MEN SOUGHT OUT VIRUS, SAYS SAN FRAN HEALTH OFFICIAL." Drudge was referring to a four-page story by one Gregory A. Freeman, in Rolling Stone magazine, owned by gay media mogul Jann Wenner. It was quickly picked up by conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity, who never misses an opportunity to denigrate gay men. For many who witnessed the media onslaught, it will soon be accepted as fact.

That's a shame, because not long after hitting the newsstands, the story has completely fallen apart.

The story centers on a bizarre sub-subcultural phenomenon known as "bug chasing." A few HIV- negative gay men, for all sorts of deep and dark psychological reasons, appear actually to be seeking out HIV infection. Some HIV-positive men, it is also alleged, are just as willing to infect these troubled souls with HIV. This disturbing phenomenon is not new. There were occasional stories about it in the late 1990s, stories that fueled an urban legend but that never made it to the mainstream. Why? Because of simple lack of hard evidence that anyone but a very few disturbed people were involved.

Salon.com | Sex- and death-crazed gays play viral Russian Roulette!

as a fan of the Mcrib Sandwich, I am shocked and amazed by the following:

quoted:
===

Natick, Mass. -- Despite military chow's lousy reputation, many products that Northern California grocery shoppers buy every day have come from innovations created for the battlefield.

M&Ms were invented so World War II fighters could enjoy chocolate that didn't melt in the heat of the Pacific. Similarly, tins of processed Velveeta cheese and Spam became prominent parts of the American diet after thousands of World War II soldiers survived on the processed food.

Freeze-dried coffee and soup mixes, chopped and formed meat and lightweight backpacker entrees all have come from military needs. So did something called "retort packaging," a heat and water process much like canning that keeps plastic pouches of food shelf-stable for years. Even McDonald's boneless McRib sandwich came from technology developed by the Department of Defense's Combat Feeding Directorate.

Right at home in the market / How M&Ms, Spam and Velveeta made it to the table

] President Bush on Friday gave health
] officials authority to quarantine Americans sick with the
] highly contagious new mystery illness.
]
] Health officials have no immediate plans to use the new
] powers in fighting severe acute respiratory syndrome, or
] SARS.
]
] In an executive order signed Friday, Bush added SARS to
] the list of diseases for which health authorities have
] authority to involuntarily quarantine Americans.
]
] It's the first time a new disease has been added to the
] list in two decades.

President OKs Quarantine Authority for SARS

] Women who suffer the misery of migraines at the time of
] their period could be helped by a new treatment,
] according to a study.
]
] The disabling headaches can be prevented by taking a new
] drug before menstruation, a US trial suggests.

The drug is already available for prescription here in the US.

Monthly migraines 'preventable'