Mountain climbers, road deaths, party pills

I don't always agree with Rosemary Mcleod, but she's right on the money with this one. This is a story that's still making waves in NZ. Mark Inglis wanted to be a symbol, and he has become one. It's just not the symbol he wanted to be. An article by Rosemary Mcleod in the Sunday paper that's worth a read.

No doubt Mr Inglis got his surgery in Christchurch at the expense of someone on a waiting list who now has to wait a bit longer. No doubt he got his surgery at the expense of the tax payer, when the specialist care could've gone to that waiting list person, if Mr Inglis hadn't needed his frost bite attended to, and his obvious exhaustion cared for.

And look at this.......Road deaths in NZ
As at 12 June 2006 167
Same time last year 213
Last 12 months 359

In the 2005 calander year 405 people died on NZ roads.
What's going on? Is it the price of petrol? Are you driving less? Are you driving more carefully?

Got yourself a legal/natural high? (Stroking beautiful fabric doesn't count here, nor does blogging)
Did you know "party pills" are made from cow worming products. ewwww!
Reported by TVNZ today. "New research has found that as many as one in five people aged between 13 and 45-years-old have tried party pills.The survey of just over 2,000 people was commissioned by the Ministry of Health and carried out by Massey University.Respondents were asked about their use of legal party pills containing BZP.One in five said they had tried the pills at some time, and one in seven had used them in the past year.Use was greatest among 18 to 24-year-olds, with up to 38 percent saying they had used them in the last 12 months."
Well golly, you can buy the things on almost every corner of the central business district of all the NZ cities I've been to in the last year or so. So why are all the headlines expressing surprise? The research is interesting, you can find it here.

Such are the things occupying my little brain while I don't feel like sewing, and there are no essays due.