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Now they’re saying that the suicide “Osama supporter” kid may have developed mental problems from his acne medication. Obviously we’re not quite done grasping at straws.

The Food and Drug Administration says 147 people taking Accutane, which affects the body’s central nervous system, either committed suicide or were hospitalized for suicide attempts from 1982 to May 2000.

That statistic covers eighteen years. I’m sure during any eighteen year span you could come up with 150 people who committed suicide while taking Pepto Bismol. Or drinking Mountain Dew. Or being on their period. This doesn’t seem like a very meaningful line of research to me. (And God, how embarrassing. Not only did he suffer the indignity of being called a terrorist, but now everyone in the world knows the poor kid had to take special medicine for his pimples.)

I didn’t know Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy’s) died! Wow. Even the Snook knew who he was. I remember reading somewhere once that he only started doing his commercials to help the company rebound after a “tainted meat” scare back in the 80’s. The article doesn’t mention that. It does say, however:

In 1956, he was working at a barbecue restaurant in Fort Wayne, Ind., when Col. Harland Sanders of KFC fame stopped in on a promotional tour…

Who knew that such a historic fast food moment took place right near where I grew up?

This is amazing. Check out some of the most momentous Usenet posts ever.

I never really noticed before that Bill’s comment phrase is “Sing out, Louise”. When I looked at it today though, I suddenly realized where it comes from: Gypsy! The Bette Midler version was just on TV here the other day. The only thing more amazing than Midler’s constant hamming was how much Cynthia Gibb looked like Natalie Wood. And I knew I’d seen Herbie before… He was in Animal House!

The new iMacs made the cover of Time Magazine? Wow. I’m not sure what I think of them though. They look like they’re from the future. But did you check out the specs on ’em? Pretty sweet! I also like the new 14-inch iBooks. (I knew I shoulda waited before buying mine!) The Snook is even considering making a move to the world of Mac. You will all be assimilated, I tell you.

New Poll: Hey, you, gimme a thumbs up or thumbs down on the new design so I know whether or not to change it. Thanks.

Interesting discovery: After midnight in Australia, they show the American NBC Today Show live on telly. Neat. Happy birthday, Katie Couric!

(Why am I up so late? Because of my new hobby: counted cross stitch! Seriously. I needed something to occupy me – since I can’t get a job yet – and I used to enjoy doing them as a kid. I’ve got two, a sorceror and a sorceress. Pretty cool. I’ve just started the sorceress and I’m obsessed with it. I’ll probably be done with both in two days and then bored again.)

Andrew O’Hehir provided me with my favorite top ten movies of 2001 list. The funniest part:

3. “Mulholland Drive” Yeah, I mean, I guess so. This one I definitely need to see again. Part of me suspects it’s just lesbian porn plus pretentious pseudo-symbolist claptrap (not that there’s anything wrong with that, exactly).

His comments about Mariah Carey and “The Fast and the Furious” are pretty good too. For me, that balances out his inclusion of “Ghost World”, which I thought sucked.

Hallelujah! It’s raining in Sydney. It’s been over two weeks without rain. Hopefully this will help with the bush fires.

Oh please. A suicidal fifteen-year-old had “sympathy” for Bin Laden? First off, who cares? It’s not like he was working for him, so why report it? All you’re going to do is increase the pressure already on loner high school kids. And since when did sympathy become a bad thing? I can have sympathy for someone without agreeing with them. Part of me also wonders exactly what you have to do or say to be considered “sympathetic to the enemy”. What if I don’t spit whenever I say his name? If I don’t fly an American flag on my car, does that make me un-sympathetic to the cause? If a depressed and suicidal teenager mentions a terrorist, does that automatically make him one as well? Just thinking here.