Weekly Daily Brickbats Archive 2003 November 8-31

Britain's Department of Health has decided to postpone the introduction of a new treatment for macular degeneration, which causes blindness in the elderly. Advocates for the blind say the delay is a cynical attempt to ration the new treatment, noting that private patients can already get the treatment. The Royal National Institute for the Blind says the delay will doom 2,800 people to blindness.

Florida State trooper Kenneth Boatright didn't find it easy to tell Tom and Diane Cardinas that their two-year-old granddaughter had been killed in an auto accident. It turns out girl was not dead and escaped serious injuries. The hospital told a Florida Highway Patrol dispatcher that the little girl was stable, but the dispatcher heard "fatal" and passed it along to the Boatright. It took several hours for the Cardinas to find out their grandchild was fine.

The Mexican government, which owns the name brand Tequila, is threatening to cut off all bulk exports of the drink. The government claims it needs to tighten quality controls to preserve the brand's image. Under proposed new laws, all Tequila would have to be bottled in Mexico. Not surprisingly, American bottlers see this as an attempt to take their business away and give it to Mexican firms.

Rap-rock band Linkin Park will play Malaysia, but there may be a few changes in the show. The Ministry of Culture and Arts approved a concert by the group, but it insists on just a few restrictions. "Male artists must cover their bodies from the chest to knee level," the ministry said. "The artist must not display rough, raunchy actions that conflict with pure values, such as leaping around, screaming or throwing something from the stage to the audience." The government also warned the group against sexually provocative speech or gestures and clothing that can be considered "obscene, linked to drugs, or related to negative elements." Should be a rockin' show.

Luis Eduardo Diaz believes that people in Bogot�, Colombia, should be sterilized to reduce birth rates. During a debate in the country's parliament, Diaz decided to drive home his point by whipping out a dildo and leaving it on the desk of the health minister. Diaz's fellow lawmakers suspended him for five parliamentary sessions for the gesture.