Ship of Fools

The latest stories on yet another boat-load of sick cruise-ship passengers begin to ask if any special "outbreak" of the Norwalk or a related virus is underway. About time.

Put a couple thousand land-lubbin' people in close quarters on a big, rolling ship, and ply them with rich, unfamiliar food, and in the winter when various bugs flourish, and maybe ten percent or so -- the headlines "hundreds" -- get sick. Is this really out of the norm?

Or is it the latest easy to plot, script, and report media-made hype?