Made In China

China's tainted milk crisis widened Friday after tests found the industrial chemical melamine in liquid milk produced by three of the country's leading dairy companies, the quality watchdog said. Singapore suspended the sale and import of all Chinese milk and dairy products because several tested items were contaminated.

ISF: Okay, we all realize that everything plastic comes from China. But do they have to make pet food and milk from plastic, too?

More on (moron?) Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner said. The cause of death was "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine," spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement. The drugs are the generic names for the painkiller OxyContin, the anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom. Hydrocodone is a widely used prescription painkiller.

In a statement released through Ledger's publicist, Ledger's father: "While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."

WP: Of course. I'm sure he should have been WARNED not to take five or six different prescription drugs ALL AT ONCE. Let's sue the doctors and pharmacists.

C'mon, now. Heath WAS a good actor. However, it's obvious he had a drug problem, so quit bullshitting everyone (including yourselves) by placing the blame elsewhere.

WWMKD?

NEW YORK - A massage therapist who discovered a lifeless Heath Ledger in his Manhattan apartment made her first call to Mary-Kate Olsen, according to an in-depth timeline police released Wednesday of the moments surrounding the Australian-born actor's death.

At 2:45 p.m., massage therapist Diana Wolozin showed up for her appointment with Ledger, who didn't answer when she knocked on his door. She then tried to call him on his cell phone, but again got no response. She went into the bedroom, set up her massage table and again tried to wake Ledger.

Wolozin told police that Ledger was cold to the touch, but that she assumed he was just unconscious. She grabbed his cell phone and called Mary Kate Olsen, whose number was programmed into the phone. Wolozin knew that the "Full House" star and Ledger were friends, and she asked Olsen for advice on what she should do next.

Olsen, who also lives in Manhattan but was in California at the time, responded by saying she would send over her private security guards to help deal with the situation. In the ensuing moments, Wolozin realized that Ledger might be dead. She called Olsen again, then called 911. The emergency operator provided Wolozin directions on how to do CPR, but it was too late. Paramedics arrived minutes later — at about the same time as Olsen's security guards.

WP: WTF?

Failed Justice at Work

One of the three victims of San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was intoxicated and admitted to yelling and waving at the animal while standing atop the railing of the big cat enclosure, police said in court documents filed Thursday.
Paul Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger but insisted they never threw anything into its pen to provoke the cat, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Sousa's father, Carlos Sousa Sr., said Dhaliwal told him the three stood on a 3-foot-tall metal railing a few feet from the edge of the tiger moat. "When they got down they heard a noise in the bushes, and the tiger was jumping out of the bushes on him (Paul Dhaliwal)," the documents said. Police found a partial shoe print that matched Paul Dhaliwal's on top of the railing, Matthews said in the documents. The affidavit also cites multiple reports of a group of young men taunting animals at the zoo, the Chronicle reported.

Toxicology results for Dhaliwal showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.16 — twice the legal limit for driving, according to the affidavit. His 24-year-old brother, Kulbir, and Sousa also had alcohol in their blood but within the legal limit, Matthews wrote. All three also had marijuana in their systems, Matthews said. Kulbir Dhaliwal told police that the three had smoked pot and each had "a couple shots of vodka" before leaving San Jose for the zoo on Christmas Day, the affidavit said. Police found a small amount of marijuana in Kulbir Dhaliwal's 2002 BMW, which the victims rode to the zoo, as well as a partially filled bottle of vodka, according to court documents.

Zoo spokesman Sam Singer said he had not seen the documents but believed the victims did taunt the animal, even though they claim they hadn't. "Those brothers painted a completely different picture to the public and the press," Singer said. "Now it's starting to come out that what they said is not true."

WP: All I have to say is, why did the tiger have to be shot in all of this mess? If a person retaliated against his provokers, he wouldn't be sentenced to death. He'd be arrested and put on trial. The tiger wasn't even given a fair trial, despite the pending incriminating evidence in his favor.