Free Republic

by Mark Finkelstein October 8, 2006 - 08:59 On a relatively slow news Sunday, perusing Google News in search of some morsel of MSM bias with which whip up NewsBusters readers, I came across these two stories, the first from CTV.ca, the second from the Hindustan Times: "Jadakiss arrested for alleged weapon possession" "Chikungunya visits Kerala after 30 years" Both headlines left me baffled. Who is Jadakiss? UN diplomat? Star striker for Manchester United? Congressional staffer angry he didn't get an IM from Mark Foley? And who or what is Chikungaya, and why is he/it visiting Kerala? For that matter,...

Travellers to an exotic island in the Indian Ocean have been issued with warnings against a rare tropical disease. Seventy seven people have already died in Mauritius from the rare chikungunya virus which is carried by mosquitoes. Mauritius, an island paradise particularly popular with honeymooning couple has about 700,000 visitors annually, generating more than £400 million. Following the outbreak the number of French tourists who normally account for about a quarter of the total, plummeted.