A few stories developing and ones that may not get much attention from the big media. So…we bring it to you. Have a great Wednesday!

Left Handed People At Risk?
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study suggests that women who are left-handed have a higher risk of dying, particularly from cancer and cerebrovascular disease - damage to an artery in the brain or an artery that supplies blood to the brain.

While it could be a chance finding and the evidence is far from conclusive, numerous reports have associated left-handedness with various disorders and, in general, a shorter life span, Dutch researchers note in their report in the journal Epidemiology.

“Left-handers are reported to be underrepresented in the older age groups, although such findings are still much debated,” write Dr. Made K. Ramadhani and colleagues from University Medical Center Utrecht. It is estimated that about 1 in 10 people are lefties.

Juan Valdez must be smiling
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drinking coffee can help ward off type 2 diabetes and may even help prevent certain cancers, according to panelists discussing the benefits — and risks — of the beverage at a scientific meeting.

“We’re coming from a situation where coffee had a very negative health image,” Dr. Rob van Dam of the Harvard School of Public Health, who has conducted studies on coffee consumption and diabetes, told Reuters Health. Nevertheless, he added, “it’s not like we’re promoting coffee as the new health food and asking people who don’t like coffee to drink coffee for their health.”

Van Dam participated in a “controversy session” on coffee at the Experimental Biology 2007 meeting underway in Washington, D.C.

Flavored Meth Is On The Rise
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansas police officers had seen leftover methamphetamine ingredients just like the mess they found in a suspected cook’s trash can last month. What gave them pause this time were the packets of strawberry-flavored children’s drink mix next to the bin. It was among the officers’ first encounters with “Strawberry Quick,” the latest version of methamphetamine, a drug authorities say manufacturers are constantly remaking to keep their customer base growing.

From lollipops to high’sugar sodas, law enforcement officials say they’ve found meth cut with a variety of candies, drinks and other materials over the years. Officials say the “designer meth” can smooth the ingestion of the drug, making it easier for first-time users to try.

“It’s really a bitter substance … so if you’re going to try to make it more consumable for the masses, then you’re going to want to try to take that edge off whichever way you can,” said Chris Harrison, chief illicit laboratory chemist at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory.

Are they gonna call it “Disney’sand”?
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - America’s Universal Studios will develop a $2.2 billion theme park
modeled after those in Florida, California and Japan - in the Middle East boomtown of Dubai, a
government-held firm has announced.

Dubai government-owned developer Tatweer said it would partner with the Hollywood-based film studio’s resorts arm to develop its fourth theme park, offering Mideast vacationers attractions designed by creative consultant Steven Spielberg and based on the movies King Kong and Jurassic Park.

Universal Parks & Resorts chief executive Thomas L. Williams unveiled a model of the Universal City Dubai park here Monday, saying the city’state’s “investor’supportive environment” led it to bring the Hollywood-themed carnival rides and TV-based attractions to the Middle East. The 6.5 million square-foot theme park, described by Tatweer as one of the world’s largest, will be the centerpiece of a gargantuan uber-park dubbed Dubailand that is under construction on the city’s desert outskirts.

Lightening It Up A Little
CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - Australians, long regarded as a nation of beer drinkers rivaled only by the Germans, seem to be turning soft, or sober.

After 113 years, the country’s biggest selling beer, Victoria Bitter, or VB, is to be produced in a
mid’strength version to keep pace with the country’s fast-changing beer tastes.
VB, with its distinctive green label, has since 1894 been a staple of hard-drinking backyard barbecues, student revels and football games, not to mention healthy overseas exports.

Now brewer Foster’s has decided for the first time to produce the beer in a weaker yellow-label version with 3.5 percent strength, down from 5 percent, as Australians abandon it for scores of more upscale “boutique” or craft beers.