The things people say-

One of the raps on US efforts to curb STDs is that the ad campaigns are put together by middle aged people who are embarrassed by the thought of talking like young people- among whom said STDs are flourishing.

Iain Dale reports having one of those middle aged moments in the UK:

I had to check if I my eyes were deceiving me when I saw the headline of METRO this morning. It read THE REAL DANGERS OF A QUICK SHAG. Something to do with birdwatching, perhaps? No, it was as I thought, about sex - more specifically the rising tide of sexually transmitted diseases.

As you know, dear reader, I am as broad minded as the next person, but part of me was really quite shocked that a newspaper would write such a headline. But when I thought about it I could see the logic. If you look down a tube carriage at who read METRO, you can see that a hell of a lot of 20-30 year olds do, and they are the ones most likely to be targeted by a health campaign to prevent STDs. The headline would have certainly grabbed their attention. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall at the METRO editorial meeting when they discussed which word to use.

At least he wasn't in one of the tube stations announcing, "South Carolina Is So Gay."