Man Sickened

I read this story on the AOL homepage in the headline news section and it set me wondering: Exactly what criteria is used to decide which story makes headline news?

I have left out the name and location due to copyright stuff of which I know very little:

(July 31) - A ++++ man who wanted a pristine toilet ended up in the hospital after mixing a potentially deadly combination of cleaning fluids.
Mxxx Nxxxx, 44, of (Town), was taken to XXXX Medical Center on Thursday morning, the St. Petersburg Times reported. He was suffering from shortness of breath and irritated lungs and eyes.
(Mr. N) created a chlorine gas cloud when he combined bleach and an ammonia-based product to "make a stronger bathroom cleaner," (Town)Fire and Rescue spokesman (Lt. X) told the paper.
Fire and hazardous materials teams were called to (Mr. N's) home. They ventilated the home and scrubbed the walls.
Chlorine gas has been used as a weapon of mass destruction and exposure to it can cause severe illness or death. Authorities warn consumers never to mix bleach and ammonia when using cleaning products.

OK. So this fellow is 44 years old and he's mixing up cleansers, which as far as I know, have clear warning labels all over them about not mixing, not storing, not using, not breathing, not drinking, not, not, not, not, etc. Now, Mr. N's name is spread all across America for his fifteen minutes of fame. God forbid that my fifteen minutes will consist of such stupidity!! I can only hope that mine will be longer than fifteen minutes and will be about my great talent and writing abilities. LOL. One can only remain positive. The story is bad, the man nearly died, the man was dumb and ultimately, somehow, the public taxpayer will pay for his lunacy and the cleanser companies will bear the brunt of the blame for not having attached a holographic warning much like the message that Princess Leia (msp) sent to Obi Wan Kenobi so that when Mr. N opened the cleanser, Mr. Clean with his mighty muscular arms crossed over his chest, popped out, scowling i in his face and gave the following warning:

"Beware, Mr. N!! Do not mix me with cleansers containing ammonia! Mixing me with ammonia will create Chlorine Gas, which is the active ingredient in the Weapon of Mass Destruction that Saddam Hussein used against the Kurds in Northern Iraq, killing hundreds of innocent men, women and children in the streets, but was later downgraded from a Weapon of Mass Destruction when the Americans invaded and ex-President Bush fell from grace for having believed that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD's in the first place because it was all just a hoax to make the public believe that Saddam Hussein was a bad, bad person simply because ex-President Bush was evil and wanted to steal Saddam's oil and beat up on him because he insulted ex-ex-ex President Daddy Bush back in the nineties... whew! OK, Mr. N, do you now understand why you cannot mix me with that ammonia? If you do, you might cause another unwarranted war wherein innocent men, women and children could be, but not necessarily killed, maimed and/or mutilated and/or protected from chlorine gas which may or may not be classified as a Weapon of Mass Destruction depending on who is talking."

Even though I poke fun at this, isn't this just like the media to remind people that a deadly gas, extremely potent, can be constructed by combining common household cleaners? But I guess the information can be found at the library and on the web if one is inclined to build something dangerous. Its a shame that WMD's can so easily be concocted that some people can do it by accident? I'm just saying....