Right-wing organ of the British chattering classes, the Daily Telegraph claims that the rise in popularity for the social notworking site Facebook is responsible for a rise in syphilis.

The UK has had a sudden up-tick in the number of reported cases of the sexually transmitted disease. The Telegraph and the more racy The Sun have all claimed in the past that Facebook exposes children to predators, blackmail and bullying and gotten adults fired from their jobs. The British rags have got their knickers in a twist of the health officials in a North East English town of Middlesbrough have issued a warning about the dangers of unprotected sex following a rise in syphilis cases in the area.

Peter Kelly, the town's executive director of public health, issued the following statement: "Social networking sites are making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex." In other words increased casual sex has caused the outbreak and not Facebook and the whole thing is a beat up by a bored Daily Telegraph hack.

Having seen the denizens of Middlesbrough we would have thought that casual sex was the furthest from anyone's mind and that the region would have had a problem with getting anyone to breed. Well not without the distribution of large amounts of alcohol and paperbags.