Using PET Scans to Discover Early Signs of Alzheimer’s

Explanation: Alzheimer’s disease is a common and tragic disease. In spite of much research, there is currently little that can be done to stop or slow its progression. A hot area of research is in early detection. Two years ago, Medicare decided to cover PET scanning for diagnosing Alzheimer’s, with the hope that it could help with treatment and allow patients and their families to help with future planning. However, Medicare’s decision was very controversial and there are many issues surrounding the use of PET scanning for this conditon. This story does little to enlighten readers and is flawed in several ways. The story does not attempt to quantify the benefits of PET scanning. Most importantly, the story does not mention that even if Alzheimer’s is detected early, there is not much that can be done for it. The drug Aricept has only minor effects on the progression of the disease. Although the story mentions neurologic exams, the advantages and disadvantages of PET scanning compared to existing approaches are not described. How will the scanning fit in with current practice? These questions are not answered in the story. The story does not comment on the novelty or availability of PET scanning. Although the story hints at false alarms, this is insufficient information on the harms of scanning. How do such “false alarms” impact peoples’ lives? The story does quote two directors of major Alzheimer’s research centers. The story could have quoted other clinicians or researchers who could have provided some additional perspective. By accurately describing the prevalence of Alzheimer’s, the story avoids disease mongering. The story does mention that the scans are expensive – $1000 to $3500 and are not necessarily covered by insurance. The story could have provided costs of the traditional neurologic exam by comparison.

The story does mention that the scans are expensive – $1000 to $3500 and are not necessarily covered by insurance. The story could have provided costs of the traditional neurologic exam for comparison. The story does not attempt to quantify the benefits of PET scanning. The story states, “several studies suggest it can effectively provide an early warning”, but does not give any quantification for the magnitude of effects observed in these studies. Most importantly, the story does not mention that even if Alzheimer’s is detected early, there is not much that can be done for it. Aricept has only minor affects on the progression of the disease. Although the story hints at false alarms from the use of PET scans, this is insufficient information on the harms of scanning. What would a “false alarm” entail? What does it do to a person who receives this news? The story does not adequately describe the strengths of the available evidence. It says “Neurologists say PET is an excellent tool for distinguishing between Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia.” But it then notes that “experts disagree over whether PET is useful for determining whether people with mild memory problems are suffering from early Alzheimer’s. Several studies suggest it can effectively provide an early warning. The catch is that there is insufficient research to determine exactly how accurate it is.” The story could have explained why there is such uncertainty; what is the nature of the studies that have been done? By accurately describing the prevalence of Alzheimer’s, the story avoids disease mongering. The story does quote two directors of major Alzheimer’s research centers. The story could have quoted other clinicians or researchers who may have provided some additional perspective. Although the story mentions neurologic exams, this is insufficient information on the alternatives. What are the advantages and disadvantages of PET scanning compared to existing approaches? How will the scanning fit in with current practice? These questions are not answered in the story. The story does not comment on the availability of PET scanners. The story does not comment on the novelty of PET scanning. How long have they been used for this purpose? We can’t be sure if the story relied on a press release. However, given that sources from several institutions were interviewed, it appears that independent reporting took place.


Study: Supplements do little to ease arthritis

Explanation: This is a succint and fairly complete report on the results of a recent research study that found glucosamine and/or chondroitin sulfate ineffective in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. The article failed to stress that the study looked only at the effect on OA of the knee and did not address OA affecting other joints. And while the study failed to demonstrate benefit in management of knee OA, the article included a quote from a patient who uses the supplements and believes they are effective (though whether the individual has knee OA is not clear). Thus the story seems to balance one individual anecdote against the weight of evidence from a study of 1,583 people. People with more severe pain from knee OA probably would want to know the type of chondroitin used in the study as it is not the most common form of the supplement available. It’s important that the story included comments from a journal editorial writer about limitations of the study.

Worldwide sales figure was mentioned, but no information on the cost of supplements was mentioned. Absolute benefit was presented. The story mentioned that the study found no serious side effects in six months. It also gave the caveat that the study did not address the issue of longer-term safety. This article reported on the results of a randomized clinical trial; details on its publication were included as well as potential conflicts of interest of the study’s authors. Other information sources were also mentioned in the piece. No obvious disease-mongering. Yet, although an estimate of prevalence was given, natural history of knee OA was not mentioned. Quoted one study author, the author of a companion editorial in the journal, as well as a rheumatologist not connected with the study. The story mentioned results from the use of Celebrex, a prescription NSAID medication, which was also included as part of the study. But the presentation of alternatives to the use of supplements was incomplete. Nonetheless, we give a satisfactory score. Mention made of loose regulation of supplements; use of the supplements is presented as common. The use of glucosamine and/or chondroitin for relief of knee osteoarthritis(OA) pain is not new and no suggestion of it being a novel approach was made. There is no evidence that the story relied solely or largely on a news release.


Boiling menstrual pads and drinking the water to get “high” or “drunk” is an alarming new trend amongst Indonesian teens.

Explanation: What's true: Reports suggest of a small number of children in the the poorest parts of Indonesian regions such as Karawang, Belitung and Jogjakarta boiling sanitary pads into a liquid and drinking that liquid to experience some form of inebriation. What's false: This activity is neither new nor a trend. Local officials tell us they do not encounter the practice often and that it has been documented going back to at least 2016. What's undetermined: It is unclear if soiled pads are actually used in this process.

Beginning on 9 November 2018, English-language news outlets began running stories about Indonesian teenagers using sanitary pads to get “high” or “drunk.” “Indonesian Teens are Getting ‘Drunk’ Off Boiled Bloody Menstrual Pads,” read the headline to a story by Vice News that was later picked up by mega-viral outlets such as the Daily Mail and Mirror UK. The ‘teens do stupid things to get high’ genre of reporting, one of the most overused and obvious clickbait tropes in the digital world, is generally based on a low number of incidents being ginned up into an “alarming new trend” to create hysteria for traffic-driven revenue. While this report ostensibly fits into that genre, the reality is that it is something a bit darker. This story involves a voyeuristic look at child poverty in the poorest parts of Indonesia and repackages it for viral clicks and ad revenue, offered by sensationalist outlets such as the Daily Mail: Indonesian teenagers are using menstrual pads to get high by boiling the sanitary product and then drinking the water, local officials have warned. Both new and used sanitary pads are said to be obtained by young Indonesians looking for a cheap and legal way to get high. The chemicals in the sanitary pads give those who drink the resulting concoction a feeling of ‘flying’ and hallucinations, according to the Indonesian National Drug Agency (BNN). Several local newspapers, including the Jakarta Post, Jawa Pos and Pos Belitung, have reported about the worrying trend in recent weeks. The Daily Mail was correct in stating that “several local newspapers” in Indonesia had run stories in recent weeks about children boiling sanitary pads to get “drunk” or “high.” But each of those stories generally referenced the same people: Indra Dwi Purnomo, a Psychology Lecturer at the Catholic University of Soegijapranata (Unika) who specializes in drug abuse and addiction and works with poor children living on the streets; Sitty Hikmawatty, a commissioner for drugs and health with the Indonesian Committee on Child Protection; a spokesperson from the BNN (Indonesia’s national anti-narcotics agency), and the 2016 account of a pseudonymous 14-year-old boy who described the pad boiling process to the Indonesian newspaper Pos Belitung, translated below: Pos Belitung managed to find a user [of boiled sanitary pads who is a 14-year-old they called “Kujay”]. The teenager, who was still in junior high school, admitted that he knew that sanitary napkins could be intoxicating after being told by his friend in Tanjungpandan, Belitung. [He] explained how to mix the sanitary napkin [concoction]. The first step is, of course, buying goods. The average type of sanitary napkin used is [a brand with] wings. Then, after the wrapper is opened, the sanitary napkin is put into a pan filled with water and boiled for about an hour, [and] the cooking water is [allowed to cool]. Bandages are squeezed into the same container (pan), then [it’s] ready to drink. “It’s bitter” Kujay said. “If used [for one person], one to five sheets [is needed] to [get] drunk,” Kujay is reported to have told Pos Belitung in a follow-up report the next day. Kujay’s two-year-old account was referenced several times in the 2018 round of reporting. Vice News also cited the account of Sitty Hikmawatty, the commissioner for drugs and health with the Indonesian Committee on Child Protection, who said this practice was “already a few years old.” We spoke with Hikamawatty via Facebook Messenger to determine out how widespread this phenomenon was. Hikamawatty told us that she and others had stumbled across cases like this while monitoring the behavior of what she described as street children, and that the practice is generally found in “slums” and “mining areas.” When we asked how often she had come across this sort of behavior, she told us “not too often,” adding that she and her colleagues began collaborating with a social worker to take the children into protection and rehabilitation programs. Indra Dwi Purnomo, the psychology lecturer, had worked on these cases in collaboration with the BNN as well, and he told the Indonesian news outlet Java Pos that the average culprit came from a poor family, was under stress, and included children who wanted to “feel happy” but did not have any money and so engaged in experimentation. The more salacious aspect of this claim, that children are boiling soiled and bloody menstrual pads to get high, is harder to get a handle on. The claim appears to have been most confidently asserted by the Head of the National Narcotics Agency in Central Java Province, AKBP Suprinarto, who told Java Pos that “used sanitary napkins are soaked. The boiled water is drunk.” Purnomo, the psychology lecturer, told the Indonesian news outlet Detik that in past cases kids had used soiled pads for this purpose but seemed to indicate that might no longer be the case. The only on-the-record, first-hand account of using sanitary pads for the purposes of inebriation that we are aware of is that of 14-year-old “Kujay” in 2016, who described the first step in the process as “buying” the pads. This would indicate that he made use of unsoiled pads. We have reached out to the psychology department for which Purnomo works and to BNN to get an interview, but we have not received a response from either yet. We asked Sitty Hikmawatty from the Indonesian Committee on Child Protection what chemicals the children were after when they boiled sanitary pads, and she told us that it was the adsorbent gel. The exact ingredients used in sanitary pads are generally (and controversially) considered proprietary, so we can’t know with certainty which chemicals these children are exposing themselves to by drinking their boiled remains, but testing performed by the advocacy group Women’s Voices for the Earth has detected low concentrations of toxic chemicals with potential neurologic side effects in some brands, as reported by CNN in 2015: When the group tested P&G’s Always pads, it found the sanitary napkins emitted chemicals, like styrene, chloroethane and chloroform. The World Health Organization classifies styrene as a carcinogen. And the EPA says short-term exposure to high concentrations of chloromethane can have neurological effects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says high levels of exposure to chloroethane can result in lack of muscle coordination and unconsciousness. However, all the levels are acceptable under federal regulations. In a statement, Women’s Voices for the Earth said, “While the levels of the toxic chemicals emitted by Always pads were relatively low, their presence warrants health concerns for women.” Presumably, however, such guidelines were not written to address the possibility that some people might boil these pads to concentrate and drink these chemicals. Testing undertaken by Indonesian Consumers Foundation in 2015 suggested that the majority of sanitary pads in Indonesia contained chlorine, the presence of which would be illegal in both Indonesia and the United States, and which when consumed or inhaled could also potentially cause some health problems, including blurred vision. In short, ingesting a slurry of unknown chemicals that may poison you could conceivably produce neurological side effects, but the exact mechanism is not entirely clear. The phenomenon of Indonesian children (reportedly) using sanitary pads to get inebriated is a reflection of poverty in the poorest parts of Indonesia and is not, as has been repeated ad infinitum in the social media and clickbait echo chamber, a “trend.” It seems clear that some children have tried this, though all indications point to the practice’s being fairly rare. It is unclear, however, whether soiled pads have been used in the boiling process, as stated in many headlines, but the desired effect allegedly comes from the chemicals used in the manufacturing process of the pads, so the use of soiled pads would merely be an even more extreme reflection of poverty. All in all, the claim of a “new trend” among Indonesian teens getting “drunk” off of boiled bloody menstrual pads is a mixture of grim factual realities, exaggerations, speculations, and falsehoods.


Timely use of Novartis' Entresto could prevent or postpone over 28,000 US deaths per year among HFrEF patients, according to an expert analysis in JAMA Cardiology

Explanation: This news release summarizes a study that estimated the benefits of sacubitril/valsartan (marketed as Entresto) vs enalapril (an ACE-inhibitor) in treating heart failure patients with lowered ejection fraction (the amount of blood pumped from the heart). In the study published in the medical journal JAMA Cardiology, researchers created a statistical model that estimated that about 28,000 patients per year with heart failure and a lowered ejection fraction could benefit from Entresto, a twice-daily pill approved in 2015. The model found that patients on Entresto lived a year longer, on average, than those treated with enalapril, and that the medication was “cost effective” when used with concurrent standard therapies. The release from the drugmaker, Novartis, describes their complex analysis and highlights their conclusion that the heart failure medication is cost effective. But the release does not include any discussion of the extremely high cost of the drug. An estimated 6 million people in the United States have heart failure, and about half of those with heart failure also have reduced ejection fraction, so any treatment for them matters for their individual health and for society’s costs of overall health treatment. The release states that the analysis reinforces a strong recommendation from several medical societies that the condition be treated with sacubitril/valsartan. This release about the statistical model of effectiveness for the drug Entresto claims that it could delay or prevent thousands of deaths per year, but does not include analysis that the total cost of treating the majority of those eligible could drastically tax the health system. A 2015 story in Kaiser Health News reports on a nonprofit analysis that raised questions about the cost-effectiveness of Entresto.

cardiovascular disease,industry/commercial news releases

The release mentions cost-effectiveness several times but does not give any indication of what the price of therapy with Entresto would be, nor the comparative cost between Entresto and other medications. Nor does it quantify what it means when it says the drug is “cost-effective.” The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, ICER, warned in a draft report that the drug’s current price was too high and that widespread use could overwhelm the health system. The drug cost was estimated at about $4,600 per year for a typical patient. According to the report: “At the list price of $4,560 per year, Entresto does not save money over the long term but its added costs are well-aligned with the degree of benefit it brings to patients, meaning that Entresto can be judged “cost-effective” in the long-term according to commonly accepted cost-effectiveness thresholds.” “However, ICER’s analysis predicts that nearly 2 million patients could be prescribed Entresto over the first five years, creating a total budget impact so high that excessive cost burdens would be placed on the overall health care system. In order to keep health care cost growth in line with growth in the national economy, ICER’s value-based price benchmark for Entresto is $3,779 annually, a 17% discount off the list price. Private insurers and Medicaid programs are frequently able to achieve discounts at this level.” The published study did address cost in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). It would have been helpful for the release to add at least some costs which would add context. The release makes several statements about benefits to an entire population, not necessarily the benefits to an individual patient. The release provides a useful number-needed-to-treat explanation. “For every 1,000 patients treated with Entresto vs. enalapril, potentially 59.7 HF hospital admissions could be averted per each year alive in the model.3 In addition, Entresto increased life expectancy at an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio consistent with other high-value widely accepted cardiovascular interventions such as implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cholesterol-lowering statins before they became generic.3″ One weakness in describing the benefits was the omission in the release (but not in the published study) of actual figures or percentages to back up the cost-effectiveness claim. The release includes extensive information on harms, including this summary of side effects: “Entresto may cause serious side effects including serious allergic reactions causing swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and throat (angioedema) that may cause trouble breathing and death.” The release provides some detail on the statistical model used and the analysis findings. Data was drawn from a previous trial to model health outcomes and cost-effectiveness of the drug over a 30-year period. The release would have been stronger with a discussion of possible limitations of the analysis. Patients out in the real world tend to be older, sicker, and have other differences compared with those who participate in clinical trials, so it’s not clear that the benefits seen in the trial can be extrapolated to the broader population. In the study itself, the researchers mention several issues that could throw their findings off, but the release doesn’t address them. There is no disease mongering. The news release is coming from the manufacturer of the drug, Entresto, so the conflict of interest is clear. However, we would have liked it better if the release had identified, as the study did, that the principal author of the study receives grant support from Novartis, and several other authors are employees of Novartis. Entresto was compared to enalapril and found to be associated with — on average —  a year longer of survival as well as reduced hospital admissions. It’s noted that the drug is FDA approved. The release states that this analysis is not the first, but is novel because it quantifies “possible” impact in reducing death. “This analysis, based on an application of the results of PARADIGM-HF to published heart failure statistics, is the first to quantify the possible impact of Entresto’s potential benefit in reducing death.1″ There was no unjustifiable language.


Restored Mission Control comes alive 50 years after Apollo.

Explanation: Gone is the haze of cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke. Gone are the coffee, soda and pizza stains. With only a few exceptions, NASA’s Apollo-era Mission Control has been restored to the way it looked 50 years ago when two men landed on the moon.

Houston, Neil Armstrong, AP Top News, Apollo 11 moon landing, Buzz Aldrin, General News, Moon, Technology, Science, U.S. News

It gets the stamp of approval from retired flight director Gene Kranz, a man for whom failure — or even a minor oversight — is never an option. Seated at the console where he ruled over Apollo 11, Apollo 13 and so many other astronaut missions, Kranz pointed out that a phone was missing behind him. And he said the air vents used to be black from all the smoke, not sparkly clean like they are now. Those couple of details aside, Kranz could close, then open his eyes, and transport himself back to July 20, 1969, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s momentous moon landing. “When I sit down here and I’m in the chair at the console ... I hear these words, ‘Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed,’” Kranz said during a sneak preview at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. With all the empty seats, the room reminds him of a shift change when flight controllers would hit the restroom. “It’s just nice to see the thing come alive again,” said Kranz, who titled his autobiography, “Failure is Not an Option.” Friday’s grand opening — just three weeks shy of the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first otherworldly footsteps — culminates years of work and millions in donations. It opens to the public Monday. Meticulously recreated down to the tan carpeting, gray-green wallpaper, white ceiling panels, woven-cushioned seats, amber glass ashtrays and retro coffee cups, Project Apollo’s Mission Operations Control Room never looked — or smelled — so good. The goal was “to capture the look and feel of July of ’69,” said NASA’s restoration project manager Jim Thornton. “The place is designated a National Historic Landmark,” he said. “It’s not for the brick and mortar of the building, it’s for the amazing feats that happened inside of the building.” Johnson’s historic preservation officer, Sandra Tetley, strove for accuracy. Her quest began in 2013, after the room had fallen into neglect. It was last used for space shuttle flights in the 1990s, then abandoned and opened to tourists. The restoration effort finally got traction in 2017. The room was closed, and construction began. More than $5 million was raised, most of it donations. The city of Webster across the street kicked in $3.5 million. Tetley and her team interviewed flight controllers and directors now in their 70s and 80s. They pored through old pictures and brought in specialists in paint, wallpaper, carpeting, electricity and upholstery. Original swatches of carpet and wallpaper and an original ceiling tile turned up. Intent on authenticity, they scoured eBay and vintage shops for ashtrays and cups and turned to 3D-laser printing to recreate lids for the back-of-the-seat ashtrays in the glassed-in visitors’ section overlooking the control room. Old binders for reams of paper were collected. Seat cushions were handwoven. Ceiling tiles were hand stamped. Carpeting was custom ordered with special tufting and extra yarn, then cut into 28-inch squares. The restoration team wanted a lived-in look for the carpet and chose a shade reflecting years of nicotine discoloring. And yes, Kranz got his missing rotary-dial wall phone. “I fought for everything,” Tetley said. “But we’re getting everything we want to make it just completely historically accurate.” The green consoles were trucked to the Cosmosphere museum in Hutchinson, Kansas, for months of rehab. Cigarette butts were dug out of the consoles, along with gum wrappers and papers. Modern LED lights and flat screens were installed to bring the consoles alive with images and flashing buttons; big screens up front will show key footage from the Apollo 11 mission. “We’re using technology to make it look old, basically,” Tetley explained. LEDs also replaced the original overhead fluorescent lights that had faded the mission medallions on the walls. With the International Space Station’s Mission Control running 24/7 one floor down and work for future moonshots going on all around, Thornton said it was challenging to create a museum. But the painstaking work paid off. Some Apollo flight controllers were so moved at seeing the restored room that they teared up. “Then we know that we’ve done it right,” Tetley said. There’s one artifact, though, that doesn’t fit July 1969. Following their 1970 aborted moon-landing mission, Apollo 13′s Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert presented a mirror from their spacecraft to Kranz and the rest of the control team. Ever since, the mirror had hung on a plaque above the room’s water fountain “to ‘reflect the image’ of the people in Mission Control who got us back!” Removed during the restoration, it’s now back in its original spot. Kranz, 85, still looms large in the hot seat, where he oversaw the Eagle’s landing. “It was just absolutely our day, our time, our place,” he said. The flight controllers meet every year to celebrate the day, although their numbers are dwindling. They’re proud to have helped resuscitate their Mission Control: “Part of our legacy we’re going to leave for the next generation.” ___ Follow AP’s full coverage of the Apollo 11 anniversary at: https://apnews.com/Apollo11moonlanding ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.


Jack Conway Says Rand Paul thinks drug-dealing, theft, burglary and prostitution should be decriminalized.

Explanation: Jack Conway campaign ad accuses Rand Paul of being soft on crime

National, Crime, Message Machine 2010, Jack Conway,

Accusing your opponent of being soft on crime is pretty standard campaign fare, but Kentucky Democrat Jack Conway -- a candidate for U.S. Senate -- takes things one step further in a campaign video, using a two-year-old quote from Republican opponent Rand Paul to suggest Paul wants to decriminalize everything from drug dealing and burglary to prostitution. The ad begins with a clip of the Paul quote in question: "The things that are non-violent shouldn't be against the law." It then cuts to an image of Bernie Madoff with the question, "Should Wall Street Fraudster Bernie Madoff not be in jail?" A uniformed law enforcement officer then asks, "What about meth and drug dealers?" Cut to another officer..."theft, burglary...promoting prostitution..."  And then back to Paul saying, "The things that are non-violent shouldn't be against the law." Another version of the Conway ad follows the same theme. "Thinks non-violent crime should be against the law? That's crazy," one uniformed officer says. "It should be a crime if you sells drugs to a minor," says another cop. Then others..."...Wall Street fraud. Mortgage fraud...burglary...someone that's promoting prostitution...theft." The implication is clear: Paul wants to legalize all non-violent crime, including drug dealing, theft, burglary and prostitution. On the campaign trail, Paul has repeatedly denounced the ad, and his campaign promptly put out a press release boasting that a number of county sheriffs had publicly declared their support for his campaign. "I think it's a dishonest ad, would be the first thing I'd say," Paul said in a Sept. 16, 2010, interview on Fox41 in Kentucky. "What we were discussing a couple years ago on KET was whether or not things like motorcycle helmets and the lottery should be illegal because they’re immoral or because they're unsafe. And my point was that there are certain things adults can make decisions on. "What that ad does is, he totally distorts it and wants to say I want to allow minors to use drugs, it is an absolute hood." Paul went even further in a Fox News interview on Sept. 19, 2010, calling the ad "a lie." Paul again explained that he was a pundit panelist on a program called Kentucky Tonight on Nov. 24, 2008, and that the context of the discussion was not crime at all, but rather was "about helmet laws for adults and whether adults should have the right to either gamble or buy lottery tickets. And the comparison between lottery tickets and gambling. And it really had nothing to do with drugs or drugs for minors, or all these things, prostitution..."  "So," the interviewer interjected, "you think those things should be illegal, Dr. Paul?" "Yes," Paul said. "And I'm not proposing any changes in the drug laws or laws against prostitution." We listened to the entirety of the Kentucky Tonight program on the night in question, and Paul is correct that the focus was on whether the state ought to place higher taxes on things like cigarettes or alcohol. Paul made it clear he didn't think that was the government's place. "Do we want our tax commissioner to be the moral commissioner of sin?" Paul said on the program. "Where does it stop?" Paul said, throwing out the example of whether the government ought to put an extra $1 tax on a McDonald's quarter pounder to help curb obesity. "It really isn't our job to tell people whether they should smoke or not," Paul said. "It's not our job to tell people whether they should eat too much or not. We're a free society where individuals can decide what they want to decide." In the course of the discussion, Paul talked about whether the government should regulate whether someone should be able to ride a bike or motorcycle without a helmet. And what about gambling? he asked, noting that, "It's OK to gamble on the lottery, just not slot machines." "I'm against legislating morality," Paul said. "I mean, I'm for crimes and having laws against things that are violent crimes. But things that are non-violent shouldn't be against the law." So there's the fuller context. John Collins, a spokesman for the Conway campaign, said Paul's words speak for themselves. "Rand Paul believes drugs aren't a pressing issue and that non-violent crimes, such as prostitution and selling drugs, shouldn’t be against the law," Collins said. "If Paul thinks that’s misleading, then he should not have said it. Simply put, you could hold a meeting of all the people who agree with Rand Paul’s soft on crime beliefs in a phone booth." We asked Collins for evidence to support the claim that Paul believes selling drugs, for example, shouldn't be against the law. He pointed us to a series of quotes in which Paul espouses the opinion that issues of crime are better addressed at the state and local, rather than federal, government level. So, for example, he has said that issues like whether to legalize medical marijuana ought to be decided by states, and that the funding for drug enforcement ought to come from state and local governments. Those may be controversial positions, but they are a far cry from Paul saying he believes that drug dealing and burglary ought not to be against the law. We asked Collins if he could point us toward any other quotes from Paul that suggest he doesn't think drug dealing, burglary and prostitution, for example, should not be against the law. He referred us only to Paul's two-year-old quote, "The things that are non-violent shouldn't be against the law." Certainly Paul could have chosen his words more carefully. But this strikes us as more of a political "gotcha" than a legitimate issue. The quote comes in the context of Paul discussing the propriety of government involvement in issues such as cigarette or alcohol taxes, gambling and wearing a motorcycle helmet. Paul said what he said. But for the Conway campaign to splice that with comments from law enforcement officials listing non-violent crime such as dealing drugs to kids, promoting prostitution, theft, burglary and financial crime suggests Paul wants to decriminalize those acts. We couldn't find a single instance where Paul has said he specifically wanted to legalize any of those activities. Conversely, Paul has repeatedly and unequivocally said he does not want to make those things legal, and that he has no plans to change the current laws with regard to them. We think a reasonable person can see what's going on here. We rate this ad .


National, Congress, Disability, Legal Issues, Adam Schiff,

A Democratic lawmaker who disapproves of President Donald Trump recently suggested the 25th Amendment to the Constitution could provide a solution. "POTUS is showing signs of erratic behavior and mental instability that place the country in grave danger," Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., tweeted on Aug. 15. "Time to invoke the 25th Amendment." POTUS is showing signs of erratic behavior and mental instability that place the country in grave danger. Time to invoke the 25th Amendment. But not all Democrats see the 25th amendment as an appropriate way of responding to Trump. Asked whether he thinks it should be used against Trump, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the amendment does not apply to present circumstances. "I think what the authors of the (25th) Amendment principally had in mind was some kind of physical incapacitation or serious mental illness or a breakdown, an inability to function in office," Schiff said Aug. 20 on CNN’s State of the Union. "I think we're still far from concluding that that's the case, even though we find, many of us, his conduct anathema and there to be a serious problem here." For this fact-check, we wanted to know if Schiff’s reading of the amendment’s origins is right. We’re not going to weigh in on whether Trump’s actions or mental state fit the criteria for presidential disability. The 25th Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1967, sought to resolve several thorny issues of presidential and vice presidential power. It creates a succession plan for when these top two positions go vacant. It also allows the president to declare himself unable to fulfill his duties and transfer power to the vice president. However, we’re mostly interested in the 25th Amendment’s fourth and final section, which allows someone other than the president to make a finding of presidential disability. Section four authorizes the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet, or another body as determined by lawmakers, to declare a president "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." Doing so would then elevate the vice president to the position of acting president. The president can restore his powers by declaring that no inability exists. However, the same body that initially transferred power to the vice president can respond by essentially doubling down on their declaration that the president is unable to discharge his duties. Then, if Congress, by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, agrees that the president is unable to serve, the vice president continues to act as president. Such a move could permanently strip a president of his powers — hence, why some legal analysts refer to section four as the "involuntary removal mechanism." The push for Congress to formalize a blueprint for handling presidential disability gained traction after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on Nov. 22, 1963 (though lawmakers had first considered it much earlier in American history). "The assassination of President Kennedy ... produced a flurry of additional proposals dealing with the subject," John D. Feerick wrote in a 1995 article in the Wake Forest Law Review. "These proposals were influenced by the sense at that time that, if Kennedy had lived, the country would have had to deal with the problem of presidential inability in a most tragic setting." As congressional hearings unfolded, little controversy surrounded the amendment’s first three sections, according to Feerick. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the real debate centered on when someone other than the president could declare him or her to be incapacitated. The amendment’s principal author, Sen. Birch Bayh, D.-Ind., embraced an understanding that presidential inability would encompass both physical and mental inability, said Joel Goldstein, a law professor at St. Louis University, who’s closely studied the congressional record. The formulation he adopted was put forth by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., who said presidential inability "involves physical or mental inability to make or communicate his decision regarding his capacity and physical or mental inability to exercise the powers and duties of his office." Another important architect of the amendment, Rep. Richard Poff, R-Va., held a similar view, according to Goldstein. Poff said section four not only applied when the president, due to accident or illness, was unconscious or otherwise unable to make or communicate a decision, but also when "the President, by reason of mental debility, is unable or unwilling to make any rational decision, including particularly the decision to stand aside." On July 6, 1965, Congress formally proposed the 25th Amendment, and the necessary 38 states ratified it Feb. 10, 1967. Legal experts told us the drafters used intentionally vague and open-ended language (i.e., a president who is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.") because they recognized they couldn't predict every scenario in which a president could be deemed disabled. But despite the definition’s fuzziness, Goldstein said "the record makes clear that section four was not intended as a means of removing the president simply because he or she makes an unpopular decision." So did Schiff’s claim that the authors intended to cover physical incapacitation, serious mental illness and a general an inability to function, hit the mark? "I think he’s right, as far as a one-sentence summary could have it," said Brian Kalt, a law professor at Michigan State University. "They made the process and the terms flexible, but that was what they were mainly thinking of." Schiff said, "I think what the authors of the (25th) Amendment principally had in mind was some kind of physical incapacitation or serious mental illness or a breakdown, an inability to function in office." The framers used deliberately broad language to allow for flexibility. But the record clearly shows they intended section four of the 25th Amendment to apply when a president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" due to either physical or mental inability, and not principally as a strategy for ousting an unpopular president. We rate Schiff’s statement .


More than 60 killed, hundreds of thousands displaced by flooding in Bangladesh.

Explanation: Severe flooding has killed at least 61 people, displaced nearly 800,000 and inundated thousands of homes across a third of Bangladesh, government officials said on Tuesday, after two weeks of heavy monsoon rains.

Nearly 3 million people are struggling with flooding, the worst in two years, according to the disaster management and relief ministry. As water levels began to recede, authorities expressed concern about outbreaks of infectious diseases in the country of more than 160 million. “With the receding flood waters across the country, there is a possibility of outbreaks of water-borne diseases,” Shah Kamal, secretary of the disaster management and relief ministry, told Reuters by phone from Sirajganj, a flood-hit district 130 km (81 miles) from the capital Dhaka. “That’s why we are setting up water treatment plants in the flood-affected areas on a priority basis,” he said. At least 22 patients with symptoms of diarrhoea and some other ailments were admitted to hospital in the northern Bogra district, said surgeon Gowsul Azam. Raqibul Alam, spokesman of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society in Bangladesh, said about 700 volunteers, including 100 staff, were engaged in relief operations in the northern and northwestern parts of Bangladesh. The Red Cross is providing food, drinking water and other aid, including 4,500 taka ($54) per family to help flood victims, Alam said. Kamal said the government had earmarked 45.80 million taka ($543,684) to help people rebuild houses. Two officials from the agriculture department said early estimates suggested farmers had lost agricultural produce worth more than $40 million. “The losses will be substantially higher when we get a full list from different flood-affected areas,” said one official. About 9 km of embankments, 172 km of roads and nearly 250 bridges and culverts had been damaged by the floods, according to a preliminary assessment by the disaster management and relief ministry. In neighboring Nepal, torrential rain caused landslides that swept away five houses on Tuesday, killing eight people in Gulmi district in the west, police said. Four others were missing and two were injured, police official Dipak Basnet said. Authorities said the latest deaths take to 100 the number of people killed in rains in the past two weeks in the Himalayan nation. Thirty others are missing across Nepal.


The deaths of John Beilman and his daughter were linked to the Las Vegas mass shooting via a device found in Stephen Paddock's hotel room.

Explanation: I want to emphasize we believe Paddock is solely responsible for this heinous act. We are aware of the rumors outside of the media and also on social media that there was more than one assailant. We have no information or evidence to support that theory, or that rumor. We believe there was only one shooter and that was Stephen Paddock.

Junk News, conspiracy theories, las vegas, las vegas shooter

In the aftermath of a deadly mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas in October 2017, conspiracy theorists latched on to an entirely unrelated tragedy in upstate New York, falsely claiming a link between a murder-suicide perpetrated in Fairport, New York, and the actions of the Las Vegas shooter: A key witness in the Las Vegas shooting massacre has killed himself and his disabled daughter in a horrific murder-suicide shortly after the FBI raided his home. John Beilman was wanted for questioning by federal agents in connection with a communications device discovered in suspected shooter Stephen Paddock’s hotel room. Articles explicating this conspiracy theory contained many details and factual claims that were not supported by any real evidence, and even cited evidence that, in reality, comprehensively disproved any “link” between the deaths of John Beilman and his daughter and the Las Vegas shooting massacre. Here is what we know to be true: On 4 October 2017, police in the town of Fairport, New York (about 10 miles from Rochester) confirmed that 60-year-old John Beilman had shot and killed his 27-year-old daughter Nicole before shooting and killing himself. Beilman left a note for his wife, but the motive behind the shooting is not known. Police confirmed that Nicole Beilman was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can severely impair an individuals ability to speak, walk, eat and breathe. Two days later, the Rochester newspaper Democrat and Chronicle, citing anonymous sources, reported that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had searched the Beilman home on 3 October 2017, the day before the shooting. That article does not provide any specifics as to the reason for the purported search. Claims that Beilman’s actions have anything to do with the Las Vegas massacre rest on the following “evidence”: This claim is inaccurate, and was known to be inaccurate at the time both articles were written. On 6 October 2017, NBC News reported that investigators, after earlier being puzzled by the presence of the phone charger, “have now been able to match all of the cell phone chargers found in the room with multiple cell phones that Paddock had with him.” Without providing any evidence, both articles claim that S.V.R. (Russian intelligence) sources had identified the device as charging a “CP502520 3.0V 600mAh Li-MnO2 Non-rechargeable Thin Cell Battery.” Setting aside the fact that there is no evidence to support this claim, we know it to be impossible. The battery specified is non-rechargeable — there is no charger that is compatible with it, so the charger found in the Las Vegas shooter’s hotel room cannot be associated with it. The entire conspiracy theory falls down around this point alone, but let’s briefly address some of its other components. Even if the charger could work with the type of battery specified (it cannot) we know that this battery is used “in both professional & consumer applications,” according to its manufacturer, Ultralife Corporation. There is nothing particularly notable about its use, or the use of the (imaginary) charger associated with it. Some of the common applications listed include: smart security cards, bank theft tracking systems, and medical devices. None of these are exclusive to U.S. special forces or the CIA. This appears to be accurate. Beilman’s public LinkedIn profile lists him as an employee of Ultralife from 2007 to 2012 and mentions that he performed “electromechanical assembly” of lithium ion batteries, chargers, and other devices. Whereas conspiracy theorists posited that Beilman “worked on various top-secret communications systems for the US military,” there is no evidence to support this claim. Given that police have paired the charger found in Stephen Paddock’s hotel room with one of his phones, and the battery at the center of this conspiracy theory cannot be charged anyway, John Beilman’s work history is, of course, irrelevant. There was no evidence to support these claims. It appears that the creators of this theory started with the fact of John Beilman and his daughter’s death, and worked backwards, via his professional history, in an effort to find some way of connecting him with the Las Vegas shooting. There is no valid connection, and the evidence offered actually refutes the entire theory. In fact, this tale was yet another fabrication that originated with the conspiracy-mongering WhatDoesItMean fake news site, which RationalWiki describes as follows: “Sorcha Faal” is the alleged author of an ongoing series of “reports” published at WhatDoesItMean.com, whose work is of such quality that even other conspiracy nutters don’t think much of it. There is a high chance that “Sorcha Faal” is actually David Booth, the owner/operator of the website, or someone collaborating with him. The primary audience of Sorcha Faal’s reports and the only ones who take them seriously are usually other conspiracy theorists. Each report resembles a news story in its style, but usually includes a sensational headline barely related to reality (e.g. “American Rebel Forces Attack Gas Pipelines, Explode Trains As US Civil War Nears”[8]) and quotes authoritative high-level Russian sources (such as the Russian Federal Security Service in the same article) to support its most outrageous claims. Except for the stuff attributed to unverifiable sources, the reports don’t contain much original material. They are usually based on various news items from the mainstream media and/or whatever the clogosphere is currently hyperventilating about, with each item shoehorned into the conspiracy narrative the report is trying to establish. Cited sources range from the mainstream media and Wikipedia to Infowars and Richard Hoagland. The author also has the habit of adding unnecessary links to the websites of the various Russian institutions they mention. Nonetheless, the WhatDoesItMean.com fabrication gained enough currency online that the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle felt a need to debunk it as well: If you get your local news from the Democrat and Chronicle or television news stations in town, there’s a lot you haven’t heard about the Fairport man who killed himself and his daughter. Namely that the man, John Beilman, was a “key witness” in the Las Vegas mass shooting and was “wanted by federal agents” in connection to the massacre. It isn’t true, but it’s been widely circulated online via social media courtesy of bogus news websites and their readers, most of whom are unschooled in news literacy and unable to parse fact from fiction. The Beilman-Las Vegas connection appears to have originated on a website called WhatDoesItMean.com in a report dated Oct. 7 under the bizarre byline of “Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers.” Faal is a suspected pseudonym of the website’s owner. Shoddy and fictitious sourcing, half-truths and bewildering leaps of logic are trademarks of her reporting. None of this has stopped her story from being circulated by websites known to publish schlock and sensational disinformation for the purpose of profiting through clickbait. Two such sites are Neon Nettle and USSA News, which bills itself as “The Tea Party’s Front Page.” From there, the story has been spread like wildfire on social media by unsophisticated news illiterates whose reality is so muddied they can’t tell truth from fiction anymore. It’s sad and dangerous and undermining our institutions. Is it coincidence that Beilman committed the murder-suicide within hours of the FBI search of his home? We don’t know for sure, but probably not. It’s very likely that the search motivated Beilman to act. What federal agents were looking for at Beilman’s house hasn’t been reported because the search warrant affidavit, which was signed by a judge authorizing the search, is under seal. The 1 October mass shooting in Las Vegas has prompted a slew of conspiracy theories and hoaxes, many focused on the involvement of “second shooter.” During a press briefing on the day after the massacre, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo directly rejected such theories:


More evidence coffee, tea could prevent diabetes

Explanation: In 400 words, this story did a better job than its WebMD competition did in 500 words on the same study, namely:   stating the limitations of such observational studies pointing to potential confounding factors in such a study  Nonetheless, it still:  didn’t provide any independent expert perspective passed along the researchers’ projections (for which independent expert reactions would have been appreciated) that "if the benefits turn out to be real, health care providers might begin advising patients at risk for diabetes not only to exercise and lose weight, but to drink more tea and coffee, too." The flip side is equally true: the benefits may not turn out to be real and that advice may be groundless.

There was no discussion of costs, but most people know what coffee and tea costs. Because the story noted the limitations of an observational study like this, and because it quantified the statistical associations from the study, we give it a satisfactory score on this criterion. There was no discussion of the potential harms of drinking large quantities of coffee and tea. There are always tradeoffs. This is worth at least a line. The story did mention that the information presented was extracted from a review of the published studies; it went on to explain that a clinical trial would be needed to determine whether the impact of these beverages on diabetes was real. The story did not engage in overt disease mongering. In contrast with the WebMD story, it provided a source when it stated, "Type 2 diabetes, which is often tied to obesity, affects about 8 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases." No independent sources were quoted in the story. We especially feel that this was warranted given the inclusion of the researcher’s bold claims of potential impact  of the findings. While the last line of the story mentioned exercise and diet, there was no context for readers to evaluate how coffee and tea consumption compared to these strategies for reducing the chance of developing type II diabetes. The availabilty of coffee and tea is not in question. The story began by explaining that this was a follow-up to a previous literature review of the impact of coffee and tea consumption on type II diabetes. There is no evidence that the story relied solely or largely on a news release.


A video shows a man demonstrating an invisibility cloak.

Explanation: "Quantum cloak is composed of quantum stealth material made into clothing."

A video purportedly showing a man demonstrating the abilities of his new invisibility cloak went viral in December 2017. Most English speaking internet users encountered this footage after it was shared on Facebook by “Shotded,” where it gained more than 22 million views within two days of its initial posting. However, this video originally gained traction when it was posted to the Chinese social media site Weibo on 4 December 2017 by 陈士渠 (Chen Shiqu), an internet user who claimed to be the Deputy Director of Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security:   [Translation Via Google Translate] Quantum cloak is composed of quantum stealth material made into clothing, which reflects the light waves around the wearer, allowing people wearing such clothes to achieve an “invisible” effect. This technology can be employed by the military for soldiers to use as “stealth military uniforms” and avoid detection by night-vision goggles. But if criminals use stealth clothing, what are police supposed to do!? The convincing video and the seemingly authoritative source led many to believe that this was an authentic invisibility cloak. Although Chen Shiqu does appear to truly be the Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau in China, this video does not appear on the official government web site (nor its Facebook page) and our search for a “quantum cloak” and “quantum steal material” yielded no results on the CIB web site. In short, the Criminal Investigation Bureau in China did not officially endorse this footage. Furthermore, Chen Shiqu did not create this footage. YouTube user 瞭望亞太  (Looking Asia Pacific) posted this video on 3 December 2017, a day before the supposed Deputy Director of China’s Criminal Investigation Bureau’s post. And although they claimed that this material was “Made in China,” this YouTuber didn’t provide any information about where or when this video was taken or who developed this groundbreaking material:   【国产量子隐身衣】量子隐身衣是通过量子隐形材料制作成衣服，透过反射穿衣者身边的光波，可以使得穿着这种衣服的人达到“隐形”的效果。此技术更可用于军事上，让士兵像穿上“隐形军衣”，还可以避过夜视镜。 【Made in China Quantum Invisibility Clinics】 Quantum stealth clothing is composed of quantum invisible materials made into clothing, which through the reflection of the light waves around the wearer can make people wearing such clothes achieve an “invisibility” effect. This technology can be employed by the military for soldiers to use as “stealth military uniforms” and avoid detection by night-vision goggles. Despite these audacious claims, the actual footage contains several clues that this invisibility cloak is nothing more than the result of video editing. At the 38-second mark, for instance, the presenter accidentally touches a plant with his leg. This creates two visuals that conflict with how we’d expect a real invisibility cloak to work. First, we see the plant “double” as the real plant (which was knocked by the man’s leg) moves and the digital plant remains in place:    A few moments later this plant can be seen shaking. But as the invisibility cloak covers it up, it instantaneously becomes motionless again. The motion of the plant resumes once it is no longer hidden behind the invisibility cloak:   This indicates that this invisibility cloak is actually some sort of green screen. The filmmaker shot footage of the background and then projected that image onto the green sheet in order to make it appear as if the man disappeared behind an invisibility cloak. When the man touches the plant, however, the background footage and the invisibility footage no longer match up, which causes the odd visuals seen above. Zhu Zhen Song, a producer for the Star Orange Quantum video production company, came to a similar conclusion. Song explained to the Shanghai Observer that this video was likely made with a blue or green cloth and a computer software program such as After Effect: 星橙量子视频制作公司的监制竺桢淞看完这段视频后向记者表示，这应该是用蓝色或绿色塑料布来拍摄，再通过后期抠像技术编辑而成的，有不少视频后期合成软件可以做出这样的效果，比如我们熟知的After Effect，以及Nuke和Fusion等软件。 竺桢淞解释了这段视频的大概制作原理。第一遍，先拍摄无人纯背景。第二遍，人物拿着蓝布再拍一遍。然后，用软件把蓝布部分抠除，把两次的视频合成，就出来了“隐形衣”这种效果。类似技术在电影上已经普遍使用，如各类科幻电影。 Star Orange Quantum video production company producer Zhu Zhen Song, after watching this video, told reporters that it was likely shot with blue or green plastic cloth, and then edited using one of many video effects software platforms, such as the well-known After Effect or Nuke and Fusion software. Zhu Zhen Song explained the principle behind this type of video production. The figure is shot against a solid blue background while holding a blue cloth. Then, software is used to replace the blue areas with other footage, creating an “invisible clothing” effect. Similar technologies are commonly used in movies, such as various science fiction films. Another indication that this video was digitally edited can be spotted just after the one-minute mark when the man’s fingers disappear despite being in front of the green screen:  Dozens of similar amateur videos can be found on YouTube. Although the following footage may not be as convincing as the viral invisibility cloak video, they both use similar editing techniques:


The Massachusetts health care plan is "wildly unpopular" among state residents.

Explanation: Laura Ingraham says Massachusetts health plan is "wildly unpopular"

National, Health Care, Polls and Public Opinion, Pundits, Laura Ingraham,

On the May 12, 2011, edition of the Fox News Channel's’ O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly and conservative commentator Laura Ingraham discussed a speech on health care given earlier that day by possible Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Romney’s speech was designed to draw distinctions between the Massachusetts health care plan passed when he was governor and the national health care law signed in 2010. In a separate item, we analyzed whether Romney was justified in calling the national law a "government takeover." Here, we’ll look at a comment Ingraham made regarding in-state public opinion about the Massachusetts plan. "Look, I like Mitt Romney," Ingraham said. "I think he's a really smart guy, and I think he would be a good president. ... On this, I don't get it, though, Bill. I mean, costs have gone up. It's wildly unpopular." We wondered whether the Massachusetts system was in fact "wildly unpopular" with Bay State residents. We found two polls that shed light on this question to one degree or another. One was conducted in early April 2011 by Suffolk University of 500 Massachusetts residents. In response to the question, "Do you think health care in Massachusetts is working?" the poll found that 38 percent said yes, 49 percent said no, and 13 percent were undecided. This would seem to provide a measure of support for Ingraham’s claim. However, the question was phrased more broadly than Ingraham’s claim because it referred to "health care in Masschusetts," which could include factors well beyond the state health plan, such as their own personal experiences with the specific doctors, hospitals and pharmacists they use. And even if the results were a direct commentary on support for the Massachusetts system, a split of 38 percent in favor and 49 percent against doesn’t indicate the state health care law is "wildly unpopular," as Ingraham said. Unpopular, perhaps, but not necessarily "wildly" so. A more appropriate yardstick for measuring the plan’s popularity is a survey taken by the Harvard School of Public Health with the Boston Globe in mid September 2009. Here are two questions that most directly address Ingraham’s claim. Both were asked of the 467 respondents who told the pollsters that they were aware of the law:  Given what you know about it, in general, do you support or oppose the Massachusetts Universal Health Insurance Law? Support: 59 percent Oppose: 28 percent Don’t Know: 13 percent  Do you think the Massachusetts Health Insurance Reform Law should be repealed, continued as the law currently stands, or continued but with some changes made? Repealed: 11 percent Continued as the law currently stands: 22 percent Continued but with some changes made: 57 percent Don’t know: 10 percent  The first question found residents support the law by more than a two-to-one margin. The second demonstrated that residents were not entirely satisfied with all of the law’s provisions, but it did show that support for outright repeal was low -- only 11 percent. A major caveat to the Harvard poll is that it was taken a year and a half ago, and sentiment may have changed since then. (Support for the law did drop by about 10 points compared to a 2008 Harvard poll.) Still, the Harvard data, despite being older, directly addresses Ingraham’s claim and indicates she was wrong. "The statement about the plan being ‘wildly unpopular’ is unfounded given available polling data," said Robert Blendon, the Harvard researcher who helped do the poll. As for the newer poll, David Paleologos, who directed the poll in question, said the question has value, while acknowledging that it is broader in focus. "It’s a snapshot of how people feel currently about Massachusetts health care," he said. "I think that’s all we can garner from the question. … Unless questions are identically worded, a lot of the comparison is left open to one’s opinion." On the advice of experts, we decided not to consider a recent customer satisfaction survey commissioned by the government agency that runs the state health insurance exchange created under the law. That study found that 84 percent of participants in the Commonwealth Care program rated it 4 or 5 on a five-point satisfaction scale, while only 4 percent said they were dissatisfied. Some news accounts mistakenly reported that this was a poll of all Massachusetts residents, but it wasn't, so we don't believe that it's a valid yardstick for assessing Ingraham's comment. We should note that an estimated 400,000 Massachusetts residents -- or only about 6 percent of people living in the state -- have secured health coverage as a direct result of the law, according to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts. That has enabled 98.1 percent of Massachusetts residents to secure insurance -- the highest rate of any state. But that also means that the impact of the law has been indirect for more than 9 of 10 Massachusetts residents. Residents need to include a certificate of insurance when they file their taxes. More important, but less tangibly, they may find their insurance costs or their taxes going up due to how the law has reshaped the insurance market. And there is evidence that the increase in number of insured residents in the state has put pressure on primary care physicians, potentially leading to longer waits for service. Still, one Massachusetts political analyst, Tufts University political scientist Jeffrey Berry, said he didn’t detect a groundswell of opposition to the law among residents. "Massachusetts voters, like voters everywhere, are unhappy with rising health care costs," Berry said. "They see that in their insurance premiums -- every paycheck and every year, the rates go up. The reform for the uninsured passed during the Romney administration is, itself, largely invisible. People know it's there but don't know how it's working (or, unless they're on it, don't know how it works). There's very little press coverage of the program. In Massachusetts there is simply no controversy about the plan at this point. Most telling is that there is no real organized opposition to it and no effort in the state legislature to revise it." Berry concludes that Ingraham’s "wildly unpopular" claim is "wildly exaggerated." Additional data from the Harvard poll supports Berry’s sense that it’s actually apathy -- rather than opposition -- that’s shaping views of the Massachusetts plan. The pollsters asked, "Generally speaking, do you think this health insurance law is helping, hurting, or not having much of an impact on the quality of your health care, the cost of your health care and your ability to pay medical bills if you were to get sick." Here are the results:  • On quality, 23 percent said the law was "helping," 14 percent said "hurting," and 55 percent said it was "not having much of an impact." • On cost, 19 percent said it was helping, 24 percent said it was hurting and 47 percent said it wasn’t having much impact. • And on people’s ability to pay their medical bills, 24 percent said it was helping, 14 percent said it was hurting and 53 percent said it wasn’t making much difference. In other words, for each of these three issues, either a majority or a plurality of respondents said the law wasn’t having a significant impact. So where does this leave us? The Harvard data contradicts Ingraham’s argument, showing a fair amount of support for the law in general alongside feelings that it’s not doing much for them personally. The Suffolk poll is more recent, but the question asked is too broad to speak directly to Ingraham’s claim. And we couldn't find any other support for Ingraham's claim.


Tidy Cats Lightweight brand cat litter causes breathing problems in cats.

Explanation: We are cat-lovers too, and our number one commitment is the health and well-being of pets. We conduct extensive testing of our litter products, including for dust and a safety review by a veterinary toxicologist of all materials used in the manufacturing process. Consumers can continue to purchase Tidy Cats with confidence.

In November 2015, social media rumors claimed Tidy Cats Lightweight cat litter was making pets ill (in particular, causing “breathing problems”):  Hearing cats experiencing severe respiratory issues and death from usage of Tidy Cats Lightweight Litter. I believe Tidy Cat lightweight litter either caused my cats death or contributed to it. She was 19 years old and had never been sick in her life. About 6 months ago or a little longer we started using this litter and about 4 months ago she started having breathing issues. After many trips to the vet and a lot of money spent we finally had to put her down about 3 weeks ago. The day we were taking her for her final trip to the vet we noticed that her feet were caked with this litter. Not only that but it was on her stomach. Also every place she had been laying for the past month was coated in cat litter as well. Multiple e-mails we received referenced Amazon.com  reviews (dating back as far as February 2014) that described instances in which cats were purportedly sickened by Tidy Cats Lightweight cat litter: … it took her coming down with strange upper respiratory infection symptoms and then spraying blood all over the floor of her room for me to realize what was wrong. This litter made her sick! The dust made it seem like she had a cold. Then she ingested some of the litter while trying desperately to get it out from between her toes, and it tore up her tummy. I was horrified. Originally the vet thought her bloody symptoms might have been due to an infection, but her tests came back clean. Then it dawned on me that it was all the litter. I mentioned that to the vets and they agreed. This litter may cause harm to your pets. Over the weekend an acquaintance of mine purchased this litter for the first time and her cat, who has never had any respiratory problems, began wheezing which escalated into a severe asthma attack and had to stay in an oxygen cage to recover. The cat now may have a lifelong asthma when she never had it before. Many people spoke of the dust hurting their lungs when scooping and their pets sneezing and wheezing after using their boxes. Please be aware of this product and what could happen. I have had to edit my review. The cat that was affected so severely by this litter has passed away. Stay away from this product. We bought this last week to replace the normal tidy cats formula that we use and we began seeing sneezing and respiratory issues with our cats and even with our dogs (even though they don’t use the litter boxes). We noticed a warning online about this formula and contacted Tidy Cats directly and were told to keep an eye on them and take them to the vet as needed. We were also informed that. and this was yesterday (5/14/2014) that they have received a large number of similar reports and that there had been a total of 7 deaths among cats reported to them in the past 5 days. Today, 5/15/2014, they received another report of a death as a result of their litter. One of our cats passed this afternoon due to severe respiratory issues. The other cats are being closely watched and we have removed all traces of the litter from the home. Depending on the outcome with the Purina company we may be filing a lawsuit against them. Clearly, the rumors about Tidy Cats Lightweight and respiratory problems in cats circulated for several months, at least via Amazon reviews. However, some of the top-rated reviews described anecdotal experiences with the product (via an acquaintance), others mentioned an unsubstantiated suspicion with which a vet purportedly agreed, and a third claimed she was “informed” of a cluster of cat deaths without indicating by whom she was given such information. (Did it come from Purina, or was it a social media rumor?) A Reddit user surmised their cat’s death was attributable to Tidy Cats Lightweight, but fellow users of the site pointed out that the pet in question was 19 years old at the time of its demise. Some versions of the rumor maintained that rather than altering the formula in response to the purported cat deaths, Purina opted to quietly compensate grieving pet owners to quash rumors: @TidyCats @howdycuz2 according to a friend of mine they’re paying people off when they complain — erika lauren (@erikalauren) November 18, 2015  We were unable to find any first-hand reports of Tidy Cats customers receiving compensation for illness or injury to their pets, though the image-based example seen above included a claim that a “friend” had received a $300 check from Purina for a portion of veterinary expenses. In response to Twitter queries about the rumor, the @TidyCats account responded:  @RussellMadison_ Pets are our passion. Rest assured all our products are completely safe. Reach out with questions: https://t.co/22GQLHNOud — Tidy Cats (@TidyCats) November 13, 2015  On 7 December 2015, we received a response from a Purina representative regarding an inquiry about the rumor: Tidy Cats Lightweight litter is safe for cats. We understand cat owners’ concerns when they see negative posts on social media, but the rumor about Tidy Cats LightWeight litter is not true. Unfortunately, social posts like this are often anonymous, based on hearsay, or contain unsupported information. People empathize and share the posts, which unfortunately spreads more confusion. Nearly half of all cat-owning households use Tidy Cats. As with any product used by more than 16 million households, consumers occasionally post on social media or contact us to express concerns, particularly when their pet is having other issues. We take every consumer inquiry seriously and encourage any consumer with a concern about their pet’s experience to consult with their veterinarian, and to call our toll-free number so we can better understand and address their specific concern.


Want to quit smoking ? Try acupuncture or hypnosis.

Explanation: Acupuncture and hypnosis have been promoted as drug-free ways to help smokers kick the habit, and there is some evidence that they work, according to a research review that looked at 14 international studies.

A man holds a cigarette in Tokyo August 3, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer Researchers, whose findings appeared in the American Journal of Medicine, said that there are still plenty of questions, including exactly how effective alternative therapies might be and how they measure up against conventional methods to quit smoking. But the alternatives should still stand as options for smokers determined to break the habit, said researchers led by Mehdi Tahiri of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In general, smokers who want to quit should first try the standard approaches, which include nicotine-replacement therapy, medications and behavioral counseling, Tahiri said. “But some people are not interested in medication,” he said, adding that in many cases the standard therapies had not worked. “Then I think we should definitely recommend (acupuncture and hypnosis) as choices.”   Researchers found that some studies showed that smokers subjected to acupuncture were more than three times as likely to be tobacco-free six months to a year later. Similarly, across four trials of hypnosis, smokers had a higher success rate with the therapy compared to people who had minimal help. But there were some caveats, researchers said. The success rate was not consistent in all the tests conducted, although the broad trends pointed to the benefits of alternate treatment. A 2008 study that ran a few sessions of laser acupuncture on 258 smokers found that 55 percent who’d received the treatment quit the habit in six months, compared with four percent who were not given the treatment. But a 2007 study from Taiwan that looked at needle acupuncture around the ear, the area typically targeted for smoking cessation, reported a lower success rate. Only nine percent of those who were given acupuncture had quit after six months compared with six percent who stopped smoking without the treatment. The situation was similar across the hypnosis trials. Two studies showed a significant impact : 20 to 45 percent of hypnosis patients were smoke-free six months to a year later. The other two trials showed smaller effects. Nonetheless, Tahiri said, there was a “trend” toward a benefit across all of the studies of acupuncture and hypnosis. There are still definitely questions, he added, about how many sessions of acupuncture or hypnosis might be necessary, or which specific techniques are best. Other research reviews, though, have concluded that the jury is still out on alternative therapies for quitting smoking. SOURCE: bit.ly/Khhv63


Pokémon Go developer Niantic is working on a Harry Potter version of the hugely popular augmented-reality game.

Explanation: While details remain sketchy so far, we have updated the rating on this page from “False” to “True” to update the new (augmented) reality.

Technology, harry potter go, hoaxes, jthxnews

Augmented reality game Pokémon Go was an instant hit after it was released in summer 2016. The fad led to rumor after rumor, including the potential for a Hogwarts-themed version of the game dubbed “Harry Potter Go.” What began as speculative memes and petitions developed into solid rumors that Niantic immediately decided to build upon its success by releasing a Harry Potter variant. Before long, the buzz transcended social media to reach news media, with reports that Harry Potter Go was set for a 2017 release. Some articles simply speculated, but outlets like Hello Giggles and NME reported in July 2016 that “Harry Potter Go” was definitely, well, a go: The creators of Pokémon Go are developing a Harry Potter version of the game. Niantic have announced that they will be making Harry Potter Go following the success of their Pokémon game. Since over 15 million users worldwide have downloaded Pokémon Go, fans of the J.K. Rowling books and films have been petitioning Warner Bros to create a Harry Potter game. Hello Giggles reports that Niantic’s senior developer Marcus Figueroa said the company had decided to create the game as “the demand for this title was absolutely insane, so we figured we’d give it a shot.” The story seems to have first appeared on JTXHNews, which referenced an apparently nonexistent interview with gaming outlet IGN: Niantic’s senior developer Marcus Figueroa announced the new project in an interview with IGN We have acquired the rights for the app. The demand for this title was absolutely insane, so we figured we’d give it a shot. If we’re lucky we might see a launch by early 2017, but it’s hard to tell this early in the project. When pressed for details, Figueroa had this to say We want to do something with schools of witchcraft and wizardry, similar to pokestops in Pokemon GO. As wells a quest system, and possibly large scale completely interactive events, but no promises. That’s all I can say. JTHXNews appears visually identical to hoax purveyors that spread viral fabrications claiming that celebrities are moving to (or experiencing flat tires in) small towns across Canada and the United States. On the same day NME reported that Harry Potter Go was in development, Gizmodo pointed out that no record of a “Marcus Figeroa” at Niantic exists, and no such announcement appeared anywhere other than a fake news outlet. Niantic made no such announcement in July or August 2016, and did not indicate that any plans for “Harry Potter Go” were in even the earliest planning stages. However, that doesn’t rule out a Harry Potter Go game eventually appearing, as Pokémon Go was first conceived as an April Fool’s Day hoax in 2014. On 8 November 2017, the “hoax” became reality when Niantic announced that it would be releasing a Pokémon Go-type augmented reality game for Harry Potter enthusiasts. The game will be called “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite”: We’re incredibly excited to announce this next step in the evolution of AR mobile entertainment. With Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, players that have been dreaming of becoming real life Wizards will finally get the chance to experience J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. Players will learn spells, explore their real world neighborhoods and cities to discover & fight legendary beasts and team up with others to take down powerful enemies. We’re thrilled to partner with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and WB Games San Francisco’s development team to bring this magical and beloved series to life in a brand new way. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will leverage the full stack of the Niantic Platform while also providing an opportunity to pioneer all new technology and gameplay mechanics.


Another Potential Benefit of Cutting Calories: Better Memory

Explanation: This newspaper report demonstrates how it’s possible for a reporter to do a competent job covering the news but fail to provide important information for readers. The study, which demonstrates that caloric restriction may improve memory in older people, delivers the essential findings adequately, mentions some key caveats, includes comments from three experts and places these findings in the context of previous work done with animals and humans. But the report fails to look beyond the narrow findings and answer important questions people will want to know as they [understandably] imagine how they might put these findings to practical use:  1. How much/little food did the restriction group eat? A 30 percent restriction for someone eating 2,000 calories per day is 1,400 calories; for someone eating 1,700 per day, that’s 1,190. Those are tough numbers. People would want to know that. 2. Is it clear the results were due to caloric restriction, not weight loss? This is the proverbial caveat big enough to drive a truck through, yet it was not mentioned. 3. Is it safe for older people–or anybody–to restrict calories by 30 percent? The failure to take up that last question is particularly serious. Older people who are not overweight could wind up malnourished if they tried to restrict their calorie intake by 30 percent. Other news organizations mentioned this prominently in their stories. The Times should have too.

Cost is not a major issue in this story. The story states that the caloric restriction group saw a 20 percent average improvement in memory performance. The report also describes the size of the group tested and the duration of the study. It would have been useful to know how memory was tested in order to appreciate what a 20 percent improvement means in practical terms. 20% of what? 20% that makes what kind of difference in daily functioning? Maddeningly, the story does not report how many calories the restriction group ate on a given day. The story mentions that some earlier studies found that caloric restriction was linked to memory decline. But it fails to mention one very important practical warning relevant to the study populations: That older patients are at increased risk for malnutrition, and should not restrict their caloric intake without medical superivision. Further, it’s not known whether caloric restriction is safe for slightly overweight or normal weight adults regardless of age. The article properly describes the basic limitations of the evidence: that the study is small and the results less than conclusive. But the report fails to mention two important caveats: That caloric intake was based on participants’ self-reports, a notoriously undependable way to determine diet compliance. That the data don’t rule out whether the improved memory may be linked to weight loss rather than caloric restriction. Finally, there’s one intriguing potential explanation that might have been explored: whether the cognitive improvements might be related to performing a new mental task daily for three months: Counting calories and logging food intake. On balance, the story receives an unsatisfactory rating under this criterion. The story does not exaggerate the severity or incidence of memory loss in older adults. The reporter interviewed one of the study researchers, a lead researcher in a related study and one independent expert. Other tactics have been shown to boost older adults’ memories, including aerobic exercise and some social and behavioral activities. But in this story, which focuses on a key finding about dietary restriction, it is not necessary to mention these options. The availability of caloric restriction is not in question. The story does a good job of briefly sketching out the history of caloric restriction testing in animals and people, making clear that caloric restriction is not novel. The story turned to several sources and did not appear to rely solely or largely on a news release.


WHO to reconsider declaring global emergency as China virus evacuations begin.

Explanation: Foreign governments flew their citizens out of the epicentre of China’s coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday, as the number of deaths jumped to 133 and the World Health Organization voiced “grave concern” about person-to-person spread in three other countries.

The WHO said its Emergency Committee would reconvene behind closed doors on Thursday to decide whether the rapid spread of the new virus from China now constitutes a global emergency. “In the last few days the progress of the virus especially in some countries, especially human-to-human transmission, worries us,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva, naming Germany, Vietnam and Japan. “Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak.”  There have been 6,065 cases of the flu-like virus in 15 countries worldwide - all but around 70 in China - according to the latest WHO figures. All the deaths so far have been in China, where the National Health Commission said there had been 132 fatalities as of end-Tuesday. Another death was reported in Sichuan province on Wednesday. The situation remained “grim and complex”, said Chinese President Xi Jinping, who on Tuesday had vowed to defeat the “devil” virus. U.S. President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Xi and his administration was working closely with China on containing the outbreak. Some major airlines suspended flights to China, and a senior economist predicted a major impact on growth. The WHO’s panel of 16 independent experts twice last week declined to declare an international emergency, but will re-evaluate the situation on Thursday. “We are at an important juncture in this event. We believe these chains of transmission can still be interrupted,” said Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme. Ryan also praised China’s response, saying: “They are taking extraordinary measures in the face of what is an extraordinary challenge.”  In many Chinese cities, streets were largely deserted. Tourist attractions were closed, while Starbucks coffee shops required people to have their temperatures taken and to wear masks. “It’s my first time here in Asia, I feel very unlucky,” said Brazilian tourist Amanda Lee, 23, cutting short a trip. “I couldn’t even see the places I wanted, like the Great Wall.”  Almost all the deaths so far have been in the central province of Hubei, home to about 60 million people and now under virtual lockdown. The virus emerged last month in a live wild animal market in the provincial capital Wuhan. “I was extremely worried that I was stuck there,” said Takeo Aoyama, who arrived in Tokyo on a chartered plane carrying 206 Japanese out of Wuhan as some governments began evacuating their citizens. The United States flew about 210 Americans out of Wuhan, to be screened several times on arrival in California. France said a first flight of French nationals would leave on Wednesday night and Britain said it would put 200 citizens on a charter plane on Thursday. Canada was also organising evacuations. The virus is weighing heavily on the world’s second-biggest economy, with companies cutting corporate travel to China and tourists cancelling trips. Various airlines are cutting flights, from British Airways and Lufthansa to Tanzania’s national carrier that postponed maiden flights. A government economist said the crisis could cut China’s first quarter growth by one point to 5% or lower as the crisis hits sectors from mining to luxury goods. Hong Kong stocks took a beating on the first day of trading after the Lunar New Year break. Casino and financial stocks led the Hang Seng index 2.5% lower to a seven-month trough. “In our view, the worst is yet to come,” securities firm Nomura said, warning of a severe, near-term blow to China’s economy. But in a potentially major step towards finding a vaccine, scientists in Australia said they had developed a lab-grown version of the virus, the first recreated outside China. The researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity said they would share the sample, grown from an infected patient, with the WHO and global laboratories in the hope of hastening immunisation and detection. The number of cases of the new virus in China now exceeds the 5,327 that were infected with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which also originated in China and killed about 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003. While some experts believe the new strain, known as “2019-nCoV”, is not as deadly as SARS, alarm has grown over its rapid spread and many unknown attributes. “There have been more cases in China, but so far with a lower death rate than the SARS outbreak,” said Michael Head, a health researcher at Britain’s University of Southampton. Like other respiratory infections, the new virus is spread by droplets from coughs and sneezes, with an incubation time between one and 14 days.


Explanation: Rumor has it that Maraschino cherries are produced using a toxic dye that has been banned for human consumption.

Maraschino cherries have long been familiar to Americans as those bright red, sweet cherries typically used to adorn cocktails, ice cream sundaes, and other drinks and confections. On 9 February 2015, a blog post titled “Maraschino cherries classified as decorations, not food; contain toxic, banned dye” stated that an atypical progression of regulatory classification in the U.S. led to the unusual circumstance of maraschino cherries being deemed purely decorative (rather than food) items and regulated as if they were not meant for human consumption, allowing them to continue to be manufactured with a dye that has since been banned for use in consumable products:  FD&C Red #4, also known as Scarlet GN, was banned as a food additive in 1960. Today it is banned in Europe; in the United States it is allowed only in externally applied drugs and cosmetics. It is not allowed in products that are applied near the eye. Despite this, Red #4 is added to Maraschino cherries. This has been happening because the US government considers the cherries decorations, not food. In the 1920’s, during the prohibition of alcohol in the United States, companies began soaking the cherries in a brine solution rather than alcohol. Chemicals and coloring, including Red #4, were added until 1960, when it was banned because it was not considered “suitable and safe” by the newly empowered FDA. In 1965, it was again allowed to be added to the cherries because they were re-classified as decorations. Keep in mind that not all Maraschino cherries are made with Red #4. Some contain Red #40 which contains benzidene, a human and animal cancer causing agent. It is broadly true the federal standards defining maraschino cherries shifted in the post-Prohibition era. In 1912 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) specifically defined “maraschino cherries” as “marasca cherries preserved in maraschino” (a form of liqueur) and required similar products made with other types of cherries and/or liqueurs be labeled as “imitation maraschino cherries.”  By 1940, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had revised that definition to pertain to any red-dyed cherries “impregnated with sugar and flavored with oil of bitter almonds”:  Food Inspection Decision 141, issued in 1912 under the Food and Drugs Act of 1906, stated that “maraschino cherries” should be applied only to marasca cherries preserved in maraschino. This decision further described maraschino as a liqueur or cordial prepared by process of fermentation and distillation from the marasca cherry, a small variety of the European wild cherry indigenous to the Dalmatian Mountains. Products prepared from cherries of the Royal Anne type, artificially colored and flavored and put up in flavored sugar sirup might be labeled “Imitation Maraschino Cherries” or, if there was no reference to “Maraschino,” might be labeled to show that they are preserved cherries, artificially colored and flavored. Later, evidence submitted at the hearing held in April 1939 for the purpose of establishing a standard of identity for canned cherries and evidence submitted by a committee representing a trade association showed that the term “Maraschino Cherries” had come to mean to the consumer cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar and flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor. As a result, TC-194, March 15, 1940, was issued in which it was stated that the Food and Drug Administration had reached the conclusion that “Maraschino Cherries” is the common or usual name of cherries prepared in this manner. Although it might seem intuitive this change was necessitated because the Prohibition-era ban on alcohol sales made the original form of maraschino cherries an illegal product, manufacturers were “using all sorts of things other than alcohol” to make maraschino cherries long before Prohibition was enacted in 1920 (which is why the USDA had taken the step of defining exactly what they were back in 1912), and the FDA didn’t redefine them as a non-alcoholic product until 1940, seven years after the end of Prohibition. It is also true after the FDA initially banned the use of Red No. 4. as a color additive in food, they allowed its continued use in maraschino cherries beginning in the mid-1960s. However, the FDA banned that coloring again in 1976 (along with Red No. 2, which was also commonly used as a coloring for maraschino cherries), and Red No. 4. may now be used only in “externally applied drugs and cosmetics.”  There is no exception allowing its use in maraschino cherries. The FDA requires the ingredients labels on containers of maraschino cherries must include “a declaration of the presence of the artificial coloring”:  Labels for “Maraschino Cherries” must bear a listing of ingredients, including those in the packing medium, in descending order of predominance in accord with section 403(i)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and a declaration of the presence of the artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, and any chemical preservative as required by section 403(k) of the Act. As can be seen from those labels, nearly all maraschino cherries sold in the U.S. are now manufactured with Red No. 40 (also known as Allura red), a coloring additive that is FDA-approved for use in “food, drugs and cosmetics:  Red No. 40 is approved as a food colorant in both the U.S. and the European Union (EU), although a few EU member nations (Denmark, Belgium, France, and Switzerland) have banned its use. Some confusion may stem from the fact that natural Red No. 4 (also known as carmine or cochineal) is still widely used in the U.S. as a coloring additive in food products (potentially including maraschino cherries), but the original Red No. 4 and natural Red No. 4 are chemically two very different substances. The latter is FDA-approved “for use in human food” (and, somewhat controversially, is made from the crushed carcasses of a particular South and Central American insect). So just which red food dyes are unquestionably safe? As Joan Callahan summed up the issue in 50 Health Scares that Fizzled:  At present, we regret to report that no available red food coloring seems entirely safe by any universally accepted criteria. Some of these dyes are potential carcinogens, if consumed at unrealistically huge doses. Others are made from squashed insects that not only sound icky, but may cause hyperactivity or allergic reactions in children. Some religions forbid consumption of anything that contains insects; others frown on the sacrifice of living animals as food. Are the products bad, or is the state of knowledge bad? One argument in favor of the latter is the fact that different countries allow the use of different red dyes. In other words, everybody seems to be interpreting the same data differently.


South Dakota launched a campaign against methamphetamine addiction with the tagline "Meth. We're On It.

Explanation: South Dakota’s $449,000 Anti-Meth Initiative Goes Viral — for the Wrong Reasons

South Dakota’s push to fight methamphetamine addiction won instant attention when it launched on November 18 2019 — but perhaps not for the reason Gov. Kristi Noem and state officials intended.According to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader newspaper, the state spent $449,000 on an advertising campaign promoting a treatment and education program around the state with the tagline “Meth. We’re On It.”The slogan, which resembles the term used for someone actually under the influence of the drug, is a truncated version of a remark Noem makes in a public service announcement running as part of the campaign.“South Dakota’s meth crisis is growing at an alarming rate,” she says in the PSA. “It impacts every community in our state and it threatens the success of the next generation. This is our problem and together, we need to get on it.”The ad concludes with an image of the state with the slogan in black text inside:The initiative will also include more than $1 million in funding for meth addiction treatment services as well as more than $730,000 for school programs aimed to prevent addiction among students.While the tagline made for easy laughs on social media, the effects of the drug on the state is no joke. In August 2019, state Corrections Secretary Mike Leidholt told lawmakers that 83 percent of court admissions in the state involved offenses involving controlled substances. Additionally, 28 percent of male prisoners and 64 percent of female prisoners for drug-related offenses were involved with methamphetamines in some capacity, compared to 14 percent of male and 24 percent of female prisoners nationally.