Saturday, August 7, 2010

Vitaminwater ??? Talk About a Misnomer..Even the Producer..Coca Cola Admits it

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Now here's something you wouldn't expect. Coca-Cola is being sued by a non-profit public interest group, on the grounds that the company's vitaminwater products make unwarranted health claims. No surprise there. But how do you think the company is defending itself?

In a staggering feat of twisted logic, lawyers for Coca-Cola are defending the lawsuit by asserting that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage."

Does this mean that you'd have to be an unreasonable person to think that a product named "vitaminwater," a product that has been heavily and aggressively marketed as a healthy beverage, actually had health benefits?

Or does it mean that it's okay for a corporation to lie about its products, as long as they can then turn around and claim that no one actually believes their lies?

In fact, the product is basically sugar-water, to which about a penny's worth of synthetic vitamins have been added. And the amount of sugar is not trivial. A bottle of vitaminwater contains 33 grams of sugar, making it more akin to a soft drink than to a healthy beverage.

Is any harm being done by this marketing ploy? After all, some might say consumers are at least getting some vitamins, and there isn't as much sugar in vitaminwater as there is in regular Coke.

True. But about 35 percent of Americans are now considered medically obese. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight. Health experts tend to disagree about almost everything, but they all concur that added sugars play a key role in the obesity epidemic, a problem that now leads to more medical costs than smoking.

How many people with weight problems have consumed products like vitaminwater in the mistaken belief that the product was nutritionally positive and carried no caloric consequences? How many have thought that consuming vitaminwater was a smart choice from a weight-loss perspective? The very name "vitaminwater" suggests that the product is simply water with added nutrients, disguising the fact that it's actually full of added sugar.

The truth is that when it comes to weight loss, what you drink may be even more important than what you eat. Americans now get nearly 25 percent of their calories from liquids. In 2009, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, finding that the quickest and most reliable way to lose weight is to cut down on liquid calorie consumption. And the best way to do that is to reduce or eliminate beverages that contain added sugar.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola has invested billions of dollars in its vitaminwater line, paying basketball stars, including Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, to appear in ads that emphatically state that these products are a healthy way for consumers to hydrate. When Lebron James held his much ballyhooed TV special to announce his decision to join the Miami Heat, many corporations paid millions in an attempt to capitalize on the event. But it was vitaminwater that had the most prominent role throughout the show.

The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, alleges that vitaminwater labels and advertising are filled with "deceptive and unsubstantiated claims." In his recent 55-page ruling, Federal Judge John Gleeson (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York), wrote, "At oral arguments, defendants (Coca-Cola) suggested that no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitamin water was a healthy beverage." Noting that the soft drink giant wasn't claiming the lawsuit was wrong on factual grounds, the judge wrote that, "Accordingly, I must accept the factual allegations in the complaint as true."

I still can't get over the bizarre audacity of Coke's legal case. Forced to defend themselves in court, they are acknowledging that vitaminwater isn't a healthy product. But they are arguing that advertising it as such isn't false advertising, because no could possibly believe such a ridiculous claim.

I guess that's why they spend hundreds of millions of dollars advertising the product, saying it will keep you "healthy as a horse," and will bring about a "healthy state of physical and mental well-being."

Why do we allow companies like Coca-Cola to tell us that drinking a bottle of sugar water with a few added water-soluble vitamins is a legitimate way to meet our nutritional needs?

Here's what I suggest: If you're looking for a healthy and far less expensive way to hydrate, try drinking water. If you want to flavor the water you drink, try adding the juice of a lemon and a small amount of honey or maple syrup to a quart of water. Another alternative is to mix one part lemonade or fruit juice to three or four parts water. Or drink green tea, hot or chilled, adding lemon and a small amount of sweetener if you like. If you want to jazz it up, try one-half fruit juice, one-half carbonated water.

If your tap water tastes bad or you suspect it might contain lead or other contaminants, get a water filter that fits under the sink or attaches to the tap.

And it's probably not the best idea to rely on a soft drink company for your vitamins and other essential nutrients. A plant-strong diet with lots of vegetables and fruits will provide you with what you need far more reliably, far more consistently -- and far more honestly.

Man Calls 911 to Get Ride To Liquor Store

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ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A St. Johns County man was arrested after police said he called 911 to ask for a ride to the liquor store.

Police said 57-year-old George McMurrain had already called 911 twice Saturday night when he called to ask for a ride to buy alcohol.

That's when an officer went to the Budget Inn on Anastasia Boulevard to arrest McMurrain.

Dispatcher: This is 911.
Suspect: I need a, I need a -- a ride.
Dispatcher: You need a ride?
Suspect: Yes, to the liquor store.
Dispatcher: Um.
Suspect: Sheriff said she'd give me a ride.
Dispatcher: OK, you're going to have to call somebody else, sir. You called 911. We can't come give you a ride.
Suspect: Even the sheriff said she'd give me a ride.
Dispatcher: The sheriff said they'd give you a ride to the liquor store?
Suspect: That's correct.
Dispatcher: Wrong.

McMurrain is charged with misusing 911.

An officer said he also saw a small amount of marijuana while arresting McMurrain, who is also charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.

Chinese man jumps in front of train for internet fame

A 28-year-old dare devil said he filmed himself as he jumped onto the tracks in front of a train on the Shanghai subway, as he thought it would be an "exciting" thing to do. On July 24, at 10:30pm local (02:30 GMT), Mr. Tang was the only person on the platform when he filmed the train approaching and then jumped down onto the tracks, lying down between them as the train came to a halt over him.

Security camera footage showed the entire incident - and Tang climbing back onto the platform as an anxious train conductor came out to see what happened. Tang told the driver that he had accidentally fallen onto the tracks. But the video footage clearly showed Tang willingly jumping down onto the tracks, so it wasn't long before investigators caught up with him.

Police said the driver braked the train immediately when he spotted Tang jumping down, then he came out of the train and found that Tang was not injured. Tang admitted he did the stunt for fame - thinking that it would make him popular on the internet.

After being detained by police, Tang gave the reasons for his reckless actions. He said, "(I thought) if I filmed from under the train, I would get a great view down there as the train passes over. I thought it would be interesting, so I wanted to do it. If it is posted on the internet, it would get lots of clicks and be very exciting."

Superman Saves Family's Home From Foreclosure

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72 years after he made his first appearance, Superman is proving that he's still got what it takes to do good and help people. A family in the US who were about to lose their home have been saved from the streets... thanks to a comic featuring the Man of Steel.

The family, who wish to remain anonymous, had taken out a second mortgage on their home in order to start a business. Sadly, the business failed and they couldn't keep up with bills, so were faced with the spectre of foreclosure and losing the home that had been in their family for over sixty years.

As they were packing their belongings and preparing to move out, the family found a mysterious box full of comics in the basement - no-one had previously been aware of its existence. Anyway, among the contents of the box was a hallowed copy of Action Comics no.1 from 1938, the very issue that Superman made his car-lifting debut on the cover.

In fact, so hallowed is this issue it has sold at auction in the past for $1.5million, making it THE most valuable and collectable comic in the world (only 100 are thought to exist). The family's copy is set for auction in September and, due to its quality, is expected to go for around $300,000 which not only saves the house but also gives the family plenty of extra cash to play with.

So, while Superman is still saving the day even at his pensionable age, spare a thought for the other characters who shared the pages of Action Comic no.1 with him - Zatara Master Magician, Sticky-Mitt Stimson and Scoop Scanlon: Five Star Reporter. They reside in the most sought-after comic of all-time yet, by a simple twist of fate, have been consigned to oblivion by the man in tights hogging the cover.

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Fan snares Munsters star after 45 years

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A US woman who had a crush on Munsters star Butch Patrick as a child had her dream come true after she tracked him down and he fell in love with her.

Donna McCall, 55, sent a fan letter to Mr Patrick, who played boy werewolf Eddie Munster, when she was just 10 years old, reports the Daily Telegraph.

In her letter, she asked the child star how tall he was because girls at the time were making gum wrapper chains long enough to match the height of their boyfriends.

Decades later, an article about a man who holds the gum wrapper chain world record triggered Ms McCall's memory of her preteen idol. She found his e-mail address and a correspondence began.

Divorcee Ms McCall, who lives near Philadelphia, sent a picture from her cheerleading days and photos of herself doing activities such as scuba diving, trapeze lessons and racing car driving.

Mr Patrick, 57, said: "That intrigued me a lot. She's single, she's beautiful, she's in the nicest part of the country and she likes to do adventurous things. I figured I had to meet this woman."

The pair agreed to meet on May 8 at a horror convention outside Pittsburgh called DraculaCon.

"I think a lot of people... thought there was something special going on between us," Ms McCall said. "It was just very comfortable, very easy."

Within weeks, Mr Patrick, who has homes in Los Angeles and Florida, moved to Pennsylvania to be with Ms McCall.

But the couple deny reports that they have got engaged: "It's not that it's not going to happen, but one day at a time, so to speak," said Mr Patrick.

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Illinois Family Terrorized By Raccoon

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The scratching on the ceiling started in June, and on Sunday morning the unthinkable happened.

"It broke through the ceiling and fell on the bed of my son," said Maria Gomez, explaining how a raccoon landed in bed with her 9-year-old son, Enrique.

"He kicked it and then woke up his brother. They were both screaming they were so scared," she said, referring to his younger brother, Jonathan, 5.

"My dad almost touched the raccoon," said Enrique, after he came into the room to see what all the screaming was about. After getting the two boys out they closed the door and called police, who called animal control.

That was when the real destruction took place. Besides the one-foot-by-one-foot hole in the ceiling, the raccoon tried to get out the window and destroyed the window blinds and chewed almost all of the wood on the window frame trying to get out. One wall showed traces of blood where the animal tried to claw its way through the drywall to escape from the room.

"The animal control woman said we had to throw all this stuff out," said Gomez, because of the blood and feces everywhere in the room.

Her daughter, Karla, 12, said the raccoon was so strong it moved the cage that the animal control officer placed it in. The raccoon also rattled the window frame, cracking the glass, before it was caught.

"You could hear the racket (in the room) as it was destroying stuff," she said.

Lake County Illinois Animal Control said the raccoon was fierce, but it was healthy and was released back into the wild. Under state law, only skunks have to be euthanized when caught.

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Gomez is not happy with landlord Norman Hayes about the house at 37227 N. Hillside Drive because she told him about the raccoon in the attic in June.

"He didn't believe me. He said, 'Oh come on, Maria. A raccoon?'" she said.

They had told Hayes there were two holes, an entrance and an exit.

He was unavailable for comment.

So now the family is moving to Water's Edge apartments in Lake Villa. The kids are excited.

"My brother said he wants my mom to give him the keys now so he can move in," Karla said.

Repairmen showed up on Monday and Tuesday to clean, disinfect and patch the holes in the bedroom.

"He (Hayes) didn't say sorry or anything," said Gomez. She figures with the new clothes she had to buy for her boys and the new deposit for a new home, the move will cost her hundreds of dollars, but it's worth it.

"We're moving out. We can't keep living like that," she said.

now THIS is a storm front

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