Published32 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Mike WendlingBBC NewsRobert F Kennedy Jr has downplayed his anti-vaccine views in his run for the US presidency, but a podcast appearance has put them front and centre once again.Mr Kennedy, who’s seeking the Democratic party nomination for president, is facing controversy after raising his anti-vaccine views on the Joe Rogan podcast. He appeared on the massively popular series – known for its wide-ranging conversations and a range of guests, including a number with controversial or pseudoscientific views – last Thursday. Now he’s facing pushback for repeating several disproven statements that he’s made as head of anti-vaccine charity Children’s Health Defense. Among them was the widely debunked idea that vaccines cause autism.The controversy has focused attention on Mr Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views – something he’s mostly avoided talking about on the campaign trail.Peter Hotez is dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and a professor at Baylor College of Medicine. He’s also been a guest on Mr Rogan’s podcast, but on Twitter called the interview with Mr Kennedy “just awful”. The doctor says that prompted a wave of abuse. It also spawned offers by Mr Rogan and others to donate large sums of money to charity if Dr Hotez debates Mr Kennedy about vaccines. Mr Kennedy tweeted: “Let’s finally have the respectful, congenial, informative debate that the American people deserve.” Dr Hotez has so far turned down the offers. In interviews he has said he’s willing appear again on Mr Rogan’s show but that he does not want to argue with Mr Kennedy.Mr Kennedy belongs to America’s most famous political family, though he made his own name through legal work for environmental causes. For years he’s also been a major figure in the anti-vaccine movement. In 2005 he published an article in Rolling Stone and Salon, claiming a link between vaccines and autism. It was later withdrawn by both news organisations after criticism and fact-checking.His profile has been on the rise along with the rest of the anti-vaccine movement, which seized on the Covid pandemic to advance its agenda.In 2021, Mr Kennedy was named as one of the main spreaders of anti-vaccine falsehoods – one of a so-called “disinformation dozen” – in a CCDH report. Children’s Health Defense has sued the BBC and other organisations, alleging that violations of US anti-trust laws resulted in censorship of the group’s viewsBiden launches 2024 re-election campaignAnti-vaccine Kennedy to challenge Biden in 2024Despite the heightened profile for his foundation, Mr Kennedy has not put his vaccine views at the centre of his campaign for president. During a nearly two-hour speech to kick off his campaign in April, he criticised Covid lockdowns, government spending, corporate power and Donald Trump. But he only briefly mentioned vaccines and didn’t dwell on his anti-vaccination activism.Likewise, his campaign web site highlights his positions on the environment and civil liberties, rather than the issue that supercharged his popularity on social media and prompted several other Kennedy family members to disavow his campaign.One simple explanation for the omission is that Mr Kennedy’s stances on vaccines are not very popular in his own political party.Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit that works against disinformation, told the BBC that “being an anti-vaxxer is still a minority pursuit in the United States”.”So he’s sticking to a more general anti-establishment schtick,” he says. “He’s working really hard to keep people from knowing he’s a hardcore anti-vaxxer.”Mark Schmitt, a research director at New America, a left-leaning think tank, said Democratic voters “overwhelming say” they are in favour of vaccines, including the Covid jab. Mr Schmitt notes that the picture among Republicans is more mixed, although generally more favourable than not. He credits name recognition with Mr Kennedy’s popularity among Democrats. Mr Kennedy, the 69-year-old son of assassinated Senator Robert F Kennedy, is challenging incumbent Joe Biden. While his campaign is viewed as a long shot, several recent opinion polls suggest he has the support of around 20% of Democratic voters.”He’s saying, I’m someone fresh but recognisable, I’m not from the establishment but you know my family,” says Mr Ahmed. The BBC contacted Spotify, which hosts the podcast, and Mr Kennedy for comment. More on this storyAnti-vaccine Kennedy to challenge Biden in 2024Published6 AprilFour claims from Joe Rogan’s podcast fact-checkedPublished31 January 2022

Published6 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Mike WendlingBBC NewsTennessee’s governor has signed laws banning drag performances in front of children and restricting medical treatment for transgender youth. Civil rights and LGBT groups vowed to sue to stop the medical treatment measure from taking effect on 1 July.Violators of the new drag law, meanwhile, face nearly a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500 (£2,100). Governor Bill Lee enacted the laws as questions were asked about an old photo apparently of him in women’s clothing.When it comes into force next month, the drag law will ban performances “harmful to minors” by “go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators” in public places or venues where they could be viewed by children.The statute is the first of its type to be enacted in the US after a recent flurry of similar laws proposed in Republican-run states.Governor Lee, a Republican, has rejected allegations he is being hypocritical by signing the law. He has faced questions over a photo posted over the weekend on Reddit labelled “Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in drag”, purportedly from a 1977 school yearbook photo. The person in the picture seems to be wearing a cheerleader’s uniform, curly wig and a pearl necklace. Image source, RedditMr Lee was asked about the photo earlier this week during a press conference. “What a ridiculous, ridiculous question that is,” he responded, without confirming or denying the authenticity of the image. “Conflating something like that to sexualised entertainment in front of children, which is a very serious subject.”His office later issued a statement: “The bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualised entertainment, and any attempt to conflate this serious issue with light-hearted school traditions is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families.”What exactly the law will prohibit is still unclear. One of its sponsors, state legislator Chris Todd, previously called drag shows “child abuse” no matter what they contain, according to the Tennessean newspaper. But other Republicans say the law would not broadly affect drag shows that are legal under Tennessee’s existing laws on obscenity.Opponents of the law, including the state legislature’s Democrats, argue that this new legislation is redundant because they say sexualised performances in front of children are already illegal under Tennessee law.Image source, Getty ImagesBills to restrict drag events have been introduced in recent months in at least 14 different states, according to Pen America, a free-speech organisation.Drag performances at libraries, which usually involve reading storybooks to children, have been the target of protests by religious organisations, parents’ groups, right-wing activists, and extremists including the Proud Boys. Opponents say such shows aim to groom or sexualise young children. Performers and LGBT groups say the events are age-appropriate and educate children about being different. LGBT groups say they are worried about the potential chilling effect of the law. Chris Sanders, of the Tennessee Equality Project, says drag show organisers in the state are considering cancelling or delaying performances until there is clarity around the legislation.The law restricting medical treatment for transgender youth prohibits doctors from providing hormones or surgical treatment for minors, with a few limited exceptions. Children and teenagers under 18 who are already receiving such treatment can continue to receive it until April 2024.Doctors who violate the law could be fined up to $25,000 (£21,000) per procedure. House Majority Leader William Lamberth, a Republican, said children are not mature enough to make “life-altering” decisions about such operations or medication.”These treatments and procedures have a lifetime of negative consequences that are irreversible,” he said, reports the Tennessean.But the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, an LGBT civil rights organisation, said they would sue to stop the legislation from being enforced. “We are dedicated to overturning this unconstitutional law and are confident the state will find itself completely incapable of defending it in court,” the organisations said in a statement. Enforcement of similar laws in other states, including Alabama and Arkansas, has been paused by lawsuits.More on this storyDrag queen story hour in the US Bible Belt20 February 2019Drag queen claims embroil embattled US congressman27 January

Published11 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingBy Mike WendlingBBC News, East DubuqueStrange corners of the internet are awash with chatter about miracle devices that can cure nearly any ailment you can think of using the power of mystical energy. Some companies charge thousands for these “medbeds” – but their claims are far from proven.A converted motel in a small town on the Mississippi River seems an unlikely home for a world-changing technology – what a flyer in the mostly deserted lobby calls a “new wave of scientific healing”.But since last summer, this building in East Dubuque, Illinois – three hours west of Chicago – has been outfitted with medical devices that supposedly imbue patients with “life force energy”. It’s one of a number of locations run by Tesla BioHealing – no relation to the car company – dotted around the US.I tried out a medbed on a recent gloomy weekday afternoon. After being greeted at the front desk, a doctor tested my energy levels by having me place my fingers inside a metal box.Then I was ushered into one of the rooms, mostly unchanged from its motel days, and I waited for “pure biophoton life-force energy” to stream into my body.The idea of medbeds – short either for “medical beds” or “meditation beds” – has become increasingly popular on fringe medical channels, on mainstream social networks and chat apps.But people have very different ideas about what they actually are. Some insist that the technology is secret, unlikely to be encountered by mere mortals, hidden from the public by billionaires and the “deep state”. The more conspiratorial theorising includes speculation about “alien technology” and bizarre claims like the idea that John F Kennedy is still alive, strapped to a medbed.A separate, more earthly avenue of thought holds that medbeds are very real and publicly available, just not part of the medical mainstream. It’s this strand that Tesla BioHealing and a range of other companies are staking their rather expensive claims on. Tesla BioHealing offers home generators for prices up to $19,999 (£16,500), although an hour in one of their medbed motel rooms will only set you back $160 (£130).But even in the consumer-focused medbed world, where there is no talk of aliens or JFK, there’s disagreement about what a medbed actually is. And there’s a very good reason for that, says Sara Aniano, a disinformation analyst at the Anti Defamation League’s Centre on Extremism.”It’s really hard to define something that doesn’t exist,” she says.Ms Aniano has been researching the spread of medbed chat online, and as part of her inquiries signed up for trial with a different medbed company, 90.10.”The trial is nothing,” she says. “It tells you to lay on your bed and think really hard about the medbed.””In their defence, they do list on their website in the very fine print down at the bottom that the medbed is not meant to treat or diagnose illnesses,” she says.It’s a common disclaimer that we saw used in some form by just about every company offering a medbed-related product. Even though companies put out long lists of ailments that can supposedly be helped by their technologies, and provide testimonials from satisfied customers, they say that their products are not meant to replace treatments by a qualified doctor.Tesla BioHealing is no exception. The top of the company’s website clearly states: “We cannot diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition.”And yet their promotional material states: “Many people note improvements in their wellbeing even after only an hour of resting on a Tesla MedBed.” They also make a number of specific, unsupported claims about particular diseases.Image source, Tesla BioHealingThe staff at the Tesla BioHealing motel in East Dubuque told me about legions of customers with all manner of ailments, all of whom they said had been helped by medbeds. But in my room, I felt nothing more than curiosity and a slight sense of unease as I gazed out the window at a mostly empty car park. The Tesla Medbed cannisters were sealed in wooden boxes and a bedside table.Cutting short my hour, I returned to the doctor’s office where she repeated the test with my fingers in the metal box. Sure enough, my energy, as measured by the doctor’s laptop, was already rising.But neither the doctor nor anyone else at Tesla BioHealing could tell me what was inside the medbed cannisters themselves.Some enterprising customers have taken it upon themselves to try to find out. We came across a TikTok video where an upset punter appears to have opened up a cannister, only to find a concrete-like substance.”For anyone who’s thinking about buying one of those Tesla biohealers, don’t waste your money,” she says.The company wouldn’t be drawn on what active ingredients, if any, are inside the cannisters. But they told us in an email: “There is much more going on with our technology than meets the eye.”And while they said the Tesla cannisters were not intended to replace a doctor’s care, they also made further claims of cures and said: “Health benefits are priceless.” Both Tesla BioHealing and 90.10 pointed us to thousands of positive customer testimonials. And despite the prominent claim on the company website that 90.10 offers “Quantumfrequency medicine with scientific proof”, 90.10 chief executive Oliver Schalke told us: “It is not a medical product and was never intended to be.”How, then, are the medbed companies allowed to offer their products, hint at miraculous effects, but escape any regulatory oversight?Image source, 90.10Dr Steven Barrett, a retired psychiatrist who has been investigating questionable claims for decades, says the health care regulator in the United States – the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – is partly to blame.”FDA registration is required by any manufacturer who wants to market products, but it just means that you’ve notified the FDA that you exist,” he says.Tesla BioHealing and other companies advertise that they are FDA registered – but that is next to meaningless.”FDA registration says nothing about whether a device is useful,” says Dr Barrett.When it comes to making vague claims about general well-being or unprovable statements about increased energy, authorities “do almost nothing about it”, he says.He speaks with a note of weariness, perhaps because of a lack of “biophotons” but more likely the result of spending decades tracking dubious health claims.”Do I think that exposure to whatever it is that they’re giving you in the bed is going to make you more energetic? I seriously doubt that,” he says. Indeed, as I began a long evening drive home from East Dubuque under cloudy skies, I felt distinctly lacking in life force energy.With reporting by Elizabeth Hotson and Shayan Sardarizadeh