Extra, Extra

FDA For Effort? “One might assume the US drug regulator, which dates to the 19th century Division of Chemistry, leads the mission of testing drugs. In fact, the FDA resists the idea of grading drugs by quality and rarely conducts tests of its own.” There are probably a lot of details you didn’t know in this Bloomberg Gift Article: The Pentagon Wants to Root Out Shoddy Drugs. The FDA Is In Its Way. And an interesting look at the drug industry from a patient’s perspective from Neil Barsky: I reversed my type 2 diabetes. Here’s how I did it.

+ Box Out: When it comes to news about strikes, you may be tempted to ignore them until something actually happens. But this one will hit close to home for a lot of people. Like as close as the front stoop. Wired: The Pilots Delivering Your Amazon Packages Are Ready to Strike.

+ Facial Recognition: “Users could have their faces scanned to prove their age, with extra checks for young-looking adults, draft guidance from Ofcom suggests.” BBC: UK p-rn watchers could have faces scanned.

+ Don’t Mask, Don’t Tell: “Responding to the persistence of violent crime and high-profile incidents of retail theft, Philadelphia is on the cusp of becoming the first major American city to pass a widespread ban on ski masks, which legislators there argue have been used by criminals seeking to avoid identification.”

+ Flower Power: “It wasn’t until the first Spanish settlers arrived in Mexico in the 16th century that the plant was specifically linked to the Christmas season.” How the Christmas poinsettia became a $213 million industry in the US.

+ Messi Ah: “Few could have imagined this scene—the pink sea of fans losing their minds over their new local sensation—seven months earlier as Messi kissed the World Cup trophy, finally securing the ultimate prize that had long eluded him.” Lionel Messi is Time’s Athlete of the Year. (You could also easily make the argument for Novak Djokovic who won three of four tennis grand slams at the age of 36.)