The media made their fair share of nasty comments and skewed remarks in 2021, but there were also instances where reporters (or entire networks) deliberately misled their audiences.
Theranos jury returns to deliberations after deadlocking on three counts
The jury weighing fraud charges against Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes told the court it is unable to reach a unanimous verdict on three of the 11 criminal counts she faces, according to a note from the panel read aloud in court on Monday morning.
Jurors in the high-profile Silicon Valley trial had been deliberating for seven days after a trial that chronicled the missteps of the now-defunct blood testing startup. Over the course of 15 weeks, federal prosecutors called 29 witnesses, outlining missteps and alleged fraud Holmes committed during her 15-year reign as CEO.
In response to the note, US district judge Edward Davila gave the jury what is called an Allen charge, encouraging them to deliberate further.
China’s Hostile South Pacific Takeover
This October, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) convened, via video link, the first foreign ministerial conference with nearly 20 Pacific Island states. On December 3, the Chinese quickly followed up this initiative by establishing “The China-Pacific Island Countries Reserve of Emergency Supplies.”
China’s diplomatic offensive in the South Pacific suggests yet another effort to replace the US as the world’s primary superpower and install its authoritarian values instead.
Taliban pour 3,000 litres of alcohol into Kabul canal amid crackdown
A team of Afghan intelligence agents poured about 3,000 litres of liquor into a canal in Kabul, the country’s spy agency has said, as the new Taliban authorities crack down on the sale of alcohol.
Video footage released by the General Directorate of Intelligence showed its agents pouring alcohol stored in barrels into the canal after seizing it during a raid in the capital.
$29,000 for an average used car? Would-be buyers are aghast
DETROIT (AP) — A couple of months ago, a woman paid a visit to Jeff Schrier’s used car lot in Omaha, Nebraska. She was on a tight budget, she said, and was desperate for a vehicle to commute to work.
She was shown three cars priced at her limit, roughly $7,500. Schrier said the woman was stunned.
″‘That’s what I get for $7,500? ’” he recalled her saying. The vehicles had far more age or mileage on them than she had expected for something to replace a car that had been totaled in a crash.
The woman eventually settled on a 2013 Toyota Scion with a whopping 160,000 miles on it. Schrier isn’t sure he made any profit on the deal. “We just helped her out,” he said.
Democrats Look To Primary Biden In 2024: ‘Deeply Unpopular,’ ‘Old As S***,’ ‘Largely Been Ineffective’
Progressive Democrats will reportedly look to primary President Joe Biden in 2024 as dissatisfaction with the president grows within the party.
Politico reported that some in the party are now talking about treating him like former President Jimmy Carter, who was challenged in a primary in 1980.
Secret Commandos with Shoot-to-Kill Authority Were at the Capitol Riot
On Sunday, January 3, the heads of a half-dozen elite government special operations teams met in Quantico, Virginia, to go over potential threats, contingencies, and plans for the upcoming Joint Session of Congress. The meeting, and the subsequent deployment of these shadowy commandos on January 6, has never before been revealed.
h/t SP
Elon Musk launches Tesla showroom in Xinjiang amid Uyghur genocide allegations
Tesla announced it opened its first store in Xinjiang on New Year’s Eve, a week after President Joe Biden signed a law banning imports tied to forced labor in the region where the United States says the Chinese government is conducting genocide against Uyghur Muslims.
Tesla, the world’s largest electric vehicle company, touted the new car showroom on a Chinese social media website called Weibo. The company is led by Elon Musk, who has gone all-in on investing in China as he praises the Chinese Communist Party. All the while, the U.S. is relying on another Musk company, SpaceX, to launch satellites and astronauts into space.
Jerusalem Post targeted by pro-Iranian hackers on Soleimani assassination anniversary
The Jerusalem Post website was hacked by pro-Iranian hackers in the early hours of Monday morning, with a photo of a model Dimona nuclear facility being blown up and the text “we are close to you where you do not think about it” in English and Hebrew placed on the Twitter and website.
The photo also showed a ballistic missile falling from what appears to be a representation of the hand of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Sunday night marked the second anniversary of the US assassination of Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020.
Tom Fitton head of conservative activist group Judicial Watch says Chinese-owned TikTok permanently banned him
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said he was permanently banned from TikTok, the popular social media video platform with China-based ownership.
The head of the conservative activist group said he was removed from TikTok without an explanation.
“Well, the communists running @tiktok_us just ‘permanently banned’ my account. No warning,” said Mr. Fitton on Twitter.
Leading British Girls Schools Won’t Accept Legally Male Trans Applicants
The Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), which represents 23 all-girls private schools and two academies across Britain, updated its admission policies saying that it won’t accept any applications from individuals who are “legally male”.
Trump, Ivanka, Don Jr subpoenaed by NY attorney general
NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James recently subpoenaed former President Donald Trump and his two eldest children, demanding their testimony in connection with an ongoing civil investigation into the family’s business practices, according to a court filing made public Monday.
The subpoenas for Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and his daughter Ivanka Trump stem from an investigation “into the valuation of properties owned or controlled” by Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, the filing said.
Messages seeking comment was left with lawyers for the Trumps and James’ office.
TDS is running high of late.
Virginia Giuffre: Prince Andrew accuser’s 2009 deal with Jeffrey Epstein made public
Virginia Giuffre agreed not to sue anyone connected to Jeffrey Epstein who could be described as a “potential defendant”, a 2009 damages settlement against the sex offender shows.
The document, disclosed by a New York court, reveals the financier paid her $500,000 (£371,000) to end her claim.
Ms Giuffre is suing the Duke of York in a civil case for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.
He has consistently denied the claims.
Ms Giuffre alleges that 20 years ago she was trafficked to the prince by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
The agreement may also be viewed at the link below.
U.S. Catches Kremlin Insider Who May Have Secrets of 2016 DNC Hack
(Bloomberg) — In the days before Christmas, U.S. officials in Boston unveiled insider trading charges against a Russian tech tycoon they had been pursuing for months. They accused Vladislav Klyushin, who’d been extradited from Switzerland on Dec. 18, of illegally making tens of millions of dollars trading on hacked corporate-earnings information.
Yet as authorities laid out their securities fraud case, a striking portrait of the detainee emerged: Klyushin was not only an accused insider trader, but a Kremlin insider. He ran an information technology company that works with the Russian government’s top echelons. Just 18 months earlier, Klyushin received a medal of honor from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. had, in its custody, the highest-level Kremlin insider handed to U.S. law enforcement in recent memory.
Ontario moves school online, closes indoor dining & gyms as part of sweeping new COVID-19 measures … usual fat cats like pro sports and film biz get a pass
Ontario is moving schools online for at least two weeks, temporarily closing indoor dining and gyms and pausing non-urgent medical procedures as it faces record-high case counts that, according to public health officials, threaten to overwhelm the province’s health-care system.
Premier Doug Ford announced the changes at a morning news conference Monday. He was joined at the announcement by his ministers of health, education and finance, as well Ontario’s chief medical officer of health and the CEO of Ontario Health.