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☆ China spent years angrily trying to shut down the theory that COVID-19 came from its labs. It failed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China has pushed another theory, suggesting the COVID-19 may have jumped to humans from frozen food shipped from elsewhere in the world. Lab leak theory initially dismissedThe suspicion that COVID-19 may have leaked from a Wuhan lab has circulated since the earliest days of the pandemic. Trump sought to use the pandemic to discredit China, using the xenophobic term "China virus" to describe the disease. A group of scientists criticised the WHO for dismissing the lab leak thesis too hastily, and pointed to gaps in the report's evidence. Yet the lab leak theory has continued to gain credibility, despite China's efforts, and scientists who once dismissed it now think it's a credible explanation.

☆ DeSantis' new memoir skips juicy details about his life that could emerge in a presidential bid. Here's what he left out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

DeSantis published his first memoir, "The Courage to Be Free," on TuesdayThe book is widely viewed as laying the groundwork for a presidential run. DeSantis doesn't mention his gap year between Yale and Harvard, when he taught at the elite Darlington School. DeSantis writes extensively about his legislative victories in his book, but not about the legal battles that have ensued. DeSantis writes nothing about the January 6 attack on the Capitol to overturn the election results, nor does he address Trump's false claims about election fraud. He also, without naming Trump, writes about "the dangers of truning over the country to the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci" during the pandemic.

☆ Fact Check-Unfounded claims that Mother Teresa trafficked children circulate online
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

There are no credible reports of Mother Teresa being involved with child trafficking, or “selling babies,” during her life, contrary to claims being shared by social media users online. A Reuters report that same year says the Indian government had ordered investigations into the organization following trafficking concerns (here). While there is plenty of reporting about the 2018 incident, Reuters found no reports to support the claim that Mother Teresa herself sold babies or was involved in child trafficking (bit.ly/3xuRIWY). Reuter has debunked the previously circulating claim that Mother Teresa was Fauci’s mother (here). There are no reports to support the claim that Mother Teresa was involved in child trafficking.

☆ House GOP asks Fauci and dozens of health officials to testify in investigation into Covid origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

House Republicans have asked former White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony to testify before Congress as they launch a new investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. "If there are oversight hearings I absolutely will cooperate fully and testify before the Congress," Fauci told reporters during his final briefing at the White House. He stepped down from his posts at the White House and at the helm of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December. EcoHealth Alliance provided funding, which originated at NIH, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study coronaviruses. About $600,000 of that money went directly to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study the threat posed by bat coronaviruses.

☆ Bill Gates says he was surprised at being targeted by COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and 'people were looking for a boogeyman'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bill Gates told the BBC he was surprised by some COVID-19 conspiracy theories. He said he thinks people were "looking for a boogeyman" around vaccines. Several COVID-19 conspiracy theories have surrounded Gates in recent years. Gates has also joked that he was more often the target of conspiracy theories than Anthony Fauci, former chief medical advisor to the president of the United States, because he's more known internationally. Representatives for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did not reply to Insider's request for comment made outside normal working hours.

☆ Elon Musk uses Tesla earnings call to brag about how popular he is on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk answered a question on Tesla's earnings call by saying how popular he is online. He talked up his 127 million Twitter followers and said his account might be the most interacted with across social media sites. On a Wednesday call with investors in his car company, Musk talked up how popular he is on his newly acquired social network. "Let me check my Twitter account. Musk, who now leads Twitter, Tesla, and several other ventures, praised Twitter's potential for driving sales and encouraged more companies to use the platform.

The only HIV vaccine in a late-stage trial has failed, researchers announced Wednesday, dealing a significant blow to the effort to control the global HIV epidemic and adding to a decadeslong roster of failed attempts. “I don’t think that people should give up on the field of the HIV vaccine,” Fauci said. Fauci said that a critical limitation of the Mosaico vaccine was that it elicited what are known as non-neutralizing — as opposed to neutralizing — antibodies against HIV. As with the Thai trial, the hope is to channel research findings into future HIV vaccine development. To prove a vaccine works, researchers must recruit participants who remain at substantial risk of HIV over time.

☆ David Kessler, top health official for Covid vaccines, to leave Biden administration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

David Kessler, a key official in the Biden administration's Covid vaccine and treatment efforts, is stepping down from his role as chief science officer, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday. Since January 2021, Kessler has played a leading role in the development and roll out Covid vaccines. Kessler, 71, is the latest Covid response official to step down at President Joe Biden's two-year mark in office. The Biden administration and health officials have had to combat misinformation and conspiracy theories about Covid vaccines during their rollout. The latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 78.8% of U.S. adults have completed their primary series of Covid vaccines.

☆ Fed-up Tesla owners say they're so sick of Elon Musk's antics that they're ditching their cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some Tesla owners are done with the electric-car brand over Elon Musk's antics. We spoke to three Tesla owners who say Musk has made them rethink their relationship with the brand. Perkowitz is one of many Tesla owners rethinking their allegiance to the brand as Elon Musk becomes an increasingly erratic and polarizing figure online. "Elon was a really good reason to buy the car," Perkowitz told Insider. "I've been kind of stalling waiting for Elon to come to his senses and say something that makes sense," Perkowitz said.

☆ Anthony Fauci says he has 'no idea' what Elon Musk's talking about after the Twitter chief threatened to release the 'Fauci Files'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Anthony Fauci said he has "no idea" what Elon Musk is talking about in regard to the "Fauci Files." Musk teased the release of the files following his previous criticism of the medical expert. Fauci told the CBS News podcast "The Takeout": "I have no idea what he's talking about. Meanwhile, journalists appointed by Musk have been discussing several controversies arising from what have been called the "Twitter Files." They include internal discussions regarding the decision to ban former President Trump from Twitter following the deadly Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.

Democrats will wield an expanded 51-seat Senate majority and control the presidency. We need to be cutting spending,” McCarthy told reporters after a meeting with Senate Republicans on Dec. 21. There’s so much discombobulation and disunity on different sides of the Republican caucus,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters before the holiday recess. Conservative lawmakers say a GOP House should block a debt limit increase without major policy changes to rein in spending. Some House Republicans are already calling to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his department's handling of immigration policy.

☆ Elon Musk teases release of the 'Fauci Files,' following his previous scathing criticism of the medical expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said the next Twitter Files release would include information about Anthony Fauci. Musk targeted the doctor and scientist in December by tweeting: "My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci." Musk targeted Fauci in early December when he tweeted: "My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci." Meanwhile, journalists appointed by Musk have been discussing several controversies arising from what are known as the Twitter Files. But the Twitter CEO and some freelance journalists are annoyed that the Twitter Files haven't received more support from the press.

☆ Trump won't be able to terminate the US Constitution but a Republican-led effort to rewrite it continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Advocates on both sides of a long-running effort to rewrite the Constitution will face off again in 2023. Meckler's organization is one of the largest players in the Article V push. Article V requires there to be 34 states for a convention to be formed. Convention of States is not alone in its pursuit of the Article V movement. Outside of Convention of States, efforts to call a convention to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment also continue.

☆ Happy New Year! In 2023 kick out Trump, Elon Musk, Kanye and Depp
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Lynn Stuart Parramore | Lynn Stuart Parramore Is A Cultural Historian Who Studies The Intersection Of Culture | Psychology | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

Though in far different fields, men like Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Johnny Depp and Sam Bankman-Fried will forever be linked by this ignominious characteristic. Over the past 12 interminable months, America has witnessed the rantings of Hitler-loving Ye; Musk’s edgelord trolling on his new plaything, Twitter; Depp and his toxic TikTok fanboys; and Trump being Trump on any given day. While seemingly not vain like Ye or Depp or openly thuggish like Trump and Musk, he nonetheless exhibits traits that point to something sinister behind the “just-a-regular-dude” persona. Trump seems to be losing ground, and Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee finally took down their “Kanye. Musk asked Twitter users whether he should step down as CEO, and they voted “yes.”Unfortunately, until we address roots causes, there will always be another blustering bully, another Trump, another Ye.

☆ An Economic New Year’s Resolution: Sober Up, America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Daniel Henninger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Looking back at a mess of a year, it seems possible to blame the Covid pandemic for just about everything. The pandemic pushed many off their A-game, and in public life most of the bad things that happen are caused by bad judgment. Sam Bankman-Fried ’s customers thought that with cryptocurrency, money was finally growing on trees. Republican primary voters heard voices and nominated too many losers. Vladimir Putin lost his mind in the ethers of Great Russia nationalism.

☆ Elon Musk claimed Twitter employees had a Slack channel called 'Fauci Fan Club' in reference to the White House's chief medical advisor
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk claimed Twitter once had a Slack channel that was a fan club for Dr. Anthony Fauci. Musk's claim came after he slammed Fauci for his role as the White House's chief medical advisor. "Despite these glaring issues, Twitter nonetheless had an internal Slack channel unironically called "Fauci Fan Club"," Musk tweeted. Since Musk took over Twitter in late October, employees have been careful about what to post on the company's Slack. Platformer reported in November that some Twitter employees started removing Slack messages out of fear of Musk not liking the content.

☆ U.S. records 100 million Covid cases, but more than 200 million Americans have probably had it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The U.S. officially recorded more than 100 million cases as of Tuesday, just under one-third of the total population, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Covid-19 has easily infected more than 200 million in the U.S. alone since the beginning of the pandemic — some people more than once. "There are have been at least 200 million infections in the U.S., so this is a small portion of them," Frieden said. The estimate was based on a survey of commercial lab data that found about 58% of Americans had antibodies as a result of a Covid infection. The more than 21 million additional confirmed cases on top of the CDC's February estimate of about 187 million total infections gives a low-end estimate of more than 208 million infections since the pandemic began.

☆ Elon Musk was challenged about his pronoun comments by a Tesla investor who has a trans child
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Tesla investor challenged Musk on his jokes about pronouns in a Twitter Space on Thursday. In a Twitter Space for Tesla investors where Musk was a speaker, a participant asked him about his recent language but got a cagey response. Musk said he did not, but added: "It does bother me that people will use pronouns to just be super judgmental. The investor pushed back on Musk's comments and said it felt like he was "punching down to a really marginalized group" with his comments about pronouns. In 2020, he tweeted: "I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic [sic] nightmare."

☆ Elon Musk’s Twitter obsession isn’t the core reason for Tesla stock’s plunge
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —A popular misconception has emerged about Elon Musk and Tesla: The megabillionaire’s love affair with Twitter is the main reason Tesla shares have lost so much value this year. Investors have been disappointed that Musk appears to be paying for so much of his $44 billion purchase of Twitter by selling Tesla stock. Musk, Tesla’s largest shareholder, has sold $23 billion worth of Tesla shares since his interest in Twitter became public in April. On Thursday’s Twitter Spaces call, Musk promised he was done selling shares of Tesla stock until at least 2024, if not beyond. But he hasn’t lived up to a previous promise in April that he was done selling Tesla shares, selling $14.4 billion of that stock since that time.

☆ Turned off Tesla by Elon Musk? Here are 4 great electric alternatives to its sedans and SUVs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Instead of a Model S, consider:The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580. Tim Levin/InsiderTesla's Model S sedan has historically been the electric car against which all new EVs are measured. Instead of a Model X, consider:The Rivian R1S. Rivian SUVs are backordered into oblivion as the company ramps up production, but they are available lightly used. Tim Levin/InsiderThere's a swarm of small electric SUVs on offer from Ford, Volkswagen, Audi, Volvo, and more.

☆ Man who threatened to kill CDC head pleads guilty to charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

— A Mississippi man who threatened to kill Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky has pleaded guilty to making threats in interstate commerce, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Robert Wiser Bates, 39, of Ridgeland, threatened to kill Walensky in voicemails left in July 2021 at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, court records said. He also said he would kill Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to the president. In August, a West Virginia man was sentenced to three years in federal prison after he sent emails threatening Fauci and another federal health official for talking about the coronavirus and efforts to prevent its spread. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

☆ Elon Musk could lose control of Tesla if the automaker's stock keeps tumbling, ex-Facebook security chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk could face activist investors as Tesla's stock falls, an ex-Facebook exec warns. Activist investors buy up big stakes in public companies and then agitate for change — sometimes in the board room. Stamos was previously Chief Security Officer at Facebook and he was also previously Chief Information Security Officer at Yahoo. Last week, some Tesla investors expressed concern that Twitter had become too much of a distraction for the carmaker's CEO. Tesla's stock was trading a little over $150 a share late Friday.

☆ Ron DeSantis outflanks Trump on the right with his call for Covid vaccine probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Ron DeSantis was positioning himself to get to the right of the former president over the issue of Covid vaccines. DeSantis, who is mulling whether to challenge Trump in the 2024 Republican primary for president, deepened those suspicions Tuesday. That’s his record,” said Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Trump and an outspoken critic of DeSantis. The poll also showed DeSantis ahead of President Joe Biden in a theoretical general election matchup by 47%-43%, but Biden topped Trump 47%-40%. “So the only option for DeSantis to pose a challenge to Trump is to attack him on the vaccine.

What is it with Elon Musk and pronouns? The implication that respecting someone’s pronouns is somehow an imposition that could potentially result in ostracizing is also wildly off base. And if you can’t even accept something as basic as someone’s pronouns and identity, you’re making it pretty clear that you do not support their civil rights and liberties. The implication that respecting someone’s pronouns is somehow an imposition that could potentially result in ostracizing is also wildly off base. At the end of the day, it costs nothing to respect someone’s pronouns.

Twitter on Monday disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a group of volunteers who offered the company outside expert advice about online safety, according to an email seen by NBC News. "As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this." Holmes added, "Over past week several members of council have had their personal safety and well-being impacted by the actions of Twitter staff." Some members of the council recently sparked an argument over the company's handling of child sexual exploitation material. Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, responded: "this is false."

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