The company’s business “appears to be a pervasive fraud of rather extraordinary proportion,” Charles R. Gibbs, who is representing the trustee, told the judge overseeing the company’s liquidation. “Initial reports from these reviews indicate potentially systemic levels of fraud.”
by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,
Trust in media among Americans has hit a record low, according to a Gallup survey released on Oct. 2.
Just 28 percent of adults told Gallup that they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media.
That’s a decline from 31 percent in 2024, 32 percent in 2023, 40 percent in 2020, and a peak of 72 percent in 1976, shortly after Gallup first started asking about trust in the media in 1972.
In the latest survey, carried out Sept 2–26, 8 percent of respondents said they have a great deal of confidence in mass media, such as newspapers and television, to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.
Twenty percent said they have a fair amount of confidence, 36 percent of respondents said they have not very much confidence, and 34 percent said they have none at all.
When divided by party affiliation, Republicans were the most likely to say they do not have confidence in the media. Sixty-two percent of Republican respondents said they have no confidence, and 30 percent said they have little confidence. Just 5 percent expressed a fair amount of confidence in the press, with the remaining 3 percent expressing a great deal of confidence.
Among independents, 7 percent said they have a great deal of trust in the media, 21 percent said they have a fair amount of trust, 38 percent said they have not very much trust, 32 percent said none at all, and 2 percent said they did not know.
Most Democrats—51 percent—have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the media. While that was a majority of Democrat respondents, it is also a tie for the record low among Democrats. Thirty-nine percent said they have a little trust, 9 percent said they have no trust, and 1 percent said they were not sure.
Older adults were more likely to express trust in the media. Thirty-seven percent of adults aged 55 and older said they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media, compared to 21 percent of people aged 35 to 54 and 24 percent of younger adults.
“With confidence fractured along partisan and generational lines, the challenge for news organizations is not only to deliver fair and accurate reporting but also to regain credibility across an increasingly polarized and skeptical public,” Gallup stated.
The survey from September was conducted over the telephone with adults living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The results are based on a random sample of 1,000 respondents. The margin of sampling error was plus/minus 4 percent.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trust-media-among-americans-hits-record-low-gallup-survey
Momentum in Netflix cancellations hype and internet searches accelerated by the end of the week after Elon Musk and large X accounts, including Chaya Raichik's "Libs of TikTok", urged Americans to cancel subscriptions over what they described as pro-transgender messaging pushed by far-left elites to corrupt youth. Netflix appears to be aligning with the broader left-wing indoctrination agenda also present in public schools run by progressive activists, where children are radicalized with wokeism and Marxism and, by their teenage years, transformed into purple-haired "woke warriors" for the Democratic Party.
On Monday, the campaign against Netflix began with Libs of TikTok's post that highlighted that Dead End: Paranormal Park, created by Hamish Steele and produced by Blink Industries in partnership with Netflix Animation, and distributed by Netflix, created woke propaganda aimed at kids as young as seven years old. The post has since been viewed 33 million times.
Following Libs of TikTok's viral post, Elon Musk amplified the cancellation movement, telling his quarter-billion followers to “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.”
And again.
And again.
And again.
"Netflix is grooming our children," Musk said.
By early Friday, Musk, whose fortune briefly hit a half-trillion dollars earlier this week, told followers, "Netflix is deliberately choosing to pay people to create sexualized content for children. Freedom of speech should be respected, but this is PAID speech. Netflix is going out of their way and reaching into their wallet to push this."
X users en masse followed Musk's lead, amplifying the call to "cancel" Netflix over pro-trans propaganda targeting youth. This created a massive multiplier effect, spreading the message to an even broader audience.
By Friday morning, Google Search trend data shows an eruption in "cancel Netflix" searches ...
Related queries.
For Musk, the topic of "saving humanity" is deeply personal. He has previously stated he was "tricked" into authorizing trans-related medical treatment for one of his children. Maybe this explains his hate for woke media.
However, there may also be an underlying motive here: with X (the "everything app") and soon Grokipedia, Musk and his allies in the America First movement, along with tech investors, appear intent on seizing further control of cultural narratives.
The aim: erode messaging power from Democrats and their Marxist-aligned allies, who support indoctrination programs of young kids from the TV to the classroom that transform the youth into the Democratic Party's woke warriors by their teenage years.
To win the culture war, Musk and his allies need further narrative control. That could only suggest the evolution of the X platform could soon be a video streaming component. First discredit Netflix, then roll out a competing, non-woke alternative. That's how the game is played.
Just remember, the woke mind virus doesn't build; it destroys. That's why this toxic propaganda is aimed at the youth, while Democrats push globalist, nation-destroying agendas. Trump is attempting to reverse this anti-American agenda.
"There are so many disgusting animals in public life that we have allowed to fraternize with the rest of society to our absolute peril."
- Aimee Terese on "X"
Harvard, apparently, can never learn.
It has made itself the poster-child for all the failures of contemporary education, including the racketeering around endowments, government grant grifts, race and gender hustles, and intellectual surrender to ideas that would make medieval astrologasters burst out laughing.
Case in point: the university lately announced the hiring of a Boston-area drag-queen to teach a course in the spring semester of 2026 about the TV show known as Ru Paul’s Drag Race. The show features contestants vying for prizes and crowns based on “Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent” (C.U.N.T.). Get the picture? Reach into your Jungian psychology tool-bag.
This backwater of the arts was identified some years ago by the literary pop-star Susan Sontag as “camp” derived from the French se camper “to pose in an exaggerated fashion” depicting “unnatural artifice.” Camp is the theatrical cousin of kitsch, which is the celebration of bad taste, with histrionic overtones of exaggerated sentimentality.
Please understand: when you are watching drag-queens, you are not really seeing men posing as women. You are seeing men portraying women as monsters. You might surmise that these are men who labor under “mommy issues.” The giveaway is that they often banter onstage humorously about their male genitalia, and sometimes even attempt sneaky displays of such, which opens that behavior to interesting interpretations.
Harvard’s drag-queen du jour demonstrates all that nicely. Kareem Khubchandani, his legal name, is a professor of theater, dance, and performance studies at Tufts University.
Drag Queen LaWhore Vagistan a.k.a. Kareem Khubchandani
He also teaches “Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora.” As a drag star, he goes by the stage-name LaWhore Vagistan. This is how he describes himself to the news media: “[M]y preferred pronouns are ‘she’ or ‘aunty.’ I chose ‘LaWhore’ because my family traces its origins to Pakistan: Lahore is an important city in Pakistan, and well, I’m a bit of a whore. And Vagistan because I see the subcontinent as one, big, beautiful Vag … istan.”
Of course, his fascination with female genitalia, of seeing a whole nation in that guise, is a bit odd considering that A) he is a homosexual performer who is ostensibly not attracted to female sexual characteristics and lacks experience with them, and B) he is a male of the species who does not possess such organs himself. Therefore, on what basis would he have gained so much knowledge of female genitalia and developed such a powerful obsession around them as to imagine the whole country of his ancestors that way? Possibly, it has something to do with mommy. . . something that made her appear. . . unforgettably monstrous.
We will probably never know the answer to these quandaries, and they are somewhat secondary to the main question of Mr. Khubchandani’s employment in this connection at Harvard where young minds get molded to become the future managerial class of our nation. Other questions do present, though. For instance, did Harvard’s President Alan Garber know about this hire and sign off on it, and how would he say it fits Harvard’s mission? Or Provost John Manning? Or Hopi E. Hoekstra, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences? Or Harvard’s Board of Governors?
All this underscores an important lesson that America has apparently managed to unlearn, something that we once knew quite well: that marginal behavior belongs on the margins, not in the center of our national life.
The celebration of vulgarity for its own sake is arguably not the highest aspirational ideal for the best-and-the-brightest of our society, however amusing it might be in their hours of leisure, when people are free to pursue whatever lights their imaginations.
It also raises the question as to why would highly-educated women, say, the female faculty and admins at Harvard, virtually all PhDs, certified geniuses in their fields, go along with such a garish display of farcical disrespect for the female of the species, being officially showcased as part of Harvard’s curriculum? Do they see themselves as monsters who deserve mockery and objurgation? Do they enjoy watching a man enact such degrading psychodrama so as to diminish his manhood altogether? Does it signify some sort of conclusive triumph over “the Patriarchy?” (And how much of a good thing is that?)
Harvard happens to have a Psychology Department, including a PhD program in Clinical Science, Social Psychology, and Cognition, Brain, and Behavior, under chairman Matthew K. Nock, PhD. His official Harvard bio states:
“Nock’s research is aimed at advancing the understanding of why people behave in ways that are harmful to themselves, with an emphasis on suicide and other forms of self-harm. . . to better understand how these behaviors develop, how to predict them, and how to prevent their occurrence.”
Perhaps President Garber should ask Dr. Nock to audit LaWhore Vagistan’s upcoming course to see, for instance, how it speaks to the epidemic of transgender violence currently plaguing the USA. We need all the insight we can get.
Children reinfected with Omicron-variant SARS-CoV-2 were twice as likely to develop long COVID and a range of related symptoms as those infected only once, according to a retrospective cohort study of nearly half a million U.S. children.
Relative risk of developing post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), also known as long COVID, was 2.08 (95% CI 1.68-2.59) times greater among those with second COVID-19 infections compared with those with just one infection, said Yong Chen, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues.
Long COVID incidence rates among the kids with only one infection were 903.7 per million per 6 months, compared with a rate of 1,883.7 per million among those who had a second infection, they noted in Lancet Infectious Diseases.
That roughly twofold increased relative risk after reinfection held across subgroups, including among children and adolescents who were either vaccinated or unvaccinated.
"These findings emphasize the ongoing risk of PASC with reinfection, regardless of severity, and suggest that the risk of PASC might be cumulative with each successive infection," Chen and colleagues wrote.
The study may offer another message: Long COVID may be a long-term problem among kids.
"The take-home message from this study is clear: Long COVID is here to stay, even in children, and can be exacerbated by reinfections and sustained by high viral circulation," Danilo Buonsenso, MD, PhD, of Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS in Rome, said in an accompanying editorial. "Governments, healthcare systems, and funding bodies must act now by prioritizing long COVID as a major medical and research focus, enabling access to care, and ensuring children are not left behind."
Reinfection's greater risk also held up in a range of potential long COVID-related conditions and symptoms. Compared with one infection, reinfection was linked to a relative risk of 3.6 (95% CI 1.46-8.86) for myocarditis, 2.83 (95% CI 1.41-5.67) for changes in taste and smell, 2.28 (95% CI 1.71-3.04) for thrombophlebitis and thromboembolism, 1.96 (95% CI 1.69-2.28) for heart disease, and 1.90 (95% CI 1.38-2.61) for acute kidney injury.
Vaccination can cut long COVID risk by preventing infections, Chen and colleagues noted. But pediatric vaccination rates remain low, as does booster uptake in older children. "Strengthening public health messaging and expanding access to vaccination might help to reduce the burden of PASC in children," they said.
Prevention won't be enough to counter long COVID's public health impact, Buonsenso cautioned. "Finding a cure for long COVID needs to become a top research and healthcare priority," he said. "Dedicated pediatric long COVID research centers are urgently needed to facilitate access to future trials and ensure early diagnosis, symptom management, and psychosocial support."
The researchers analyzed electronic health records on 465,717 children and adolescents in the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, derived from 40 U.S. children's hospitals and health centers for patients younger than 21 years. Eligible participants had a documented COVID-19 infection after Jan. 1, 2022, when SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants had become dominant. SARS-CoV-2 infections were determined by positive PCR, serology, antigen tests, or COVID-19 diagnoses. The study ran from January 2022 to October 2023.
The primary endpoint was a clinician-documented long COVID diagnosis within 90 to 179 days after infection.
The study's secondary endpoints were 24 conditions and symptoms that may be associated with long COVID in pediatric patients. Other increased relative risks with a second infection were observed for fluid and electrolyte disturbance, arrhythmias, abnormal liver enzymes, fatigue and malaise, headache, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or dysautonomia, cognitive impairment, skin conditions, fever and chills, respiratory or cardiovascular signs and symptoms, and mental ill health, along with abdominal, general, chest, and musculoskeletal pain.
Patients' mean age was 8.2 years, and 50.2% of patients were male. Among the one-infection group, 42% were white, 15.3% were Black, 24.1% were Hispanic, and 5.4% were Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Among the reinfection group, those percentages were 45.4%, 15.7%, 25.5%, and 3.8%, respectively.
There were 208 long COVID diagnoses among the 407,300 children and adolescents with one infection, and 134 diagnoses among the 58,417 with a second infection.
Second infections were more common among adolescents ages 12 to 20 years, who accounted for 42% of all reinfections. Reinfection patients were also more likely to have obesity or a complex chronic condition.
Study limitations include missing at-home test results not captured in electronic health records, variability in providers' timing of long COVID diagnoses, and the possibility of greater long COVID documentation among reinfection patients, given that they tended to have greater healthcare utilization.
Disclosures
The NIH funded the study.
Chen had no disclosures. Co-authors reported relationships with AstraZeneca, Seqirus, Gilead, Sanofi, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, GSK, UpToDate, NIH, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the University of Missouri, and the i2b2 tranSMART Foundation.
Buonsenso disclosed grants from Pfizer and Roche.
Autism diagnosed during early childhood had a distinct genetic and developmental profile compared with autism diagnosed later, a large analysis of multiple cohorts showed.
The trajectory associated with earlier autism diagnosis had lower social and communication abilities in early childhood, reported Varun Warrier, PhD, of the University of Cambridge in England, and colleagues in Nature.
The trajectory linked with later autism diagnosis (typically, after ages 9-11) had more socioemotional and behavioral difficulties in adolescence.
Common genetic variants accounted for approximately 11% of the variance in age at autism diagnosis -- similar to individual demographic and clinical factors, which typically explain less than 15% of the variance, the researchers said.
The earlier diagnosis group had a low genetic correlation with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and mental health conditions. The later diagnosis group had stronger genetic correlation with ADHD and mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
The results challenge a long-held assumption that autism has a unified underlying cause. In the unitary model, genetic variants are expected to be the same, regardless of age at diagnosis. This study, however, found that each group had its own polygenic profile and the genetic correlation between the two groups was small (rg=0.38).
The term "autism" likely describes multiple conditions, Warrier noted. "For the first time, we have found that earlier- and later-diagnosed autism have different underlying biological and developmental profiles," he said in a statement.
Some genetic influences predispose people to show autism traits from a very young age and may be more easily identified, leading to an earlier diagnosis, Warrier pointed out.
"For others, genetic influences may alter which autism features emerge and when. Some of these children may have features that are not picked up by parents or caregivers until they cause significant distress in late childhood or adolescence," he explained.
"An important next step will be to understand the complex interaction between genetics and social factors that lead to poorer mental health outcomes among later-diagnosed autistic individuals," Warrier said.
The findings support the role of genes in autism, contrary to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s claims that autism is a "preventable disease." A recent CDC study identified one in 31 children as having autism spectrum disorder, due in part to greater awareness, stronger surveillance, and broader diagnostic criteria.
Core features of autism spectrum disorder include persistent difficulties in social communication and interactions, along with restricted and repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities, noted Elliot Tucker-Drob, PhD, of University of Texas at Austin.
"Clinical diagnostic criteria generally require that these symptoms be observed in early childhood," Tucker-Drob wrote in a accompanying editorial. "However, the age at which a person is first diagnosed with autism varies considerably, ranging from the first years of life to adolescence and adulthood, even in individuals who were screened in early childhood."
This study presents evidence that the developmental timing of autism diagnosis is "not simply an artifact of the challenges of identifying milder cases at early ages, but rather a primary feature that distinguishes distinct forms of autism," Tucker-Drob wrote.
Developmental timing is "just one possible axis along which autism subtypes can be differentiated, and it is possible -- if not probable -- that other mechanistically separable subtypes of autism exist that have yet to be identified," he added.
In their analysis, Warrier and colleagues incorporated behavioral data from childhood and adolescence in the U.K. and Australia, and genetic data from over 45,000 people in cohorts from Europe and the U.S.
The study has important implications about how autism is conceptualized and provides a model to explain some of the diversity found in autism, the researchers noted.
"It makes me hopeful that even more subgroups will come to light, and each will find an appropriate diagnostic label," wrote Uta Frith, PhD, of the University College London, on the U.K. Science Media Center website.
"It is time to realize that 'autism' has become a ragbag of different conditions," Frith continued. "If there is talk about an 'autism epidemic,' a 'cause of autism,' or a 'treatment for autism,' the immediate question must be, which kind of autism?"
Disclosures
Warrier reported no conflicts of interest.
One co-author received a speaker's fee from the Lundbeck Foundation; no other disclosures were reported.
Tucker-Drobb had no competing interests.
Frith had no conflicts of interest.
