Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 2/3

[SVPete]

Mainstream Media Breathlessly Covered an Alleged Hate Crime in Which White Kids Forced a Black Classmate To Drink Urine. It Was a Giant Hoax.

https://freebeacon.com/media/mainstream-media-breathlessly-covered-an-alleged-hate-crime-in-which-white-kids-forced-a-black-classmate-to-drink-urine-it-was-a-giant-hoax/

It was a story that received blanket media coverage in March 2021. It alleged that white middle schoolers in Plano, Texas, viciously "tortured" SeMarion Humphrey, their black classmate, forcing him to drink their urine at a sleepover as they shot him with BB guns. A Black Lives Matter activist group charged the local public school district with doing "nothing" to stop "this racially motivated hate crime" as violent protests broke out outside the home of Asher Vann, the white child alleged to have organized the brutal attack.

Major media outlets, including NBC, CBS, CNN, Business Insider, People magazine, the Daily Mail, and the Dallas Morning News, pounced on the story as Humphrey, his mother Summer Smith, and their attorney Kim Cole, embarked on a media tour where they called Vann "evil." The trio appeared on Good Morning America, where ABC host Linsey Davis promoted a GoFundMe account that raised nearly $120,000 to help pay for Humphrey’s "therapy and private schooling."

Racial activist groups added fuel to the fire. The NAACP dressed down the leaders of the Plano school district in a town hall that they described as the beginning of an "open partnership" spurred by the alleged hate crime. The Next Generation Action Network, a Black Lives Matter-tied group whose leader alleged Humphrey was "tortured for days" by his white assailants, organized public marches that drew hundreds of protesters.

And then, a little under five years later, a racially diverse Texas jury—including four black members—ruled the whole thing was a hoax.

On Jan. 22, Texas district court judge Benjamin Smith ordered Smith and Cole to pay $3.2 million in damages to Vann, now an adult attending his first year of college, for intentionally smearing him and tarnishing his future earning potential during their media tour in 2021. The ruling followed a civil trial in October 2025, where the jury determined that Cole and Smith cooked up the scheme to raise their public profiles during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement and to rake in money through GoFundMe.

It took nearly 5 years for Asher Vann to get a modicum of justice. 5 bleeping years of being subject to possible racist demonization from Progs and blacktivists.

What are the odds there's a DU thread about this hoax-hate-crime?

[SVPete]

Hurt Feelings at CNN As CEO Turns Staff Struggle Session Over Scott Jennings Into Teachable Moment

https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2026/02/02/cnn-meeting-discussion-about-scott-jennings-n2198750

As the old saying goes, though, even a broken clock is right twice a day, which is where we find ourselves with the failing media outlet after reports that an "all-hands" meeting held last Wednesday ended up turning into a struggle session of sorts over conservative powerhouse and Salem News Channel talk show host Scott Jennings.

Because Jennings is unafraid to tell the unvarnished truth about the state of things in America from a conservative standpoint, he's triggered a great many of his fellow panelists (and CNN colleagues) on the Abby Phillip-anchored show "NewsNight."  Mounting frustration over their inability to control Jennings and the non-PC terms he uses set off the leftist staff of CNN to demand from CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson that Jennings be "reined in."

But a surprisingly refreshing thing happened during this meeting. Thompson pushed back, not only letting the staff know that commentators are not bound by the same terminology constraints as supposedly unbiased journalists are, but that the debates Jennings has sparked on the program are much-needed as part of their programming and capture the "actual debates" on policy that are playing out across the country:

CNN won't shackle its token conservative? How shocking?

[SVPete]

Democrat Stacey Plaskett Called Epstein Her 'Friend,' Gave Disgraced Pedophile Exclusive Information About Her Legislative Work: Text Messages

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/democrat-stacey-plaskett-called-epstein-her-friend-gave-disgraced-pedophile-exclusive-information-about-her-legislative-work-text-messages/

U.S. Virgin Islands delegate Stacey Plaskett (D.) called Jeffrey Epstein her "friend" in newly released text messages and provided the sex offender with exclusive non-public details about her legislative work, directly contradicting Plaskett's claims about her relationship with Epstein.

In a Sept. 24, 2018, text message, Plaskett thanked Epstein, a longtime campaign donor and Virgin Islands resident, for his "support" and asked if it would be "presumptuous" of her to "consider you a friend."

"Privileged to be called friend," replied Epstein, who was arrested 10 months later on charges of trafficking dozens of women and girls for sex. He killed himself in jail on Aug. 10, 2019.

In an exchange on Feb. 27, 2018, Plaskett informed Epstein that the IRS had extended a tax break for residents of the Virgin Islands after hurricanes hit the territory.

"You're the first person I told," Plaskett confided to Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for sex. "Don't say anything yet," she added, telling Epstein she was going to issue a press release announcing the IRS decision.

"Great work," said Epstein, who reportedly saved more than $300 million in taxes through various shell companies in the Virgin Islands, a popular tax haven for the rich and powerful.

That Plaskett and Epstein were friends, long after at least some of his perversions became known (2009, IIRC), is not news. It's mentioned in several November and December Cave threads, but this article has info not previously made public. What Plaskett shared bordered on giving Epstein illegal insider information.

[SVPete]

CBS News contributor Peter Attia ‘ashamed’ as crude, ‘indefensible’ emails with pal Jeffrey Epstein emerge — and his job is on the line

https://nypost.com/2026/02/02/media/peter-attia-admits-hes-ashamed-of-epstein-friendship-as-cbs-news-reportedly-planning-to-ax-him/

Anti-aging influencer Peter Attia admitted Monday that he’s “ashamed” of his “tasteless and indefensible” emails with late pal Jeffrey Epstein — as CBS News mulled axing him just days after announcing his new gig as a contributor, a source told The Post.

Attia, 52, issued the groveling apology just days after his chummy correspondence with the convicted sex trafficker came to light in the Epstein files drop late last week — including an email in which he told the pervert that “p—y is, indeed, low carb.”

“I apologize and regret putting myself in a position where emails, some of them embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible, are now public, and that is on me. I accept that reality and the humiliation that comes with it,” the celebrity doctor said in a lengthy statement on X.

What is quoted, at least, was at least awful, crude locker-room talk. Depending on the context, it could have suggested or revealed interest or participation by Attia in Epstein's Perverts' Paradise.

[SVPete]

CDC Warns Vaccinated People Can Still Get Measles

https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/cdc-warns-vaccinated-people-can-still-get-measles-5980063?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport&src_src=partner&src_cmp=BonginoReport

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning people that even those who have received a measles vaccine can still contract the disease.

“Although vaccinated individuals are at low risk of acquiring measles, breakthrough infections can still happen,” the CDC said in a Feb. 2 post on X.

Dr. Ralph Abraham, the CDC’s new principal deputy director, wrote in a letter published Feb.1 in The Wall Street Journal that “although immunization coverage for measles is superior in the U.S. compared to peer countries, we can’t rely exclusively on vaccination.”

Officials pointed to a Jan. 29 report in the CDC’s quasi-journal that detailed how an unvaccinated person who lives outside of Colorado traveled through the Denver International Airport in 2025 while infectious with measles.
An investigation uncovered nine secondary cases and one tertiary case associated with the traveler’s international flight and time in the airport. Of those 10 cases, five occurred among people who had received two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine before exposure, researchers with the CDC and health institutions in Colorado said. One other person may have received a vaccine in the past.

Blame whomever you want for the misunderstanding, vaccines are not and never have been magic silver bullets (or mithril armor) totally preventing infection by the target virus or bacterium. What actually happens is that there is a time delay between the disease organism entering a person's body and the person's immune system recognizing, producing antibodies for, and destroying the disease organisms. In that time, the infection process begins in which reproduction of the virus/bacterium starts. The duration of that time delay is a matter of chance, how long before the disease organism is detected.

[SVPete]

BREAKING: Getting Hairy in Hormuz: US Shoots Down Iranian Drone, Iran Confronts US Tanker

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/02/03/getting-hairy-in-hormuz-us-shoots-down-iranian-drone-iran-confronts-us-tanker-n3811500

Perhaps we should adjust the timeline for action on Iran. The Iranians keep signaling they want it.

The US Navy shot down a drone launched from Iran that came too close to the USS Abraham Lincoln, in the most serious confrontation yet since the US destroyed three nuclear facilities in June:

In an emailed statement Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said the drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier with “unclear intent” and it “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters.” The U.S. military says the shootdown also occurred within hours of another incident in which Iranian forces harassed a U.S.-flagged and U.S. crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C fighter jet from the Lincoln, which, according to U.S. Central Command, was sailing about 500 miles (800 kilometers) from Iran’s southern coast. The military’s statement noted that no American troops were harmed and no equipment was damaged.

The Iranians attempted to board a US-flagged tanker a few hours later. Six gunboats chased the Stena Imperative in the Straits of Hormuz before a destroyer in the Lincoln task force intervened:

BREAKING: U.S. Navy Shoots Down Iranian Drone Approaching Aircraft Carrier

https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/02/03/breaking-navy-shoots-down-iranian-drone-approaching-us-aircraft-carrier-n4949064

The U.S. Navy reportedly shot down an Iranian drone apparently threatening one of our aircraft carriers on Tuesday, as tensions continued to mount between the two countries’ governments.

Reuters reported that U.S. military officials confirmed to it that the Navy shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone, which “aggressively” approached the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea today. An F-35 fighter jet took out the drone after it exhibited a pattern “with unclear intent.”

U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins told Reuters, “An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board.” Fortunately, no American servicemen or equipment were injured in the incident.

If the US attacks Iran again, it naval facilities need to be flattened and sunk.

[SVPete]

Judge overturns Hawaii's criminalization of 'deceptive' election memes as broad, vague and biased

https://justthenews.com/nation/free-speech/judge-strikes-down-hawaiis-criminalization-deceptive-election-memes-sweeping

California's ban on "materially deceptive" political content didn't last even a month after it was challenged during the 2024 election season, with one federal judge blocking the law as likely unconstitutional and Attorney General Rob Bonta promising another not to enforce it.

Its distant Pacific neighbor Hawaii's similar ban, also challenged by Christian satirists, lasted for seven months of litigation but went down even more spectacularly, with a federal judge this month striking down Hawaii's Act 191 as facially unconstitutional without a trial.

U.S. District Judge Shanlyn Park, nominated by President Joe Biden and reportedly the first Native Hawaiian woman confirmed to the role, issued summary judgment Friday to The Babylon Bee and Dawn O'Brien, a Honolulan who uses memes to mock Democratic Gov. Josh Green.

The ruling spells the end of the law signed by Green in summer 2024, which Park permanently enjoined before it could be enforced against anyone.

Vaguely written laws like this one are not written that way out of carelessness.