"Elizabeth's iron determination and great intellectual ability turned me from a mild skeptic to an enthusiast. We aren't exactly a group of people who give away our time lightly." That was Henry Kissinger explaining how Elizabeth Holmes managed to attract a who's who to the board of her once wildly high-flying startup, Theranos -- a company that had a ground-breaking blood analysis technology that led to a $9 billion valuation, even though it didn't actually work. How did a company that was built on a technology as mock as the Steve Jobsian-black turtlenecks worn by its CEO end up winning over some of the most powerful people in tech, healthcare, and politics? To find out, you can wait for the movie starring Jennifer Lawrence (seriously), or you can start with this brief look behind Theranos' rise and dramatic fall.

+ In There Will Be Blood, the Daniel Day-Lewis character famously explained, "I drink your milkshake." This tale of blood was about people drinking the Kool-Aid. NYT: Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos CEO and Silicon Valley Star, Accused of Fraud.

+ While you might think that the penalties for wanton fraud would cut deep, so far, the SEC's punishments amount to little more than a pin prick.

+ Buzzfeed: What it's like to work at Theranos after the fall, according to Glassdoor reviews.

"With his technology background, Lazarus set up a computerized inventory system so from his desk he could see every product sold and what needed to be restocked. 'I think Toys ‘R' Us is a unique operation — the only proprietary merchandise company that rivals IBM as revolutionary in concept," a retail analyst told The Post in 1982. 'Their superb controls and information systems are unrivaled in the industry.'" Time finally caught up with a toy empire once ahead of its time. WaPo: Toys R Us: The birth — and bust — of a retail empire.

+ At first glance, it might look like Toys 'R' Us is the victim of Amazon and online retailing. But that's only part of the story. Bloomberg: Toys 'R' Us Is a How-Not-To Guide for the Retail Business.

+ Usually, by the time a company like this decides to shut down all its stores, those stores are no longer doing much business. But Toys 'R' Us is still major player in toy sales, and thus, these store closings will have a major ripple effect.

"It was the strongest action to date against Russia by the administration, which has long been accused of being too soft on the Kremlin, and the first punishments for election meddling since President Donald Trump took office. The sanctions list included the 13 Russians indicted last month by special counsel Robert Mueller, whose Russia investigation the president has repeatedly sought to discredit." AP: US says Russia hacked energy grid, punishes 19 for meddling.

+ "An extraordinary joint statement signed by the leaders of the U.K., the U.S., France, and Germany has blamed Russia for the attempted murder of former spy Sergei Skripal on British soil."

+ Who is Sregei Skripal and what's this all about? Rachel Maddow has a good explainer.

+ Meanwhile, there's this from the NYT: Mueller Subpoenas Trump Organization, Demanding Documents About Russia. So, on the same day we learned that the Trump administration has confirmed Mueller's findings by sanctioning the hackers he named, we also learn that the Mueller investigation is working its way closer to Trump. (And that's just the first half of the day, things usually pick up in the afternoon.)

"Turn on an Indian TV, and there's Ramdev, a supple yoga megastar in saffron robes, demonstrating poses on one of the two stations he oversees. Flip the channel, and there's Ramdev in commercials selling shampoo and dish soap. Walk any city on the subcontinent, and there's his face in stores selling the wares of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., the multibillion-dollar corporation he controls." Bloomberg's Ben Crair: This Multibillion-Dollar Corporation Is Controlled by a Penniless Yoga Superstar. (How was this guy not on the Theranos board?)

"It's not about pointing fingers at particular brands; it's really showing that this is everywhere, that plastic has become such a pervasive material in our society, and it's pervading water - all of these products that we consume at a very basic level." BBC: Plastic particles found in bottled water.

"They threatened me, and I understood immediately that threat put me and my family at risk, and this exposure would put my professional life at risk as well. I foreclosed that possibility by disclosing the details to my family, and then when I discussed it with Bob, he and I agreed that I had placed the company in an untenable position and as a result, I should resign." The Hollywood Reporter: John Skipper Details His ESPN Exit and a Cocaine Extortion Plot. (So, when backed into a corner, a man in a position of power ... tells the truth. What a concept.)

If you're a television stock market prognosticator (or really any kind of stock or economic prognosticator), you're going to be wrong a lot, and occasionally very, very wrong. But WaPo's Dana Milibank makes the case that newly appointed Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow may have been more wrong about the economy than anyone alive.

"According to an FIU press release, the 174-foot, 950-ton bridge was just installed 'in a few hours' using 'accelerated bridge construction' methods." There were reports of deaths and injuries after the collapse of a pedestrian bridge stretching across a street on the Florida International University campus.

This is quite a lede: "With her boyfriend finally asleep, Emily Javier reached for the samurai sword she had secretly taped earlier to the side of the bed." WaPo: She found a dating app on her boyfriend's phone. Then she bought a samurai sword.

"But normal is a relative state that depends on time, place, and circumstance. There's no one right way to be a human, and that applies to mental as well as physical states." Yale neuroscientists debunked the idea that anyone is normal. (Social media debunked that a long time ago...)

+ Ford just recalled over a million cars because the steering wheel can come loose.

+ There's a remote Norwegian town where you're not allowed to die.