Author: condor

Big Hearing In Baltimore, Tomorrow In The Social Security Data Access TRO Matter Before The Able USDC Judge Hollander.

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The number of places where the Musk/Tangerine 2.0 teams are being “handed their John Brown hindparts“… is now approaching triple digits. Flawless!

Tomorrow, in Baltimore — Musk will learn (again) that his minions are not free to filch Social Security data — since they’ve articulated no legitimate need for such personal information — as individuals’ earning histories. Here’s the latest — we will try to find a live feed or live blog, tomorrow:

…The Court has received the Administrative Record submitted by the defendants. See ECF 86; ECF 86-1 to ECF 86-6; ECF 100; ECF 100-1, ECF 100-2. The submission was provided to the Court, under seal. See ECF 85, ECF 88.

Nevertheless, it contains substantial redactions. See, e.g., ECF 86-2 at 6–8, 10, 14–17. Given the extensive redactions, the grounds for sealing are unclear.

Today, plaintiffs moved to supplement the administrative record. ECF 96. The motion is supported by a memorandum (ECF 96-1) (collectively, “Motion to Supplement”). Alternatively, plaintiffs seek limited discovery. Id. In addition, plaintiffs filed an opposition (ECF 94) to the motion for protective order that the government filed yesterday. ECF 84.

As you know, by Order of April 2, 2025 (ECF 91), I arranged a telephonic hearing for tomorrow to address the government’s motion for protective order (ECF 84). But, with the growing number of disputes, I believe a hearing in court is appropriate. Therefore, in lieu of a telephone hearing, I will hold the hearing tomorrow in Courtroom 5B, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

As of now, I will consider the Motion for Protective Order (ECF 84); the Motion to Seal (ECF 85); and the Motion to Supplement (ECF 96).

Despite the informal nature of this letter, it is an Order of the Court and shall be docketed as such….

Like I’ve said earlier today — there are LOTS of balls in the air. Onward. I did get a call from some penguins though — and they remain puzzled as to why their Eskimo Pies now cost double what they did… yesterday. Ugh.

नमस्ते

Now BOTH Scott And John Admit It: They KNOWINGLY-Elected A Fecklessly “Econ Illiterate” — To The White House. Damn.

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As we noted yesterday, Hinderaker has already confessed it: Trump would have failed out of Wharton, had his sister NOT turned in all his exams. He can barely read at a fifth grade level — and he clearly — by now literally everyone’s admission… CANNOT grasp basic macro-economics.

Scott Johnson today admits that people working closely with him have confirmed he doesn’t get how tariffs actually work. He thinks if a country doesn’t buy from us as much as we buy from them — they are stealing from us. He cannot grasp that each side is bargaining for things of value, when the trade occurs.

And Scott puts it on front street, quoting Toomey — a Trump confidant.

But far from apologizing to the nation for handing us this moronic reprobate… both he and Hinderaker just shrug and say “oh well”. Too bad. So sad.

WTAF, guys?

You have likely shoved the USA into a recession — and certainly exacerbated inflation rates… all because none of you were man enough to stand up and confront Tangerine’s lunacy.

My bet? Trump hisself will tuck tail and run, on it all in a few weeks — when new RAM pickups cost over $100,000 at retail in the US.

What a deplorable dipsh!t show this all is — but especially the Powerline dipsh!t show.

Out.

In First Three Months Of ’25, Africa Has Seen SIX Months’ Worth (Of 2024 Mpox Case Levels): Ominous Signs Dept.

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CIDRAP has done the analysis — and the trend is… deeply disturbing.

It is all the more troubling, because we are led by luddites who are ignorant of the science behind pandemic abatement — and have largely defunded it altogether. Damnation. Here’s the latest:

…Mpox activity continues to fluctuate among different countries in Africa, but as a whole the situation continues to escalate, with the region in the first 3 months of the new year nearly reaching 50% of the cases reported for all of 2024, the head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said today at the agency’s weekly briefing.

Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accounted for 95% of the confirmed cases last week, but Africa CDC Director Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, said the full picture in the DRC is hazy, because test coverage is low, at 18.4%, due to ongoing conflict in the eastern part of the country and problems collecting samples and transporting them to labs owing to foreign aid cuts….

Now you know — and there are many balls in the air at the moment — we must keep our eye on all of them. They are all… critical. Onward.

नमस्ते

Pharma Spared Tariff Pain For Now… And Why Were Russia, And North Korea NOT Added — If The Penguins On Heard Island… Were?!

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Sure — those countries are on sanctions lists… but if Trump is going to place tariffs on… penguins (uninhabited frigid islands), then at least go “global”, man. More substantively, he has left multinational (but US domiciled-) pharma off the naughty list. For now, at least.

This is causing a temporary “relief rally” of sorts in pharma and life science names like Merck, Lilly, Amgen and Pfizer. But the man is… irrational. So it may not last. Moreover, I expect he will fold his tent in a few weeks, when car- and truck- prices in the US go up by 20%. We shall see — but this is pathetically stupid.

Yesterday, he claimed that the Great Depression of the 1930s was due to a lack of tariffs. Sheesh. Economists almost universally agree that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 in fact exacerbated, and extended — that nearly decade-long depression. What an economically-illiterate dolt. Here’s a bit:

…Drugmaker stocks gained a temporary reprieve on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump spared pharmaceutical products from reciprocal tariffs, but executives and analysts warned it was premature to celebrate as tariffs may still come. . . .

Trump imposed a 10% tariff on most U.S. imports, as well as much higher levies on dozens of rivals and allies alike, but temporarily exempted some goods, including pharmaceuticals, benefiting major exporters including India, Japan and Ireland….

Well… it would all be… comical, were it not so profoundly moronic. Onward, just the same — and no, Chicago Bulls jerseys are not co-terminous with… Venezuelan gang membership. Dammit Trump, shut your pie-hole.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Now Must Suck The Spittle, Off Trump’s Boots — The Green Stuff He Left There, Last Week. Gross.

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Hinderaker defended tariffs, 2017 to 2021. But only now — now, that he sees Trump is killing the US economy, and the GOP anew… will he speak up, against the world trading dynamics doofus, and this truly illiterate, wrinkly orange old loon:

…I watched some of President Trump’s speech today. It included at least one howler: he blamed the Great Depression on a lack of tariffs. This was simply bizarre. Most economists say that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which drastically increased tariffs, was one of the principal causes of the Depression in the U.S. [This is simply] Trump’s… gross historical ignorance… since whatever afflicted the early 1930s, it certainly was NOT a lack of tariffs….

Japan is actively angling to become the world’s gold standard / reserve / haven currency — since Tangerine 2.0 is hell-bent on destroying the US dollar’s might. Even so, Japanese stocks are falling now, during the now open and regular Asian trading day.

[Trump apparently — and vacuously so — thinks he can have some form of crypto-(?!) take the US dollar’s place — and that would be a “currency” he might try to control, outside any governmental structure.

But that — like his “build the wall; get Mexico to pay for it!”, in his iteration 1.0 (2017-2020) — is a fools’ errand. It will never happen.]

So, yes — the Japanese Yen may be a haven of safety for the next few months — if Trump is stupid enough to leave these tariffs in place, John.

It sure would have been better if Hinderaker and the boys at Powerline — and Ringside — had walked Trump back, off of this insanity.

But only now… as they see their net worth in the stock markets evaporating… will they admit they backed a barking madman.

Geez.

[Update: “You’re FIRED”?!?] Not Only Did Elon’s Millions Tank A MAGA WI Sup. Ct. Candidate — It May Win Him… Bribery Charges!?

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Oh my — that junior-size “stable genius” Elon Musk — over the weekend, on video in Wisconsin, at public rallies, was heard boasting about “giving” $1 million each to people who registered to vote GOP… and then a president of one of the college GOP clubs… won. Imagine that.

But that wasn’t nearly the half of it. Of course, Crawford won by 10 points — wiping the floor, with Elon’s attempted bribes — and Brad Schimel.

Now it seems a woman who sells… various things… made a video on X-itter, since deleted, that said Elon paid her to vote GOP/MAGA.

That may well end in a visit from the FEC, and the revocation of his PAC’s status. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

From the local Milwaukee paper of record, then:

…On Tuesday, Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, pulled a video from X featuring $1 million giveaway winner Ekaterina Deistler in which she said she received the money, in part, to “vote.” X is owned by the tech billionaire.

“My name’s Ekaterina Deistler,” she said in a video posted Monday morning. “I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, vote, and now I have a million dollars.”

But the video was taken down yesterday, and America PAC posted a new video of Deistler on X on Tuesday afternoon.

“My name’s Ekaterina Deistler, and I’m from Green Bay, Wisconsin,” she said in the new video. “I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, and now I have a million dollars….”

Yeah — hang out with mutts — you get… fleas. Take heed those of you who think the mid-terms are going to help MAGA/Tangerine/Musk. Don’t bet on it.

They aren’t smart enough to avoid… being indicted, even. Again.

Hilarious. Out — with high praise for the good people of Wisconsin who will not be fooled — or bribed, it seems. And so ends… the Bromance.

नमस्ते

Also Courtesy Anon., Here Is A Still-Evolving List, On The Tangerine/Musk 2025 RIF/Cuts Across HHS/NIH/CDC/NIOSH, Etc…

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We are deeply indebted to the courage of the people curating and adding to this list.

From time to time, we may post updated versions of it. If you look in the comments to the immediately previous post, you can go directly to the as-updated url. Here’s the awful news:

…This is a running list including information shared from employees across HHS.

Have something to add? Message marisakabas.04 on Signal or email MKwrites4000@proton.me

Centers for Disease Control (CDC):

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)

Karen Hacker, Center Director – reassigned
Division of Reproductive Health/FSB (Field Support Branch)
Division of Population Health
BCSB
Epi branch
Office of Smoking and Health
Division of Oral Health
Translation Branch

National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention (NCHHSTP)

Jono Mermin, Center Director – reassigned/admin leave
Division of TB Elimination
Communication, Education, and Behavioral Studies Branch
Division of Viral Hepatitis
Lab
Division of STD Prevention
Lab
Disease Intervention and Response Branch
Division of HIV Prevention
Prevention Communication Branch
Division of Behavioral & Clinical Surveillance Branch
Capacity Development Branch
Qualitative Sciences Branch
HIV Research Branch
GHC

Kayla Laserson, Center Director – reassigned
Division of Global HIV and TB
SPIN (Special Initiatives Branch)
All Detailees to State/GHSD riffed
SPC: Strategic Policy and Communications Branch
PBEMB (Program Budget and Extramural Management Branch)
MCHB (Maternal and Child Health Branch) – Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems, Associate Administrator Michael Warren
HIDMSB (Health Informatics, Data Management and Statistics Branch)
EHSRB (Economics and Health Services Research Branch)
SIB: Scientific Integrity Branch

NCEH

Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice (DEHSP) entire division
Asthma and Air Quality Branch
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention
Emerging Environmental Hazards and Health Effects Branch (includes radiation program)
Environmental Public Health Tracking Branch
Water, food and EH services branch
The Climate and Health Program was in the division OD
Division OD is gone (comms, policy, management)

NCIRD

Immunization Services Division (ISD)/Partnerships Branch

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) – all of NIOSH except World Trade Center and DCAS

Miner safety
Health effects lab division
Respiratory health division
National Personal Protective Technology Lab (PPE)
NIOSH Office of the director
Office of extramural coordination
Office of DDMOCP
Human capital management office
Facilities management office
Fiscal resources management office
IT
Policy planning and evaluation
Division of science integration
Education and information division
Information resources branch
Science application branch
Social science and translation
Training research and evaluation
Risk evaluation branch
Emerging technologies branch
Office for Agriculture Safety and Health
Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies
Western States Division
National Center for birth defects and developmental disabilities (NCBDDD)

Office of the Director
Disability Health
Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics
Division of Human Development and Disability (one Branch, not certain which one)
NCIPC

Division of Violence
Prevention (except for surveillance branch)
Division of Injury Prevention (except for suicide prevention)
Office of Informatics

IOD

Office of Health Equity (All: OD, Office of Women’s Health, Office of Minority Health)
Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
CDC Office of Communications

Media Office
Digital (web, social/content engagement, CDC-INFO, visual design/graphics, enterprise technology branch)
Broadcast

OCOO

Freedom of Information Act Office (FOIA) – entire office
OCIO – Chief Information Officer (reassignment), customer engagement office, digital services office
OFR Office of Acquisition Services (only OD remains)
OHR (in and out processing, transformation activity, CareerReady, human capital workforce solutions, performance management, training and development, hiring policy and quality review, executive services/ESRO, comms, data analytic sand technology, and more)
CFA

Dylan George, Center Director – reassigned
Technology Branch
NCHS

Office of Informatics, Governance, and Assurance
OLSR

National Laboratory Response – one staff member impacted
NCEZID

Seth Kroop, DDMOCP – reassigned
OPHDST

Sue Lin, DDMOCP – reassigned
CDC Washington

Jeff Reczek, Director – reassigned

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

• Communications

• GCS/procurement

• SSBG

• LIHEAP

• Office of regional operations- NYC, Chicago, Boston, Seattle/SF

• Family & Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)

NIH Office of Science Policy

• Division of Clinical and Healthcare Research Policy

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)

• Health Care Financing and Public Health divisions within Health Policy

• Data and Technical Analysis division within Human Services Policy

• Office of Science and Data Policy

• Office of Planning and Policy Support

HRSA, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)

-Division of state and community health (DSCH) Eastern branch

-Office of strategy, innovation and external affairs

-Office of Communications at the agency level

-Program Coordination Branch, Division of Women’s Health

-Office of Special Health Initiatives

-Bureau of Primary Healthcare

FDA:

Center for Tobacco Products:

-Office of Management

-Office of Health Communication and Education

-Office of Regulations

-Office of Compliance and Enforcement

-Division of External Programs and -Resource Management

-Division of Business Operations

Office of the Commissioner:

-Office of Digital Transformation

-FDA Library

-Office of Minority Health

Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC)

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

-Health Services & Value Research

Office of Science

-Director Matthew Farrelly

-Deputy Director Todd Cecil

-Center Director Brian King

Center for Veterinary Medicine

-Office of the Director

Office of Management

Office of investigation and inspection (OII)

-Office of management

NIH/NIAID:

NIAID Office of the Director

-Only Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo (Director)

Office of Administrative Services (OAS)

-Office of Property and General Services (OPGS)

Office of Administrative Services (OAS)

-Human Capital Branch (HCB)

Office of Communications and Government Relations (OCGR)

-Legislative Affairs and Correspondence Management Branch (LACMB)

Office of Communications and Government Relations (OCGR)

-New Media and Web Policy Branch (NMWPB)

Office of Communications and Government Relations (OCGR)

-News and Science Writing Branch (NSWB)

Office of Communications and Government Relations (OCGR)

-Communications Services Branch (CSB)

Office of Workforce Effectiveness and Resources (OWER) Workforce Planning and Analysis Branch (WAPB)

-Possibly all of the division

Division of AIDS (DAIDS)

-Workforce Operations, Communications, and Reporting Branch (WOCRB)

Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID)

-Dr. Emily Erbelding (director) so far, maybe more

Division of Extramural Activities (DEA)

-Office of Acquisitions (OA)

-Office of Knowledge and Educational Resources (OKER)

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

-Office of Communications and Public Liaison

-All leadership at NIA scientific director Luigi Ferrucci

National Center for Toxicological Research

-Office of Management

Department of Clinical Bioethics

-Christine Grady, Director

National Institute on Drug Abuse

-Office of Acquisition (OA)

-Office of Science Policy and Communication (OSPC)

Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)

-DDI gone except PHS (15-20)

-Call center phones off

-Most of ORP gone

-Most of OCOMM gone

-Cutting 39% of contract

-External and media affairs

OMQ policy

-Most of OSP

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

-Legislative affairs team

-National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory

-Office of Minority Health

-Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ)

-Office of Population Surveys and Office of Treatment Services

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ):

-Office of the Director (except Acting Director)

-Staff from Office of Commissioner

-Office of Extramural Research, Education, and Priority Populations (OEREP)

-Division of Priority Populations (DPP) and Division of Scientific Review (DSR)

-Office of Management Services….

Now you know. What an absolute disaster this will turn out to be. Count on that, for our nation. Damnation.

नमस्ते

A Unanimous Supreme Court Delivers A Sharp Rebuke To The MAGA / Activist Wing In The Fifth Circuit… AGAIN — On Vape Products.

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We haven’t mentioned this case before, but the activist/”rad” right Texas/Louisiana wing of the Fifth Circuit had ruled against the FDA — despite a clear statutory command, of long-standing — purportedly for not approving a certain novel brand of e-cigarette, or vape. In doing so, it went well-beyond the decision in the Texas trial court below, and ignored copious evidence that FDA had solid scientific bases for the decisions it made. [And an ADA challenge brought years later would not be the appropriate vehicle to complain about the FDA ruling, in any event.]

So, this morning, as expected, the Supremes reaffirmed FDA’s primacy, when looking at novel devices that directly impact human health.

What is a little unexpected is that all NINE Justices agree that this is a central function of FDA. Even Thomas and Alito.

Here’s the opinion, and a bit:

…The FDA has long had the responsibility to determine whether manufacturers may market new drugs, but it was the passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 (TCA) that first gave the FDA broad jurisdiction to regulate tobacco products.

Although the Act barred the FDA from banning all regulated tobacco products outright, see 21 U. S. C. §387g(d)(3), it prohibited a manufacturer from marketing any “new tobacco product” without FDA authorization, see §387j(a)(2)(A). One pathway to authorization of a “new tobacco product” is the submission of a premarket tobacco product application. See §387j(c)(1)(A)(i). The TCA requires the FDA to deny such an application unless an applicant shows that its product “would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.” §387j(c)(2)(A)….

That is… game over. Onward — on a soggy gray day, here. Resolute — just the same.

नमस्ते

Hey Hinderaker: Who Did These Judges… Beat, With Billy Clubs?!

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

Tonight, Hinderaker goes… full-on loon, with this:

“…What these robed rebels are doing is vastly closer to an insurrection than anything that was done by the ragtag protesters of January 6, 2021…”_

John’s knickers are in a twist because by a better than ten to one ratio, federal judges, appointed both by Democrats and Republicans — over the last four decades… are almost uniformly ruling against Tangerine 2.0’s lawlessness.

John, that would be because Tangerine 2.0 is egregiously violating the law. The federal law — of very long-standing.

The law that even Ronald Reagan obeyed, and in the main, Bush 43 obeyed; while his father obeyed it even more than 43 did.

It is an indisputable fact that Donald Trump is a convicted felon. And it shows in every move he makes, about 90% of which are deeply disdainful of the rule of law in America. He believes he’s a king. And he is not.

At bottom that is all Hinderaker is burping about.

Calling esteemed federal judges on both sides of the aisle “insurrectionists” — and likening them to the violent mob that stormed the Capital Rotunda (injuring dozens and dozens of police officers as they charged) back on J6…

Just confirms how completely untethered from reality Johnnie Hinderaker has become.

Out

The Able USDC Judge In Newark Will Wait Just One More Day, To Hear “One Paragraph” Of A View From Noem — As To Appealability — But Mr. Khalil Is Likely Coming Back East…

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We have a very satisfactory 67 page answer, tonight — but ever cautious, the court asks whether Tangerine 2.0 lawyers intend to appeal the order allowing the habeas proceedings in New Jersey.

The able USDC Judge has ruled that venue is proper in New Jersey, given Ms. Noem’s immediate, and blatant, attempts to hide him away from his lawyers, in a private prison in rural Jena, Louisiana. But he will wait until tomorrow afternoon to think through appealbility issues.

Here’s the excellent, plain-English 67 page opinion — and the more salient bits:

. . .A lawful permanent resident was detained, and filed a habeas corpus petition seeking his release.

The respondents, various federal officials, have moved to dismiss, arguing the Court does not have jurisdiction.

The motion to dismiss is denied….

[Team Tangerine 2.0/Noem’s] New Jersey–focused immediate custodian argument is not persuasive. The Petitioner did not name as a respondent his immediate New Jersey custodian. But he did not need to. That custodian was not only unknown to the Petitioner’s lawyer, but virtually unknowable to her. And so the Petition could clear the bar by doing what it did — naming the Petitioner’s ultimate custodian [Kristi Noem], the Secretary of Homeland Security….

[A]pplying the unknown custodian exception in this case is in the interest of the equitable concerns that the Supreme Court has long invoked in habeas law….

Now you know. Not even a $50,000 gold tank / diamond encrusted Rolex… will deliver to Ms. Noem the “time” she wants, in dank Jena, Louisiana now. She must play by the rules Judge Bork (yes, that guy!) interpreted / announced nearly four decades ago. Welcome to the real world, Kristi — the privileges of your old governor’s mansion lie… a long stretch — from here, in bustling Newark.

नमस्ते