Author: condor

Preparing For Abrego-Garcia’s Consensual Release, In Nashville…

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Both sides have significant legal obligations here.

And it would not shock me to see Noem directly violate all the prior federal court orders (in Nashville and Maryland and the US Supreme Court!), and try to re-arrest him — in a “more friendly” (to her) jurisdiction. We shall see — but here’s where things stand, on this overnight motion, from Abrego Garcia’s excellent legal team:

…ORDER as to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia:

On 8/19/2025, the defendant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia (“Abrego”) filed a motion to modify conditions of release and issue release order. (Docket No. [106].)

If neither the government nor Pretrial Services opposes the requested relief, Abrego must, by 5:00 p.m. (CDT) on 8/20/2025, file a notice of no opposition.

Otherwise, the government must, by no later than noon on 8/21/2025, file any response in opposition to any aspect of Abrego’s motion.

If the government opposes any relief requested by Abrego, a hearing will be held on 8/25/2025 at 10:30 AM.

The U.S. Marshal is directed to transport Abrego for the scheduled hearing.

The stay of issuance of the release order, see Docket No. [97], shall remain in effect pending a ruling on Abrego’s motion to modify conditions of release.

Signed by Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes on 8/20/2025….

Now you know. We await day’s end, to see which of the above shoes… fall, next. Onward, resolutely. Will the ICE-idiots try to kidnap him again? We shall see.

नमस्ते

Here In The 21st Century, It Is Unusual To Find… We’ve “Missed” A Moon, Among Our Eight Near Neighbors… But It Has Happened, At Uranus: JWST

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As I say, with post-Millennium ultra high pixel Chilean monster optical scopes, and vast dish network arrayed radio telescopes — and even prior razor sharp space ‘scopes… it is surprising that even a tiny moon was… missed.

But just a few months ago, in data downloaded on February 2, 2025 — the JWST team saw a tiny little moon — never noticed before, orbiting one of our most distant gas giant outer planets. That makes… 29, out there. Here’s the scoop:

…Using NASA’s [JWST], a team led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has identified a previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus, expanding the planet’s known satellite family to 29….

“This object was spotted in a series of 10 40-minute long-exposure images captured by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam),” said Maryame El Moutamid, a lead scientist in SwRI’s Solar System Science and Exploration Division based in Boulder, Colorado.

“It’s a small moon but a significant discovery, which is something that even NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft didn’t see during its flyby nearly 40 years ago….”

I love these sorts of “undiscovered country” space stories. And we will await its more poetic, and formal naming. [Tradition dictates that it be a name from Alexander Pope’s writings, or those of Will Shakespeare.] So, we await that, with a grin — out in Boulder. Woot!

नमस्ते

In Nashville, The Motion To Completely Void Mr. Abrego Garcia’s Specious Prosecution By Noem. Et Al., Has Been Docketed: Selective Bad Faith Prosecution.

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As the readers well-know, I’ve spent several days in the past three months, traveling to and from the federal courtrooms in Music City, closely tracking this case, and talking at length with counsel for Mr. Garcia, as well as a few very fair minded Democratic State Reps., there.

It is time. It is time for the able USDC Judge Crenshaw in Nashville to rule that this all is “fruit of a poisonous tree“. That this whole matter was cooked up, as a face saving gambit, when the Noemites realized they had zero lawful basis to dump him in an El Salvadoran meat-grinder / hell-hole — for three months. So do read all 35 pages — but in a just world, it ought to prevail, later this Fall;

…On March 24, Mr. Abrego challenged his unlawful removal to El Salvador, filing a lawsuit against various government officials in the District of Maryland, alleging that his removal violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A), the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act. (D. Md. Dkt. 1 ¶¶ 72-95). Mr. Abrego also sought a temporary restraining order requiring the government to return him to the United States. (D. Md. Dkt. 2). Even though the government confessed, relatively promptly, that its removal of Mr. Abrego was in error, the government did not take steps to fix its mistake. Instead, in response to his lawsuit — and to the substantial publicity it received — the government undertook a wide-ranging and unprecedented retribution campaign against Mr. Abrego. This [Nashville] criminal case is part of that campaign….

Even as some parts of the [federal] government were recognizing that Mr. Abrego’s removal was wrongful, others were beginning to take steps seemingly calculated to deter Mr. Abrego from pursuing his case and calling attention to the government’s errors. On April 1, Vice President J.D. Vance falsely proclaimed that Mr. Abrego “was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here.” [Ed. Note: He’s never been charged as MS-13 (let alone “convicted”), and the traffic stop ended without even a warning or a ticket — and J.D. Vance well knew this. J.D. Vance, the sitting Veep, malignantly lied in public about this man — a wrongly accused human.]

That kicked off the government’s public campaign to get back at Mr. Abrego….

In a word — deplorable. This is all solely a “retributive” sham-indictment. And, J.D. Vance has disqualified himself from ever seeking any future public office. These lies were willful, they were wanton and were calculated to destroy the reputation of an innocent family man, here lawfully (with papers to prove it!) — in Maryland, for many years. Onward.

नमस्ते

Do READ All Of This! This Is How Fascists… Get Rolling — And Consolidate… Power.

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It cannot be repeated often enough: if we do not hang together… under Tangerine’s lawless attempts at fascist rule… we will… hang, separately.

Do go read it all. Damnation.

…Jorge Luis Hernández Viramontes, a U.S. citizen, is the manager of a carwash. He was at work when immigration agents arrived, for the second time that day, in unmarked vehicles and began questioning his employees. When Hernández Viramontes asked for a warrant, he claims an agent responded, “Shut the fuck up.” Even though he provided agents with his California driver’s license, agents arrested Hernández Viramontes and took him to a nearby warehouse for questioning.

Another U.S. citizen, Jason Brian Gavidia, was repairing his car in a tow yard when armed agents, some of whom were masked, arrived. He says he told them that he is a U.S. citizen who was born in Los Angeles, but agents took his state-issued identification card and detained him anyway.

Three other men, all Latino construction workers, were drinking coffee outside of a donut shop as they waited for a ride to a job site when masked men carrying long guns jumped out of cars with tinted windows and no license plates. One of the men tried to leave but was surrounded and arrested before he could. Another ran and was arrested. A third remained where he was standing and was also arrested.

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order in favor of the challengers on July 11. Frimpong’s order bars immigration agents from stopping someone unless they have reasonable suspicion that the person has violated federal immigration law. The order also prohibits agents from using four factors to determine reasonable suspicion, either alone or in combination: “apparent race or ethnicity”; “[s]peaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent”; “presence at a particular location” – such as a bus stop or car wash; and “the type of work one does.” Frimpong’s order applies only in the Central District of California, a region that includes approximately 20 million people in Los Angeles and surrounding counties. Over 47% of the district’s residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit later noted….

All done and feeling great — no need to “sleep any of it off.” But I may just fall silent until later tonight anyway… just take in a bad sci-fi movie… hah!

नमस्ते

Gilead Goes On The Offensive, To Reclaim Its IP In The EU | Remdesivir: Suit Against China’s Military / Medical Arm…

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Power-alley, again: China essentially snuck into the EU patent offices, and got what it thinks is a blocking patent, in the EU at least, on Gilead’s wildly successful Remdesivir.

The EU legal mechanisms at the Commission level provide for a “fast track” in situations like this — for bio-pharmas like Gilead. And the company is taking aggressive advantage of that mechanism. There could be a final outcome by next summer — and by patent law (i.e., glacial) time frames… that is swift, indeed. Here’s the latest on it all:

…The European Patent Office recently granted EP 3 854 403. The patent belongs to the Academy of Military Medical Sciences based in Beijing and protects the use of substituted aminopropionate compounds in the treatment of SARS-Cov-2 infections.

This means it is potentially a threat to the sale of remdesivir. Gilead developed the drug under the brand name Veklury as a broad-spectrum antiviral medication. It was originally intended for the treatment of Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus infections, but since the coronavirus pandemic it has been used primarily as a post-infection treatment for COVID-19….

Revocation actions over pharmaceuticals have had a certain appeal in the industry since the UPC launched. Early on, Astellas sued to invalidate two patents belonging to Healios and the University of Osaka. Sanofi also took action against Amgen’s Praluent patent in the court’s first year. In addition, Pfizer attacked a GSK patent for an RSV vaccine….

We will keep an eye on this one — but it is hard to imagine how the Chinese state-affiliated actors could ever prevail (in the long term) on this, in the EU. Do stay tuned.

नमस्ते

Pre-Scheduled Post: Daiichi Sankyo And Merck… Cranking Out Promising New Cancer Approaches — FDA Breakthrough Designation, For Ifinatamab Deruxtecan.

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Until I get back on-grid later tonight, here’s a story I preloaded — earlier, on Monday. It is good (but immaterial) news for immuno-candidate ifinatamab deruxtecan, a B7-H3 directed antibody-drug conjugate — in certain small cell lung cancers.

The Daiichi Sankyo / Merck relationship (of ~$9.5 billion, and rising) continues to bear immuno-onclological candidate fruit, thus ($$ subs. req.):

…Merck & Co and Daiichi Sankyo have received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the US regulator for ifinatamab deruxtecan, a B7-H3 directed antibody-drug conjugate. The designation applies to adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer that has progressed following platinum-based chemotherapy.

The decision was supported by data from the phase II IDeate-Lung01 trial and the phase I/II IDeate-PanTumor01 study.

“This Breakthrough Therapy Designation granted by the FDA to ifinatamab deruxtecan highlights the urgent need for new treatment options for patients with pretreated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer,” said Ken Takeshita, global head of R&D at Daiichi Sankyo. Merck’s chief medical officer Eliav Barr added that the recognition “reinforces our confidence in the promise” of the therapy….

Now you know. Onward, and back in the saddle by morning — if not late night, tonight.

नमस्ते

Off-Grid For A Bit — But Central Nigeria Is Running A Prophylactic Mpox Vax Campaign…

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

This is a very smart public health move, by the Nigerian government.

But it has been made much more financially, and logistically challenging with USAID sidelined by Tangerine 2.0.

Here’s the latest:

…The campaign comes after several local government areas in Kaduna State recorded a significant number of Mpox cases, prompting authorities to roll out the intervention across seven high-risk communities.

At the vaccination site, residents lined up to receive their shots, with many expressing relief at the availability of protection against the disease.

However, health officials say they face challenges in raising awareness about the importance of vaccination in local communities.

The vaccine is being administered in a two-dose schedule.This first schedule will run for ten days, while the second round will start in another four weeks….

Onward, resolutely just the same.

नमस्ते

Is THIS Really A Guy Capable Of Making Nuke-Decisions? At All?!

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Welp.

Yes his “kankles” are deeply disconcerting. He’s nearly 80 — in a fundamentally decrepit body.

But for my money, it is the “Nearly-Biden“-like gaffes — in just the last few days.

His mind is… clearly disappearing. Late last week, he repeatedly told reporters he was “going to Russia“. And that he was soon going to “return to the USA“.

In fact, he was… in Anchorage. That’s an ALASKAN city. IN THE USA.

Yikes — here’s a more complete download — and a bit of it:

…He’s already forgotten his conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders, who earlier this week were promised a ceasefire. And in the last fortnight, he’s started mixing up names, referring to his head of homeland security Kristi Noem, as Cristie Kerr, the name of an LPGA golfer. During a White House event with Tim “Apple” Cook, Trump thanked his commerce secretary Howard Lutnick “wherever you may be”.

“I’m right behind you,” said a startled Lutnick. Last month at a ceremonial signing of a veteran’s bill, Trump paused to acknowledge the bill’s sponsor, Congressman Derrick Van Orden, asking “Where’s Derrick? Where’s Derrick?”

“I’m here, sir,” said Van Orden, standing right next to him. Embarassing. The decline is as obvious as the white eye circles protected from his spray tan….

Damn. Where are those GOP/MAGA folks? The ones who were howling about Joe Biden, in the Spring of 2024?

No surprise.

Crickets.

Out.

Nancy Grace Roman: Interstellar Space Science Hero — And Space ‘Scope Launch Subject, In 2026-27!

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We are visibly excited — as about 18 months from now — we, collectively should have a new tool, to get a handle on whether the vast power of dark energy will force the known Universe into an expanding forever mode — or whether, eventually, billions of years from now, it will all collapse back in, on itself. [We’ve posted on this, dozens of times, stretching back nine years.]

There are few questions more fundamental than “How did we begin, and how will we… end?” The Roman scope will help us approach those answers, or at least refine our questioning. Here’s the latest, from NASA:

…NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be a discovery machine, thanks to its wide field of view and resulting torrent of data. Scheduled to launch no later than May 2027, with the team working toward launch as early as fall 2026, its near-infrared Wide Field Instrument will capture an area 200 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope’s infrared camera, and with the same image sharpness and sensitivity.

Roman will devote about 75% of its science observing time over its five-year primary mission to conducting three core community surveys that were defined collaboratively by the scientific community. One of those surveys will scour the skies for things that pop, flash, and otherwise change, like exploding stars and colliding neutron stars….

Type Ia supernovae are useful as cosmological probes because astronomers know their intrinsic luminosity, or how bright they inherently are, at their peak. By comparing this with their observed brightness, scientists can determine how far away they are. Roman will also be able to measure how quickly they appear to be moving away from us. By tracking how fast they’re receding at different distances, scientists will trace cosmic expansion over time….

Now you know. Be excellent to one another. Off grid most of day, tomorrow — at hospital. Carry on. Grin.

नमस्ते