Again, Paul: Two Things Can Be True — At Once. Black/White Thinking Infects The Far Right…

Paul again sets up a false dichotomy — claiming that Democrats only rely on opinion polls, as to foreign military actions. That is plainly false. Even in the examples he offers, Paul is in error: Barack Obama won two terms by being the lone dissent, on Iraq II. And by being a voice of reason, on the 2007/2008 Mortgage Crisis/Meltdown — one the GOP tried to say was “not a real thing”. See the Palin/McCain lunacy.

Moreover, Paul seems unaware that Tangerine 2.0 runs his foreign “policies” (whatever that air-quoted term might mean to him) by Rasmussen polls, nearly exclusively — and the feckless whims of billionaires that want to seize assets, of course.

Note that none of the supposed principled far right would have invaded, and decapitated a South American dictatorship that DID NOT possess the most tempting heavy crude reserves on the planet, here Paul.

So again — Mirengoff is accusing the Democrats of things that he himself and the GOP are equally if not more fully guilty of.

Yes, Paul one can agree that Maduro was a bad guy — and still respect the law, and say we possess no right to take out a foreign President.

And if we really believe in democracies — we certainly should not be DELAYING free elections after we’ve done so, in any event.

We all know, if elections were held tomorrow, Machado would win about 67% of the free and fair vote, if allowed. But Trump, Rubio and Mirengoff hate that she would not be the supplicant they seek.

She might sell the oil to… Russia. And Cuba. [And that — money — is the only principle, the MAGA nuts adhere to. Not freedom, for just… anyone. And especially not any brown… one.]

Wake up, Paul.

Tonight, Hinderaker Only Cares That “The Trains Run On Time”*

Hinderaker clearly knows better.

He knows ICE is acting lawlessly.

But he cheers them, as the “good German” he tries to mimic.

Again Hinderaker tells knowing lies — to keep the rubes in line.

In many ways, then — he is worse than the sociopath of a leader he supports.

The rubes don’t know better — but John Hinderaker does.

Out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* This is, of course, what the early Germans said was Hitler’s chief virtue — and they would overlook what turned out to be… his genocidal intentions.

John should take heed.

A Fascinating Half-Hour [Late Night Friday] Visit, From The NY AG’s Office — Looking At Over 12 Pages… Hmmm.

[This admitted tangent is from another property of mine — related to Martin Shkreli’s now nearly fifteen years of run-ins with the law. And his eventual jailing — and various lifetime barring orders.]

But first… is it possible that they will call me, feeling I might be harassing a law abiding citizen of the tri-borough area? Perhaps, but that seems… unlikely. [I am in truth, outside the NY AG’s jurisdictional reach, in any event. They’d need to call the IL AG. Smile.]

No, Occam’s Razor would suggest the NY AG wants to know how it is… that Martin is serving as a paid consultant (presumably to include both securities pricing matters, and even perhaps waning pharmaceuticals research), for an intrepid / nascent ’34 Act public company.

As I’ve pointed out a few times in the last month or so… even forgetting that he’s been generally a bear — on quantum computing (and so, may not be in the role as a genuine advocate — but just a $120K a year “buy-off”, to avoid his running a shorting scheme, against QC Tech?)… it is my guess that the able USDC Judge Cote, in Manhattan, will frown on this whole arrangement, given the FTC and SEC case resolution orders.

But we shall see — maybe they were just at the office late, and ordered pizza and beers — and were doing some recreational reading while Indiana crushed Oregon, in a conference room with a TV on. Maybe.

And… go Bears! Escape safely from Wildcard weekend. Yep, my Ducks were crushed last night. Ugh. [Indiana will slaughter Miami for the title, though now.]

Onward,

Update, X2 — On Crew 11 Departure Prep, From NASA — Now Likely 5 PM EST Jan. 14 Undocking…

The coming days may unfold without a lot of advance press notice, for the team.

We will keep you informed, though. Here’s the overnight update:

…Updated 01.10.2026: NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 14, for the undocking of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International Space Station, pending weather conditions…. [End, updated portion.]

Four Expedition 74 crew members are preparing for their return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft. Amid departure preparations, the International Space Station residents also conducted spacesuit maintenance, space biology research, and an artificial intelligence study.

Mission managers have decided to move up the return date for the four SpaceX Crew-11 members living and working aboard the orbital outpost. No departure date has been announced, though the crew has begun checking the fit and operability of their Dragon pressure suits. Fit verification is necessary because the spine lengthens and body fluids shift toward the head in microgravity, affecting torso and limb dimensions. The quartet also tested the suits’ audio and video communication systems.

Dragon Commander Zena Cardman will lead Pilot Mike Fincke, both NASA astronauts, and Mission Specialists Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos back to Earth inside Dragon….

Now you know. Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

In Another Bovino / Noemites’ Longer Pending ICE Class Action In Chicago — The Tallies Of All Warrantless Arrests Will Be Released Shortly…

Bovino and Noem are on their way to being unable to ever find work again, in respectable society [and to be clear, being a Faux News or SkyNews Australia talking head is not… respectable].

And I am here for all of it. Here’s the latest, overnight:

…MINUTE entry [in USDC NDIL Cause No. 18-cv-3757] before the Honorable Jeffrey I Cummings:

The parties are ordered to file a joint status report on 1/16/26 regarding the production of warrantless arrest records.

Mailed notice….

Now you know. Grinning.

नमस्ते

A Day Later, Mirengoff Shows Some Good Judgment, Re Renee Good’s Murder In Minneapolis. Scott Johnson? Not. So. Much.

Paul is showing more and more signs — signs that he knows Tangerine 2.0 is poisoning America, and poisoning the way his acolytes think, speak and act.

Consider this below, from him this afternoon — related to Kristi Noem’s odious lies. [And, in passing, compare it (in full) to the disgusting one posted by Scott Johnson this morning on the same topic. If anything, Scott — the officer’s body cam makes it even clearer that she was given conflicting commands, and was NOT given a chance to comply before the officer fired. What happened to “de-escalation” — at a protest? In sum, Scott doesn’t understand (or refuses to acknowledge) the applicable law.]

[Yesterday, recall that Paul was offering straw man arguments, on these fronts.] Here, a day Later, however — Paul correctly points out that Kristi Noem is making it much easier to prosecute the involved, quick triggered officer, a man named John Ross — with her statements on behalf of the whole federal government that are demonstrably false.

She is creating a cover up / propaganda story, and trying to taint any future jury pool — where (if he was acting lawfully) none would be needed — or wanted. But this is headed to a state law indictment, just as obtained with Derek Chauvin / George Floyd, now.

So I do applaud Paul for this:

Kristi Noem, trotting out the Trump administration’s standard overwrought and misleading language, has said that the woman killed by ICE “weaponized” her vehicle and engaged, along with other protesters, in “domestic terrorism.” But Noem does not know whether the woman was trying to injure the ICE officer or simply trying to flee from the scene….

As for “domestic terrorism,” there was none in any version of this unfortunate event.

Terrorism occurs when an individual or a group unleashes violence designed to kill or maim random individuals for the purpose of terrorizing the general population. Even if the woman tried to kill or maim the ICE officer — and again, there’s no reason to assume she did — this would not [amount to] violence against random individuals for the purpose of terrorizing the general population.

Nor are protesters engaged in domestic [he means terrorism, but he typed “violence”] when they try to obstruct ICE officers from doing their job. They are committing crimes, but terrorism isn’t one of them….

Whatever one thinks of Renee Good and her actions that led to the shooting, her six-year-old son is now without a mother…. For Kristi Noem to suggest that the boy’s mother was a domestic terrorist who weaponized her vehicle against federal law enforcement officers not only prematurely and unfairly assumes her guilt and misuses the English language, it is cruel….

Updated: perhaps unsurprisingly, late night on Friday, Hinderaker seeks to distract us from the truth, by claiming “the left” has colluded to create a false narrative here. He fails to identify any false element(s), though. Yawn. [He deludedly also claims to “know” what most people think. Preposterous — he’s done no (even flawed) polling.] So…

Most of all, what we should take from this wanton act of violence by a badge wearing government official… is, as Democratic members of Congress are now resolving (with more than a few sensible GOP regulars) to take away all funding for ICE. That will end the killings.

Nothing gives Trump the right to fund this malign gestapo force, without the purse-strings, clearly held by the Congress.

Onward.

The Year Ahead — In Space — For Our Friends Across The Pond, At ESA…

As NASA sets its course, to bring the Crew 11 home early from the ISS — for a medical reason, and likely moves up the launch date for Crew 12 to the ISS to very early February. . . we look in on the esa.int year ahead. It will feature the arrival of BepiColombo at Mercury, and likely stunning new images of that planet’s molten surfaces, as well as an inspection by HERA, of the pock mark NASA’s DART created when it slammed into Dimorphos last year.

I am certain there will be more — but this is what real space science should look like — including Earth climate monitoring from space (i.e., tamper-proof):

…As a new year begins, let’s take a look at what’s ahead for the European Space Agency in 2026. From Earth to the farthest reaches of the Solar System, 2026 marks a year of firsts that continue to shape the future of space [with a ~six minute video, on YouTube, below]….

And perhaps fittingly, we will go see Avatar 3: Fire and Ash tonight.

Grin.

नमस्ते

Power Alley | It Is Likely That Mpox Immunity Only Lasts About Two Years — After Either Infection, Or Vaccination: New Post Hoc Study, Of 90 Men…

This bit of news had long been suspected to be the case. And so, if you are a man who has sex with multiple other men (especially men who travel to or from Africa) — you should consider getting booster vaccinations about every two years.

True enough, being infected (assuming you recover) will also give you about two years acquired immunity, but that seems. . . an unwise course, for personal health management (to say nothing of the risk you then present to your sexual partners).

In any event, here is the latest, from CIDRAP, at the U. of Minn.:

…The study, published today in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, followed up with 90 men—48 with prior mpox infection and 42 who received Jynneos vaccination—and measured mpox virus (MPXV)–specific neutralizing antibodies more than two years after infection or vaccination.

At the two-year mark, antibodies were frequently low or undetectable in both previously infected participants and vaccine recipients, though participants with prior infection were more likely than vaccine recipients to retain some detectable antibodies (33 of 48 [68.8%] vs 20/42 [47.6%])….

“This trend finds confirmation in real life practice in our open access sexual health clinic, where the majority of new infections are diagnosed in persons with no history of Mpox,” write the researchers. They also note that, “as already reported in literature and as observed in our daily experience,” most mpox cases in vaccinated individuals are self-limiting and low severity….

Onward, grinning — out, into the sunshine. Trump’s tariffs are toast, next week. And hundreds of thousands of US businesses will file amended US federal tax returns, to claim dollar for dollar refunds for them. They were… taxes, afterall. Out.

नमस्ते

[U] Some Rather Depraved Friday Trivia: PlayStation Has Removed A “Resident Evil” Illicit Copy-Cat Game Called “Ebola Village”. Who Would Play Such a Game?!

I suppose the only good news here is that the malignant people who coded this complete ripoff of a game… did not make the majority of the characters / afflicted avatars… people of color. It will vanish into the mist, in any event — very shortly.

Aside from the blatant stealing of intellectual property, the idea of creating a “game” that “Zombifies” people with an actual, real world, very dangerously-lethal virus… seems beyond the pale. Here’s the gamer mag’s take on it all (as of about midnight, overnight):

…Update [Fri 9th Jan 2026, 12:15am]: Well, this is curious, isn’t it? Sony has removed the trailer for Ebola Village from its official YouTube channel.

The game’s PS Store page remains live with a release date of 23rd January touted, so it looks like the title is still going to come out. [UPDATE: inactivated.]

But clearly the platform holder no longer wanted to host this release’s footage on its account….

Sony has since removed the title altogether, likely due to complaints from the Resident Evil creators. Good riddance! [Updated: I see that some gamers have taken to calling this “Temu Resident Evil” — but that only insults… Temu. Heh.]

Maybe it’s just me… but the character they created looks a lot like… Roger(?). Heh.

नमस्ते

Only A Very Technical Habeas Case, From The Supremes Today: Justice Sotomayor Writes A 5-4 Opinion…

So… no tariffs invalidation decision — at least not for today.

The penguins stay on ice — at least until next week….

See ‘ya mid next week! Here’s Bowe v.US:

…This case concerns Bowe’s efforts to obtain postconviction relief from the mandatory consecutive 10-year sentence imposed under §924(c). A comprehensive statutory scheme governs when and how state and federal prisoners can seek postconviction relief in federal court. See 28 USC §2254 (state prisoners); §2255 (federal prisoners).

Particularly relevant here, under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), second or subsequent efforts at obtaining postconviction relief require the prisoner first to seek certification from a court of appeals that the filing meets threshold conditions before a prisoner can proceed in a district court….

Now you know.

नमस्ते