Author: condor

Stephen Miller — A Study… In Self-Loathing. Ugh. New Years Eve Edition.

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By the time most privileged whyte kids with a conscience reach age 40, they begin to appreciate that the Sun doesn’t rise and set — due to their greatness. Not even in the least respect.

Not so, one Stephen Miller (a loathsome holdover from Tangerine 1.0). He decided, for the holidays, to let loose with all manner of ahistorical lies, to justify the fact that he is personally committing crimes against humanity daily, now — for years. [His great grandparents (themselves beneficiaries of Emma Lazarus’s fine prose, on Lady Liberty’s base) are… certainly covering their faces, and cowering in shame — at his hubris and wanton cruelty, now that billionaires have given him a lil’ power.] Here’s the summary of what he actually is up to:

…Stephen Miller’s rant about a “self-loathing” America was swamped by online backlash as critics lined up to credit immigrants with America’s biggest leaps.

Miller, 40, Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and hardliner immigration czar, fired off a late-night X post on Sunday, complaining that the modern world does not match “what our ancestors imagined” because America and the West supposedly spent generations in “a vast, consuming project of self-loathing, self-denigration and the redistribution of our national resources.”

Miller wrote: “Someone should write an alternate historical novel where Americans are the first to master the automobile, the first in flight, the first to harness the atom, the first to land on the moon — but just keep going and never open our borders to the entire third world for sixty years….”

[However,] Jon Favreau, Barack Obama’s former speechwriter and a host of Pod Save America, led the pile-on. “You’re only here because America decided to welcome your family when they were refugees fleeing poverty and violence,” he replied, before skewering Miller as a rich kid from California who rose through elite schools into an administration run by “insanely rich elites” who’ve “made themselves even richer” through “open corruption.”

[In fact,] Mr. Miller’s own cousin, Alisa Kasmer, condemned his anti-immigration crusade earlier this month, saying their Jewish great-grandparents had fled persecution and successfully rebuilt their lives in the United States. Kasmer accused him of “trying to take away the exact thing that his own family benefited from.”

The Daily Beast has contacted Miller for comment….

He’s a malignant lil’ turd. Now you know — again. Onward, into a better 2026.

नमस्ते

The Mpox Outbreak Rumbles On, Into 2026 — Without USAID To Blunt It… Disappointing.

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Well, in a prior (Obama/Biden/Harris) age, this outbreak would have been halted by mid-2025, at the outside — with USAID putting boots on the ground, helping Doctors Without Borders — and the EU and WHO, inside Africa — and if needed, well beyond it.

[That said, I do understand that the US Treasury doesn’t have unlimited funds — but as between building a monstrous new ballroom at 1600 Penn, and arresting diseases that easily hop borders — and into the US, increasingly… I’d choose the latter “investment“. I think most Americans would, as well.] As it is, we will likely see cases through the end of 2026 — and perhaps beyond, inside the continent — and likely even beyond it.

That falls squarely at the feet of Musk, Kennedy and (of course)… the Manchurian Cantaloupe. This is from the island nation off the coast of Africa — with local, on the ground reporting:

…Madagascar confirmed five mpox cases Wednesday in the island nation’s northwestern city of Mahajanga.

In a statement, Minister of Public Health Monira Managna said the confirmation came after laboratory tests and that the public had been urged to remain vigilant and strictly adhere to preventive measures.

Government spokesperson Gascar Fenosoa said a response plan had been activated, including the provision of regular updates on national contingency plans and the mobilization of a coordination and surveillance team.

Fenosoa said an emergency public health operational center had been established in Mahajanga to search for more active cases and carry out patient isolation and treatment.

The center will also strengthen health checks at entry points such as ports and airports….

So borders are tightening, and people will die — in excess numbers. Most recently, from Anchorage, Alaska to Maine, the US has seen new cases of Clade 1b. All avoidable — and moreover, all “Heckuva’ job, there, you MAGA loons!”

But seriously, in what way is this making America great? Seriously. Out.

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[U: Hinderaker’s Gibberish] The Right Thing To Do Here? It’s Complicated. We Are Huge Boosters Of Real NASA Science, Obviously. But Trump [Falsely] Claiming He Now Supports Things He Tried [Impotently] To Kill… I Cannot Do.

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Every year, for the past ten or so — I’ve trumpeted NASA’s annual year end “victory lap” video, as posted on YouTube.

It is there, again this year. But this year — it is… different. [And dishonestly so, due to no malfeasance by the real employees of NASA. This is all dictated from 1600 Penn, I am very certain.]

I do not ever recall Messrs. Clinton, Bush [41 or 43], Obama or Biden appearing in the NASA year ender, to claim credit for the fine science in evidence there. [In fact, during Trump 1.0, this never happened, either — I just verified it.]

Trump and Musk have actively tried — in the first half of 2025 — to kill a host of NASA projects that might compete with SpaceX, or might provide more solid climate change evidence. That is… well, deplorable. And in the case of Musk’s DOGE — likely unlawful.

But Congress is wiser than those two. Funding continues.

If you are inclined to watch this year’s year end YouTube — just skip the first one and a half minutes, as it tells all manner of lies — about Trump’s involvement — and looks more like a military campaign / political ad that MAGA might run. Ick.

Update: as darkness fell for the final time on the year 2025 (perhaps having seen mine?), Hinderaker again impotently tried to debunk the overwhelming empirical evidence – on global climate change.

All he ended up showing was that one scientist has attributed some part of 2023‘s very high temperatures to a large volcano’s eruption that year. He even labels that as a greenhouse gas, called “water vapor” or steam. And he makes no mention of 2025’s very high temperatures…

In sum, Hinderaker did nothing to blunt the literally tens of thousands of additional pages of additional peer reviewed studies that collate and analyze weather satellite data, and ground based weather data at NCAR and NOAA.

But for those of us paying attention, we’ll note that (magically!) just about a week ago Tangeine 2.0 announced that he was closing and folding up the NCAR snd NOAA agency tents, in Boulder, Colorado.

Seems someone (cough! Hinderaker / Trump) is beholden to the oil lobbyists and the coal lobbyists who push the agenda of climate change denialism.

Now you know — on to a better 2026 — and the mid-terms! Out.

नमस्ते

In Which Mr. Hecker Has His Say: Greg Bovino [Acting At Noem’s Behest] Is A Lawless Idiot.

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We just… knew he’d be early. And he is.

Well put, Mr. Sean Hecker. Here’s the eight pager of… scorching fire. And at the bottom, here, I’ll drop a link to the Noemite nonsense, of yesterday. But this correctly states the well-settled law of the case. Do read it all — but these bits offer the pointy ends, of the considerable spears:

…Once again, the government has responded to a Court order with which it disagrees by pretending it doesn’t exist. Mr. Abrego moved for sanctions based on senior DHS official Gregory Bovino’s flagrant violation of this Court’s October 27 Order (Dkt. 183, the “Order”) governing extrajudicial statements relating to this case. (Dkt. 271). The government’s brief opposing that motion largely ignores the Order. The government focuses instead on the underlying Local Rule — which it claims is inapplicable — and contends, frivolously, that Mr. Bovino’s highly prejudicial, inflammatory statements were necessary to “protect” the government from recent public statements made in connection with Mr. Abrego’s immigration proceedings. (Dkt. 282 at 4)….

The government largely ignores that Mr. Bovino’s statements independently violated the Order. And in any case, neither he nor the government was free to simply disregard that clear Order based on their disagreement with it….

[G]eneralized comments made by Mr. Abrego about the injustice of his unlawful deportation and the government’s continued efforts to detain him do not entitle the government to smear him as “an MS-13 gang member” and “a wife-beater,” to declare that he is guilty of being “an alien smuggler,” or to describe judges as “activist” and “extremist.” Statements by CASA volunteers, United States Congressmen, and Mr. Abrego’s civil attorneys do not violate Local Criminal Rule 2.01(a) or the October 27 Order because they are not “partners and employees” of “the law firm and government agencies or offices” involved in this case, L. Crim. R. 2.01(a)(4), and are therefore not subject to the Rule… Mr. Abrego, as a “criminal defendant awaiting trial in a controversial case,” has a strong interest in “replying to the charges and to the associated adverse publicity” created by the government. See United States v. Ford, 830 F.2d 596, 599 (6th Cir. 1987); see also id. at 600 (“To the extent that publicity is a disadvantage for the government, the government must tolerate it.”). If the government incorrectly thought the Rule was violated, its remedy was to file its own motion, not to have a senior official engage in bad-faith self help. The government knows better, even if its hyperbolic opposition suggests otherwise….

Mr. Bovino went on to describe the judges presiding over Mr. Abrego’s civil and criminal cases as “activist” and “extremist.” Indeed, the government doubled down on those baseless accusations — and again violated the Order — when it complained publicly about Mr. Abrego’s motion….

The government’s assertion that “the Judicial Branch…may not direct Executive Branch speech” because it is “not politically accountable to the electorate” (Dkt. 282 at 7 n. 14) might make for good press sound bites but ignores settled Supreme Court precedent that courts have “an affirmative constitutional duty to minimize the effects of prejudicial pretrial publicity,” Gannett Co. v. DePasquale, 443 U.S. 368, 378 (1979); see Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 361, 363 (1966), and are equipped to strike a “constitutionally permissible balance” between the First Amendment and the right to a fair trial, Gentile, 501 U.S. at 1075, as this Court has done….

Indeed — onward, to a better — more just — tomorrow, down in Music City. Thank you, USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw — you are the best of what America is all about. [Here is the Noemite nonsense, just to preserve a complete record.]

नमस्ते

2025 Measles Outbreak, In The Most Medically-Advanced Nation On Earth: US Kids Are Falling Ill, At A Three-Decades-High Rate. Damn.

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We were yet again reminded, over the weekend past, that both infection rates — and deaths from measles (a once eradicated virus in humans, in the USA) are again spiking. We are at a three-decades high water mark, for infections. In kids — in primarily MAGA controlled states. This is… deplorable.

This is the direct result of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lunacy — and Tangerine 2.0’s tolerating the same. They are both responsible, as more and more lil’ kids across the nation… become sicker and some… even die.

Dammit. What is wrong with them? Here is CIDRAP on it all, over the past week:

…South Carolina health officials announced nine new measles cases today in an Upstate outbreak, bringing the outbreak total to 153 and the statewide total to 156 for the year.

“Five of the new cases were known household exposures, two resulted from a previously reported school exposure, the source of one is unknown and one is still being investigated,” officials said in a press release. “There are currently 249 people in quarantine and seven in isolation.”

Since October, the outbreak in the Upstate region has been growing, with cases seeded in several elementary schools with large unvaccinated student populations.

Of all the cases, 145 have been in unvaccinated people, three partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose MMR sequence, one vaccinated, and four with unknown vaccine status.

Utah now has 142 measles cases, including 101 in the Southwest Utah health region. Utah County now has 16 cases. The six new cases reported yesterday were in Utah County among children under age 18. State epidemiologists have said this is the highest measles activity seen in more than 30 years.

The United States likely surpassed 2,000 measles cases this week, according to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to update case counts this week, Johns Hopkins estimates 2,010 cases since January 1, 2025.

Gaines, Texas, had the highest case count, with 414 measles cases reported last spring. Mohave, Arizona, has 186 cases….

What words would reach these low-information parents — putting their kids at undue risk? I am at a loss. But we will try, anew in the new year 2026. Count on that. [And entirely trivially, I know that I feel more at ease in even years than odd ones — so I am looking forward to… 2026. Smile.]

नमस्ते

CDC, Almost In Full-On Stealth Mode — Now DOES Confirm That A Covid Booster — For At Risk Seniors Is A Good Idea. Yikes.

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This is very telling — along with my next post, on the three-decades high spike in measles, nation-wide. Depressing, in fact.

Serious public health scientists’ very rational and well supported (by peer reviewed evidence) views are having to be passed along almost in secret emails. The costs to public health — and confidence in good advice more broadly — cannot be overstated.

Both the Wa Po and NYT have pieces on this, this week. Here’s the Here is the NYT one:

…I never predicted that a fringe conspiracy theorist like Mr. Kennedy would one day become leader of the health care system, but it doesn’t surprise me.

Anti-vaccine groups have developed into a potent force. They have learned to stoke suspicion of authority with masterful precision, they have become adept at applying a veneer of scientific legitimacy to their ideas, and they’ve prepared a superficially compelling response to seemingly every argument that doctors make to encourage immunization.

These rhetorical tactics were first worked out at dinky conferences and obscure media outlets, but now the government itself has become a propaganda organ for the movement. This makes confronting vaccine skepticism much more challenging — and, amid growing measles outbreaks nationwide, far more urgent….

Onward, resolutely — just the same.

नमस्ते

[Updated Graphics!] Again, As In 2022: Hinderaker Lies About Global Copper Production. Ugh.

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Tonight we re-run our March 2022 piece debunking Hinderaker’s lies — on strategic minerals (on the world stage). We do so, because he is again retreading his same lies from 2022. [But we add an update at the bottom. Enjoy.]

Hinderaker gets his “C’s” confused again.

He says that price of copper — used for wind turbine battery storage and solar electric panel batteries — will skyrocket because of the Build Back Better bill of 2022… which is just a stupid, stupid lie.

Damn, son. We told you before… China is a different country — than Chile. And different than… Russia. We were and are friendly with Chile — not so much the other two.

That is all.

Silly old codger.

Updated: 12.31.2025 — now he preposterously suggests Trump is “bringing back” US copper production. False. Utterly… false.

The copper ore deposits remaining in the US may be lifted from the Earth, but they cannot be smelted / refined economically, here. That is a fact; true since when I last worked in hard rock mines. You could look it up.

Chile’s low labor rates and vast smelters give it a clear comparative advantage, coupled to its staggeringly large ore bodies.

So — we may far more advantageously buy from Chile (so long as Trump doesn’t bomb the Chileans). BTW — note the orders of magnitude Chile offers, at above right, over China.

Hinderaker isn’t a plausible liar in any sense.

That is all.

Yep — he is STILL full of sh!t.

Out.

UPDATED: More Noemite Nonsense, Filed Just Now — In Maryland. Do Roundly… Ignore It.

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Of course, Mr. Hecker will soundly debunk all the nonsense in this sworn declaration [six page pdf file, and link inactivated] in due course, next week — but for now, I will note that the affiant therein lies (under oath, to boot!) in at least one very glaring respect: the agency employee avers that Mr. Abrego Garcia is a member of a notorious criminal gang operation.

As my regular readers by now well-appreciate, there is exactly zero evidence of this claim. In fact, Donald Trump showed a photoshopped purported close up (now widely admitted to have been made — as a “joke” — by some far right Steve Bannon acoloyte) of Mr. Abrego Garcia’s hands, to claim they bore evidence of “gang tatoos”. This has been soundly refuted, with actual photos of his hands.

The agent, whose name I will not print here… might start thinking about whether she’s really ready to be charged with… perjury.

As an agency employee, with specific duties, she is clearly prevented by applicable law, from offering HER opinion as to matters NOT in evidence. Paid government informants, themselves admitted gang members, seeking early release or other favors from ICE and DHS are not in any sense credible witnesses. And she knows it — as does Noem herself. So, do stay tuned — we will wait for Mr. Hecker to eviscerate this, in his usual, elegant prose.

And he will. Onward, resolutely.

Grinning here, now… out — as in fact, we won’t even link it — until then. Let’s be fair: she cannot tar him with her libelous hyperbole. Not at least until his counsels have their say on the matter, here — next week.

नमस्ते

The German Merck / Serono: Approx. 6 Million Babies Are The Result Of IVF, Life To Date…

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First off — the caveats: this is no relation to the US Merck (known as MSD in the EU — including Italy). This is the German Merck KGaA.

Still, it is a fine win here, for bio-science — and parents struggling to conceive, all over the globe (so long as they have around $50,000). Here’s the story — out of the South Korean papers, today:

…“Approximately 6 million babies have been born worldwide through in vitro fertilization (IVF) using the infertility treatment drugs [German Merck / Serono] developed. This accounts for 50% of all individuals born through artificial insemination since the introduction of IVF.”

Alexander Steinbach, Senior Vice President and head of the global infertility business unit at German biotech company Merck (Merck), is an expert who has worked in the infertility treatment sector for over 20 years. In a recent interview with this newspaper during his visit to Korea, he said, “It would not be an exaggeration to say that Merck’s infertility treatments have had a significant impact on global population policies.”

According to Steinbach, the roots of Merck’s infertility drug development trace back to Serono, a company established in Rome, Italy, 116 years ago. Serono moved its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland, and laid the foundation for infertility treatment by introducing hormone therapy for the first time in the 1950s. The drug used when the world’s first test-tube baby was born in 1978 was also a Serono product. Merck acquired Serono in 2007….

Now you know. Onward, grinning — because as we’ve reported, Tangerine 2.0’s 20-something year old minions in the West Wing cannot decide whether they are in favor of IVF (see RFK, Jr.’s new priority vouchers at FDA — for it), or against it — with the goofy MAGA Bible thumpers, who hold “only God decides whom may conceive and bear fruit“. Damn. [Didn’t God give us brains, and free will — to invent… science-y things?]

नमस्ते

In Maryland, We Should See Some Noemite / Govt. Nonsense, Yet Tonight — Re Mr. Abrego Garcia…

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The case most likely to resolve definitively in Abrego’s favor, first — however, is being heard in Nashville.

This one, in Maryland (now that he is safely released and at home) has become just a side-car, at this point. But we will keep covering it. Look for a dismissal in Tennessee on either the 28th or 29th of January, in the new year. [And I will be there, live-blogging from the well in Courtroom 3C.] Here’s the latest Maryland schedule:

…ORDER granting [127] Respondents’ (Unopposed) Motion for Extension of Time to File a Declaration in Response to the Court’s Order at ECF No. 123;

Respondents shall file a supplemental declaration by no later than December 30, 2025; Petitioner shall file a response to Respondents’ December 26 and December 30 submission by no later than January 5, 2026. Signed by Judge Paula Xinis on 12/26/2025….

And for what it is worth, separately in the Middle District of Tennessee, here is the feckless Noemites’ “defense” of Greg Bovino’s libel of Abrego — as an official government agent, in a felony matter. [Something he’s supposed to stay mum about — and let the courtroom filings speak for themselves, as a matter of law.] Deplorable. Bovino is a useless little tool, to be certain.

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