Author: condor

Undocumented, Part II: Mr. Biden Just Extended Protections To Over 900,000 People Awaiting Hearings But Here In US… Without Papers

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Candidly, I had some pretty credible inside scoop (in legal circles) that this executive order might be issued tonight. And it has been so issued.

Mr. Biden has extended by 18 months a clearly lawful relief provision, for people here in the US without papers, primarily from certain Latin American countries… each of whom await their already docketed hearings (since it is likely Tangerine 2.0 will now try to “slow walk” ALL “credible fear” hearings).

As my legacy graphic indicates, back when JUSTICE Jackson was… JUDGE Jackson, she was instrumental in protecting these human rights. To be certain, this is an excellent move, but there is more Mr. Biden might do, to protect human rights. More on that next week — here’s the latest, on a snowy Friday night:

…President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday renewed deportation relief that currently covers 900,000 immigrants from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine and Sudan, a move that would delay any attempts by President-elect Donald Trump to sunset those protections.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extended enrollment in the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for those nations, giving those immigrants a deportation reprieve and access to work permits for an additional 18 months.

The Biden administration’s moves on Friday stopped short of more sweeping demands by activists and some Democrats to grant TPS to more recently arrived immigrants and those from other nations.

Todd Schulte, president of advocacy group FWD.us, said the extensions would allow hundreds of thousands of people to continue “contributing to their communities, supporting their families, and strengthening the economy” but also urged Biden to expand TPS to Nicaragua and other nations….

Well played, Mr. Biden. This will undoubtedly also benefit the children of these undocumented people I mentioned this morning — so it is a “two fer” here. We will blunt most of Tangerine 2.0’s cruelty — just as we did against 1.0 — sand into his gears, in the federal courts. Onward… may go catch a high-octane regional public high school B-ball game tonight (to celebrate this win), and yes — brave the snows. Heh.

नमस्ते

Great News! Over 20,000 Front Line Workers In Sierra Leone To Be Vaccinated Against Ebola — To Prevent “The Fire Next Time”…

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We’ve now covered Ebola outbreaks for 12 years. We started because Merck and NewLink ultimately made what was then the only FDA-approved Ebola vaccine.

But it led to our coverage of all sorts of potential pandemic viral agents, and their vaccines and emerging monoclonal therapeutics. Today, we note an encouraging milestone: Sierra Leone, that saw nearly 10,000 deaths from Ebola in 2014-15, has announced a preventative vaccine program — available to all potential front line health workers, and to cab drivers who might unwittingly transport a person hosting the virus (even without symptoms), in the future.

This prophylactic program will deploy the well understood and safe Merck vaccine — and I note it (as fluffy Friday snows fall here — and in Music City), to remind Mr. Kennedy that in the scientifically-literate world (i.e., Africa), vaccines are well-known to save millions of lives.

So this is a wonderful morning, 20,000 doses strong — even as Trump gets sentenced; Rudy sees contempt in DC and at least half of that Jack Smith report will be released, over the demagogue Aileen Cannon’s specious Florida objection (given the denial of Trump 2.0 last night). Progress — indeed. Here’s the latest:

…Sierra Leone is embarking on a nationwide campaign with the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine, trademarked as Ervebo [a Merck property].

The campaign will target 20,000 frontline workers in 16 districts. These include healthcare workers, traditional healers, community health and social workers, laboratory personnel, motorcycle taxi drivers and security forces. Anybody who will be involved in any response to future outbreaks….

The Ervebo® vaccine, developed by Merck, is a single-dose vaccine. It works by using a modified virus to produce antibodies against Ebola, equipping the immune system to recognise and neutralise the virus upon exposure. Clinical trials have shown its efficacy exceeds 95% in preventing infection from the Zaire Ebola virus strain, the deadliest variant….

Now you know — onward to enjoying a high-science snow day, here and there — in fact, across much of the nation, even as we keep the people of LA in our meditations. Be excellent to one another — scientific sanity will make… a comeback.

नमस्ते

Former “Hizzoner” Will Appear Live In DC Federal Court, Tomorrow — Friday, At 10 AM. Withdraws “No Travel” Motion…

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Welp. The simplest answer here is that he’s (again!) been caught in lies — or at least, extreme exaggerations.

He filed the sworn statement moments ago, as ordered and depicted in the graphic at right, before the able USDC Judge Howell in DC. In the two pager, he admits that he traveled for pleasure at Christmas, to see old friends and that he had no issues in attending the Manhattan proceedings we covered last week. So after a lot of burping and bleating, he’s withdrawn his request to appear by Zoom, tomorrow — on that contempt hearing. Here’s his rather lame sworn statement:

…Since December 9, 2024, I have traveled twice: once for a few days around Christmas to spend the holiday at the personal residence of close personal friends and once for a court conference in the Southern District of New York….

It currently appears that I will be required to appear in person for trial in the New York matter identified above starting on January 16, 2025. If it concludes before January 20th, I may travel to Washington, D.C. on the way home from Florida for the inauguration of President Trump, which will be a once-in-a-lifetime event….

The guy simply. cannot. read. any. room, any longer.

He’s done some truly terrible things (willfully telling and broadcasting lies), lies that injured innocent, honest, hard-working people — but he still thinks he should be given special “hall passes” — everywhere he goes. Disgusting. In DC — tomorrow, it will be a banger! Will he be detained overnight, for contempt? We shall see.

नमस्ते

On January 16, 2025, NASA’s Suni Williams Will Spacewalk At ISS — To Patch NICER “Light Leaks”. Amazing.

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We covered this in August of last year — during its training phase — here.

I love that Suni Williams (a very-willing!) “hostage” on the ISS (back story — on her extended stay at the station, here) — will pitch in to get the job done. Now it is go time — the live mission is about one week away. Here’s the latest from NASA and the ISS:

…NASA astronaut Nick Hague will install patches to the agency’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) X-ray telescope on the International Space Station as part of a spacewalk scheduled for Jan. 16. Hague, along with astronaut Suni Williams, will also complete other tasks during the outing.

NICER will be the first NASA observatory repaired on-orbit since the last servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009.

Hague and other astronauts, including Don Pettit, who is also currently on the space station, rehearsed the NICER patch procedures in the NBL (Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory), a 6.2-million-gallon indoor pool at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, in 2024….

NASA astronauts Hague and Williams will replace a rate gyro assembly that helps provide orientation control for the station, install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters for an X-ray telescope called NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), and replace a reflector device used for navigational data on one of the international docking adapters. Additionally, the pair will check access areas and connector tools that will be used for future maintenance work on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

Hague will serve as spacewalk crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes. Williams will serve as spacewalk crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. This will be the fourth for Hague and the eighth for Williams. It will be the 273rd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades….

From its perch near the space station’s starboard solar array, NICER studies the X-ray sky, including erupting galaxies, black holes, superdense stellar remnants called neutron stars, and even comets in our solar system.

But in May 2023, NICER developed a “light leak.” Sunlight began entering the telescope through several small, damaged areas in the telescope’s thin thermal shields. During the station’s daytime, the light reaches the X-ray detectors, saturating sensors and interfering with NICER’s measurements of cosmic objects. The mission team altered their daytime observing strategy to mitigate the effect….

Now you know — onward, in an incredible moment to be alive and observing these wonders. And… Mr. and Mrs. Carter are reunited now. Smile.

नमस्ते

As We Watch A Great Man’s Funeral Unfold, We See That China Has Reported Five Mpox Clade 1b Cases… A Traveler Returning From DRC Was Index Case.

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Oof. More disconcerting news, this time in China.

Here’s the latest, from Reuters overnight:

…China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said it had found a cluster outbreak of the Ib subclade that started with the infection a foreigner who has a history of travel and residence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Four further cases have been found in people infected after close contact with the foreigner. The patients’ symptoms are mild and include skin rash and blisters….

Now you know. And… travel well Mr. Carter — but do travel light.

नमस्ते

Meanwhile In DC — “Hizzoner” Must Swear That He’s Not Traveled (Except For Court), By Air, In The Past 30 Days: USDC Judge Howell SKEPTICAL Of His Medical Claims!

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Late this afternoon in DC, the able USDC Judge Beryl Howell issued a text-only order, showing vast skepticism about Rudy’s sudden, and utterly undocumented, “medical issues“. He is now in danger of going to jail for perjury, as well.

Wow. This is quite the stinger, just entered in DC:

…MINUTE ORDER (paperless), upon consideration of defendant’s [37] Motion to Appear Virtually (“Mot. to Appear”) for the scheduled contempt hearing on January 10, 2025, and to assess the seriousness and veracity of the medical conditions (i.e., “severe knee conditions,” a “lung condition… requir[ing] the use of an inhaler,” and a “heart condition”) and security concerns (i.e., “credible death threats”) that this motion, without support from any medical or other documentation, asserts / provides “good cause and compelling circumstances” to excuse his in-person attendance at the scheduled contempt hearing….

DIRECTING defendant to file by January 9, 2025, at 2:00 PM, a sworn declaration, under penalty of perjury, from Mr. Giuliani that, except for travel required for court proceedings, he has been unable to travel and has not traveled from his residence in Florida, see Mot. to Appear at 2, in the past 30 days and that he remains unable to and will not travel in the next 30 days (i.e., the period from December 9, 2024, to February 7, 2025), due to these same medical conditions and security concerns.

Signed by Judge Beryl A. Howell on January 8, 2025….

The hits just keep comin’ — when you decide to lie to federal court judges. Damn.

Meanwhile, back in Manhattan (hilariously, given his testimony on Monday!), Mr. Guiliani is to bring all the World Series rings to court next week, to be placed with the US Marshals, for safe-keeping. That order will likely be finalized tonight — or tomorrow.

Onward, grinning into a clear cold night — but no more snows. Out.

नमस्ते

Solely For A Complete Record: Tangerine 2.0’s SCOTUS Request — To Avoid Friday’s 34 Felonies Sentencing, In Manhattan

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This is silly.

Forty pages of… manifest silliness.

But here it is, for the record. Nothing stops his sentencing.

In fact, there is a very solidly-grounded argument that he cannot appeal the overall verdict, in his 34 state law felony convictions, until his sentence is pronounced, under NY state criminal procedural law. [That is, there is no “final order, of harm” (from which to appeal), until he knows whether the able judge sets the whole thing aside.]

But now you may read the nonsense for yourself. Onward.

नमस्ते

Confirming An Improving Regulatory Trend In China, Gardasil® Is Now Approved By China’s FDA — For Men — Not Just Women.

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In early November ’24, we mentioned that we thought the pessimism about Gardasil® sales in China (on Wall and Broad) was being overstated. Today’s news confirms that view.

You see, much of the decline in China’s HPV vaccine sales previously seen was due not so much to organic demand factors, but a sharp state-actor / regulatory crackdown by Xi, on many US companies’ Chinese network of distributors, of all sorts of drugs. [We covered that, here.]

Gardasil was particularly hard hit when ZFSW, the largest in-country distributor of Gardasil was nearly closed (due to concerns about alleged hospital kickbacks), by Chinese authorities. It is resolved, and yet it is taking a moment to rebuild rapport with hospital buyers, in this vast, sprawling Asian nation… but that effort is well-underway. [Hospitals themselves often fear state-actor reprisals, when there are stock-outs and the like.] Even so, as they say in China, “the mountains are high, and the emperor is very far away….”

In any event, here’s Reuters, on the latest “in China” clearance:

…Merck’s human papillomavirus vaccine has been approved for men in China, it said on Wednesday, providing the U.S. drugmaker a much-needed boost in a key market where demand has been falling among women. The shot, Gardasil, is already approved for women, but the vaccine’s distributor in China has reduced stock due to weak demand.

Merck [at Q3 2024] said weak sales in China were likely to continue in 2025….

This is the first HPV vaccine for men to be approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration and can be used by children and men aged between 9 and 26 years to prevent certain cancers and HPV-related diseases, the company said.
HPV is a common cause for cervical cancer in women, while it increases the risk of genital warts and several types of cancers among men….

Onward — grinning into the warming sunshine here — above zero on the wind chills, finally! And at 2 PM EDT today we will learn whether “Hizzoner” should even bother to show up for trial in Manhattan federal court, given the number of adverse inferences to be drawn, and the potential lack of any exhibits, since he’s missed all deadlines to provide them. Delicious.

नमस्ते

Mr. Giuliani Has Again Provoked The Righteous Ire Of The Able USDC Judge Liman In Manhattan — Failed To Meet Deadlines, On Pre-Trial Orders…

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UPDATED: As of 9:32 Eastern, no service appears on the docket. I think… that’s… game over. [Filing No. 226 was made a little after 7 pm — nothing has come in since. Yikes. No Filing No. 227.] End, update.

He is now in danger of losing at trial on Friday, the tenth of January, because he is not even trying to put on a case that complies with liong standing and clear court orders.

As I type this, he’s about 10 minutes away from missing another ordered deadline, below.

The slow motion train-wreck that is (former) Hizzoner Giuliani continues tonight, thus:

…The Court ordered the parties, including intervenor, to submit joint pretrial orders, as well as other submissions, by 5 p.m. today, January 7, 2025. 24-cv-06563, Dkt. No. 185; 24-mc-00353, Dkt. No. 219.

Plaintiff timely filed a proposed pretrial order reflecting the participation of intervenor. 24-cv-06563, Dkt. No. 191; 24-mc-00353, Dkt. No. [221]. The proposed pretrial orders reflect that counsel for the Defendant failed to make himself available to meet and confer. Id. Instead, at 4:50 p.m., counsel for Defendant emailed Chambers his exhibit list, and at 4:57 p.m., counsel for Defendant emailed Chambers what he represented were joint pretrial orders agreed to by all parties in both matters. The emailed joint pretrial orders make reference to an attached joint exhibit list but do not attach the exhibit list.

Nothing was filed on the docket. The Court would be within its prerogative to preclude Defendant from offering exhibits that are not contained in the joint pretrial orders filed by Plaintiffs. Counsel for Plaintiffs have not asked for such relief, however, and assuming Defendant complies with this Order, would not be entitled to it.The Court cannot go to trial with two competing joint pretrial orders, and it is not required to go to the effort of reconciling the competing submissions.

Before 9:30 p.m. tonight, Defendant is ordered to serve Plaintiffs and Intervenor, by email to all counsel appearing for Plaintiffs and Intervenor, his proposed exhibit list in each of these matters, as well as any edits to the joint pretrial orders submitted by Plaintiffs.

Failure to do so will result in waiver of the right to submit exhibits not otherwise included in the filed joint pretrial orders. Defendants counsel is also ordered to meet and confer with Plaintiffs counsel tomorrow morning at a time before 11:30 a.m. selected by Plaintiffs counsel (which Plaintiffs counsel should provide by 9:30 pm tonight).

Plaintiffs shall file revised joint pretrial orders on the dockets of each of these cases by 2 p.m. tomorrow. No other pretrial submissions will be received by the Court (except for the response to Plaintiffs motions in limine), the time period for any other such submissions having expired.

Signed by Judge Lewis J. Liman on 1/7/2025….

His filing extension expires at 9:30 PM EST tonight — ten minutes from now. And nothing is on the docket, at all. He’s… definitively DOA (without this filing) on the homestead question, and the Yankees World Series rings question. Oof.

नमस्ते

Equally Likely Explanation? Few Florida Men Want To “Waste Time” — On Jury Duty.

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Again tonight, John Hinderaker’s increasingly-wild imagination is getting the better of him.

He leaps to the conclusion that most Floridians “hate” CNN. I doubt it.

The far more likely explanation for the juror candidates’ remarks he cites… might be that most feckless Florida whyte men (and they are mostly men)… Don’t really want to serve on a jury, at all — given the very low pay and the relatively boring nature of that duty.

So they make up what will be disqualifying answers, in order to be preemptively struck.

That’s Occam’s Razor.

[Moreover it looks like CNN has truth as a defense — wanting to “nail” a war profiteer is not libel if his prices were wildly high. And it seems they… were.]

Cheers.