Author: condor

Mirengoff, On Slush Fund: He Cannot… Stand Up.

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Well, it took him a full week to write it, and it is in the faintest outlines.

But finally, at least one of the boys has written… something, about Tangerine 2.0’s odious $1.8 billion slushfund payments to violent J6 cop attackers’ proposal.

It seems Mirengoff’s (once again newly lowered) MAGA boot-licking bar… is so low that even though an act is deeply conflicted, immoral and corrupt — and would almost certainly result in US government payments to violent criminals for beating police officers… he’s probably OK with Trump doing it — as a “policy initiative”.

This he says is “probably not clearly unlawful” — and that should be the bar. WTH?!

All I can say is… the man has surrendered his soul to MAGA. His post is self-refuting.

[To be clear, I think the whole idea is a dead letter already (the GOP Senate will vote to block it)… so what Paul thinks is irrelevant.]

What a sadly embittered world he and John would make / wish for.

Out.

Now A SECOND Ebola Treatment Center In Ituri Province, DRC Has Been Set Ablaze: Tragic Misinformation At Work.

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This time, it was in the small town of Mongbwalu — last time, on Wednesday night, it was in Rwampara. But locals (driven by misinformation from pulpits, mostly) are attacking and burning Doctors Without Borders’ Ebola treatment / isolation tent facilities — having been convinced that the virus is a hoax, and that “divine healing” is all the afflicted need. Damn.

All the while, USAID is nowhere to be found. This is already the third worst Ebola outbreak in recorded history — and may ultimately reach over 1,000 deaths — before it is all over. Here’s the latest, from CBS.com:

…Angry residents of a town at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo attacked and burned a tent that was part of a health center where people are being treated for the virus, the staff there said Saturday. It was the second such attack in the region in a week.

No one was hurt in the attack, according to initial reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections left the facility and are now unaccounted for, a local hospital director said.

The angry residents had arrived at the clinic in the town of Mongbwalu on Friday night and set fire to a tent set up for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases by the Doctors Without Borders humanitarian group, Dr. Richard Lokudi, director of the Mongbwalu hospital, told The Associated Press….

In the mean time, a US citizen / medical doctor who is gravely ill with Ebola (he apparently operated on a patient later found to be suffering from Ebola, as a part of his missionary / medical work) has been refused the right to return to the States, to a CDC approved treatment center / isolation unit… by the Trump [Mal-]administration.

Thankfully, the Germans agreed to take him in. And so, he has to be flown to Germany, where he is receiving excellent care in Berlin. What is wrong with the goons manipulating Trump’s irrational fears? We built these US treatment / containment centers for just this sort of an outbreak, in 2016. Damn.

नमस्ते

Actually, Hinderaker… The American People Get “The Last Word”. See Nov. 2026.

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Hinderaker complains this afternoon about Stephen Colbert. And he tries to tell us that Donald Trump has the last say — on Stephen Colbert.

He is gravely mistaken.

The last word belongs to the voters in America — and Tangerine 2.0 is… falling apart.

John seems to have missed that his slush fund is now DOA — as well as his immigration budget money, even among his GOP Senators.

Hilarious.

Check in with me after November, dude.

There’s Been Another Awful Coal Mine Flash-Over / Explosion, In Northern China — In Tongzhou’s Liushenyu Mine. 84 Miners Are Confirmed Dead.

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As many here know, these largely-avoidable tragedies recall my own youth — and are especially poignant — for me, personally. Awful. I feel it, viscerally, for the families.

My opinion? After 137 dead in three years, Xi needs to crack down on these lax mining conglomerates. Here’s the Beeb — on it all [with my editorial comments, in brackets]:

…At least 82 people have been killed and two are missing after a coal mine blast in northern China, according to state media.

Rescue officials revised down the death toll in an update late on Saturday, having earlier said at least 90 people had died.

The gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi province is the worst mining disaster in China since 2009.

There were 247 workers reportedly on duty when the blast happened at 19:29 local time (11:29 GMT) on Friday, with more than 100 people said to be saved and hundreds of rescuers sent to the site.

Some of the management team at the mine have reportedly been detained. The cause of the gas explosion has not yet been revealed, but state media reported that the levels of carbon monoxide — a highly toxic, odourless gas — in the mine were found to have “exceeded limits”. [Ed. Note: carbon monoxide is not an explosive gas, in any sense. It is one end result / by-product, from the explosion / flash burning of unacceptably high levels of unvented coal-dust. So, this is a red herring. These miners were killed by an explosion of very fine coal dust (the result of unsafe mining practices; Tongzhou having upped production quotas), almost certainly.]

China’s Ministry of Emergency Management has sent 345 personnel from six rescue teams to help with the operation. [It is true that dangerous carbon monoxide levels would rapidly build up in / sink into the lower levels, after a large blast — especially if electric ventilation fans had been destroyed in the original blast, mine wide.]

State media said the rescue operation had encountered difficulties as water has built up near the explosion site[Ed. Note: which would be consistent with the electrical being cut off; water pumps stop running — and the mine… rapidly floods], preventing access to certain areas, while blueprints provided by the mine did not match the actual conditions [Ed. Note: this would mean that there was far more underground mining, likely with less pillar support, and slower ventilation — than even China regulators allow. This may well be the proximate cause of the flash-over]….

Now you know. So… disheartening. This is all… avoidable.

नमस्ते

Shut It, You Lying Chump, Hinderaker… MN Wrongful Prosecution Edition.

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This evening, Hinderaker chooses to lie about the 2006 Hayes murder prosecution in his town.

He fails to inform readers that all but one of the supposed witnesses later recanted their testimony.

He fails to admit that there was no forensic evidence tying the then 16 year old to the crime scene. No video, and no gun was ever recovered, so no ballistics on the slugs that killed the woman in the shop. That is tragic — but that certainly doesn’t compel the inference that this particular 16 year old “did it.”

But he’s a Black man — and that’s all John sees, increasingly.

The prosecution never explained why no forensic evidence existed. Never explained — on later appeals- — why the witnesses had recanted.

It wasn’t until just a few years ago — after serving over 20 years of a life sentence, that the new prosecutor took a look at the case — and agreed that Hayes had been unjustly imprisoned for his entire adult life.

And yes, he’s received a $4.4 million settlement for that injustice.

But you may bet your last dollar that John won’t ever even mention Tangerine’s now derailed — conflicted and wildly corrupt — attempts to pay out $1.8 billion (and largely, in secret), to the J6 rioters who beat police offers senseless — among others. [Others like Michael Flynn and Roger Stone and Steve Bannon.]

Why? Because these thugs are overwhelmingly whyte — and were “his kind of reprobates“.

That’s why.

Out.

There Are No More Criminal Proceedings Which Might Assert… Anything, Against Mr. Abrego Garcia. Justice… Has [Finally] Come.

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Just as we’ve predicted for months on end — we’ve now finally arrived at… justice, in Music City. Well done, USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw! He is a free man.

And now, very shortly in Maryland, the able USDC Judge Xinis is likely to rule that ICE/DHS possesses no right to deport him, in any event. Not without an all new set of proceedings — and its specious claim to be able to remove him to Liberia or the Sudan… is going to fall apart.

There is no procedural hook, upon which to hang it. And his own suit against the government agencies — for their attempt to punish him for having the temerity to assert his Constitutional rights… just got a BIG boost, from the Nashville dismissal. Excellent. Here’s that well-reasoned, careful… and precise opinion, just entered:

…[T]he Court must consider the full evidentiary record to determine if the Government has carried its burden of rebutting the presumption of vindictiveness.

In short, the timing of Agent VanWie’s decision to reopen the closed HSI investigation of the November 2022 traffic stop and [Now Acting US AG Todd] Blanche’s now unrebutted public statements tying the reopened investigation to Abrego’s successful lawsuit taints the investigation with a vindictive motive. That vindictive taint continued with Singh’s close substantive oversight of McGuire’s and his prosecution team’s work leading to the indictment. Finally, after the indictment was presented, the Executive Branch found a way to return Abrego to the United States to comply with the District of Maryland’s order to facilitate his return. While the Court finds insufficient evidence of actual vindictiveness, the Court concludes that the Government has failed to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness. The evidence it labels as newly discovered was available to be obtained with due diligence long before April 2025.

Even more, it does not explain the Government’s change in position to remove Abrego and not prosecute him to then prosecute and not remove him. McGuire’s subjective explanations also do not cure the retaliatory taint that set the investigation and resulting indictment in motion.

Because the presumption of vindictiveness remains unrebutted, the indictment must be dismissed….

The Government chose to pursue that evidence only after Abrego’s successful lawsuit and the ongoing requirement to report daily to Judge Xinis on efforts to return Abrego to the United States. This supports the inference that the Government would not have reopened the investigation or secured testimony from Hernandez-Reyes but for Abrego’s successful lawsuit. Bragan, 249 F.3d at 481 (citing Adams, 870 F.2d at 1145); see also Carey, 816 F. Supp. 3d at 141–42….

The evidence before this Court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power….

Since he is now a free man, he may choose — on his own — without fear, to move his family to Costa Rica — until Tangerine 2.0’s time is at an end. And he may return with his US Citizen wife, without any trouble then — in early 2029. I think that might be where he lands. In any event, this is an important victory… for justice, without fear or favor in the US. A long time coming, but the right result. And yes, just to avoid more vindictive BS, I might counsel a voluntary move…. to the island nation, temporarily.

Onward, grinning.

नमस्ते

Very Ominous News, Out Of Rwampara, DRC — And, Ebola ’26 Has Now Afflicted Over 750 People; More Than 177 Are Dead, Already.

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And… because this provincial area lies in a remote, largely hilly and forested civil war/conflict zone — still highly influenced by very poorly informed / fundamentalist “christian” religious leaders running mega-churches… highly unscientific rumors are often accepted as fact.

Thus, some remote pastors are telling their faithful on Sundays that the outbreak is a hoax, and divine protection is all they need (for a price, of course). So much so, that some young people burned a treatment center down, when they were refused in a request to take a friend’s body for burial. The young person had died of Ebola, and unsafe burials are a prime way that the virus is spread.

Here is the latest, very disturbing news, from AP reports:

…The World Health Organization chief said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly and now poses a “very high” risk there, as a lack of medical resources and anger among the population hamper the response in a vulnerable and conflict-ridden region.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of global spread remains low, but that the U.N. health agency was revising upward its assessment of the risk within Congo from its previous categorization of “high….”

Frontline medical staff have struggled with a lack of resources and, in some cases, pushback due to what has been characterized as misinformation or situations where medical policy has clashed with local customs such as burial rites….

On Thursday, an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara was set on fire by youths who were angered when they were blocked from retrieving the body of a friend who apparently had died of Ebola, according to witnesses and police.

Bodies of Ebola victims can be highly contagious, and medical authorities are trying to control burials whenever possible.

Julienne Lusenge, president of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, a local aid group, said the population’s anger is mostly due to misinformation.

“We have lived through years and years of conflict and hardship so rumors spread easily,” she said.

She said some churches have told their large congregations that the outbreak is fake and that divine protection makes medical care unnecessary….

Yikes. This could easily begin to approach the 2012-14 outbreak — when over 12,400 ultimately died and over 25,000 were ill. Truly… tragic.

नमस्ते

The “Direct Corollary Effects” — Of Allowing Trumpian Lies To Fester — In Circles Where Education… Is Undervalued: Knox County, TN Edition.

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First — the good news: I am 100% certain the ACLU will be able to win — if/when it files a case against this small-minded attempt at the repression of US history.

The ACLU will win all the way through the United States Supreme Court, and have this local Tennessee law invalidated, as both impermissibly vague — and as contrary to nearly 100 years of clear Supreme Court precedent.

These cases say the work as a whole must be considered, even before taking only the least restrictive means of addressing a compelling state interest. See, Island Trees, et al., 457 U.S. 853 — decided 1982. None of that has happened in Knoxville, Tennessee. Obviously.

And, moreover, all of this would be unthinkable, prior to the “time of Tangerine” — looking back, given Supreme Court black letter law — of at least 60 years’ standing:

…Roots: The Saga of an American Family, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alex Haley that helped shape public understanding of slavery and inspired generations of Americans to trace their ancestry, has been banned from library shelves in Knox County Schools under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act….

“Roots” was among the first widely read works of fiction to offer a detailed account of the Middle Passage, the horrific transatlantic journey to America endured by enslaved Africans between the 16th and 19th centuries….

Roots had recently been elevated to the district’s review committee for consideration over a passage in the novel’s 84th chapter, which it determined was not “age appropriate” under Tennessee law. “Broader themes or historical significance of a work as a whole is not a consideration under the law,” Harrington added. [Then this Tennessee law plainly violates the Supreme Court’s cases on the First Amendment; Chapter 84 narrates the forcible rape and beating of an enslaved woman — by a white domestic terrorist / plantation owner.]

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that the KCS book-banning committee had previously reviewed an excerpt from Roots and did not recommend banning it. KCS did not answer questions… on what new concerns had been raised.

The decision means the material can still be taught in classes; it just cannot be available on library shelves….

This is why no preznit should be allowed to endlessly lie — about the uglier aspects of our shared US history. Before long, the acolytes of such a demagogue will seek to erase that uglier history entirely, from written records.

That is exactly what hard right / faux-Xtian Tennessee legislators are vainly attempting here. Damnation. It will not stand, in any event.

नमस्ते

Friday Early AM Tangent: About $25 Billion In Bitcoin Derivatives Expire Next Friday — Likely Drags BTC Down To Around $75,000.

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Nothing about life in even the near future is mathematically certain — but absent some other monumental shift in the existing macro-catalysts, the ratio of puts-to-calls at various strike prices, both in- and out- of the money, would suggest that the spot price for Bitcoin will fall about $2,000 to $3,000 — by next Friday, early morning US time.

Here’s that story — and a bit of it:

…The put/call ratio of 0.86 reflects a modestly bullish market, though with max pain sitting $2,000 below the current price, a gravitational pull toward $75,000 remains a real risk heading into May 29 settlement…

Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, told CoinDesk “The bigger problem, is macro: investors are de-risking as long-term yields rise, oil and inflation risks remain in focus, and there is currently no compelling reason for new capital to enter the market.”…

Hilarious.

And all of this coincides with Mark Cuban admitting he has sold off almost all of his Bitcoin stack (mostly, in the lower ranges of this downturn), now that the supposed “Bitcoin as a hedge against traditional finance excesses” narrative… has been proven to be a lie.

Look out below, in seven days. Or sooner.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Wants To Talk About Reich’s Misleading Tax Soundbites — Are You KIDDING ME?!

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So even Senate Republicans are refusing to advance a budget and many are in open revolt about an end the Iran war measure — they won’t vote it down.

Why is his own party imploding?

Well… because Trump is now purporting to openly create multi-billion dollar bribery / slush funds (from taxpayer funds) — with iron clad secrecy as to outcomes, so as to allow Trump’s Crime Syndicate® to charge the J6-ers a kickback on any “restitution” they are slated to receive.

That’s why.

But John’s knickers are in a twist about Robert Reich — who holds no office, and hasn’t — in about three decades.

Reich compares Mr. Bezos’ personal taxes to his company’s and to the average American’s.

Taxes.

Yep — we all pay them — but on a percentage basis — proportionately, billionaires pay far less of them than the average American does on a percentage of income basis. That is beyond dispute, John.

This is something that John is more worked up about, than the idea that Tangerine is openly, and actively trying to loot the nation — for billions of his own benefits.

Charming. [And Mirengoff is writing book reviews, about rarefied academic SCOTUS tomes — to avoid talking about crossing Tangerine 2.0. Insane.]

This is open and notorious criming boys. Speak up. Losers.

O U T.