Author: condor

[U X3: Religious Rights Class Cert. & Reasoned Injunctions On File] Justice… Now Moves Inexorably Forward, Against Lies From Trump’s Federal Agents, Here. Chicago Shows It Is, Indeed, A “City of Big Shoulders…”

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UPDATE @ 3 PM CST: The able USDC Judge has already published her formal eight page injunction, on the record in 1403. And it is a… ton of bricks, on Bovino’s pointy lil’ noggin’!

Second Update: She has certified the plaintiff class. This means anyone injured at a protest may recover damages if this injunction is violated, and that violation is the cause of the injury.

U X 3 — By later on Friday night, the separate 16 page opinion — on the religious rights class certification is also on file. Buckle up, butter-cup. End updates.

Judge Sara L. Ellis has officially entered her injunction [in oral remarks from the bench] — and it is as damning as it is… sweeping. [Note: The actual, as published, written opinion and order is now on file, and published here. It is a banger! It DIDN’T take a day or two to draft, since even though it recites about 25 paragraphs of Bovino-led violations — and shameless lying by him, as well.]

Bovino cannot continue in his role. He has zero credibility, now. Here’s the latest from our PBS affiliate — on the ground:

…[USDC Judge] Ellis on Thursday painstakingly detailed instances across the Chicago area in which border patrol agents used force against residents in apparent violation of her temporary restraining order. The Trump administration also treated anti-ICE protesters worse because of the content of their speech and impermissibly prevented the free exercise of religion by shooting, without warning, those engaged in prayer with pepper balls and tear gas, both violations of the First Amendment, Ellis said.

She also said Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino admitted to lying about whether a rock hit him before he used tear gas on Chicagoans in Little Village last month.

“The government would have people believe, instead, that the Chicagoland area is in a vice hold of violence, ransacked by rioters and attacked by agitators,” Ellis said Thursday before announcing her ruling.

“That simply is untrue. And the government’s own evidence in this case belies that assertion….”

We are encouraged. But we will continue to resist peacefully, and aid our neighbors (with-, or with- out papers) sheltering them away from this lawlessness. Bring it on, you malign lil’ man — Il Duce / Bovino. We won’t rest — until you thugs leave town (or are incarcerated). Onward.

नमस्ते

Endpoints News Reports That Dr. Tidmarsh Sez He Has “UN-Resigned” From Leading CDER — At FDA… Chaos Quotient: Scale High.

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Dr. Tidmarsh now claims he’s become a victim of some ill-defined “retaliation” — by Vinay Prasad. Uh-huh.

Regular readers will recall that Prasad also “resigned” — and then “UN-resigned”, returning to the agency after a Laura Loomer attack — one that was backed by Tangerine 2.0.

Then, apparently, some staffers told the Manchurian Cantaloupe that praising Democratic office holders might be a useful thing to point to, when Trump is accused of partisan retribution — especially in “no fire” positions. So, Prasad was given his seat back. In the mean time, Dr. Tidmarsh had signed on, out of Stanford. Now these two boys are… feuding.

I will only observe that, at least in the current Tidmarsh kerfluffle… this isn’t just smoke… It. Is. Fire. He was actually trying to garner personal financial benefits [in the form of payments, under a 40 year(!) consulting contract] from a business in which a rival was a large investor, after Tidmarsh had very publicly criticized the business’s drug candidate, all while in charge of new drugs — at FDA. Now he wants back in, ostensibly to “clear his name”:

…Tidmarsh has claimed that CBER Director Vinay Prasad has targeted him and tried to push him out. Tidmarsh is also facing a lawsuit, and a related investigation inside HHS, claiming he abused his position to try and punish a former business associate with whom he had a falling out.

The episode over the last 24 hours is the latest at an FDA that has been consumed by job cuts, high-profile incidents by top leaders and controversial scientific decisions, casting a pall over the agency’s operations….

[About a year ago Trump’s appointment (via Kennedy), of Vinay] Prasad [to lead FDA’s CDER] had been greeted negatively by the biotech industry, in part because of his past criticisms of a lack of evidence supporting the approval of some new drugs, as well as his frequent — and sometimes caustic — online critiques of drugs, studies and past FDA decisions….

Even so, Prasad had not issued such public critiques (in all cases, these were not backed by any real scientific evidence) while he was in the seat at FDA. That is, by his own admission, what Dr. Tidmarsh has done. Yikes. Chaos certainly is this bunch’s central brand. Yikes and… boing.

नमस्ते

Just A Short Squib — To Note How Damning The Actual Emails And Texts Are — In The Tidmarsh Matter…

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I won’t drone on and on about this, but Dr. Tidmarsh told Kevin Tang that they would be in a “negative situation” soon, if Tang did not accede to his demands, and that he (Tidmarsh) “was not without power” in the situation — header on that one says “what is WRONG with you?”… damn.

This is just… cra-cra. Not even primarily because it is… unlawful — but because it is done without even a hint of subterfuge. Wow — see the Newsweek take on the exhibits, here:

…“Over the next six years, Dr. Tidmarsh repeatedly threatened that he would exact revenge against Mr. Tang…writing in texts and emails to Mr. Tang and his business associates that he would ‘be exposed,’ that there was ‘[m]ore bad karma to come,’ that ‘[t]he pain is not over,’ and that ‘I’m Not powerless….’”

What a corrupt world Trump (and his minions) have set in motion — inside DC.

His endless (and largely false) complaints of a “swamp” in DC have been utterly supplanted, by the facts — of his criminal enterprise constructions, there. Damn. Onward, just the same.

नमस्ते

It Seems Possible That The Universe Won’t Expand Forever: A Radical Change, In 27 Year Old Model, Ahead?

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For at least the last 27 years, the prevailing model of the universe was… an infinite expansion. In other words, there would be no Big Bang — big collapse — Big Bang — big collapse (in potentially endless iterations). This one shot — hundreds of billions of years long — would be all we’d ever get.

But now, a South Korean team has reached essentially the same conclusion that the Desi team reached in March of 2024: the speed at which several vastly distant supernovae are moving away from us seems to be decreasing. This in turn would imply that the very fabric of space itself is moving outward in all directions in a decelerating fashion, now over the last hundred million or so years.

And that would imply that some day in the vastly distant future, the universe will stop, reverse course, and begin to deflate, like a birthday party balloon after three or four nights. And then… at some even more vastly distant point in time, a “big collapse” will occur – giving rise to a new Big Bang. Here’s that, from March 2024:

…Dark energy, the mysterious force powering the expansion of the universe, appears to be weakening, according to a survey that could “overthrow” scientists’ current understanding of the fate of the cosmos.

If confirmed, the results from the dark energy spectroscopic instrument (Desi) team at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona would have profound implications for theories about the evolution of the universe, opening up the possibility that its current expansion could eventually go into reverse in a “big crunch….”

Of course, this version of cosmology would then realign nicely with the poetic teachings about the role of Shiva, in the Bhagavad Gita. Religion and science… in harmony, again. Nice.

Onward, to check the dockets and see if I’ll pop over (around 2 pm) to Judge Ellis’s courtroom — to see Bovino get his back porch painted bright red. Heh.

नमस्ते

More Sensible Orders, Tonight — To End The Lawless Inhumanity At ICE’s Broadview Detention Facility…

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Tonight, the able USDC Judge Gettleman has entered a broad TRO, to end the inhumane conditions at the Northern Illinois holding faculty. He has also ordered more relaxed access to lawyers, and that all papers the government hands each detainee, must also be provided in Spanish, as well as English.

It is… a good start.

Here is the four page TRO, in full — and a bit — of the sharper end, of that spear:

…Defendants shall provide all persons detained at Broadview (“Detainee” or “Detainees”) overnight in any hold room, cell, or other space (collectively referred to as a “Hold Room”) with a clean bedding mat and bedding with sufficient space to sleep;

Each Hold Room must be cleaned at least twice each day;

Each Hold Room must be furnished with a clock that prominently displays the time and date;

Each Detainee shall be furnished with adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper, oral hygiene products (including toothbrushes and toothpaste) and menstrual products for women Detainees;

Defendants shall provide showers for each Detainee at least every other day;

Defendants shall provide clean toilet facilities;

Defendants shall provide each Detainee with at least three full meals per day that meet the U.S. recommended dietary allowances;

Defendants shall provide each Detainee with a bottle of potable water with each meal and bottled water upon request free of charge;

Defendants shall provide each Detainee with prescribed medication that was within Detainee’s possession when arrested, along with any prescribed medications dropped off by family members or the Detainee’s counsel for the use of the Detainee;

Defendants shall also provide any storage requirements for medications;

Defendants shall provide telephone services for each Detainee to communicate with the Detainee’s counsel in private and without cost;

Defendants shall ensure that all attorney-client communications are carried out in a manner to protect the attorney-client privilege between the Detainee and the Detainee’s counsel. . . All Detainees must be provided upon arrival or as soon thereafter is possible with a list of pro bono attorneys in English and Spanish, and provide interpreter services as necessary, as set forth in the Byers Declaration….

Defendants shall not misrepresent the contents of any papers they provide to Detainees. . . Any papers defendants provide to Detainees should include an accompanying Spanish translation, and defendants shall allow Detainees reasonable time and opportunity to read and understand the papers….

And by tomorrow, Greg Bovino may have to step down — for perjury, over the last two days, in USDC Judge Ellis’s courtroom. Do see his open lying, under oath, on the record… at the end of this Powerpoint, used in open court today — before Judge Ellis.

Bit by bit. Brick by… brick.

Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

Decidedly… Odd: What Exactly Does Hinderaker Imagine He “Learned” From Last Night’s GOP Wipeout?

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It is hard to overstate how silly Hinderaker’s sophistry has become.

As always, we tend to think (all else being equal) that Occam’s Razor applies: i.e., the simplest explanation — in science — tends to be the correct one. So too, here.

The wipe out was the result of an emphatic rejection of Trump’s “cruelty first” policies — and his unblinking idiocy about tariffs, and immigration and his own government shut-down. He now holds the record for the two longest shut-downs in US history — with his current one the longest ever, already — and still continuing.

But John thinks the central lesson of last night is that (wait for it!) Democratic voters are happy to allow their candidates to favor violence — against all GOP-ers. Wha-a-a-a-a-a-t?!

And this (he imagines) allows him to again compare the 2025 Democrats to the 1850s pro-slavery forces. And this — he claims — means our Union cannot survive. Only civil war 2 lies ahead, in Hinderaker’s (delusional) crystal ball. What a chicken-little, even if one credits his facially-preposterous premise.

Seriously, dude(?!) — get a grip.

That’s a whole cloth invention of a great sci-fi — or alternate history — novel… but it in no manner addresses (what is, in fact, in John’s own admission) the stark enthusiasm gap that MAGA/GOP now faces — compared to more progressive voices.

No, John — the polling at above right simply and perfectly explains… last night: people are sick to death — and on both sides of the aisle, too — of your cheating, felonious, feckless Manchurian Cantaloupe’s “chaos policies” — and abberant ways.

Do try to keep up. No one will buy your sadly bleating victimhood, either:

“You” were not fire-bombed. An empty building in the dead of a frigid Minnesota late January Sat. night / Sun. morning… [well below zero at that!] was torched. To be sure, it was one that housed at least three other far-right reactionary groups… but it caught fire. Why have there been no arrests, if it were some “antifa” forces, John?! Why?

So spare us your “tiny violins” act, man.

None of this moves us.

Suck it up — you are going to see similar (or worse) at the 2026 midterms. You will lose the US House. To a certainty. And perhaps, the Senate too.

Out.

Power Alley | Condor’s View: The Tidmarsh Thing At Kennedy’s FDA… Is Jaw-Slackingly Brazen. Damn.

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This is pretty hard to overstate. It never, ever happened in any Clinton (2X), Obama (2X) or Biden administration. But it is “just a regular Tuesday“, in the Manchurinan Cantaloupe’s time. [Who is this guy?!]

Here is that Monday complaint at law (we mentioned earlier, as filed in Maryland’s federal courts) — and salacious would be apt; and is perhaps, an understatement. Of course, we will publish Dr. Tismarsh’s reply — when he files it. These are solely Tang’s allegations, to be sure — but they are backed by what appear on their face to be numerous genuine email and text screen-captures. Damn:

…Mere days after FDA announced it was taking action to effectively remove DTE from the market, Dr. Tidmarsh directed his personal lawyer, Joseph Galda, to email Mr. Tang and request that American Laboratories (referred to as ALI) extend a pre-existing services agreement with Dr. Tidmarsh “for another 10 years” in light of the fact “that ALI may have issues that require an extension of the services agreement” — a statement that only can be construed as referencing FDA’s recent announcement that it was taking action to effectively remove DTE from the market. Under Dr. Tidmarsh’s proposal, American Laboratories now would be required to make payments until the year 2044 into a Dr. Tidmarsh-associated entity.

This request not only violated numerous federal laws that are designed to prevent government officials from abusing their office for private profit, but transparently reflects an attempt to extort and solicit a bribe from Mr. Tang in exchange for Dr. Tidmarsh using his power to reverse or otherwise mitigate the adverse impact on Mr. Tang, Tang Capital, and American Laboratories from FDA’s recent action to effectively remove DTE from the market….

Mr. Tang refused to submit to this shocking abuse of power, so Dr. Tidmarsh next trained his sights on another company where Mr. Tang is Chair of the Board and where Tang Capital is the largest shareholder: Aurinia….

Despite knowing that [Aurinia’s] voclosporin has demonstrated direct clinical benefit — and in total disregard of the patients suffering from lupus nephritis and benefiting from treatment with voclosporin — on the morning of September 29, 2025, Dr. Tidmarsh published a post on his personal LinkedIn page, falsely claiming that voclosporin “has not been shown to provide a direct clinical benefit for patients” and asserting that Aurinia had failed “to perform the trials necessary to confirm actual clinical benefit” from voclosporin….

These statements are not only baseless, but indefensible and totally at odds with the available evidence and the conclusions of experts and regulators, including FDA, the agency for which Dr. Tidmarsh works….

In a tacit admission of wrongdoing, Dr. Tidmarsh subsequently deleted the post and acknowledged he had no authorization to publish it in the first place. But the damage was done. His false statements caused Aurinia’s share price to plummet more than 20% in a matter of hours, wiping out more than $350 million in market value….

[As my graphic indicates, a confidential official FDA review and letter process is the RIGHT way, if one assumes Dr. Tidmarsh’s veiw is supported by solid evidence/science. Ultimately it would become public, when everyone has had a chance to vet the data and competing claims.]

So… damn; it would appear that — top to bottom, Tangerine 2.0 simply runs, hires and appoints… a criminal enterprise — even if it is a wildly inept one, it remains… festooned, with felonious behavior. Just… damn.

नमस्ते

I Listened In On A Bit Of The Supremes’ Argument — On The Train — Re Tariffs. Trump Is DOA.

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I liked the level of incredulity the Tangerine 2.0 lawyers were met with.

So… to keep it brief — I’ll (ironically) defer to the WSJ, this morning — on its editorial pages:

…The… [MAGA Crowd] tries to leapfrog all of the statutory obstacles by citing the President’s Article II foreign-policy authority.

Few conservatives are more deferential to presidential overseas authority than we [at WSJ] are. But the power of the purse still belongs to Congress and can’t simply be wished away with the words “foreign policy.”

Tariffs are [effectively] taxes on Americans….

Game over — as the power to tax… resides in… Congress, exclusively.

नमस्ते

Damn. Bovino’s Goose… Is… Now Cooked. Should Be A Banger, Today.

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[But first, last night was a great night — for democracy — and the ship, beginning to right itself.] Excellent.

Now, at a series of hearings yesterday (I could not attend), Bovino got caught — under oath — in unadulterated lies about the tear gas he threw on October 25, 2025. I am headed down to catch what may become a contempt hearing around noon. Nominally, it is to affirm that a preliminary injunction is warranted — which it is — but that has been leap-frogged by the endless violations of court orders here. Here’s the latest — much of it redacted, but from the context, you’ll clearly infer that Bovino is in very hot water now:

…By this motion, Plaintiffs seek leave to file additional factual support for their request for a preliminary injunction based upon the deposition testimony of Mr. Bovino. As explained, Plaintiffs believe there is uncontroverted evidence that Defendant DHS and Defendant Bovino have provided false evidence in this case, providing a strong basis for this Court to doubt Defendants’ credibility….

Defendant Bovino initially justified Bovino’s use of tear gas in this incident — and argued they had been compliant with the Court’s TRO — by asserting that Bovino deployed tear gas only after he was hit in the head by a rock thrown by protestors. Over the last 10 days, Plaintiffs have pressed the issue, asking the government to provide evidence supporting their justification….

But it turned out the justification was a fabrication. Today, before and during the continued deposition of Defendant Bovino, the government admitted that the video of the Little Village incident [REDACTED, but plainly what the redacted portion sets out is that video does not show anything like what Bovino had said happened, and has now testified to — under oath — and that all video available from the scene (including the government’s own body-cam footage) proves his assertion to be false]….

Plaintiffs’ counsel scoured the records produced by the government for any video showing Defendant Bovino being hit by a rock or any video showing a rock being thrown at Defendant Bovino prior to him deploying tear gas on the Little Village crowd. They could identify no such video. Plaintiff’s counsel then asked the government’s counsel to dentify any video that would support Defendant Bovino’s contention that a rock was thrown at him before deploying tear gas on October 25, 2025….

Shortly before the final part of Defendant Bovino’s deposition, Defendants confirmed that the video Defendant Bovino had testified about. . . was in fact, the same video [Plaintifs has shown him, and that it did not show any rock being thrown at all.]

Bovino’s deposition was completed on November 4. In that testimony, for the first time, Bovino [acknowledged that no rock was thrown]…. [He] made up a false story to justify misconduct committed in violation of this Court’s TRO. Defendant Bovino has lied under oath….

Time to jail him (and probably several of his minions, who may perjure themselves in court today, to cover for him), for contempt of court. Hearing later today — I may live-blog from Judge Ellis’s federal courtroom 1403 — in the Dirksen Bldg., time permitting, later this morning. Onward.

नमस्ते

Power Alley | Merck News: It’s Not Like They NEED The Money — But It Does Smartly Allocate Risk-To-Returns…

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Blackstone likely might negotiate for / make higher returns, if it were to bet this $700 million at a small biotech shop — one that desperately needed the capital… but the bet on Merck is a very safe one, in general — where the flame out risk is much smaller than at a nascent biotech (and the ability to course-correct along the way… is more substantial).

And so, this may well become a “new-ish” model — with private equity / huge asset managers being willing to bet directly on an R&D program (primarily at a very long established public pharmaco), in return for quite a bit more yield than just the sizeable Merck common stock quarterly dividend checks. We shall see — but here is Fierce reporting on it all, this morning:

…Merck & Co. began Tuesday with back-to-back deals, revealing separate agreements to pay $150 million upfront for full control of an early-phase asset and pocket $700 million to support an expansive pivotal oncology push.

The influx of cash comes from Blackstone Life Sciences, which has agreed to fund a portion of the cost of developing sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT) throughout 2026. . . .

Merck recently started its 15th global phase 3 trial of the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). That broad bet reflects a belief that the TROP2-directed ADC can become a “workhorse” for Merck as it prepares for the arrival of biosimilar Keytruda copies, Marjorie Green, M.D., Merck’s senior vice president and head of oncology global clinical development, recently told Fierce Pharma….

And to be clear, it is an immaterial bet — as to each of these giants, but now you know. Onward, to an advance screening tonight, at the U. of C., of a new documentary (funded by the Irish Consulate) on the Irish diaspora — here in Chicago… should be good stuff!

नमस्ते