Author: condor

The Sacklers Are “Eviscerated In Prose” In New Netflix Series: “Fall of the House of Usher”

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There’s a Netflix eight part series that weaves most of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories into a 21st Century setting… where the telling of the “House of Usher” is plainly the Sacklers and its “Fall” is due to a drug called… Ligadone (a highly addictive pain med).

The sister’s whole visage — makeup and wig — closely resembles a member of the actual Sackler dynasty (as pictured in my graphics at upper right).

And Mark Hamill (!) plays the family’s ghoul of a lawyer!

Do catch it! Every bit of it resonates — and Poe’s “Raven” flies through it all (warning: intense gore and violence).

नमस्ते

Tech — Aiming For Very Quiet Supersonic Flights: In A NASA/Lockheed Collaboration

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[While this may stray a bit from pure science, it feeds the boy in me (and in Dr. King, who had said as a boy, he too loved very fast jets!) so… we will let it be MLK “Dream” fare, today.] NASA has been working on tech that might help the world’s regulators once again to approve supersonic aircraft for commercial flights.

Quite appropriately, almost 48 years ago now, the old Concorde was retired… in no small part as a result of the awful din of sonic booms, whenever, and wherever it flew faster than Mach 1.

This new demo-tech, in the so called X-59 flies a nearly noiseless Mach 1.1, as it minimizes the shockwaves / interference pattern behind the jet (which makes the thumpingly loud “boom” on the ground below). Here’s the unveiling story, this past week at Skunkworks:

…At 99.7 feet long and 29.5 feet wide, the aircraft’s shape and the technological advancements it houses will make quiet supersonic flight possible. The X-59’s thin, tapered nose accounts for almost a third of its length and will break up the shock waves that would ordinarily result in a supersonic aircraft causing a sonic boom.

Due to this configuration, the cockpit is located almost halfway down the length of the aircraft – and does not have a forward-facing window. Instead, the Quesst team developed the eXternal Vision System, a series of high-resolution cameras feeding a 4K monitor in the cockpit.

The Quesst team also designed the aircraft with its engine mounted on top and gave it a smooth underside to help keep shockwaves from merging behind the aircraft and causing a sonic boom….

Now you know — stay safe and warm, one and all — we will have been sub-zero for about 56 hours (in actual temps, and at wind-chills of below minus 20!) by the time we slip into positive territory, on Wednesday midday. The sun is shining, but it is barking cold here, to be sure. So… nationwide, and south of here in particular (as you may not have the gear, and/or home insulation, on piping, for example)… be safe!

नमस्ते

Tangerine’s SECOND NYSD Defamation Trial Starts Tomorrow — Jean Carroll Case II…

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This short squib on a trial, is to note that it is simply to set damages for Trump’s repeated and ongoing defamation and libel of her.

The first trial established that Trump knew he was lying, when he denied, in 2019-20, having sexually assaulted her — in a department store dressing room decades ago. [H/T, innercitypress.com.]

He has said she wasn’t “his type” (implying that was a defense!) — but then, in a depo, when shown a picture of himself smiling with Marla Maples, he said it was… Jean Carroll. Someone he claims he never met. Someone… who he thinks looks like his first wife — but is not “his type“.

Over the long weekend, Tangerine’s lawyers tried to introduce an old Anderson Cooper 360 interview that Ms. Carroll gave [presumably to show that she said she is getting along fine; that she isn’t shattered by his original violent sexual attack, any longer].

The able USDC Judge just ruled that would be irrelevant, in this trial.

The only question in this trial is whether Trump’s statements — which came after the first $25 million verdict — were false when made, and whether he should have had reason to know they were false (since a jury had just found that much the same statements were knowingly false when made by Trump on the 2020 campaign trail).

He will… lose, again. Likely for at least another $25 million.

This is what an unrepentant sexual predator looks like: Trump.

Speaking Of “Overrated”?! John, Scott and Paul Would… Top The List.

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Here’s Paul’s nonsense deciding that FDR was overrated, as was (in his view) Kennedy and BHO 44.

Yes — this is trivial, so I’ll tuck it under my King Day ’24 fare.

But man are these idiots… tedious.

I won’t engage on the “merits” — other than to note that their statements are self-refuting, in the main. [As bloggers, essentially all they ever added to the national debate — of an original sort, was the Rathergate episode now over two decades ago.]

Out.

Amazon Labor Union Update — JFK8 Facility To Hold A “All Hands” Union Meeting February 24 or 25, 2024 –To Discuss Officer Slates, And Amendments To Bylaws…

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We had not covered this smallish piece of internecine litigation before, as we knew the parties would wisely agree to settle their differences, and now that is exactly what has happened. The ALU, led by Mr. Smalls, has agreed to hold a mass meeting in late February, so that all members may weigh in on resolving what 40 or so dissenters claim is. . . too much power concentrated in Mr. Smalls’ hands by the by-laws.

I will now predict that the dissenters will see the error of their ways; Mr. Smalls will remain in charge, but the 40 will see at least a few representatives added to the governing board. Here’s the latest, from Bloomberg Law — and now the ALU may return to getting a bargaining session called with the recalcitrant Amazon management, the real villian — in this three act play:

…Amazon.com Inc.’s first labor union has reached a settlement agreement with a group of dissenters who accused leaders of illegally preventing officer elections to retain power.

The parties agreed to set aside their differences and hold a mass meeting next month to discuss officer elections as well as changes to the union constitution, according to the consent order entered Wednesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York….

Now you know — Dr. King would applaud Mr. Smalls’ wisdom here. Onward.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Mischaracterizes A California Pharma Products Liability Case. Y A W N.

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I don’t really care, because no one listens much to him anymore… but he has essentially made-up, of whole cloth, what the California appeals panel held.

The court did not find the manufacturer liable for NOT bringing a product to market, but instead for intentionally engaging in anti-competitive behavior (lawless monopolies, used to prevent newer product innovations, and intentional product delays, to stifle real competition in the HIV therapeutics arena — and extend the life of the older product, creating an artificial, and thus unlawful resale price maintenance scheme).

Whether it will stand at the Supremes, after a review, remains to be seen, but this is NOT (as John sensationally claims) a case of a company being sued for deciding a product would not be economic to produce.

What a feckless… liar he is, that John.

Well… This Is… The Wheel That Is… Karma, Spinning Now.

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Here at Noon on MLK Sunday 2024, Hinderaker… tells some truths, based on polling he’s reviewed:

…This ABC/Ipsos poll is troubling. It is a survey of 2,228 Americans who answered the phone… [to the effect] that 56% think that the Supreme Court should either bar Donald Trump from running for the presidency, or else let each state decide. Consistent with that finding, 49% support the decisions by Colorado and Maine to bar Trump from the ballot, while only 46% oppose those decisions. And, finally, 56% support the bringing of federal and state criminal charges against Trump….

Whatever you think of Trump, it is hard to see how he can be elected [in the general] when most people think he should be subject to criminal prosecution, and a plurality don’t think he should even be allowed to run….

This is not just the “normal bad news” for John, in the sense that Tangerine cannot win the general election against any living Democrat… it is (as my graphic has suggested for a year) doubly bad news — because if the Normie GOP nominates say… Nikki Haley instead, Tangerine will intentionally scorch the Earth by running a third party chaos campaign, peeling off about a third of all likely GOP voters.

Trump will single-handedly, and wholly-intentionally… guarantee a GOP loss, in retribution for not nominating him.

And, as John now fully realizes… the GOP will almost certainly lose in any event, if he is the regular GOP nominee.

So — there is nothing these guys could possibly do, to fix the brand they chose to destroy, by backing Tangerine in 2016.

J U S T I C E.

Scott: I Forget. Were They Trying To Kill The Veep, To Prevent Election Certification?!

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Mr. Johnson apparently should be moved to a memory care facility.

This morning, he’s forgotten that “petitioning, for a redress of grievances” — even in boisterous tones and actions — is First Amendment activity.

He can no longer rationally distinguish between trying to kill Mike Pence while he certified a peaceful turnover of power by election, from chanting in favor of rights, and land, for Gazans.

Probably… he should just… go eat a big hot bowl of codger meal — or go take a long nap. Or both, actually.

That would be… best for all concerned.

Out.

Bill Otis Seeks To Minimize The Possibility Of A Ruinous ‘24 Tangerine Third Party Bid.

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We should now be prepared to see Powerliners as well as Ringsiders… making largely laughable arguments (by assuming for example without evidence, that 100% of “undecideds” will break for Tangerine) to convince GOP Normies to nominate the Orange-atan.

They now reason (perhaps correctly) he has a one-in-20 chance of being elected, while a GOP nomination of Haley or DeSantis means… a 1-in-1,000 chance. This is true, because Trump certainly runs third party if he’s NOT the GOP nominee… and guarantees a Democrat keeps the White House in 2024-28.

These GOP cynics would rather burn the Constitution, than lose another election. They’d rather take a 1 in 20 bet, than a sure loss.

Me? I welcome their defeatist calculus.

For example, if just a majority of the undecideds in Virginia break for Mr. Biden, he will expand his margin of victory over Trump (2020 v. 2024)… but he will also win by 12 points. Trump needs 100% of undecideds there, just to… STILL lose by 1%.

This is how dire the GOP map has (already) become (due to running a provable felon at the top of the ticket) — even eleven months out.

Hilarious! Bring it on, boys.

Out.

“The STUPID — It Burns!” Texas Tells The Supremes It Put Up Razor Wire In Shelby Park… So Locals’ Golfing And Picnicking… Would Be… IMPEDED?!

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The State knows it is caught red-handed, as state politicians have (on X-itter, and Truth Social) openly labeled this a seizure, and a “kickin’ out” of CBP and DHS. [This is all part of Gov. Abbott’s monstrosity called “Operation Lone Star” — with state of Texas tax funds.]

Yet sworn affidavits filed overnight by state officials falsely say they “weren’t aware” that CBP needed access to the park, so they welded on latches, and bolted on locks to the park gates, on January 10, and permanently prevented access by federal agents, in what are admitted as… lawful operations by DHS and CBP.

This will end badly for Gov. Abbott. Here is the nonsense, from the second affidavit filed overnight in response to Department of Homeland Security demanding an order in the US Supreme Court instructing Texas it must obey federal law, Here is a link to Gov. Abbott’s nonsense, for the record:

…To ensure Shelby Park could be used[!] for its intended purposes including golfing, hiking, memorial services and picnics, law enforcement has for several years used shipping containers and wire to limit access to the park. As a result, since installing these barriers years ago there are already obstructions, and therefore limited visibility, for someone wishing to observe the river….

During my service at the border, I have also observed CBP agents utilizing Shelby Park area for staging operations and patrols. In particular, CBP used Shelby Park as a staging operation to hold and question large numbers of individuals who had crossed the border…. I have also observed CBP boat such individuals down the river to the municipal park for the same purpose….

So Texas admits it has in fact violated federal law — in knowingly and willfully obstructing Homeland Security and Border Patrol. Charming.

DHS and CBP do not just “wish” to observe the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass — they are commanded by statute to do so — and give aid and assistance to asylum seekers in those waters, as well as inspect them for communicable diseases, and schedule them for future hearings. This is not “sight-seeing” — as the feckless state of Texas people suggest.

Onward, into more snow — and deep sub zero wind chills here in the coming nights.

Updated: A favorite old restaurant is shutting its doors after this long King weekend, so we will brave the cold — to eat one last fine French meal in Lincoln Square… before it winks out of existence. Smile.

नमस्ते