Author: condor

Mr. Khalil Moves For A Restriction-Free Release, Now. He Should Win It.

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The Noemites have no plausible reason to oppose it. He is here lawfully. They jailed him for four months for a peaceful expression of his feelings, on campus at Columbia — about the Gaza situation. Noem only has until tomorrow morning to oppose it, in any event.

Damn — who are these monsters?! Here’s the latest, from the Newark federal district courts:

…Petitioner Mahmoud Khalil hereby respectfully requests that the Court lift the restrictions on his travel within the United States that are presently imposed among the conditions of his release provided in the Court’s June 20, 2025, Order (ECF 317) (“the Order”).

He seeks this modification of those conditions so that he may attend the upcoming oral argument in his case, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, occurring the morning of October 21, 2025; attend conferences and events nationwide to which he has been invited to speak; travel with family as needed or desired; and attend dental appointments (he had been receiving his dental care from a dentist in New Jersey since 2023). This modification of his bail order is consistent with the Court’s findings of his lack of flight risk and dangerousness and, by avoiding piecemeal modification requests, conserves judicial resources and aligns with similar orders issued in similar cases….

TEXT ORDER:

Petitioner [Mr. Khalil] has filed a letter application to remove the restrictions on his conditions of release [D.E. 390].

The Government will file a response by 9:00 a.m. on October 16, 2025.

So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer on 10/15/2025. (Hammer, Michael)….

Now you know. Do stand tall; speak your mind peacefully. Resist. Be unafraid. These are… your rights, too.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker And I Agree: Trump Is Delusional, About Gaza / Israel, Post Hostage Exchange.

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As I’ve said before, this was in no manner a comprehensive peace deal. It did return 20 hostages, in return for some 2,000 alleged terrorists.

But that is all it did.

Yep — as Hinderaker himself openly acknowledges it now, Trump is delusional.

There is zero chance that the American people will sign up for US troops “to disarm” Hamas in Gaza.

John knows it, too.

But sure — let us all bow and curtsy — while we admire and praise the Emperor’s new robes… it’s disgusting.

Out.

[U] As Expected, USDC Judge Crenshaw Has Set A Very Tight Timetable — For The Nov. 3 Evidentiary Hearing/Motion To Dismiss The Abrego Indictment, In Nashville.

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This may morally require my appearance — in Music City — come November 3. It is increasingly likely that Mr. Abrego-Garcia walks free that evening. The entire Noem-led indictment is vindictive BS.

Here’s that latest three page scheduling order (as a .pdf file — and a bit, below). Buckle up!

…[T]he Government [has] indicated it would not file any pretrial motions. It did not.

Defendant indicated he would file three pretrials motions: (1) a motion to suppress related to the November 2022 traffic stop; (2) a motion to suppress any statements made by Defendant during a custodial interview in March 2025; and (3) a motion to strike surplusage in the indictment. Defendant, as represented, filed two Motions to Suppress (Doc. Nos. 151 and 155) and a Motion to Strike Surplusage (Doc. No. 158).

As set in the August 7, 2025 Scheduling Order (Doc. No. 103), responses to pretrial motions are due on October 24, 2025, and replies are due on October 31, 2025….

Onward, grinning. Ever, grinning — with video of the local public school closure protests later, tonight. Out.

नमस्ते

A Magnetic “Hole” — About Half The Size Of Europe Is Opening, In The Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, Off South America. ESA’s Swarm Sat. Data Crucial — In Monitoring It.

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As you’ll learn at the linked item, in addition to the “growing hole” depicted at right, with Earth’s shifting magnetic north pole, toward Siberia — the magnetic field strength over northern Canada is waning, and rising, over northern Siberia. These changes are eaily measurable here in just one decade’s time. [My prior November 2022 coverage — of this ESA multi-sat. mission is here.]

Scientists now debate the long term implications for us, but it is not seriously open to debate that the global climate… magnetically and meteorologically… is shifting. Here’s the latest from ESA (with NASA still off-line due to Trump’s stupidly cruel shutdown still ruling the day — a full two weeks on):

…Swarm data underpins the global magnetic models used for navigation, monitor space weather hazards, and allow unprecedented insights into our Earth system from its core through to the outer reaches of Earth’s atmosphere.

The latest Swarm results highlight the dynamic nature of Earth’s magnetism. For example, in the southern hemisphere there is one point where the magnetic field is particularly strong, and in the northern hemisphere there are two – one around Canada and the other around Siberia.

“When you’re trying to understand Earth’s magnetic field, it’s important to remember that it’s not just a simple dipole, like a bar magnet. It’s only by having satellites like Swarm that we can fully map this structure and see it changing,” said Prof. Finlay.

However, since Swarm has been in orbit the magnetic field over Siberia has strengthened while it has weakened over Canada. The Canadian strong field region has shrunk by 0.65% of Earth’s surface area, which is almost the size of India, while the Siberian region has grown by 0.42% of Earth’s surface area, which is comparable to the size of Greenland. . . .

ESA’s Swarm Mission Manager, Anja Stromme, said, “It’s really wonderful to see the big picture of our dynamic Earth thanks to Swarm’s extended timeseries. The satellites are all healthy and providing excellent data, so we can hopefully extend that record beyond 2030, when the solar minimum will allow more unprecedented insights into our planet….”

Now you know. Onward to meetings about funding our public schools here — as Tangerine 2.0 cuts take hold.

नमस्ते

Mr. Hecker In Nashville (Again) Demands That The Noemites Comply With Judge Crenshaw’s Limited Discovery Order, On Vindictiveness…

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Sean Hecker is a great lawyer — no doubt about it. And with each passing day, I am more convinced that he may be the best US immigration litigator I’ve ever seen — and I’ve seen a LOT of them.

Tonight’s filing cements that impression — in my mind. Here it is, and a bit:

…The government has made something of a habit of stonewalling when it comes to Mr. Abrego. Cf. Abrego Garcia v. Noem, No. 8:25-cv-00951, 2025 WL 2062203, at *2 (D. Md. July 23, 2025) (“For three months after this Court issued the injunction, Defendants disclaimed any authority to facilitate his return and disregarded court orders. Defendants’ defiance and foot-dragging are, to be sure, the subject of a separate sanctions motion…. The Court will not recount this troubling history in detail, other than to note Defendants’ persistent lack of transparency with the tribunal adds to why further injunctive relief is warranted.”)….

[T]he privileges the government has indicated it will assert — deliberative-process privilege, executive privilege, and the attorney work-product doctrine — simply do not apply. As Mr. Abrego’s response to the government’s status report already explained, all three are “qualified,” as opposed to absolute, privileges. They give way, as a general proposition, upon a showing of substantial need — which Mr. Abrego has already made here. And they also give way in a criminal case where they are necessary to establish a defense — as they are here. Moreover, they cannot be invoked to shield evidence of government misconduct in the face of an order seeking discovery to assess the nature and extent of that misconduct. (See generally Dkt. 148).

Second, even if the government had some theoretical privilege claim over some subset of the documents that could survive the analysis just discussed, asserting privilege requires more than the mere blanket assumption that all relevant materials would be privileged without so much as collecting or glancing at them….

Mr. Hecker will not let Noem slide by… and delay forever. Nor will the capable USDC Judge Crenshaw in Music City. Stay tuned.

नमस्ते

RFK Jr.’s Legacy — And Trump 2.0’s: Excess Deaths, From Measles — Nationwide, Due To Luddite Bleating, On Excellent Vaccines.

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We were 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.

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

Not surprisingly, but tragic just the same — the deaths are concentrated in red states. Where the false anti-vax propaganda runs… almost wholly unchecked. Especially so, Texas — and now, lately in Utah. But to be certain, relative to their tiny populations — the outbreaks in the Dakotas are… devastating. Again, attributable to Kristi Noem’s feckless anti-scientific policies (as the former MAGA Governor), over the last decade.

Here’s the latest, from NBC News:

…Measles is among the most contagious diseases in the world, and case counts in the United States are ticking up.

NBC News is tracking confirmed measles cases across the country with data from state health departments.

See the map for more detailed case rates per thousand….

Damnation. Just… damn. Out.

नमस्ते

Senegal Update: Seven New Rift Valley Fever Cases, And One More Fatality… Ongoing Woes.

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Last week, we first mentioned the co-morbidities affecting this outbreak in Senegal. The cases continue to pile up, there — as USAID remains sidelined, for now going on a half-year.

Here the latest update, as of this morning, from local public health authorities:

…The Ministry of Health reports today that the total confirmed RVF cases are now 147, with 137 cases, or 93 percent of the total reported in the Saint-Louis region.

The remaining 10 cases are reported from the Louga (4), Matam (5) and Fatick (1) regions.

The current outbreak in Senegal was declared on Sept. 21.

Senegal’s last major outbreak dates back to the late 1980s, when it killed more than 200 people in the country and neighboring Mauritania….

Now you know. Onward, resolutely, just the same.

In addition, we volunteered into some scrambling [with protest signs, cameras and US passports in hand], about a quarter mile from my home yesterday afternoon — as some idiotic black ICE vans rolled up to the Home Depot to grab people… and were mostly told to get off private property. But they did grab two people. Then the Spanish Language Mass (a half mile away) was to be targeted by ICE, so we sat in from the Apostles’ Creed, onward — thankfully all was peaceful by 1:20 pm. Onward — to the No Kings protests next Saturday in the Loop.

नमस्ते

Thesis: Tangerine 2.0 Is Staffed Solely By… Malignant Incompetents: CDC Dumps Hundreds In Shutdown — Now Rehires Them. Damn.

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Protecting America (and the planet) from new pandemics… yep, that sounds like the kind of work that one ought not haphazardly and casually… gut. [My earlier 2025 backgrounder may be found here.]

But… this is the time of the second Manchurian Cantaloupe — and his dim-bulb minions. Stupidity and cruel mistake-making is the stock in trade. Shutdown came with threats from Tangerine to dump federal workers. [He apparently thinks pandemic abatement is non-essential.] Then someone whispered to him about the backlash, should people start falling ill, or dying by the tens of thousands… this winter. What would he do, then?

And so, this is all courtesy the UK’s Independent:

…The Trump administration is scrambling to rehire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staffers that were let go as part of the president’s promise to cull the federal workforce in response to the government shutdown.

The firings on Friday were part of the more than 4,000 government jobs cut by the Trump administration, according to the Washington Post. Many of those let go were working to combat critical diseases, including measles and Ebola.

After the New York Times and other outlets reported on the firings of the CDC staff, a federal health official told the outlet that many of those laid off had been terminated in error, and would be brought back….

Clearly not the sharpest tools in the shed. Damn — elect a clown; expect a circus.

नमस्ते

Loyola’s Sister Jean Passed Last Week. She Will Be Missed.

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She last played competitive b-ball in a SF catholic high school while FDR was in office(!).

Sister Jean moved from California to teach at Mundelein College in Chicago in 1961. During the mid-1960s, she was active in the civil rights movement. She was hired by Loyola in 1991 when Mundelein was merged into Loyola. She had worked as the team chaplain for the Ramblers men’s basketball team since 1994…. [That graphic at right is from the 2018 Final Four run.] Travel well; travel light Sister Jean… from the NYT, then:

…Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, who became a sports-world celebrity as the chaplain, No. 1 fan and informal scout for Loyola University Chicago basketball teams that played in a pair of N.C.A.A. national championship tournaments, died on Thursday. She was 106.

Her death was announced by the university, which did not say where she died.

Amid the hoopla accompanying March Madness, the story of a nun and her support for players some 80 years her junior made for an uplifting tale.

A member of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or B.V.M., Sister Jean, as she preferred to be known, was retiring from her job as a student adviser at Loyola in 1994 when the Rev. John Piderit, Loyola’s president at the time, asked if she would remain on campus to help athletes maintain good grades. She agreed and was named chaplain of the men’s basketball team soon after.

Players whose grades were merely average saw Sister Jean weekly to discuss their problems. One player said she helped him construct essays; another said she coached him on time management….

While Sister Jean’s counseling work benefited Loyola students, it also buoyed her own spirits.

“These young people keep me young, even though I’m 101,” she said. “I consider myself young at heart….”

She truly led… a wonderful life, and while I no longer consider myself a member of the Catholic Church (as I cannot abide by several of its core teachings), I say without reservation that many of the most important lessons I ever learned about life were taught to me in word and deed by Catholic nuns (Sisters of Charity) in St. Mary’s grade school — at over 10,000 feet elevation.

And I am forever grateful for that education. Onward!

नमस्ते

Mr. Abrego Garcia’s Motion To Supress All Statements Made While In Custody Is Now On File: “As Fruit of the Poisonous Tree”

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The Nashville federal District Court docket’s printer in Judge Crenshaw’s chambers has been whirring today, and continues here, as well into the evening — in prep for that November 3 evidentiary hearing on “vindictiveness”.

There is already a pretty good chance that the entire indictment will be dismissed by Judge Crenshaw, as an outcome of that hearing. We shall see.

Here’s the latest memo of law from Mr. Hecker’s team (for Abrego), and a bit:

…In 2019, Mr. Abrego secured an order from an immigration court granting him withholding of removal to El Salvador….

The government never appealed the withholding decision, nor did it seek to remove him to a third country at the time…. Mr. Abrego was [then] released from ICE custody on an order of supervision….

Pursuant to that order of supervision, Mr. Abrego had the government’s “permission to live in Maryland,” and he also received authorization to work in the United States. Id. Mr. Abrego was required to check in periodically at the ICE Baltimore Field Office, and he “remained in compliance with the ICE Supervision Order at the time he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador.” Id.

On March 12, 2025, ICE agents pulled over Mr. Abrego while he was “driving home from work with his young son in the car,” and detained him. Abrego Garcia, 777 F. Supp. 3d at 508. The government has not proffered a basis for that traffic stop. And “[t]he officers had no warrant for his arrest and no lawful basis to take him into custody.” Id. “[T]hey told him only that his status had changed,” id. (quotations omitted), which was untrue. Mr. Abrego’s supervised release had not been revoked through the appropriate channels, see 8 C.F.R. § 241.4(l)(2), and his withholding order remained in place as the government had not commenced proceedings to reopen his case or terminate withholding of removal….

Indeed, in connection with Mr. Abrego’s civil case, the government has acknowledged it had “no legal authority to arrest him” and “no justification to detain him,” Abrego Garcia, 777 F. Supp. 3d at 507, as demonstrated in this exchange between the Court and counsel for the government:

The Court: [W]hat document got this process started? There is no warrant for his arrest by an order of removal. There is no statement of probable cause. There’s no charge. There’s no report that says that anyone saw Mr. Abrego Garcia doing anything illegal or criminal. So what is the actual document that gave these officers the authority to start this process?

Mr. Reuveni: That is not in the record, and the government has not put that into the record. And that’s the best I can do….

[So, after being detained in March 2025,] there was no translator present for this [in-custody] interview, and neither agent spoke Spanish well enough to translate for Mr. Abrego. The agents did not read Mr. Abrego his Miranda rights in Spanish, proceeding instead to ask him several questions in English. On multiple occasions, Mr. Abrego recalls telling the agents that he did not understand what they were saying. On such occasions, one of the agents, who did not speak Spanish well, would attempt to translate what the other agent was saying into Spanish. After the agents asked their questions, he recalls the agents asking him to sign a document… he recalls feeling panicked and pressured to sign, under the mistaken belief that by signing the document, he would be released from custody and be permitted to go home. (Id. ¶ 88). Under no circumstances did Mr. Abrego understand that he was about to be removed from the United States….

As we all know he spent nearly the next three months in a Salvadoran torture prison — the specific circumstance his 2019 still-in-force orders forbid the government from imposing upon him. Damn. Damn. Damn. Out.

नमस्ते