Author: condor

[U] It Figures. Hinderaker Thinks A Video From Tucker’s Basement… Is “Winning”?!

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

It seems Hinderaker uses the same inverted Orwellian dictionary Tangerine reads, to say he too is “winning”.

To wit: today, under oath — in a majestic NYC federal wood paneled courtroom, with a jury seated and listening in rapt attention, a woman testified that Donald Trump forcibly raped her.

Let that sink in. He’s the GOP’s leading nominee candidate for 2024. That’s “winning”?!

I guess in GOP-er / MAGA-idiot land.

Which brings us back to Tucker, who apparently is fond of calling what he regards as difficult women (and here he includes Sidney Powell) “c*nts”.

This is John’s “winner”. Tweeting out a two minute video message in what looks like his “college days” Southern frat get up, for Spring Formal ‘67, but from his own basement.

Maybe 6,000 people will watch it. [UPDATE: And to be clear — I mean real human beings — not not not the 4 million automated server-bots, unleashed last night (04.26.23), to repeat view it, via an automated routine — and which have now reached 50 million views — by what are effectively robots, without eyes — by the morning of 04.27.23. What a joke. End update.]

Maybe.

Yeh – just like the GOP’s chances for 2024… stick a fork in old Tucker. No one cares what he, or Hinderaker… thinks. They are both dead letters.

Utterly.

Out.

And… NASA | JPL May Yet Coax A Few More Years Of Life/Power From Far Off Voyager… And Thus, Some MORE Interstellar Science!

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Even though this is about V’ger 2, at the moment — next year Voyager 1 will face this same issue — and likely use this same solution set.

You know I am loving it! On, to NASA/V’ger’s undiscovered (interstellar) country, then — and a bit:

…Launched in 1977, the Voyager 2 spacecraft is more than 12 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) from Earth, using five science instruments to study interstellar space. To help keep those instruments operating despite a diminishing power supply, the aging spacecraft has begun using a small reservoir of backup power set aside as part of an onboard safety mechanism. The move will enable the mission to postpone shutting down a science instrument until 2026, rather than this year.

Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 are the only spacecraft ever to operate outside the heliosphere, the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields generated by the Sun. The probes are helping scientists answer questions about the shape of the heliosphere and its role in protecting Earth from the energetic particles and other radiation found in the interstellar environment.

“The science data that the Voyagers are returning gets more valuable the farther away from the Sun they go, so we are definitely interested in keeping as many science instruments operating as long as possible,” said Linda Spilker, Voyager’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission for NASA.

“Variable voltages pose a risk to the instruments, but we’ve determined that it’s a small risk, and the alternative offers a big reward of being able to keep the science instruments turned on longer,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager’s project manager at JPL. “We’ve been monitoring the spacecraft for a few weeks, and it seems like this new approach is working.”

The Voyager mission was originally scheduled to last only four years, sending both probes past Saturn and Jupiter. NASA extended the mission so that Voyager 2 could visit Neptune and Uranus; it is still the only spacecraft ever to have encountered the ice giants. In 1990, NASA extended the mission again, this time with the goal of sending the probes outside the heliosphere. Voyager 1 reached the boundary in 2012, while Voyager 2 (traveling slower and in a different direction than its twin) reached it in 2018….

I am grinning, ear to ear, on this one — V’ger indeed!

नमस्ते

Betsy Whines About Nothing — To Distract From DeSantis Getting Blasted In Florida’s Federal Courts, By Disney.

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So, lil’ Bitsy is complaining about the Veep. Not about policy, but about personal style. I guess Bitsy never saw Quayle in action, or Pence for that matter — or Tangerine. Um… Whatever.

Meanwhile, in actual news, the Disney company is about to crash DeSantis’ dreams of national office.

When the rest of the nation reads how “anti-business” he is… it is game over, for a GOP nomination in 2024. See this:

…Governor DeSantis announced that Disney’s statement had “crossed the line” — a line evidently separating permissible speech from intolerable speech — and launched a barrage of threats against the Company in immediate response. Since then, the Governor, the State Legislature, and the Governor’s handpicked local government regulators have moved beyond threats to official action, employing the machinery of the State in a coordinated campaign to damage Disney’s ability to do business in Florida. State leaders have not been subtle about their reasons for government intervention. They have proudly declared that Disney deserves this fate because of what Disney said. This is as clear a case of retaliation as this Court is ever likely to see….

As the Florida representative who introduced the Reedy Creek dissolution bill declared to the Florida House State Affairs Committee: “You kick the hornet’s nest, things come up. And I will say this: You got me on one thing, this bill does target one company. It targets The Walt Disney Company….”

Disney takes seriously its responsibility to shareholders, employees, and the many residents and local businesses in Central Florida whose livelihoods depend on Walt Disney World. And Disney now is forced to defend itself against a State weaponizing its power to inflict political punishment….

It is a clear violation of Disney’s federal constitutional rights — under the Contracts Clause, the Takings Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the First Amendment — for the State to inflict a concerted campaign of retaliation because the Company expressed an opinion with which the government disagreed. And it is a clear violation of these rights for the CFTOD board to declare its own legally binding contracts void and unenforceable. Disney thus seeks relief from this Court in order to carry out its long-held business plans….

Damnation. What a latter day repressionist DeSantis is. Positively 17th Century, pre-colonial monarchy BS. So yeh — put a sock in it, Betsy.

[U: Added Lilly To Graphic!] Amgen Spent 54% Less Than Amazon And/Or Pfizer In Q1 2023 — Lobbying To Bend A Passel Of Laws, In Its Favor…

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This will close out this quarter’s series. However, though — just for fun, I might add Lilly into this group, at some point next week.

We will see how busy the day job gets. Here’s the run-down — but taxes, patent evergreening and provisions to make drugs and other therapies and treatments more affordable. . . top the list of items we are watching most closely:

. . .Issues related to drug pricing reform; Changes to Public law 117-1769 Inflation Reduction Act; Awareness of implications to patients and research and development of Public law 117-1769 Inflation Reduction Act; S. 113 Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2023; S.127 Pharmacy Benefit Transparency Act; HR 830 HELP Copays Act; HR 485 Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act; HR 1613 to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to improve transparency and prevent the use of abusive spread pricing and related practices in the Medicaid program issues related to cardiovascular disease awareness and treatment; Issues related to Federal Trade Commission; FDA issues; Issues related to clinical trial diversity; Issues related to patient affordability issues, including copay cards, copay accumulators, copay maximizers, National Benefit Payment Parameters; Biosimilars reimbursement issues, no specific bill; Supply Chain Issues, no specific bill; Issues related to 340B (PROTECT 340B act of 2023); Issues related to pharmacy benefits managers. . . .

Issues related to drug pricing reform; Changes to Public law 117-1769 Inflation Reduction Act; Awareness of implications to patients and research and development of Public law 117-1769 Inflation Reduction Act; S. 113 Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2023; S.127 Pharmacy Benefit Transparency Act; HR 485 Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act; HR 1613 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to improve transparency and prevent the use of abusive spread pricing and related practices in the Medicaid program issues related to cardiovascular disease awareness and treatment; Issues related to ESRD; Issues related to asthma and self-administered drug list; Issues related to reimbursement for biologics/biosimilars. . . .

Issues related to corporate and international tax, including regarding Public Law 115-97, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; Issues related to Puerto Rico; Issues related to OECD negotiations on the taxation of global income. . . .

S. 79 Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2023; S. 113 Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2023; S.127 Pharmacy Benefit Transparency Act; S. 150 Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023; S. 148 Stop STALLING Act; S. 142 Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars; Federal Trade Commission related issues, no specific bill; Issues related to the Patent Act, no specific bill; Issues related to march-in/Bayh Dole, WTO/TRIPS waiver, no specific bill; Issues related to false claims act; Issues related to FDA/PTO coordination; Issues related to patent thickets/product hopping. . . .

Now you know — out into the sunshine — grinning. . . .

नमस्ते

A[nother] Short Note On The Racist Lies Of Heather Mac Donald

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

She’s a dissembling racist old crone.

She knows better. In her latest column to sell her book — one filled with (fabricated) whyte fear narratives, she makes the specious argument (again) that whytes have more to fear from Black people than the other way around [claiming some 69,890 whyte on Black violent incidents, compared to 480,200 Black on whyte incidents]… if we are to believe her cherry picked data.

She neglects to mention (even in her cherry picked data!) that there are about 7.35 times more whytes than Black people in America.

Thus, when her raw figures are adjusted for this fact, whytes are slightly more dangerous to Black people than the other way around.

But each group is proportionately about equally violent.

She’s… a prevaricating monster.

She just wants race wars, so she gins up faked statistics.

Deplorable.

Space Is Indeed… Hard. Hakuto-R Hard Landing / Crashed, Dead Stick — Into The Moon. Ugh.

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Just as we said this past weekend, when Elon’s rocket failed to reach orbit / failed to separate the stages… space is indeed… hard. Very hard. The moon? Harder, still. [Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto? Totally off the chart hard. But NASA did it all.]

I suppose it (once again) indicates just how utterly amazing it is that NASA has helicopters flying on Mars autonomously — 50 missions without a glitch.

My condolences to the Japanese iSpace teams.

Here’s the preliminary word, out of India:

…A private Japanese mission failed to land on the Moon on Tuesday night. The Hakuto-R mission, at the moment, appears to have crash landed on the surface following a fast landing attempt with the UAE’s Rashid rover.

“We have not been able to establish communication and we have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,” ispace officials said in a live stream….

Onward… sadly… but… ever, onward.

नमस्ते

The Amazon Version — Of How Companies To Try To “Capture The Regulators”, Via Spending On Lobbyists — For Q1 2023…

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I’ve switched it up a bit. We will take Amazon next.

Amgen will be tomorrow’s installment. You may wonder (if you are not a regular reader) why I include a comparison for this shipping and shopping company’s lobby spend — to pharma and life science companies.

Amazon has shown it intends to muscle into the high margin, controlled delivery space long occupied by the latter companies (and Fed Ex and DHL). And it has been, of late, launching doc in a box services in major metro centers. So — we will track it:

. . .Issues related to broadband access and affordability, satellite communications, drones, space safety, spectrum, device accessibility, Section 230 reform, content moderation, and online video, including the ORBITS Act of 2023 (S. 447), the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (H.R. 1338) and implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58). . . .

Issues related to intellectual property, including copyright reform and online infringement, counterfeits, including the SHOP Safe Act (draft bill – no numbers), music licensing, patent reform, Copyright Office modernization, issues related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and issues related to intermediary liability. . . .

Issues related to taxes, including renewable energy tax credits, digital goods and services, international and corporate taxation, the American Innovation and Jobs Act (S. 866), and implementation of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97). . . .

Issues related to data protection, encryption, data retention, data breach notification, data security, facial recognition technology, cross border data flows, privacy, law enforcement access, fraud prevention, price gouging, false claims, product safety related to the sale of counterfeit and/or stolen products, and cloud computing, including the SHOP Safe Act (draft bill – no numbers) and the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (H.R. 8152). . . .

Issues related to cybersecurity, including critical infrastructure protection, payments security, cloud security, authentication, government procurement, cybersecurity incident reporting, and artificial intelligence, including the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (draft bill – no numbers). . . .

Issues related to postal rates, service performance, FY 2024 appropriations, implementation of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-108), and the transportation of hazardous materials. . . .

Issues related to cybersecurity, cloud security, IT modernization, and government procurement, including in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (draft bill – no numbers) and the Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act (H.R. 1695 / S. 931). . . .

Issues related to immigration, high-skilled immigration, and non-immigrant visas, including issues related to employment-based visas, green card recapture, the STEM visa exemption provision, the DREAM Act (S. 365), the EAGLE Act (draft bill – no numbers), the Afghan Adjustment Act (draft bill – no numbers), and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). . . .

Issues related to US trade policy, including USMCA, the World Trade Organization, the World Customs Organization, China, country of origin labeling, US customs policy and procedures, US tariffs, foreign direct investment, issues related to domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research, export controls, sanctions, and supply chain, and other trade practices, including in the EU, Asia, and Latin America, and the COOL Online Act (H.R. 217). . . .

Issues related to the technology, procurement, and space provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (draft bill – no numbers), and the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (draft bill – no numbers). . . .

Issues related to IT system improvements and cloud computing, including issues related to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (draft bill – no numbers) and implementation of the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law 117-328). . . .

Issues related to drones and air cargo, including FY 2024 appropriations and upcoming FAA reauthorization legislation. . . .

Issues related to payment processing, corporate governance, debit reforms, financial innovation and technology, lending, gift cards, money transmission licensing, fraud prevention, payment authentication, data security, the Credit Card Competition Act (draft bill – no numbers), and financial inclusion. . . .

Issues related to surface transportation, including autonomous vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles, community infrastructure investments, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, e-bikes, hazardous materials, port congestion, U.S. internal supply chain and goods movement, and maritime transportation; issues related to infrastructure, including implementation of the Infrastructure and Jobs Investment Act (Public Law 117-58). . . .

Issues related to USDA SNAP online purchasing, including reauthorization of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-334), Electronic Benefit Transfer, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), food safety, and infant formula shortage. . . .

Issues related to e-commerce opportunities for small businesses and government procurement. . . .

Issues related to veterans hiring and training, employee compensation and benefits, workplace safety, competition, and minimum wage. . . .

Issues related to HIPAA, health information technology, healthcare and telehealth, including the Telehealth Expansion Act (H.R. 1843 / S. 1001), the Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act (H.R. 824), and the CONNECT for Health Act (draft bill – no numbers). Issues related to pharmacy, including the Prescription Information Modernization Act (H.R. 1503). . . .

Issues related to the Equality Act (H.R. 5 / S. 393), the Justice in Policing Act (draft bill – no number), and cannabis reform, including the States Reform Act (H.R. 5977) and the Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act (S. 4591). . . .

Issues related to IT modernization, cybersecurity, FedRAMP reform, open data, and government procurement, including the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2023 (H.R. 8294), the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (draft bill – no numbers), implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-435), the FY 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act (draft bill – no numbers), the Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act (H.R. 1695 / S. 931), and implementation of the Federal Information Security Management Act (Public Law 107-347). . . .

Issues related to STEM education, computer science education, and job training in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-167) and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (draft bill – no numbers). . . .

Now you know — and good luck, to all the Japanese science eyes on Hakuto-R, right now!

नमस्ते

In A Few Hours, The First Private Venture Soft Drop Lunar Landing Should Be Complete… [Sorry, Elon.]

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To be clear, this eclipses Mr. Musk’s efforts thus far, and by quite a distance.

A Japanese company, iSpace, in a for-profit joint venture with Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (in the UAE), has taken a long, slow low-energy ride to the moon (smart conservation of resources!) — and around lunch in New York, will drop the craft at right gently onto the lunar surface. Or so it is hoped. Here’s the story of the first private enterprise “feet on the moon” — and a bit:

…Live coverage of the landing is expected to begin Tuesday as early as 11:20 a.m. ET, or about an hour and 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled landing. Touchdown is expected to occur Tuesday at 12:40 p.m. ET, which is Wednesday at 1:40 a.m. Japan Standard Time.

The lunar lander, called Hakuto-R, is carrying the Rashid rover, which was built by Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — the first Arab-built lunar spacecraft.

In history, only three countries have ever executed a controlled landing on the moon — the United States, the former Soviet Union and China. The US remains the only country to have put humans on the moon….

Now you know — more lobby disclosures up next — for Amgen, and then, maybe tomorrow… Amazon. Grin….

नमस्ते

Nailed It! The Entire Litigation Is Now Settled. Antitrust Suit About Zetia® Generics Delay… Goes POOF! 2008-2021.

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Well… just as I told ya’ we might see, all weekend-long… and last week, too.

The entire multi-billion dollar case is now settled, and we may never know for precisely how much. But it is being dismissed as I type this, down in Norfolk, Virginia — and the jury sent home:

…Before jury selection commenced as scheduled, the court was advised that the Retailer Plaintiffs had reached a settlement agreement with the Merck Defendants and the Glenmark Defendants.

The jury panel will be released from duty and the trial is removed from the court calendar. Counsel were instructed to file an agreed dismissal order with any necessary motions within thirty (30) days….

Onward… smiling. It may appear as a line item in the Merck Q1 2023 SEC Form 10-Q, in the litigation section. We shall see.

नमस्ते

[U: Hinderaker Comments.] Tucker Carlson: “F*-ed Around…” And Now, Finds Out.

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Updated @ 8 PM EDT: Hinderaker has provided the obligatory boot-licking tribute to the lying sack of dung called Tucker. About the only thing I worry about with Tucker… is that he becomes a Tangerine Veep running mate. But it is widely reported that Tucker openly loathes Trump. So, unless Trump will agree to be Tucker’s Veep /running mate / nominee… I have no concerns. NONE.

Tucker will never reach three million homes per night again (if he ever did). He was always and only a mean little clown, riding a “one trick pony” — and that pony just threw him into the manure, at the county fairgrounds.

If he turns up on some alternate internet or cable hard right outlet… he will never fully rebuild that audience.

Far too many of his octogenarian / base watchers know ONLY how to find Fox on an old school broadcast TV set’s analog dial. Despite what Johnny says, he is effectively over — unless he is running for Senate or 1600 Penn. And he’s not. So — I love it, all. End, updated portion.

It seems that having to pay $787.5 million in libel settlements is not without consequences — at ole’ Faux.

Most savvy legal observers agree that Tucker’s own internal emails and recorded remarks… sank all hope of an effective libel defense against Dominion’s $1.5 billion claims. [Which, while not wishing to be pedantic, is why I quote the estimable EmptyWheel, in that link — as she’s updated hers to reflect that, indeed Rupert fired him for embarrassing the endless lie-festival the network was running, on dozens of fronts with his private emails and deposition answers (for the contra-suggestion) — the goal of Faux is to tell lies — he inadvertently hurt the network’s chances of continuing to do so. Game over.]

Ah — Well done, Tucker! [Perhaps he is running for Preznit. Or… he is to be Tangerine’s Veep candidate in ’24 (not likely). Or… most likely… he’s had a particularly bad bimbo eruption. Or even a male bimbo eruption.]

In any event… he’s cashiered — without even a goodbye on air.

I. Love. It.

Whatever he builds next — or wherever he goes… he, and his hateful lies — will never again reach three million homes a night.

Flawless.