Author: condor

[U] Mike Pence: I Think “The Fly” Took Those Classified Documents… Heh.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Updated: never wanting to miss a chance to speciously demonize the 46th President, Scott weighs in on Wednesday morning, with a yawner, that I gather is also supposed to be funny. No surprise: it isn’t. End, update.

I say that primarily because, just like the Biden docs… the clear public factual record establishes… that neither Biden or Pence ever lied about having them, nor hid them, nor delayed / obstructed… for 18 months — while forcing a search warrant. In sum, it should be a punchline, not a story.

Finally, over 300 (Tangerine) in no manner is comparable to the handfuls that the other two had. Oh — and there were not 45 EMPTY Classified folders in any of the Pence or Biden returns.

So… EW is right — this is (almost to a certainty), a non-story (at least in so far as anyone makes it a “horse race” narrative):

“…Until we have answers about some of the details that currently distinguish Biden and Pence from Trump — like whether they knew of the documents (both claim they did not), whether they ever accessed the documents after leaving office, whether we have reason to believe they’re harboring more — this should not be a story….”

The more we see — the worse Tangerine’s crimes appear to be.

Out.

A Surprising Set Of Stats — From The Money We All Invest, In NASA…

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

It’s important — from time to time — to take stock of all the less widely known ancillary benefits we derive, as a nation, from our collective efforts to explore space. [Especially with hard right GOP operatives in the US House now threatening another debt ceiling showdown, and resulting funding cuts. And, despite the nonsense polling of Rasmussen that Hinderaker cites… most Americans without regard to party affiliations… feel shutdowns are bad for our nation.]

In that vein, I offer the following. Do recall that NASA’s satellite systems are often instrumental, in locating, and saving ships lost at sea, and hikers lost in the wilderness, and people who’ve wrecked their cars, in often remote terrain, and cannot hike out to safety.

Here’s that story:

…In 2022, NASA-developed Search and Rescue technologies enabled rescue personnel to save 397 lives in the U.S. region. Since 1979, NASA has provided technical expertise to the Cospas-Sarsat program, the international satellite-aided search and rescue effort. This technical expertise has led to the development of multiple emergency location beacon types.

The international search and rescue effort enables hikers, boaters, pilots, and other explorers to activate location beacons should they become distressed or lost. Adventurers can utilize 406 MHz frequency Cospas-Sarsat beacons, which equip users with precise and reliable emergency location services. Upon activation, these beacons send signals to satellites in space, which then relay the distress signals to ground stations. This process allows the Cospas-Sarsat network to calculate their position anywhere in the world. The network then sends the location to first responders, who initiate rescue operations.

These beacons provide explorers with a sense of safety as they venture on land, air, and sea….

So do keep that in mind, as we approach arguments in DC, over how and where we spend the taxpayers’ funds — and what all that entails, as policy tradeoffs. Onward — smiling.

नमस्ते

Interesting Letter Filed In Newark This Morning: Singapore Version Of Litigation, In Merck v. Merck Spat, Settled — More To Come?

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

It certainly makes sense that the US Merck is pushing for a global resolution. After all, the main idea is to achieve certainty, and end the flow of legal expenses — which in truth, are a pure waste of money. So, a truly-global settlement ought to be the goal.

But we do learn here that the parties were able to settle in Singapore, before trial — and that both see a narrowing of overall issues — even if the ones that remain are… the thorniest. Here’s that letter, and a bit:

…The Order indicates that Your Honor determined that the conference should proceed by Zoom in order “[t]o accommodate the schedules of counsel and Mr. Kölle [Merck KGaA’s lead negotiator and chief internal trademark counsel].” Although we very much appreciate that accommodation and courtesy, we respectfully request that the settlement conference be conducted in person at the courthouse in Newark instead.

We are pleased to report that the trial between the parties in Singapore, at which Mr. Kölle’s attendance would have been required, has now been settled. Mr. Kölle is thus now available to travel to the United States for a settlement conference in this matter. He is willing — indeed eager — to make the international trip because Merck KGaA believes that an in-person conference has the greatest likelihood of being successful and is committed to making the most of the opportunity.

The parties have already engaged in numerous in-person settlement meetings over the past few months, and they are scheduled to do so again in Germany on January 25 and 26. In Merck KGaA’s experience, these past few in-person meetings have yielded substantial progress, and meeting in person has been key to working toward finding common ground on some of the thornier issues that remain outstanding — particularly given Plaintiffs’ insistence that any settlement of their U.S. litigation must be folded into a larger “global” settlement….

As regular readers know… we have followed this since even before our now decade on times, traveling to Nashville, for life sciences businesses — by about four years before that (now with a record of 3-3). And it has all been bubbling, in one form or another — for now 103 years… over a century, indeed. Grin.

नमस्ते

Horowitz And Hinderaker — Open Lies, About A Video-Taped Event… On 01.06.21: Blood Libel.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

I’ve shown the relevant angle on the video feed here, many times before. Tonight, I offer a still image, from that same video footage — of Ex-USAF Ashi Babbitt, forcing her way through a glass opening (well inside the Capitol) — a glass wall she herself helped to kick in, and ALL after being warned to stand down, by a police officer (whose pistol was already drawn and aimed at her, dead center, in her field of view). The officer specifically shouted “halt or I’ll shoot!” As ex-military, and even amid all the chaos around her, here — she well knew what would happen if she disobeyed that order.

She charged in; true to his word, he fired under two seconds later, and she… died.

That’s what’s on the video tape — from multiple angles. But David Horowitz, and John Hinderaker in quoting him — lies about her avoidable death. Avoidable, had she obeyed a lawful police order to stand down.

But Horowitz called the well-justified shoot… “cold blooded murder“. That is a God-damn blood libel lie. Just… Damn.

Here is the quoted bit, in John’s:

“…Ashli Babbitt [was] a forty-year-old five-foot tall unarmed woman and 14-year air force veteran. She can be seen on video tape standing among several Capitol Police officers threatening no one, when an outstretched arm holding a firearm is also seen on the same tape taking aim at Ashli and murdering her in cold blood….”

This sort of lying arguably incites insurrection, anew. Horowitz should be called to answer for this — and held responsible in civil damages, by the officer and his family. So too, Hinderaker — for churlishly repeating what he well-knows is a damnable lie.

Disgusting. Out.

Trump v. Biden — What Sets Their “Documents” Cases… Apart, John?

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

I woke up here on Sunday, a little more agitated about Hinderaker’s document lies, overnight. So here is likely my one and only shot at his.

First off, there is the sheer volume of Trump’s theft: over 11 times as many as Biden’s newly found documents, at around 325 to 21. And there’s the notion that Trump tried to claim they belonged to him, not the office of the Presidency, despite the fact that they bore classification markings. And there were at least 46 EMPTY classified folders, at Mar-A-Lago — which strongly suggests at least 46 documents from Trump’s thievery… are still missing (buried at Bedminster, inside Ivana’s coffin?!). The differences are stark, in sum.

As EW says, in the case of at least one document, which was stored in a desk drawer in his office (along with other pictures and memorabilia), given that it bears his own hand-written notes, dated after 01.21.21, it is clear that Trump both accessed, and used these classified documents — at least once after he left the White House. [Nothing of the sort is known of Biden’s found scraps in dusty boxes, mostly from pre-2016 — and some going back to his days as a US Senator (early 2000s).]

As EmptyWheel cogently points out:

“…[T]here are press reports that Trump otherwise accessed documents after DOJ started looking for them — in part, by curating the ones he was willing to send back in January 2022 and hiding some from Evan Corcoran (his own lawyer!) so they wouldn’t be turned over in the June 2022 search — this compilation seems to show that Trump not only knew the classified records were in his home, but he used them, at least once, after he left the White House….”

As EmptyWheel carefully points out, on the other hand, we cannot yet be certain that Mr. Biden did not access these few other documents, after 44’s Presidency. True. But we can say unequivocally that Mr. Biden has been trying to immediately give them all back, as they are found — while Trump both lied about their very existence, and then stole them for over 18 months.

Obstruction, in sum — is a difference — a key difference. As is the numerosity, of course.

This will likely be my only “compare and contrast” entry on this, to put the lie to the Powerliner boys.

Cheers.

[U] This Is A Sad Obsession, And A False One, From The Addled Mind Of Hinderaker…

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Now for about the ninth time, tonight — Hinderaker tries to tell the transparently preposterous lie that some future “world government” is going to force him to eat… bugs instead of steak and chicken and pork.

It is actually pretty sad… that Fox, and the frothy hard right GOP-ers (utterly out of real talking points / wedge issues) think that their base voters are actually this stupid. Stupid enough to believe that a world government (of any sort!) will be able to overturn 245 years of independence in the US — and/or that the wealthiest people on Earth will NOT be able to buy all the steak they want.

But somehow, these formerly Ivy-educated loons… are convincing themselves of this nonsense… so, I’ve made a new graphic, tonight (at above left). It will be back-filled on other stories like this one, from the last few months, involving Hinderaker’s senile lunacy — and lying.

Sheesh, John — get a grip, buddie.

Oh — and… Updated: late night on Saturday, John is back to pushing a false equivalency (claiming that immediate surrender of documents is the same as stealing and lying about it, for 18 months). Yawn.

Steve Hayward — And Largely Inadvertent Truth Tellings.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Steve finally wrote something about George Santos. But only after it was established that he (i) used a fake Jewish sounding name for a GoFundMe, and pretended to be “Jew-ish“, (ii) kited checks in Brazil, (iii) had a male room-mate come forward who says George Santos is a made-up identity, that the guy now called “George” never attended any college, let alone an Ivy… and that he occasionally impersonated his former boss, in an alleged Ponzi scheme; and finally… (iv) photos of Santos surfaced, in drag — doing drag queen shows, in South America some years ago.

But it was only item (iv), just revealed overnight, that presumably finally led Steve to write this:

…So this George Santos fellow in New York seems not just to have a serious problem with the truth, but might actually be mentally ill….

So… to sum up: a GOP Long Island Congressman stealing funds, impersonating others, and pretending to be Jewish, as well as lying about attending a prestigious university… are all fine.

But if you were born with anatomical male parts, and then later put on lipstick and/or eye-liner, well… the hard-right GOP has zero use for you. You are now… “mentally-ill”.

In a fascinating fashion-footnote, I’d note that none of the three Powerline boys have as yet condemned the New Mexico state GOP failed candidate who shot up the homes of the Democratic winning candidate, and other officials… that he deemed responsible for his loss at the polls.

Shooting up homes: GOP approved tactic. Putting on a dress — with bare arms, in the state-house! — (ref. Mizzou GOP) is… a mental illness, sez GOP.

Damn.

Hinderaker: Fading Away… Into Obscurity… Day — By His Fretful… Day.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Welp.

When all you can find to whine about is how bad local schools are, or how some guy annoys you — one who holds no nationally-elected office, but was last a candidate for one, almost two decades ago, now… or about the size of the federal debt…

You have — congrats! — reached senility.

Full on… senility.

Or… equally likely, this is all Hinderaker and the Powerline boys can write about, because there is not a single thing about the hard right GOP (Gaetz, Boebert, MTG and George Santos, for example)… that is NOT utterly cringe-worthy. Even to the hard frothy right wing of the GOP.

And that’s all before we mention that Tangerine (their collective leash holder) was just fined over a million dollars (as were his incompetent lawyers)… for bringing vexatious litigation against his political opponents — in suits palpably devoid of any colorable legal arguments (in the 2016 election cycle).

H I L A R I O U S.

Bub-bye guys.

Seagen Gets A Nice Nod, From FDA — In Oncology Arena… Will It Rekindle… Merck’s Appetite? We Shall See.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Honestly, I think industry-wide, valuations have come in, a bit (since the heady days of last summer) — and if the two sides were (as rumored) around $10 billion apart, last summer… this FDA nod may just have widened the gap. Merck (generally) would be arguing that some water has run out of all of life science companies’ tubs… while Seagen will be touting this new and very substantial cash flow and profitability franchise… to up its valuation.

So… no, I’d expect that the M&A ship… as to Merck/SeaGen, has passed. But I could get surprised. Specifically, I think Seagen would want more than $40 billion now, to sell itself. Here’s the bit — from FiercePharma’s reporting, earlier today:

…The FDA on Thursday granted an accelerated approval to Seagen’s Tukysa as a second-line treatment along with Herceptin for RAS wild-type, HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic colorectal cancer. Specifically, the drug is approved in combination with Roche’s Herceptin for patients whose cancer progressed after treatment with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-based chemotherapy.

With the approval, the combination becomes the first FDA-approved treatment for HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer, Seagen noted….

Now you know… stranger things… could (in fact, have) happened. Grinning, out into the night here — with snows due again tomorrow night…. sigh.

नमस्ते

Amazon Cited By OSHA — For Second Time In Under A Year: Unsafe Worker Conditions In NY, FL And N. Illinois

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Not terribly surprising, but Amazon has (again — twice in under a year!) been fined for exposing Illinois, NY and Florida line workers to dangerous lifting / twisting repetitive motion / stress injuries. [With just one of dozens of prior posts, on it all — here (search “Amazon”, in the box for the rest).]

The long applicable OSHA regs clearly set out maximum loads, and maximum repeated motion parameters, for working on an “assembly line” distribution / package hub facility. Amazon repeatedly broke those rules, endangering (if not already injuring) its workers.

Here’s the latest, from Vice news:

…The Department proposed a penalty of $60,269 for the violations.

“OSHA investigators found Amazon warehouse workers at high risk for lower back injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders related to the high frequency with which workers are required to lift packages and other items; the heavy weight of the items; awkward postures, such as twisting, bending and long reaches while lifting; and long hours required to complete assigned tasks,” the OSHA press release reads.

“OSHA also reviewed on-site injury logs required by OSHA and discovered that Amazon warehouse workers experienced high rates of musculoskeletal disorders….”

Jeff Bezos makes, and made, his billions — by extracting from labor… far more than a day’s honest sweat. No, he is wantonly indifferent to the risks of injuries, and actual injuries his policies inflict on that labor. All to make the last few pennies of his capital gains. That is no fair trade — and that is why a union is needed, to reign in his feckless excesses.

A day’s labor should never be “simply assumed” to also cost the worker / cause life long, debilitating injuries.

Damn.