Author: condor

Making Very Big Strides, In Astronomy, With The Aid Of First Peoples, In Australia… Soon To Be World’s Largest…

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The SKA, a project lashing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of small “tree” receivers, and multiple hundreds of dishes together, via software that very precisely controls slewing motions on all, so that they work in unison as one very large scope… should be evident in mid-2024, when four dishes in Australia and six antenna stations in South Africa start working seamlessly together as a basic telescope. This proof-of-feasibility in the software will allow the much larger, multi-continent array’s full power-up.

It is indeed a privilege to be alive and well, right now — the moment in human history when contact might — just might — become possible, and… detectible, by our species. Here is all of it, from an excellent Beeb feed:

…”The SKA is going to contribute to so many areas of astronomy,” said Dr Shari Breen, the observatory’s head of science operations.

“One would be these ‘fast radio bursts’ that have been detected. These things output the equivalent of an entire year’s worth of energy from our Sun in just a fraction of a second. And we have no idea what they are. How is that possible? Hopefully the SKA will have an answer.”

The telescope is being built in areas already used for radio astronomy on a smaller scale.

To expand these sites, however, has required various land agreements, with farmers in the Karoo; and with the Wajarri Yamaji, the Aboriginal title holders in the Murchison.

The Wajarri community… organised a Monday celebration to inaugurate the SKA….

We will keep smiling into the night skies, those of our kin asleep now, in London, Belfast, Westport, Dakar and Tel Aviv… are smiling back… as are those closer to home — to the south….

नमस्ते

Michael Ramirez Is A Fabulously-Talented (If Hard Right) Political Cartoonist…

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But I won’t begrudge him the ability to make a very comfortable living pandering to the hard right outlets, which in general, have long-lacked any really serious cartooning talent (since the 1980s, at least).

[Why that is true is a topic for an entire book, or at least a long post of another day. To sum up, hard-right wing fantasies are mostly… unfunny. Prime example of that, at immediate right.]

But Doonesbury — and my friend Rick Laurent (at left), and all the hundreds of other true geniuses… offer a reality based, or generally left to middle perspective. In any event, this Sunday morning, Powerline highlighted a Ramirez ‘toon, that purports to criticize Mr. Biden for NOT speaking up more forcefully, in support of the “blank paper” protests now coursing through China — related to lockdowns for COVID.

Maybe Mr. Biden could say more — but Mr. Ramirez misses the fact that overnight, right here at home… Tangerine went full-on “Ye”. [So I’ve helpfully improved his cartoon, as satire and commentary, at top-right. It goes with my critique of Mr. Hinderaker’s sophistry, of last night, late. Cheers.]

Donald Trump just called, in a clearly-prepared writing, for the repeal (or at least suspension) of all election laws, state and federal — and the US Constitution’s similar provisions… to declare him the 2020 winner… due to (wait for it!) some Tweets.

Wow.

Ahh… okay.

Y’all better come get yo’ boy.

He (like Ye) is clearly off his meds.

I just fervently hope… he stays in the race all the way to the GOP’s 2024 nominating Convention.

There will be NO GOP left, by then.

Flawless.

More Hinderaker Angst — About The Monster He Personally Created?!

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Last night we watched Hinderaker whine about the notion that corporations have free speech and association rights (and the right not to speak), after Citizens United. That companies might do what maximizes ad revenue for them… or amplifies what a majority of their viewers want to talk about (or not talk about)… is unsurprising, and plainly lawful — ethical, even.

Tonight he’s in full-on pearl-clutch mode, because his formerly “serious president” wants to explicitly suspend the US Constitution, and declare himself winner / dictator from 2020.

That is indeed nuts, John. I agree with you.

Now, accept YOUR responsibility for the monster you’ve personally worked very hard to create — and promote.

The narcissist whose foibles you personally nourished for five long years.

He’s your (hard right GOP’s) abomination.

You must deal with him. We sane people were done with his malevolence five years ago — we resisted him for four, then voted him out by a margin of well over 8 million votes in 2020.

All the while you fed his crazy conspiracies, and seditionist-dreams. You weaponized his insane anger / fever — to launch Proud Boys and Oath Keeper attacks on our Capitol.

He’s solely… your mess, to clean up — not ours.

Out. Yes — he will hang around… until the GOP brand is dead and buried in a bright orange grave. And… likely, even beyond then, too.

Congrats!

In Which John Hinderaker Cannot Recall What He’s For — Or… Against.

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Well, this is precious. I’ve hoped that John would complain about how a private enterprise — a for-profit company — and one with Citizens United rights, decided to speak, or not speak — on matters political.

And he’s obliged — with even more than the usual whining, alternating with regular chest thumping.

How ironic.

For 12 long years, Hinderaker has lauded the Citizens United decision; now he wants to… undo it, when used against his personal political views.

Cheeky — but so on brand, for the Powerline boys.

You see, if we are to take his telling of the days immediately pre-the-2020 election on Twitter (or Elon’s, more precisely) as accurate, his complaint is… that a private company spent its own money to shape its advertiser supported content in a way that favored… politicians it favored.

Wow. That’s precisely the core judge-made right the Supremes created — for John in Citizens.

So break out the tiny violins: the idiot is upset that companies influence… elections.

Damn. What a transparently malevolent moron.

[I suppose at some point tomorrow, he will preposterously argue that Mr. Biden secretly controlled Twitter — even into the 2022 midterms (after Elon Musk ACTUALLY acquired all the outstanding shares). Afterall, it is (since 2012) only a secret corporate control of political spending (by a candidate) that violates FEC rules, according to the Supremes since Citizens was decided.]

I’m pretty sure John can’t even remember what he does… or doesn’t… support / believe, any longer.

Grin.

Hinderaker Thinks A Foreign State Actor Should Not “Be Allowed” To Mention US Politics?!

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Welp. Yes… we see more creeping senility, day by day — from John.

He seems to have forgotten that the Supremes rebuked Tangerine’s attempt to ban TikTok.

As my next post explains, Hinderaker’s potted mind has forgotten that he loves Citizens United.

After all, corporations are people — and even if we assume state affiliated corporations are coordinating TikTok messaging to favor one party (or candidate)… they remain free to communicate inside the US (and outside it), about matters political. Or so John claimed… until Trump lost. [And until GOP Governor Kristi Noem (John’s politi- crush!) banned it from Dakota state offices.]

That’s agin’ over 240 years of Con Law speaking… there. But whatever Gov. Noem.

No, this all makes it clear that John simply wants to regulate (or ban, outright) only political speech with which he disagrees — on a content basis.

So… who — in fact — is the totalitarian here?!

Hilarious. Out.

As We’ve Long Said, Keytruda’s “Off-Patent” Date Will NOT Be As Soon As 2028… Much More Like 2040, Now…

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It is gratifying to see MSM now actually adopting my long-term explanations, and reporting… that (as many in the pharma space know) US patents on juggernaut therapies may often be “evergreened”, by new methods of delivery, or coatings or combinations with other compounds.

We have long been sanguine that Merck would get well into the 2030s with Keytruda® on patent. Now it seems 2040 may be reachable. Again, this is good news for a stable cash flow model, at Merck, as pembrolizumab now accounts for close to one third of all sales. The new patents would cover a delivery under the skin rather than via an I.V. line. Here’s that, from Reuters:

…Merck’s patents on the subcutaneous version of Keytruda could protect that formulation until at least 2040, according to Tahir Amin, co-founder of drug patents watchdog group Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK)….

Yep — now you know… with an older vintage graphic, solely for expediency… feeling rather… lazy, today. Smile.

नमस्ते

So… Despite Saying It Had ALREADY Sold Itself To Ye, Parler Now Says It Will Seek Other Partners/Funding.

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It seems clear (not that I really care that much when private company CEOs commit blatant federal securities fraud, or anything!) that Candace Owens’ hubby — George Farmer openly lied — when in October he characterized the agreement as a binding commitment to sell, and a closing had occurred as of November 1.

Now on December 2, 2022 (and likely at the insistence of the Mercer family… who are Jewish, BTW), hours after Ye said America doesn’t give Nazis and Hitler “enough credit” on an InfoWars webcast, whilst wearing what looked like a bank robber’s black knit full cover hood… the deal is off, Farmer said, per Politico:

…The parent company of Parler, the social media platform popular with conservatives, has agreed to terminate its intent [Ed. Note: Farmer had called it a definitive agreement, and fully-binding] to sell the site to rapper Ye — better known as Kanye West — according to a statement from Parlement Technologies on Thursday….

It is clearer still… that Kanye is in the middle of a severe mental breakdown. And every person who puts him on air or gives him a platform, over the web now… may be held culpable… if/when he engages in self- or other- harm.

In fact, as I noted this morning, even Elon Musk has banished him from Twitter, lest violence be attributed to his support of Ye’s lunatic rantings.

This is all… so predictable — and so sad. Sad mainly, that it took until last night… for the old mediocre whyte farts at Powerline, finally to renounce the Ye show — mostly to save Tangerine’s considerably-ample… hind parts.

D A M N.

What a completely self-mocking pack of malevolent morons these main funders of the GOP have turned out to be. I am reliably informed, however, that Parler lately sees fewer than 47,000 regular, active users per day. That is clearly… very good news, for all who hold ordered liberty as a core value. It will soon… die, of its own attrition.

Just… damn, damn… Damn.

[U: Friday Developments] Hinderaker: Embittered, Cynical Revisionist Historian.

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Let’s just stipulate that Hinderaker’s now long in the tooth claims that Tangerine ever was a “serious President” (c. 2017-2020) render John definitively unfit to make any claim about his unfitness, now.

All of these faults have been on very public display since at least 1995.

So tonight’s Hinderaker “chastisement hour” rings unmistakably… hollow and off-key.

Along the way, Hinderaker claims Baby T was a great president for “the Jews” (WTAF?), and that the GOP is their greatest friend.

Both are obviously false statements… but like Ye… most of the world knows John is seriously demented.

So… I’ll just laugh — and walk on by. [Though to be fair, Musk is absolutely right to deplatform Ye, overnight. Praising Hitler and saying we don’t give Nazis enough credit, that incites… violence.

This is not a free speech question, at all — this is simply inciting violence. Good thing Musk is waking up to it.

Oh. And… Alex Jones filed Chapter 11 here on Friday morning! Cool updates! Out.]

Unsurprising. Aileen Cannon Was Just Handed Her Hind-Parts, By Her Betters, In The Eleventh Circuit. Ouch.

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Just as expected.

Aileen Cannon — in shilling for Tangerine — debased her robes and the bench, in an astonishing fashion.

…This appeal requires us to consider whether the district court had jurisdiction to block the United States from using lawfully seized records in a criminal investigation.

The answer is no….

In considering these arguments, we are faced with a choice: apply our usual test; drastically expand the availability of equitable jurisdiction for every subject of a search warrant; or carve out an unprecedented exception in our law for former presidents. We choose the first option. So the case must be dismissed….

“It is a familiar rule that courts of equity do not ordinarily restrain criminal prosecutions.” Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, 163 (1943)….

To create a special exception here would defy our Nation’s foundational principle that our law applies “to all, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank.” State of Georgia v. Brailsford, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 1, 4 (1794)….

As we said — she’s a pure Tangerine shill — and didn’t even have a colorable argument to do what she originally did. Disgusting. But the right result has prevailed. Tangerine would be stupid to seek cert. at the Supremes… which is exactly why he… will. And lose, again. Bigly. Grin.

नमस्ते

Court Ordered Settlement Discussions Continued Today, In The Clearly Multi-Billion Dollar Merck v. Merck Lanham Act / Naming Fights — USDC NJ

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We had earlier (in October 2022) seen minute orders to the effect that the parties wanted to move ahead immediately to trial.

As of this morning, the “on again, off again” settlement talks seem to have born fruit. The able US Magistrate Hammer in Newark just entered a further order, setting a schedule for ongoing settlement / mediation conferences. As we’ve long said, this litigation has easily already cost each side over $50 million since 2013, making the total legal bills alone likely over $100 million.

‘Tis well past time to “declare peace / victory, and go home“, guys (it is the holiday season afterall — make peace, not war!):

…As discussed during the December 1, 2022 conference, the parties will meet and confer and inform the Court, by December 9, 2022, whether they wish to resume the settlement discussions with the Undersigned, or whether the parties wish to engage in mediation with a private mediator….

So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer on 12/1/2022….

Now you know — out into the steel and glass canyons, and the half-light reflected there, from the emerging winter’s gloaming… smiling. Ever, smiling.

नमस्ते