Author: condor

A Dense Cosmic Knot in The Early Universe; And A “Halo” Of Dark Matter Around It…

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This is the answer to the overnight puzzler in the masthead at right.

This is not one proto-galaxy, but in fact… three of them. They are orbiting each other at extremely high speeds. That in turn would indicate a great deal of mass is present near the centrifugal center of the three. When combined with how closely they are packed into the region around this quasar, the team believes this marks one of the densest known areas of galaxy formation in the early universe.

The team thinks they could be seeing a region where two massive “halos” of dark matter are merging together. This dark matter is an invisible component of the universe that holds galaxies and galaxy clusters together. In this image, dark matter is forming a “halo” that extends beyond the stars, to hold all of them tightly together, revolving speedily around one another.

A “shepherding moon” effect — but on the hundreds of thousands of light years scale, very early in the known universe. Thus this is very, very far away — since this light only recently reached us. Whoosh! Here is the full story, from the Goddard team, at NASA:

…Previous studies by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories called attention to the quasar’s powerful outflows, and astronomers had speculated that its host galaxy could be merging with some unseen partner. But the team was not expecting [redacted’s] NIRSpec data to clearly indicate it was not just one galaxy, but at least three more swirling around it. Thanks to spectra over a broad area, the motions of all this surrounding material could be mapped, resulting in the conclusion that the red quasar was in fact part of a dense knot of galaxy formation.

“There are few galaxy protoclusters known at this early time. It’s hard to find them, and very few have had time to form since the big bang,” said astronomer Dominika Wylezalek of Heidelberg University in Germany, who led the study with [the newest ‘scope]. “This may eventually help us understand how galaxies in dense environments evolve. It’s an exciting result.”

Using the observations from NIRSpec, the team was able to confirm three galactic companions to this quasar and show how they are connected. Archival data from Hubble hint that there may be even more. Images from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 had shown extended material surrounding the quasar and its galaxy, prompting its selection for this study into its outflow and the effects on its host galaxy. Now, the team suspects they could have been looking at the core of a whole cluster of galaxies — only now revealed by [redacted’s] crisp imaging….

And this puts us in mind of a winter’s night, six years ago, when we last discussed shepherd moons at length, and the poetry that arrives with them. Here is that bit:

…Waterlilies soon and a Pleiku of dragonflies.

Shipwrecked fleets of naked limbs…
buried at sea — wrapped

in a starmap of the sky….

I will forget I am aging. I will be a medicine bag

of healing metaphors and powerful occult charms… I will
lie down upon the earth in the unassuming grass

after I’ve finished painting, fascinated by the…
stranger I’ve become to myself, listening deeply

to the picture music of the life of the mind like a kid

with forty-eight crayons and the whole of the sky to draw on

as I wait for the stars to make themselves apparent
in the sweet, sweet darkness that envelopes me…

in the [copper-colored] flames and [deep-]violet shadows of another

[exquisite] martyr — to the cause of keeping their fires alive within me,

a dragonfly in a chrysalis, a hermit thrush in ecstasy,

a sulphur butterfly with antennae like burnt match sticks
looking for a light from the lanterns of the nightwatch
reigniting the passions of old poems like fireflies

inspiring the ashes in the urns of the stars to enlighten their afterlife…

fracturing koans like diamond insights into

a labyrinthine gallery of mirrors that see me

with the same eyes by which I see signs

of the disastrous happiness of life in them….

With that, I will quite easily drift off to sleep, shepherded once more, by my own moon-lette — somewhere, to the South, out there… smile. G’night….

नमस्ते

Hinderaker: Unable To Grasp That Decent Businesses… Shun Him, On The Merits.

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Tonight John complains that gmail and mailchimp, among others, have decided not to let their services be easily deployed by racists, insurrectionists and their close supporters.

Y A W N.

That is, Powerline has seen its outbound e-mail blasts to certain mailing lists… relegated to recipients’ spam folders. “Oh! The humanities!” (As intoned by the immortal radio announcer who was struck dumb, as the Hindenburg exploded in flames above Lakehurst, New Jersey — almost ninety years ago, now.)

Perhaps if the boys did not generate so much spam-mail (via their right wing commercial partners)… they would not feel this pinch. I dunno… crazy idea, that.

But Hinderaker tries to reframe it all as pernicious “viewpoint” discrimination.

Supporting the 01.06 terror attackers, and supporting the domestic terrorists who plotted to kidnap Michigan’s Governor… all while firing off racist tropes… is his reality checked stance. Supporting terror: not a good look.

Grow up, John.

Again, A Bevy Of Former Federal Prosecutors Have Filed A Humdinger Of An Amici Brief, Against Cannon, And Tangerine In The 11th…

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Again overnight, the dozens of former US prosecutors (both Ds and Rs) have filed a muscular brief to oppose Tangerine’s efforts to avoid the natural consequences of flauting dozens of criminal (federal felony) statutes, through wholly-supine USDC Judge Aileen Cannon’s unhinged trial court rulings. To re-tool a long out of date phrase (since we’ve already referenced Abbott and Costello this morning!)… it is a… HUMDINGER! Heh.

Do go read all 29 pages — but this is the main theme. It is clearly correct; Tangerine will lose this appeal:

…The district court’s order repeatedly granted the plaintiff in this case, former President Donald J. Trump, procedural rights and protections that are not afforded to other criminal defendants and subjects of criminal investigations. This special treatment of one private citizen by virtue of his former status runs contrary to well-established caselaw. But, even more important, the analysis employed by the district court is antithetical to the central principle in this country that everyone should be treated equally by the law….

[In addition,] well-established caselaw… holds that a threat of future prosecution and potential reputational injury is never sufficient to establish irreparable injury….

In the decades of experience Amici collectively have in state and federal law enforcement, Amici have never observed a court treat the subject of a criminal investigation with such solicitude simply because the subject used to be a public official. In Amici’s experience, it is critical to the rule of law that the subjects of criminal investigations be treated equally, regardless of their former occupation….

Now you know. With the “grown folk’s pumpkin carving competition” tomorrow afternoon, and a pot roast feast, thereafter! I think there will be martinis — too, but I’ll have a fine root beer float. Grinning, here….

नमस्ते

Fear Mongering — On Hinderaker’s Hooves!

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Unless John wants to defend the official GOP positions — that abortions are not permitted, to incest, rape or child sexual exploitation victims… (and he… doesn’t — as he’s plainly silent on it all)….

He should probably shut up, about one or two younger patient surgeries (all copiously consented to by both the parents and the kids), given that no official Democratic Party platform calls for surgery before age 16.

And yet, the GOP feels that parents cannot be told to vaccinate their children — but parents CAN prohibit an abortion to the child, even in cases where her own father raped her. Damn.

And so — again we see that Hinderaker trafficks in awful lies, to try to drive his hate-base’s engagement.

Sad, actually. No one is buying — the crap he’s selling.

“Hu’s on FIRST?! No… Xi!” — Forgive Me, But It All Sounds Like… An Abbott & Costello Routine… And, An Ominous Allegory.

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I don’t mean to make light of the “internal exile” that former president Hu was apparently very publicly just consigned to — by Xi, or at least without his opposing it. [Scott Johnson just quoted a tweet this morning, that tread some of the same punny ground, here.]

But the level of… the politically-weird — in China, is at all time highs, not least of all due to ubiquitous real time streaming over the web, and so… old school 35 mm film cannot be pre-edited before release, by party regulars — to the world. OTOH, maybe it was intended to be “leaked” — as a warning, to the masses… to fall in line.

[I would also observe that when we allow political systems to be governed by men only, without the check and balance of… the rule of immutable law… monstrous things more than occasionally transpire. This man is 79 years old, afterall. WTH?! And yes, I am alluding to MAGA — and its manifold dangers, to American pluralism, and democracy, itself.]

CNN apparently caught the moment in real time — the 79 year old former president was suddenly, and very firmly removed from the dais at the close of the latest party congress. It happened directly behind Xi, as Hu tried to reach for a paper in front of Xi — he was removed by two large dark suited “minders”… and Xi did not even flinch. This was just after Xi cleared the way for his own self… to remain President — essentially… forever (via rule changes).

If there was ever an actual and recent attempt to remove Xi, this might well signal that Hu was behind it all… or at least, that Xi believes he was.

Very strange.

Hu’s [not] on first, though. Xi’s stealing… home. [Rim-shot.]

Wow.

नमस्ते

I Assume This Is Primarily Politics — To Get People To Cooperate With The Lockdowns In Both Kassanda, And Mubende Districts…

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Based on all we’ve seen in prior, “vaccination-enabled” Ebola outbreaks, primarily in DRC and Sierra Leone, I think it unwise to start predicting that this will be “over” in Uganda by year end. We are effectively only two months away from year end, now — and each 42 day period (even if started today, with no new cases)… will only allow for. . . a tiny bit of spillage, over that.

One new case will effectively blow the Ministry’s purported timeline here. But I do understand the need to have people be compliant, so shading it a bit may be politically wise. Here is the latest, from Reuters:

…On Oct. 20 the health ministry registered just one new case of Ebola, state communication minister Godfrey Kabbyanga said in a statement.

“The latest status update from the Ministry of Health indicates that the epidemic is, indeed, coming under control,” Kabbyanga added.

“The government is, therefore, optimistic that with co-operation from the public, this epidemic should be rolled back, and wiped out by close of 2022,” he said….

Well — it’s warm enough tonight… to fancy a cup of cherries, freshly preserved, and infused into hand made creamy vanilla ice cream… so off I go — into the night, by bike — it’s a mission! Grinning….

नमस्ते

Steve “Jabba The Hutt” Bannon Just Sentenced To Four Months — Will Appeal.

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Y A W N.

He’s a putz. And a dangerous one.

And… he is still set to go to trial in New York, for fleecing donors out of their cash, with the “We Build” supposed charity.

That may ensnare Ms. Owens, as well.

This same fact pattern (stealing charity money), in a federal case — is what Tangerine pardoned him for just before leaving office. But Tangerine’s pardon holds no sway in subsequent New York state fraud felonies charges.

Flawless. Buckle up son.

[U] A Fascinating Update, As Barrack’s Felonies Trial Winds Down… He Wants An Instruction To The Jury…

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Mr. Barrack’s lawyers are nothing, if they are not… thoroughly persistent. They just filed an 18 page brief, mid-trial, suggesting that the able USDC Judge Brian M. Cogan stopping them from — in opening statements — arguing that the idea that the government won’t show the jury any classified information, during the trial… might mean the government is lying about Mr. Barrack’s culpability… was unfair.

Nope, the judge was having none of that — as an improper line of argument: the omission of classified information that has been shown to the judge in camera (but for which the jury is not cleared to be read in)… is irrelevant, where the charge is that Mr. Barrack failed to disclose to we the people that he was working for pay for the UAE, while at the White House meeting with Tangerine, as a campaign adviser and financier. The charge is secret conflicts of interest — not that he was a courier for secrets of our government (though in fairness he might have been — so “the projection” here is palpable).

In any event, this notion that the defense threatens “graymail” (disclosure of classified information at trial, in order to get the defendant off)… is not unusual, in trials like this. But to turn it all on its head, and say… since the government didn’t show you any of that secret stuff, you may infer the government is lying about Mr. Barrack… is well beyond the pale, and pretty novel. As I say — it is using “projection” to deflect from what the defendant actually did, by saying the government “might have” done “X and so….” Crazy. Here was the able judge’s actual entirely proper instruction after that unlawful attempt in opening statements, by Mr. Barrack’s counsel:

…[Judge speaking:] “[Y]ou heard a reference during the last opening argument by [Thomas Barrack’s lawyer] in which he made a reference to certain classified information. Now, the fact of the matter is, there are many reasons why the government may not want to introduce evidence as to classified information in a public criminal trial; however, that doesn’t mean there is such information. I don’t want you thinking about, ‘well, gee, is there stuff that the government held back or is there stuff that exists out there?’ We don’t know. It doesn’t really matter, okay. What matters is you listen to the evidence that the government is going to put into this case and you decide if that evidence is sufficient to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt….

Of course, a fair question would be… how much does the defense really have to lose, by trying this gambit? Afterall, Mr. Barrack is likely to get what might well amount to a life sentence, given his age — on the mountain of evidence already in, in this trial in Brooklyn. This was Tangerine’s main campaign financier, folks.

Updated @ 1 PM Eastern — Barrack’s counsel was also just denied the right to admit some FBI email chains, in order to argue that the FBI tried to manufacture evidence against him, and had targeted him for selective prosecution. These are almost always losers — as they were today.

Onward, smiling in the sunshine — almost 70 degrees here, at the moment… Taco time!

नमस्ते

Uganda’s Public Awareness Campaign — Against Ebola Spread — Kicks Into High Gear…

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As of this morning, Ugandan health authorities are tracking over 1,200 contacts in the current outbreak — but with at least eight untraced chains of transmission active, this number will surely increase — and the possibility is still real that major clusters remain completely off the public health map — in hidden chains of transmission and death.

And so, Uganda will use all means at its disposal to reach the intended audiences, with a message that includes a friendly face. Some replies on Twitter seem non-plussed that a woman of color is in the picture (feeling it is a political ploy) — but I am certain the thinking is to reduce concern that the whyte Europeans are (once again) running nefarious experiments on people of color, here.

So, it is reasonably likely that Twitter reaches far more local Kassanda-, and Mubende- District Ugandans… than any newspaper, and perhaps even more than an AM radio broadcast would here in 2022.

So it is very gratifying to see the Public Health Minister embracing the social media opportunities. Here’s her latest, from inside the hot zone, at right — and below. But in some of the tweets replying to hers, there is obviously still deep skepticism about whether this is simply a corrupt move for international aid. It is not, obviously — but this sort of distrust was build over a century… and is very hard to allay:

…In a bid to break misinformation cycles around #EbolaOutbreakUG, and encourage best practices, [we are] sensitizing community members / stakeholders in high-risk areas.

📷▶ A session with traditional healers/herbalists at Lwebyaayi in West Division in #Mubende….

[And earlier:] All contacts to an #Ebola infected patient must stay at home and not mix with any of their family members for 21 days.

The incubation period for the Ebola- Sudan strain is 2-21 days. #EbolaOutbreakUG….

Now you know — we are only about two weeks away from first dosings with the experimental vaccine candidate from Sabin Institute. So, on to a more hopeful, and brighter, Fall Friday in the steel and glass canyons, splattered at street level with gold and crimson leaf-falls… smile.

नमस्ते

[U] A Brief Footnote: Supremes Won’t Hear Wisconsin Challenge To Student Loan Relief…

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Updated — late on Friday, in the Eighth Circuit, a short hold/stay was placed via a states’ appeal from its complete loss of Wednesday, while the appeals panel considers whether the relief program may proceed:

“…[The Biden Administration’s] response in opposition shall be due on or before 5:00 PM Central, Monday, October 24, 2022 and the Appellants’ reply, if any, is due on or before 5:00 PM Central, Tuesday, October 25, 2022. [5210237-4] Adp Oct 2022 [5210409] [22-3179] (AMT) [Entered: 10/21/2022 05:13 PM]….”

So now we will wait until Wednesday, in all likelihood. But the relief will go forward, Condor predicts. End, updated portion.

Tonight, Mr. Biden has seen the Supremes uphold long-standing, well-settled black letter federal law here, to the effect that (absent clear and convincing fraud) individual citizens don’t have standing to sue over precisely how the Executive Branch chooses to spend money expressly allocated by Congress, so long as it follows the spirit / letter of the Congressional allocation, generally.

Moreover, the fact that the most conservative female Justice kicked the cert. petition right out, without even waiting until tomorrow’s Friday conference with all the Justices, to discuss it… is a very bad omen for the other lower court challengers (all hard right).

Now you know.