Author: condor

Epilogue/Tangent: Now, Reality Is On File — In Manhattan — Refuting SBF’s Mom’s BS… Onward.

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I wanted to wait until the government had its chance to reply, before even linking SBF’s mom’s filing — seeking a new felonies trial, for her lil’ boy.

That filing is — to put it mildly… fatuous — stem to stern.

The above (in my first line) is the only link I will offer for it.

Below, I quote at length from the AUSAs’ cogent reply to it.

This is a perfect statement of the applicable felony laws, and a muscular argument against the boy’s, and his mom’s… wildly-narcissistic belief that the federal criminal laws should only apply to the little people.

Let’s listen in / read along:

…The defendant was convicted of orchestrating one of the largest frauds in history, stealing more than $8 billion from the customers of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.com. The defendant represented FTX as a safe and trustworthy exchange where customer money was protected. In reality, the defendant covertly diverted billions of dollars of FTX customer money to his cryptocurrency trading firm, Alameda Research. He spent the money on Alameda’s expenses, speculative investments, and charitable donations, and used it to repay Alameda’s lenders, make illegal political campaign contributions, and enrich himself. The defendant’s misappropriation of his customers’ deposits was exposed in November 2022, when FTX declared bankruptcy after customers attempted to withdraw more money from FTX than the exchange had on hand, revealing a multibillion-dollar shortfall in FTX’s balance sheet.

The evidence at trial included seventeen witnesses, among them three cooperating witnesses who conspired with the defendant to commit fraud, other former FTX and Alameda employees, a financial expert who traced the defendant’s misappropriation and spending of FTX customer funds, and customer, investor, and lender victims of the defendant’s scheme. The Government also presented documentary evidence including portions of the FTX codebase, financial records, internal company emails and financial analysis, fraudulent balance sheets, the defendant’s tweets and testimony before Congress, and private messages between the defendant and his coconspirators….

The defendant’s motion fails at every level. His three proffered witnesses — Daniel Chapsky, Ryan Salame, and Nishad Singh — were known to the defense well before trial, their potential testimony was either foreclosed by the defense’s own strategic decisions or is based on unsworn, post-conviction statements, and none of it would have been material to the outcome in any event….

In essence, he personally repeatedly-confessed to these crimes, in sworn testimony before Congress, and in written tweets — and texts to friends.

See ya’… [Stanford Law School] ma’.

Out — this is a dead letter — from his momma’.

नमस्ते

Keep A Positive Meditation — That This Does NOT Turn Out To Be A NEW Ebola Flare-Up — In Democratic Republic of Congo…

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It seems there has been a hemorrhagic fever related death (once again — suspected to be Ebola), in Kasai Province, DRC. [You’ll recall that he last flare up was only declared over, in December of 2025.] CIDRAP reports that we are awaiting the results of definitive PCR tests — but a handful of people there are sick, likely from contact with the one fatality — which is presumed to be the index case.

Here’s to hoping that it is not Ebola — but even if it is “only” Lassa- or Marburg’s — the arrest will be much tougher, since Trump has taken away all funding for USAID. Damn. Here’s CIDRAP on the latest, overnight:

…Media outlets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are reporting a possible outbreak of a hemorrhagic fever disease, feared to be Ebola, in Kasai Province.

One fatality was reported late last week, and there are several reports of sick people and a health clinic that is operating without gloves or other personal protective equipment. Local officials say testing of patients is underway, and they are awaiting the results. The DRC has not reported any new cases since September 2025, when 64 cases were identified in Kasai province. Forty-three people died in that outbreak….

Onward — resolutely, and back to the High Rockies, again to be with my mom — starting Saturday… for a week (and to practice patience — with rapidly-advancing Alzheimer’s). Smile…

नमस्ते

Hudson Tunnel Federal Slap-Down, For Tangerine 2.0 Forces… On Appeal.

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So, Tangerine’s appeal of his complete loss in Manhattan’s federal trial courts here will not be heard until next year — in all likelihood.

I love it! Here’s that order — and a bit:

…ORDER of USCA (Certified Copy) as to [46] Notice of Interlocutory Appeal, filed by United States Department of Transportation [et al.]….

USCA Case Number 26-0282.The practical effect of the challenged injunction is to leave [Trump’s] DOT obligated to make regularly scheduled payments of millions of dollars to the GDC.

“[T]he loss of money is not typically considered irreparable harm” unless “the funds cannot be recouped and are thus irrevocably expended.” National Institutes of Health v. Am. Pub. Health Ass’n (“NIH v. APHA”), 606 U.S. —, 145 S. Ct. 2658, 2659 (2025) (internal quotation marks omitted). While DOT asserts that, if successful on the merits, it will not be able to recoup its payments to GDC given that entity’s exhaustion of its resources, the record casts doubt on that assertion, indicating that (1) on March 12, 2026, the Court of Federal Claims is expected to issue a ruling in GDC’s case challenging DOT’s suspension of payments, and such a decision — going either way — may well end (or, at least, significantly narrow) the instant action; (2) DOT’s next payment obligation does not arise until sometime after March 12, 2026; and (3) in any event, DOT acknowledges that some of its payment obligations to GDC are pursuant to loans guaranteed by New York and New Jersey, which are not shown to be unable to meet their obligations.

Thus, because DOT fails to show the irreparable injury required to secure a stay pending appeal, its motion is properly denied on that ground. Cf. Care One, LLC v. NLRB, 166 F.4th at 343 (observing that court has “routinely — even summarily — upheld the denial of a preliminary injunction based on a movant’s failure to demonstrate irreparable harm without considering other requirements for such relief,” specifically, “likelihood of success on the merits” (internal quotation marks omitted)).

In the absence of any showing of irreparable harm, DOT must do more than show that the merits of its jurisdictional challenge are debatable to secure a stay pending appeal. See Mohammed v. Reno, 309 F.3d at 101 (suggesting, on stay motion, “probability of success that must be demonstrated is inversely proportional to the amount of irreparable injury [movant] will suffer absent the stay” (internal quotation marks omitted)). DOT has not done that here….

“Inversely proportional”… hilarious!

नमस्ते

I Promise: This Is The Last One, On This Largely Trivial Topic. Truly.

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Based on the latest SpaceTrack data, Goddard’s and NORAD’s latest disclosures, we see that a few hours ago, whatever was left has fallen harmlessly into the Pacific due west of the Galapagos Islands — a great distance to the west of… Ecuador — in South America.

Here’s ABC’s confirming blurb, then:

…An old NASA science satellite plunged uncontrolled from orbit and reentered over the Pacific on Wednesday.

The U.S. Space Force said the Van Allen Probe A came in west of the Galapagos Islands.

Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said all re-entries are difficult to predict, but this one was especially challenging given its eccentric, lopsided orbit….

NASA expected some of the 1,323-pound (600-kilogram) spacecraft to survive entry, with most of it burning up in the atmosphere. The space agency put the risk of bodily harm at 1-in-4,200….

Thankfully, that didn’t happen. [Nerd confession: from yesterday’s data, I had worked out a 3D / math curve, for where it might be passing overhead overnight — and fit that to a Google Maps globe. (Mine predicted a splash into the ocean due East of the Philipines — so… not perfect!)

All of that last trek was on a nine degree angle, like a tipped hat brim, relative to the Equator — to the South. And that in turn, put it almost exclusively over deep and warm ocean waters. However, it did make at least one additional complete orbit of the Earth, before “burning in“.]

Truly — I will let it go now [obviously, thankfully, with no fishing boats in that vicinity.] Onward — grinning.

We will have 2025 year end lobby spend trends, starting either tomorrow — or, if I get ambitious — later this evening. Merck v. Pfizer, first….

नमस्ते

Lassa Is Running Very Hot This Year, In Nigeria — Particularly. We Need An Approved Vaccine.

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Just two mornings ago, we mentioned the scourge of Lassa fever, now wracking four or five West African nations. Today, the excellent Outbreak News Today substack zooms in on… Nigeria. And the results are… grim, here only one-quarter in, to 2026. The virus spreads most readily, in the dry season — and already 99 patients are dead — with over 600 confirmed cases, spread all over the country. See my heat map, at right.

Here is all of that, but this virus is every bit the potent killer that Ebola has historically been. We need an approved vaccine — and ring vaccination protocols, for contacts — with vials, at the ready. And we need it… like yesterday:

…The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) is calling for strengthened state-level response measures as Lassa fever cases continue to rise during the peak transmission period of the dry season….

Cumulatively as of week 8, 2026, 99 deaths have been reported with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 24.5% which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2025 (18.8%).

Of particular concern is the increase in infections among healthcare workers, with 28 confirmed infections and 3 deaths recorded this season.

Lassa fever follows a predictable seasonal and geographic pattern in Nigeria. High-burden states are known, peak months are well documented….

Now you know. And this too will be Tangerine’s legacy — tens of thousands of excess deaths, globally, due to his gutting of USAID. Damn him. Onward, resolutely — just the same.

नमस्ते

UPDATED — Revised Timetable Has Van Allen Probe-A Flaming Out, At Around Noon Tomorrow — I Think…

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In truth, I cannot be certain that I am reading this freebie-website’s data correctly. It apparently collects NORAD tracking feeds, and updates them on the fly, about once every six hours. It seems to be a pretty cool place — as a not-for-profit .org. [Prior post on this, here.]

In any event, its latest feed — imaged at right from NORAD for the decaying orbit of Van Allen Probe-A, indicates about 11:50 am tomorrow, Eastern — as burnin’ time. We will keep you posted — and we will check again early mañana — to see if there are other updates:

…38752 | 2026-03-10 23:33:00 | 2026-03-10 23:36:40 | 2026-03-11 11:50:00….

For what it is worth, well… there you have it.

Smile — even as nickel-sized hail falls noisily here at the moment — no tornadoes — so all good.

नमस्ते

John Hinderaker Now Admits: We’ve Failed — We Just Created A Repressive Military Junta, In Iran — “But It Is Really A Win!” Yikes!

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Updated — now both John and Paul must have gotten angry calls from the armies of MAGA-minions, in DC Trump World: “make the story about how great we are — since our goal was NEVER going to be a free society, with elections, in EITHER Venezuela or Iran” — but focus mostly on… Iran.

D A M N.

Of the two, John’s is the most transparently… stupid (and thus deplorably evil): he would tell us that having a “Mao-style barrel of the gun” power structure (as opposed to a radical religious controlled one!?) is a great victory for our Dear Leader. No, really this is a big win, he says: we’ve created a more repressive regime, and one less stable for our oil interests. “Heckuva’ job there, Brownie!”

Hinderaker goes so far as to say… we should put our sons’ and daughters’ blood on the line, and march our troops in, toward Tehran — all to let the IRGC slaughter them. [It is thus clear that none of John’s relatives are serving in any branch of the US military.]

He pretends that he never wrote [actually, demanded!] that Trump should be aiming for a free society / full “regime change” in Iran — just a month ago, when Iranian protesters were being shot by the hundreds, in the streets.

Damn his malignant lying.

And in further nonsense — Paul Mirengoff now says we’ve “already won”. [He also demanded that Trump save the Iranians and hold free elections, just last month.] Paul says it is the press’s fault — that Americans hate this war — and the “win” is being suppressed. Insane — [he apparently didn’t see the VIDEO of our Tomahawk hitting the little girls’ school]. That’s no “suppression” — that’s factual accountability. Damn.

What are these two senile old geezers… smoking, anyway?

Quagmire ahead, to a near certainty. Pakistani warships are escorting tankers through the Strait… well, that’s “another Donnie-tastrophe” — and just so… precious!

Y I K E S.

More Disconcerting News, Out Of The Island Nation Madagascar: Mpox Totals Still Rising — Significantly.

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Just one week ago, we reported on the first Mpox fatality, on the island — a three year old little girl. Now we see that the total lab confirmed case count is approaching 400, there. [There were only five — as of New Year’s Day ’26.]

Overall, there have been 53 deaths this year across Africa, from the virus just this year. Here’s the latest:

…The Madagascar Ministry of Health reported an additional 55 laboratory confirmed mpox cases since late February, bringing the the outbreak total to 387 lab confirmed cases and no deaths since the outbreak began in December 2025….

Cases have been reported in 27 of Madagascar’s 114 health districts. Clade 1b was isolated from sequenced samples.

In Africa since the beginning of 2026, over 9,000 total mpox cases, including 1480 lab confirmed cases were reported from 22 African Union Member States.

A total of 53 deaths have been reported….

Now you know. “Not with a bang, but with… a whimper…” it would seem. Ugh.

नमस्ते

Head’s Up! Van Allen Probe-A — 1,300 Lbs. Of Metal, Burning In — Later Tuesday: NASA

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To be clear — I am sure NASA is double-checking SpaceForce’s work. And I think SAIC is generally competent — but here less than 16 hours away from “burn-in”, SpaceForce only gives a plus-or-minus 24 hour guess, on timing. That’s pretty underwhelming, from a math standpoint. And the link SpaceForce gave NASA, for updated calcs… is actually a password-only SAIC logged site.

So, if it is going to hit your house… it is just gonna’… hit your house, pal. Crazy. Here’s the more well-thought out piece, from NASA:

…NASA’s Van Allen Probe A is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere almost 14 years after launch. From 2012 to 2019, the spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, flew through the Van Allen belts, rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, to understand how particles were gained and lost. The belts shield Earth from cosmic radiation, solar storms, and the constantly streaming solar wind that are harmful to humans and can damage technology, so understanding them is important.

As of March 9, 2026, [agencies] predicted that the roughly 1,323-pound spacecraft will re-enter the atmosphere at approximately 7:45 p.m. EDT on March 10, 2026, with an uncertainty of +/- 24 hours.

NASA expects most of the spacecraft to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive re-entry.

The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is low — approximately 1 in 4,200….

In any event, while I do trust NASA, it may be that SAIC isn’t supplying the best raw telemetry data… it might be a good idea to wear that hardhat, after about noon here US time, on Tuesday — if you’re going outside for lunch — just the same. Grin.

नमस्ते

Awaiting A Mediation Schedule, Now — In Merck v. Merck Lanham Act Litigation In USDC NJ…

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Along with Judge Hammer, we await a schedule for this colossal mediation.

There are literally high-single-digit (to low double digit) billions at stake, to a certainty, here:

…TEXT ORDER:

The parties having agreed on the selection of Judge Hochberg as a mediator per their March 6, 2026 joint letter, on or before March 27th, the parties will kindly inform the Undersigned of the date of the mediation.

So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer on 3/9/2026. (Hammer, Michael)….

Onward, smiling.

नमस्ते