Author: condor

Influenza A, Once Known As “The Swine Flu” — Is Again A 2026 Human-To-Human Virus Of Concern…

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I am not being an undue alarmist, when I say… this is a very real concern. And it is a much more potent concern when the people at the head of the US public health system invert the food pyramid, and suggest alcohol is not any sort of serious health concern, for example.

And then there is the move to end automatic meningitis vaccines we mentioned a few days ago. But what was once called Swine Flu continues to circulate 20 years after the last major outbreak. And increasingly, leaders in America simply shrug at the excess death rates. This is… infuriating, but here is today’s news rundown / roster — on Influenza A (and several other viral outbreaks we’ve been traacking right along) — as we begin 2026:

…Old viruses are constantly evolving. A warming and increasingly populated planet puts humans in contact with more and different viruses. And increased mobility means that viruses can rapidly travel across the globe along with their human hosts.

As an infectious diseases physician and researcher, I’ll be keeping an eye on a few viruses in 2026 that could be poised to cause infections in unexpected places or in unexpected numbers….

Influenza A is a perennial threat. The virus infects a wide range of animals and has the ability to mutate rapidly.

The most recent influenza pandemic — caused by the H1N1 subtype of influenza in 2009 — killed over 280,000 people worldwide in its first year, and the virus continues to circulate today….

Now you know. And ICE agents under Bovino’s command refused to let an MD on scene render aid to Renee Good, as she died. It is all on video — with the agent saying “we have our own medics. . . they will be here shortly”… as the MD watched Renee die, from across the street, an ICE rifleman at the ready — if he tried to cross the street. Damn them.

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In Direct Violation Of A Federal Order, Halligan STILL Signs In As “US Attorney”?!

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This is. . . deplorable.

She’s been ordered to stop appearing in Virginia as a US Attorney. But she is flagrantly defying that order, saying “its on appeal”. She’s gonna’ get herself permanently. . . disbarred from practice, as any kind of lawyer, me thinks — see the last two pages, here:

. . .Ms. Halligan shall further explain why her identification does not constitute a false or misleading statement. See Va. R. of Prof. Conduct 3.3(a) (2025) (“A lawyer shall not knowingly: (1) make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal.”); 7.1 (“A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services.”); 8.4 (“It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to. . . (c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty. . . or misrepresentation which reflects adversely on the lawyer’s fitness to practice law.”); 3.4 (“A lawyer shall not. . . [k]nowingly disobey. . . a standing rule or a ruling of a tribunal made in the course of a proceeding”); see also E.D. Va. Loc. Crim. R. 83.1(M) (“All counsel admitted to practice before this Court pursuant to subsections (C), (D) [governing federal government attorneys “appearing pursuant to the authority of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia” and who do not otherwise require “admission to practice in this Court”], (E), or (F) shall be subject to the rules, conditions and provisions set forth in full as Appendix B to these Local Rules.”); Fed. R. of Disciplinary Enforcement (“FRDE”) IV(B) [set forth in Appendix B]:
“Acts or omissions by an attorney admitted to practice before this Court, individually or in concert with any other person or persons, which violate the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct adopted by this Court shall constitute misconduct and shall be grounds for discipline”. . . .

These acolytes’ law licenses are burning as we speak. Crazy. Just like Michael Cohen, Jenna Ellis, Rudy Guiliani and Sidney Powell — in Tangerine 1.0’s pattern of lawlessness.

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[U: Hinderaker’s Own Video Proves The ICE/DHS Officers Could Get By — And She Was Unarmed, Driving AWAY!] Crediting EW, Here: The Goon Greg Bovino Was Present, When ICE Shot And Killed Renee Good, An Unarmed Observer In Her Car — In Minneapolis, Today. Dammit.

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Updated @ 5:45 pm CST — the usual, out of Hinderaker. But apparently he did not watch the side view video he linked. The officer fired into a car that was moving AWAY from all law enforcement. A fleeing observer, a woman, unarmed. But on zero evidence, Hinderaker calls it “self defense”. It was no such thing. The officers didn’t give her time to comply. They fired rather than wait to let her pull out of the way.

And unsurprisingly, Hinderaker fails to mention that existing nationwide orders (and federal statutes) require de-escalation at protests. This was a quick trigger; no warning that the officer would fire. Shit, John.

Damn you John. Damn you. End update.

[Earlier and] very fairly, EmptyWheel asks whether Stephen Miller may be held responsible — along with Kristi Noem and of course, Donald Trump. All of them are (at a minimum) not remotely-studiously enforcing the existing orders on de-escalation, and a sparing use of force, at protests — if not outright ordering goons on the street, like Bovino… to affirmatively violate those orders and statutes.

Renee Good was, by all accounts, a very kind and gentle person. She did not own any guns. Here’s EmptyWheel’s concluding paragraph this evening — as I know you all have seen the basic news reports from earlier in the day, in Minneapolis. Dammit.

…[I]n a TV appearance, Bovino said he took his instructions from the Executive Branch, whether Trump or Kristi Noem.

The implication is fairly clear: That Stephen Miller is the one instructing him on use of force.

Greg Bovino was present for today’s shooting.

In the wake of the shooting, Tricia McLaughlin, Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, and Donald Trump all have told vicious lies about the shooting; their lies aren’t even consistent with each other, much less the video.

The shooting comes in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that Trump can’t deploy the National Guard to cities unless he has first resorted to active duty troops.

It’s time to ask whether Stephen Miller ordered Greg Bovino to shoot those who document DHS’ invasions….

Damn these monsters. Just… damn them. This may turn into a second George Floyd moment in the Twin Cities, now. [And perhaps — just perhaps — as the commanding agent on the ground, Greg Bovino might see the Derek Chauvin outcome. That would be rough justice.]

Dammit.

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As We’ve Said — Gilead Is A “Screaming Buy” At These Prices… But Don’t Trust Us, Just Listen To UBS And Morgan Stanley And HSBC And Mizuho And Wells Fargo.

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As ever, you are responsible for doing your own due diligence — but that is exactly what these five venerable Wall Street experts have done — for their clients… and they all think the markets are undervaluing Gilead’s prospects by at least 15-20% over the next 12 to 24 months. [We’ve covered this company for over a decade now — and it will be a biopharma outperformer, almost always. The prior Hep C successes prove this.]

As I say, do go read it all here, but that lil’ story is likely just an AI-generated cut and paste job — made from/of existing bankers’ notes to clients. Still the consensus value is worthy of serious reflection, here in early 2026:

…UBS reiterated a “buy” on GILD and raised its price target to $145 (from $112), implying roughly a 19.5% upside from the prior close.

Multiple firms also bumped targets (HSBC, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo), and MarketBeat shows a consensus “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $133.

Gilead beat Q3 estimates with $2.47 EPS (vs. $2.16) and $7.77B revenue (vs. $7.42B), and set FY2025 guidance of $8.05–$8.25 EPS versus analyst expectations near $7.95….

Onward, shaking my head — at our nearly 80 year old, somnambulant would-be strong-man… geez — such tiny, silly hands — and such incompetently evil advice and help, surrounding him. Out.

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Merck Closes Its Purchase Of All Of Cidara Thera, As Expected: Power Alley Stuff.

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As we earlier reported in November, this will complement Rahway’s offerings in the flu therapies spaces.

It will result in a charge of $0.30 per share, to this year’s GAAP results — and an in-process R&D expense of about $3.65 a share. Still it is a very savvy move by the leaders of Merck. Here’s the closing presser, this morning, and a bit:

…[Merck] today announced the successful completion of the cash tender offer, through a subsidiary, for all the outstanding shares of common stock of Cidara Therapeutics, Inc….

“The acquisition of Cidara strengthens and complements our expanding respiratory portfolio and exemplifies our business development strategy of investing where compelling science and value meet,” said Robert M. Davis, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck. “CD388, a potentially first-in-class, long-acting antiviral with strain-agnostic properties, underscores that approach. We look forward to building on Cidara’s progress and further evaluating the potential of this candidate for the prevention of symptomatic influenza in certain individuals at high risk of complications.”

Merck completed the cash offer at a purchase price of $221.50 per share of common stock of Cidara, without interest and subject to deduction for any required tax withholding. As of the tender offer expiration at one minute after 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on January 6. . . approximately 85.96% of the total number of Cidara’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock [had been tendered]. All such shares have been accepted for payment in accordance with the terms of the tender offer, and Merck expects to promptly pay for such shares….

Cidara will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck and the common stock of Cidara will no longer be listed or traded on the Nasdaq Global Market. The acquisition is expected to be accounted for as an asset acquisition, resulting in a charge that will increase 2026 research and development expenses by approximately $9.0 billion or approximately $3.65 per share, included in GAAP and non-GAAP results. Additionally, GAAP and non-GAAP EPS are expected to be negatively impacted by approximately $0.30 per share in the first 12 months [post closing]….

Now you know. And so, we head ever onward — to an unseasonably warm, if gray, morning in the steel and glass canyons. Grin….

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New Interstellar / Cosmos-Enlightening Discoveries Are Arriving Daily, Now: JWST Spots Very Early, And Tiny “Platypus” Galaxies… Whoa!

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We live in an age of immensely-accelerating discovery. There can be no denying it (even if some in our co-hort of humans behave like dumb, panicky mastodons). The rest of us [likely a firm majority, in fact] see… with our better eyes.

And now, as with all ground-breaking real science, this discovery simply points us toward new, and different… questions: how indeed, did what we now think of as our early universe cool and coalesce into the strands of diamonds we now see in our night sky, some 13 billion years on? And why were these tiny lil’ pools of tightly shimmering light… left behind? We may need to ask the “platypus” deviner — one Haojing Yan, Ph.D.:

…After combing through NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s archive of sweeping extragalactic cosmic fields, a small team of astronomers at the University of Missouri says they have identified a sample of galaxies that have a previously unseen combination of features. Principal investigator Haojing Yan compares the discovery to an infamous oddball in another branch of science: biology’s taxonomy-defying platypus….

“It seems that we’ve identified a population of galaxies that we can’t categorize, they are so odd. On the one hand they are extremely tiny and compact, like a point source, yet we do not see the characteristics of a quasar, an active supermassive black hole, which is what most distant point sources are,” said Yan.

research was presented in a press conference at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix….

The team whittled down a sample of 2,000 sources across several Webb surveys to identify nine point-like sources that existed 12 to 12.6 billion years ago (compared to the universe’s age of 13.8 billion years). Spectral data gives astronomers more information than they can get from an image alone, and for these nine sources it doesn’t fit existing definitions. They are too far away to be stars in our own galaxy, and too faint to be quasars, which are so brilliant that they outshine their host galaxies….

Onward — to that undiscovered country — the future, then. Grin.

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I’ve Lost The Link To Who First Posted This — But It Is Beyond Doubt… Correct.

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Please do not follow the advice in the RFK, Jr. “modified” / truncated rec’d. vaccines list.

I saw this, from a full-on medical doctor — on X-itter. But now I cannot find him, to credit him, for it. [If anyone knows — post it in comments, so I might give him credit — he looks to be (from a thumbnail image) a US-based white guy — looks to be in his mid 40s — short haircut — darkish hair; last name may have been… Stone.]

…One of the vaccines being DROPPED from the CDC schedule is for meningitis.

MENINGITIS

One of THE most horrific, deadly infections you would ever have the misfortune to see.

It can — and does — kill kids within hours.

Dropped.

To satisfy anti vaccine fantasies.

Sick….

Now you know. Do bettah, for your own babies and grand-babies — at least.

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A Hope-Filled Countdown Begins, In Ethiopia — For The End Of The 2025 Marburg Flare Up / Outbreak.

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If all holds as expected, and no new cases are seen in these next 21 days, as of Janaury 27, 2026… the outbreak will be officially at an end.

As we reported, this dread disease presents much like an Ebola infection. Tragically, it is fatal more than 60% of the time, as there are no approved therapeutics, and no approved vaccines. So — being on the end of this cycle is very good news. We will keep you posted, here — but this is the latest, locally — overnight:

…Addis Abeba: The Ministry of Health announced that no new cases of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) have been detected in Ethiopia over the past 21 days, signaling progress in containing the outbreak, though authorities warned that the outbreak will only be officially declared over after 42 consecutive days without new infections.

In a statement released on 5 January 2026, the Ministry said that since the outbreak was confirmed in the South Ethiopia Region on 14 November 2025, laboratory tests have been conducted for 3,800 people. Among these, 14 tested positive for the virus, resulting in nine deaths and five recoveries, according to the Ethiopian Public Health Institute….

Now you know… onward, smiling.

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NASA’s Hubble Scope Helps Resolve An Enduring Mystery: Why Does Betelgeuse Brighten And Dim, About Every 2,100 Days?

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The companion star, only a tiny fraction the size of the monster it closely orbits… has been dubbed Siwarha by the team who “discovered” her orbit.

The term derives from ancient Arabic — and translates as “her bracelet“. Especially fitting, since she carves a space-time ring — around the “wrist” of the massive Betelgeuse.

Do read go it all — as this always fires my imagination: the moment of revealing, of that new “undiscovered country” (per NASA):

…The team detected Siwarha’s wake by carefully tracking changes in the star’s light over nearly eight years. These changes show the effects of the previously unconfirmed companion as it plows through the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse. This discovery resolves one of the biggest mysteries about the giant star, helping scientists to explain how it behaves and evolves while opening new doors to understanding other massive stars nearing the end of their lives.

Located roughly 650 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Orion, Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star so large that more than 400 million Suns could fit inside. Because of its enormous size and proximity, Betelgeuse is one of the few stars whose surface and surrounding atmosphere can be directly observed by astronomers, making it an important and accessible laboratory for studying how giant stars age, lose mass, and eventually explode as supernovae….

Using NASA’s Hubble and ground-based telescopes at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, the team was able to see a pattern of changes in Betelgeuse, which provided clear evidence of a long-suspected companion star and its impact on the red supergiant’s outer atmosphere. Those include changes in the star’s spectrum, or the specific colors of light given off by different elements, and the speed and direction of gases in the outer atmosphere due to a trail of denser material, or wake. This trail appears just after the companion crosses in front of Betelgeuse every six years, or about 2,100 days, confirming theoretical models….

The scale of these events is just… staggering. Most of our frames of reference are sub-nanometer, by comparison. But what a sight it would be, if we could witness it, from about five or so light years off. Whoosh — a safe distance, so we wouldn’t burn up — but it would still fill most of our [at this point mythical] spacecraft’s forward viewing window.

Very cool — and, in the masthead below, our Sun would be less than 1/600,000th of a pixel in size!!

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Hilarious. “ICE-Barbie” Noem Is Just Now (Finally) Realizing… She’s Lost, In Nashville — Come The 28th. All Subsequent Trial Orders Stayed… Until That Dismissal Hearing Is Decided.

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To (sort of) channel T.S. Eliot, it comes “not with a bang. . . but a whimper.”

I’d put the probability around 90% — that the very capable USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw will simply toss the goevernment’s case against Abrego, by (or shortly after) month’s end.

And he may seek to impose sanctions (for misconduct, and repeated misrepresentations to the court) against Messrs. McGuire and Boucek. And maybe even Noem and Bovino — we’ll wait to see (but these latter two would a stretch, in truth — as they held presss briefings, only). But Noem held one in Nashville in late Spring — where she repeatedly lied about the accused. So we shall see. Here’s the “game — set — match” admission, just filed this afternoon:

…COMES NOW the United States of America, by and through Braden Boucek, United States Attorney, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire and moves this Court to stay any deadlines related to the jury trial in this case.

Previously, this Court set deadlines as part of a global scheduling order (DE # 103) and also granted the Government an extension to file responses to the Defendant’s Motions in Limine which also extended the Defendant’s time to file any optional replies (DE # 256). The Court has since canceled the January 27, 2026, trial date, to be rescheduled after the Court rules on the Defendant’s pending motion to dismiss. (DE # 281.)

Therefore, the United States respectfully requests that the Court stay all trial-related deadlines pending further orders of this Court. The undersigned has conferred with defense counsel who has no opposition to this Motion….

Tune in on the 28th — as I’ve said, I’ll be there in person the night before — and live blogging at 9 AM inside Judge Crenshaw’s 3C Courtroom. Onward, goggled and grinning.

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