Author: condor

Now, Abrego’s Dismissal Hearing Will Be Jan. 28, 2026… In Nashville: USDC Judge Crenshaw

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The Noemites are going to get bounced out of court. He has cancelled the “trial” date. That is… telling.

And I’ll laugh about it. Yes, Abrego will be free:

…ORDER:

Before the Court is the government’s Motion to Quash Defendant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s (“Abrego”) subpoenas for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General James McHenry, and Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh to testify at the evidentiary hearing on the government’s motivations for charging Abrego. (Doc. No. [181]; see Doc. No. 217-1).

For the reasons set forth in this Order, the government’s Motion (Doc. No. [181]) is RESERVED pending the evidentiary hearing on whether the government can rebut Abrego’s prima facie showing of a realistic likelihood of vindictiveness. The trial scheduled for January 27, 2026, is CANCELLED.

[UPDATED — From Judge Crenshaw’s reasoned opinion:] …Because Abrego has already affirmatively satisfied the threshold question of whether he is entitled to a presumption that his prosecution is vindictive, his subpoenas of Blanche, McHenry, and Singh serve to support the third step of the vindictive prosecution inquiry, i.e., whether he can establish pretext and actual vindictiveness. (See Doc. No. 240 at 1). But, as Abrego emphasizes, to get there requires the government to successfully rebut the vindictiveness presumption Abrego is entitled to. (See Doc. No. 138 at 15); see also Bragan, 249 F.3d at 482; Zakhari, 85 F.4th at 379. According to Abrego, the Government has already shown that it cannot do so, given what Abrego asserts to be troves of evidence in the record indicating that his prosecution is actually vindictive. (See Doc. No. 275 at 11–15)….

Considering this landscape, and Abrego’s insistence that the current record alone warrants dismissal in his favor, whether the Court needs to hear testimony from Blanche, McHenry, and Singh, is questionable. Still, for the sake of thoroughness and to make sure that all parties are fully heard, the Court finds it prudent to proceed with an evidentiary hearing on Abrego’s Motion (Doc. No. 104). In doing so, it will limit the hearing to only the second step of the prosecutorial explanations for Abrego’s prosecution that rebuts the presumption of vindictiveness. LaDeau, 734 F.3d at 566. If the government can rebut that showing, the Court will revisit the government’s Motion to Quash (Doc. No. 181), as the burden will again shift back to Abrego to establish that the government’s rationale for prosecuting him is pretextual and that his prosecution is actually vindictive. See Bragan, 249 F.3d at 482. This shift may make the appropriateness of Abrego’s subpoenas of Blanche, McHenry, and Singh a pertinent inquiry. If the government fails to carry its burden at the evidentiary hearing, however, the Court need not resolve the government’s Motion (Doc. No. 181) on the merits… [And Abrego’s prosecution will be immediately dismissed. End update.]

The evidentiary hearing will occur at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.

Signed by District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr on 12/23/2025….

So now I will arrive on the evening of January 27, 2026 — and will live blog the likely two days of hearings, starting at 9 AM on the 28th. Excellent — onward, resolutely. Enjoy the holiday now. . . smile.

नमस्ते

Mirengoff Offers Wild Conclusions — In No Manner Supported By Savage’s Op Ed.

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

This is colossally stupid.

Mirengoff jumps to wild conclusions — on almost zero hard evidence.

But there’s nothing remotely surprising about these illogical leaps. Yep, he’s forever been inclined to make such foolish pronouncements.

White men (writ large) are no “lost generation”. [Except for by their own hands, in presuming that everything should just be handed to them on an entitlement basis — the way it always was.]

Even so, I might ask him has he even looked at Wall Street in the last two decades? Has he looked at Trump‘s administration top to bottom, which is nearly devoid of women or men of color?

The man is insane.

Out.

What a… clown.

Gov. JB Pritzker And Mayor Brandon Johnson Have The Right To Tell The Texas Guard It May Not “Invade” Chicago — Not Without Permission.

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As expected, the Supremes agree — these jamokes… understand nearly nothing about how true federalism (as contemplated by the Founders) works.

Trump had no plausible basis to unilaterally send any state’s National Guard to Illinois (and by inference, to California). Here’s that, by a majority of the Supremes — just now:

…[T]he Government has not carried its burden to show that §12406(3) permits the President to federalize the Guard in the exercise of inherent authority to protect federal personnel and property in Illinois. We need not and do not address the reviewability of findings made by the President under §12406(3) or any other statute.

The [Noem/Trump] application for stay is denied….

Onward. Excellent –yet, in any other epoch, this would never have even been tried — but so go the MAGA-loonies. Good riddance!

नमस्ते

Gilead Begins To Take Advantage Of Its “Global First Refusal” Options, On Assembly Bio’s Phase 1b Candidates, In HSV…

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This is a very solid publicly traded biopharm company — just like Moderna, as we mentioned yesterday. And both have been buffeted by Tangerine 2.0 tariff threats, and by Luddite non-scientific vaccine views, from his loopy underling, Kennedy, Jr..

So we believe both are presently trading well below their true fair values [do your own diligence]. This is a nice endorsement for the Assembly Bio folks’ approach to treating recurrent herpes strains.

Here’s the latest, from Fierce Biotech:

…Two years after Gilead Sciences secured the first option on Assembly Biosciences’ entire pipeline, the pharma has decided to pick the first fruits from the pact.

Gilead is paying $35 million upfront for the rights to two treatments for recurrent genital herpes, dubbed ABI-1179 and ABI-5366. Both therapies are inhibitors of helicase-primase, an enzyme involved in replication of the herpes virus.

Both assets are currently in phase 1b trials, where they have demonstrated “strong antiviral activity and improvements in clinical outcomes, including significant reduction in virus-positive lesions,” the companies explained….

Now you know, and we are definitely giving very big Black Santa energy here, in the desert this year! Hah!

नमस्ते

Second High Tech, High Altitude [@ ~120,000 Feet!] Balloon Launches From McMurdo Station, Antarctica…

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This is the BIG Chill — with daily highs around minus 20 (and nightly lows around minus 50). But it is the coolest of ballooning, too!

We mentioned the first launch a few weeks ago — and this is the second, and final one — for 2025:

…The second scientific balloon flight for NASA’s Antarctic scientific balloon campaign has reached its float altitude of 120,000 feet after lifting off from the agency’s facility located near the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf at 5:56 a.m. NZST, Saturday, Dec. 20 (11:56 a.m., Friday, Dec. 19 in U.S. Eastern Time).

The balloon is carrying NASA’s Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) mission, designed to detect radio signals created when neutrinos from space hit ice. Neutrinos are highly energetic particles. The PUEO payload will collect data that give us insight into events like the creation of black holes and neutron star mergers. This is NASA’s first balloon mission to launch through the agency’s Astrophysics Pioneers program, which supports compelling astrophysics science at a lower cost. . . .

Now you know — with the last of my grown kids. . . in to the Saguaro cacti — by this evening! Woot!

नमस्ते

And, At Year End 2025: The WHO Situation Report, On The Global State Of The Mpox Outbreak, Over The Past Two-Plus Years…

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Again — power alley stuff. Do click on the 1.4 Mb PDF if this is of interest.

But we will increasingly rely on global-, and private- institution sources, for more reliable info, free of non-sense political bias — at CDC and NIH, imposed from above, in DC. Here’s the latest:

…This is the 61th situation report for the multi-country outbreak of mpox, which provides details on the global epidemiological situation for mpox, including an update on the epidemiological situation with data on the global situation as of 30 November 2025, in Africa as of 14 December and the operational response updates as of 17 December 2025. . . .

In November 2025, 48 countries across all WHO regions reported a total of 2150 new confirmed mpox cases, including five deaths (case fatality ratio [CFR] 0.2%). About 68% of these cases were reported in the African Region. Four regions observed a decline in confirmed cases in November, compared to October 2025, while the European and Western Pacific regions reported more cases than the previous month…. Romania reported its first case, as well.

Nineteen countries in Africa reported active transmission of mpox in the last six weeks (2 November– 14 December 2025), with 1435 confirmed cases, including seven deaths (CFR 0.5%). Countries reporting the highest number of cases in this period are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Kenya and Ghana; while case reports in Liberia still show indications of a rise, weekly case counts in the other countries have been declining in recent weeks….

We will collectively need to work harder, in part to combat mis-information out of the RFK Jr. controlled Beltway. Ugh.

नमस्ते

A Time For Choosing: MAGA Implodes In The Process. Vance Will NOT Denounce Racists.

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As their excellent timing would have it, some of my best commenters have been discussing the open lie that people like JD Vance tell repeatedly in their stump speeches. As this comment notes, our founders intended that this nation’s governance be quintessentially non-religious. That is, our government is to be a civil government only. It was in our earliest treaties, and very well expressed.

But the lying opportunist JD Vance repeatedly tells the story that America was founded as a Christian only nation. Nothing could be further from the truth. But he believes that is his ticket to a 2028 seat at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. I disagree. I think Americans are smarter than that. And those who are not, they will oppose his wife vehemently. The irony is almost too delicious.

In any event, here is the latest — on the fracturing of the hateful right:

…Last week, Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator, warned that the “conservative movement was in serious danger” by those willing to amplify conspiracies, including Candace Owens, the podcaster widely accused of antisemitism. She has also spread unfounded theories about Mr. Kirk’s death.

Mr. Shapiro’s warning also targeted Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who recently held a softball interview with Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust denier and avowed antisemite. Mr. Carlson later accused Mr. Shapiro of trying to censor him.

On Friday, Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian American who is running for governor of Ohio as a Republican, also criticized a faction of the party. He went after those who have embraced the idea that so-called “heritage Americans” — a predominantly white group whose families have been in the country for multiple generations — have a greater cliaim to the nation than more recent arrivals….

The MAGA people, almost to a person embrace open racism, bigotry, sexism and Antisemitism — in almost every one of their supposed policy views.

So then, let this be their enduring karma: they will never win another national election. The rest of us Americans are well past these odious 18th and 19th century views. And our votes will reflect that. Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

Power Alley: Moderna Continues Its Climb, Back Toward Its True Fair Value.

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Well, for the last few years, I have been — from time to time — noting that Moderna is undervalued relative to the portfolio of biopharm intellectual property it holds.

It also sells quite a bit of a series of much needed vaccines. So it generates very significant revenue. Little by little — despite Tangerine 2.0 nonsense, the stock analysts and the market broadly, are beginning to appropriately value this fine company. [To be fair, I still believe it should be trading around $80 a share, and it is a little under half of that right now.] Here’s the latest:

…Moderna jumped 7.8% in the afternoon session after the stock’s positive momentum continued as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced it would invest up to $54.3 million to support a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for the company’s investigational mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccine candidate, mRNA-1018.

This late-stage study would be the first of its kind for an mRNA-based vaccine targeting pandemic influenza, aiming to advance the candidate toward licensure. The funding was seen as a significant step forward for the program, which had faced uncertainty. Earlier in the year, the U.S. government had cut federal funding for the vaccine candidate. The fresh capital from the global partnership provides a new opportunity for Moderna’s bird flu vaccine, allowing the company to proceed with the crucial final stage of testing before potential approval….

Now you know… onward, grinning — 80° here as a high today.

नमस्ते

Noem And Rubio Should Clearly Be Sanctioned — For False, Extra-Judicial Statements To The Press, At Press Conferences, Related To Abrego Garcia.

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But perhaps the simplest answer will be… for the able USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw to just promptly dismiss the entire felony case, down in Nashville — and recite this lawlessness, as the animating cause. He plainly possesses that power.

In any event, the Noemites have a week — with a holiday in between — until next Monday, to answer. Here’s the latest:

…ORDER as to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia:

Before the Court is Defendant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s (“Abrego”) Motion for Sanctions for Government’s Violation of the Court’s Order on Extrajudicial Statements (Doc. No. [271]).

The government shall respond to Abrego’s Motion (Doc. No. [271]) by Monday, 12/29/2025. Abrego may file an optional reply by Wednesday, 12/31/2025.

Signed by District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr on 12/22/2025….

Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

Y A W N [Squared].

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Clearly, Hinderaker doesn’t know what he’s talking about, here.

But the rest of us do: Trump is a very poor con man. He again offers… nothing new, or meaningful.

Yeah. A nothing burger, on a Friday night news hole (now updated on Sunday, 12.21.25). Again.

Most people in the lowest quintile by annual income in the US (and mostly on Medicaid) already pay less than $10 per month out of pocket, for almost all these meds. Tangerine 2.0 is simply 100% a lying propaganda showman, now:

…[M]ost Americans won’t see changes to their out-of-pocket costs resulting from the deals. In some cases, they could end up paying more if they use their own money to go through TrumpRx when they could have paid less by relying on insurance…

As he has done while announcing the other drug pricing deals, Mr. Trump on Friday made claims about impossible price decreases of up to 800 percent. At another point, he boasted: “This represents the greatest victory for patient affordability in the history of American health care by far….”

Now you know. He’s not even capable of telling plausible lies any longer. Out.

नमस्ते