Category: Uncategorized

UPDATE: On The Class Action Pending Since 1985, Under Reagan: ICE Violations Of Migrants’ Rights…

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The ongoing court-ordered mediation, to resolve what has now become 42 years of lawlessness, at the border, and in detention centers. . . continues, in the federal court complex, in LA — in the case captioned Flores (before the ever capable USDC Judge Dolly Gee), with hope for some specific relief at the federal Dilley detention complex.

We’ve been here (in this back and forth) before — in Tangerine 1.0. So, I don’t hold out a ton of hope for a complete resolution — but this is the process — so we follow it (from Friday past):

…The parties provide the Court with the following update regarding mediation. Defendants submitted supplemental reports by the Juvenile Coordinators of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on March 13, 2026, see ECF Nos. 1735 and 1736, and Plaintiffs’ counsel responded on March 20, 2026, see ECF Nos. 1747 and 1748.

Dr. Wise visited Dilley Immigration Processing Center on March 24, 2026, and the parties await his report of the visit.

After further communications by mediator Andrea Sheridan Ordin with counsel for Plaintiffs, and, separately, counsel for Defendants, on March 27, 2026, the parties agreed to continue discussions, with particular attention to time in custody and medical care, for the next 30 days. The parties agree to provide the Court with an update no later than April 27, 2026.

Dated: March 27, 2026

NATIONAL CENTER FOR YOUTH LAW | Mishan Wroe | Diane de Gramont | Rebecca Wolozin

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS | Leecia Welch | Eleanor Roberts

CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW | Carlos Holguín | Bardis Vakili | Sarah E. Kahn….

Now you know. Onward, resolutely. Damnation.

नमस्ते

Again, My Answer Is The Same: A Week Ago — And Tonight: Hinderaker Realizes (Too Late) That Morons Are “Running” This War Of Choice.

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Again tonight, as Hinderaker sees that Trump is really sending the Marines in, even in small numbers — he wants to cut his fish-line, and run.

He knows he’s been shilling for this crowd of incompetent, malevolent dunces for far too long. Not even Nixon would have tried this. Nor would his regular whipping boy, Jimmy Carter.

But here we are. John has no face left to… save. He too is a moron’s… moron.

So — here is what I wrote a week ago, now: “John is finally accepting what everyone else has long known: Trump’s actual story is “the emperor’s new robes” — incarnate….”

That is all still true.

But is past time for Hinderaker and Mirengoff and Johnson and Hayward to apologize to the nation. They have tried to portray themselves as the “brains” in the MAGA movement.

And so, to all of us — in the reality infused world, it has been (for over a year!) clear — the lights, and the elevators, in the MAGA lighthouses… do not go all the way to the top floor.

Largely because the Hinderakers of the world designed it all that way. “Put dunces in cabinet positions… and trust Trump to stop anything awful, by theatrical and mostly nonsensical flourishes.”

Except that not even Trump is following the reality TV script — any longer.

Trump is likely only cogent when overdosing, on Adderall. Damn — he is a vacant CoC 95% of the time — letting Hegseth wander aimlessly about, and destroy things. Important things. Historical things.

What a nightmare.

Own it John.

O U T.

In Which Hinderaker (Wrongly) Assumes We “No Kingers” Are… Cowards, Solely Because… He IS.

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This afternoon, John is bloviating about his perhaps one minute coming appearance (likely this coming Wed., he says — but I bet it is tonight, on Weekend edition, Sunday) on Online NewsHour, on PBS — to provide a supposed “counterpoint” — to the No Kings coverage by the public broadcasting network. He was interviewed by Judy Woodruff, he says. [He may yet get cut from the segment; we shall see.]

In any event, he says that no liberals actually believe Trump is a tyrant, for if they did, and… he were… said tyrant, we would run in fear for our very lives — and never have the courage to protest, as over 11 million of us did, just yesterday.

Welp, John — just because you’ve been a feckless coward your whole life long… does not mean we are so afflicted.

Trump is a tyrant. And YOU are the one who is afraid to say so.

Sit your a$$ down, son.

We are ready — over eleven million of us.

Out.

As Ever, Amazon Wildly Outspends Even Pharma- — On Lobbying. This Year Was No Exception…

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I am (as ever!) tardy with this — but it makes a nice pair of bookends, with my immediately prior Amazon labor lawlessness, in British Columbia.

For the year, Amazon again increased lobby spend — to nearly $18 million. This is what all the Bezos controlled concern bend Congressional ears on (culled, to include only health-, and life sciences, and telemedicine, and employee relations and tax matters):

…Issues related to intellectual property, including the NO FAKES Act (S. 1367), counterfeits, music licensing, and issues related to patent reform, International Trade Commission patent investigations, intermediary liability, and patent reform, including the RESTORE Patents Act (H.R. 1574 / S. 708), the Patent Eligibility Restoration (PERA) Act (H.R. 3152 / S. 1546), and the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act (H.R. 3160 / S. 1553)….

Issues related to taxes, digital goods and services, renewable energy tax credits, and international and corporate taxation, including H.R. 1 – To provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14. (P.L. 119-21), the United States-Taiwan Expedited Double Tax Relief Act (H.R. 33 / S. 199), and implementation of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97)….

Issues related to data protection, encryption, data retention, data breach notification, data security, cross border data flows, privacy, law enforcement access, fraud prevention, product safety related to the sale of counterfeit and/or stolen products, including the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (S. 1404 / H.R. 2853), cloud computing, and implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-314). Issues related to artificial intelligence safety and research and development, including the CREATE AI Act (H.R. 2385)….

Issues related to immigration, high-skilled immigration, and non-immigrant visas, including issues related to employment-based visas, green card backlog, and the STEM visa exemption provision….

Issues related to technology, procurement, and space policy, including the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense Act (draft bill – no numbers), implementation of the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (P.L. 118-159), and the FoRGED Act (S. 5618) and implementation of the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 119-60)….

Issues related to surface transportation, including autonomous vehicles, community infrastructure investments, hazardous materials, U.S. internal supply chain and goods movement, and maritime transportation; issues related to infrastructure….

Issues related to USDA SNAP online purchasing, including reauthorization of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334), Electronic Benefit Transfer, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and food safety….

Issues related to health information technology, Medicare, healthcare, pharmacy policy, and telehealth, including the Telehealth Expansion Act (H.R. 1650 / S. 763), the CONNECT for Health Act (S. 1261), and the Telehealth Modernization Act (H.R. 5081 / S. 2709)….

Issues related to Amazon’s Climate Pledge, including carbon-free energy development, grid modernization, energy and grid reliability, Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act (SPEED Act) (H.R.4776), and Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 4553/S.3293)….

Now you know — and come on, Tennessee! Give the Illini an easier path to glory, by taking out Michigan. Smile.

नमस्ते

Two Items, This Sunday: On Amazon — Canadian Labor, And US Lobbying…

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From time to time, we check in on Mr. Bezos’ ongoing efforts to abuse the labor rights of various working people, on a global basis. That is our first story, today. The Canadian labor relations regulators have ruled that Amazon unlawfully retaliated against Vancouver BC area warehouse workers during contract negotiations, for the “offense” of voting in a… union.

Amazon stopped paying annual raises and bonuses, during the negotiations, while paying them out at all non-union shops. [There was a five year track record of annual raises and bonuses, in the facility — before unionization.] What an out of touch billionaire-putz this Bezos guy is — workers are teammates, and peers — not serfs, in the 21st Century. He needs a wake-up call. Here’s that, from Friday, at a Canadian outlet:

…Employees at Amazon’s Delta warehouse on Annacis Island will be getting some back pay following a B.C. Labour Relations Board ruling last month.

Jonathan Hanvelt, vice-chair of the board, said that Amazon contravened Sec. 45 (1) (b) of the Labour Relations Code.

That section says that wages and working conditions should remain unchanged during the time when talks for a first contract are underway at a newly certified operation…. one of those working conditions was regular, annual pay reviews and increases, which Amazon paid at its other locations, but missed in 2025 at the Delta location on Derwent Place because bargaining for a first contract with Unifor was underway….

[T]he LRB’s decision… points out that from 2020 to 2025, Amazon has provided yearly pay reviews and wage increases at its metro Vancouver locations. Hanvelt said the question was whether Amazon had breached Sec. 45 last September by not providing the 2025 pay increases to YVR2 that it had given at other locations….

“I find that this was a change from business as usual for the purposes of Section 45 and constitutes a breach of the Code,” Hanvelt wrote. Sec. 45 (1) (b), says that an employer can’t increase or decrease wages, or alter another term of employment, until either a new contract is signed or a year following certification, whatever comes first….

Now you know. Amazon’s 2025 lobby spend trends, next up — down here in the USA. Stay tuned, while the March Madness rumbles onward on your tee-vees. Heh.

नमस्ते

Oddly, The Evanston Reparations “Strike Suit” Will Rumble On, For A Few More Months. Disappointing — But Payments Are Regularly Going Out, Just The Same.

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All of this — from Tom Fitton-affiliated loons — will never amount to a hill of beans. Everyone knows it — including USDC Judge Kness. But here we are, almost two years later… and it drags onward.

In my opinion, USDC Judge Kness could have — and should have — used common sense (embedded in the federal rules), to conserve court’s, and Evanston’s, resources in the face of such a spurious “strike” suit — and allowed a sworn question, one only (propounded by the City, to each of the supposed plaintiffs) — “Did you live in Evanston at any time, between… 2019 through 2026, inclusive?”

If the sworn answer came back as “no” [or as “I cannot prove that I did….”] — the entire lawsuit is at an end. They are bounced out, on their ears.

[Moreover, these plaintiffs will owe the city of Evanston the legal fees Evanston spent, in defending this clearly vexatious suit.]

But instead, Judge Kness will wait for “regular” discovery — where this same question and answer will generate this same result: dismissal of the Fitton acolytes. See this Friday order, then:

…Disputes over the merits, and consequently, the timeliness of Plaintiffs’ claims are best resolved through ordinary merits discovery, where the Court can benefit from a full factual record….

In this case, the City contends Plaintiffs’ complaint is… devoid of any allegations regarding the timing of Plaintiffs’ knowledge of the Program, whether they could have applied, or how they could have satisfied what Defendant claims were the Program’s residency and housing-related eligibility requirements. (Dkt. 13 ¶ 14.) Plaintiffs were not “able” to apply to the Program, the City maintains, because, although their relatives once lived in Evanston, nothing in Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges that Plaintiffs live in or own property they intended to improve in Evanston….

Factual development in the ordinary course of this litigation may well bear out the truth of the City’s contention….

Well — this is a waste of time — as the City will surely establish, by discovery, that not one of these “recruited” plaintiffs live in Evanston (nor lived here in the past immediately before the program was adopted by Evanston), and that none of them were even aware of the program, until AFTER applications were closed. In sum, they were recruited by far right idiots like Tom Fitton, solely because they at one point had a WHYTE ancestor who’d lived in Evanston. Damn. What a waste of time — and money.

नमस्ते

Saturday Trivia — And “No Kings” — The Opposite Of Trivia…

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Please do stand up for your right to live in a society governed by ordered liberty — a society ruled by laws, not men. That is entirely non-trivial, and requires all of us to… act.

And, in the most trivial of laughing “science experiments”, I can report (also at right) that I did not regress to some hominid in the tank yesterday afternoon, and I saw two great roundball games, last night at the United Center. Here’s the ACLU, in Chicago:

…Across the country, people are mobilizing to stand up for our democracy and against the Trump Administration’s abuse of power. On March 28, 2026 – the ACLU of Illinois will join Indivisible Chicago and partner organizations for a mass demonstration to defend our freedoms.

Join us on Saturday, March 28, 2026 at 1:30PM at Butler Field at Grant Park (East Jackson Drive & South Columbus Drive, Chicago, IL, 60603). We will be passing out posters, stickers, and know your rights cards on your way into the rally location. We will be at the Southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Drive starting at 12:30PM. and encourage you to stop by to pick-up posters, stickers, and know your rights cards on your way into the rally location….

So now, on to the trains — to get together with likely 250,000 fellow believers in… freedom, from MAGA repression.

नमस्ते

EU Regulator Decides Against Tecovirimat SIGA, As An Mpox Therapeutic…

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As we mentioned last month, the would-be treatment did no better than placebos, in animal models — CHMP has declared, at the EMA.

No double-blinded human trials were run, as there were too few Mpox patients (at the time) to evaluate it against.

The path of bio-science is inexorably littered with blind alley detours, as here.

Here’s all of that — from MedScape:

…The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended that Tecovirimat SIGA should no longer be used for the treatment of mpox.

A review of the antiviral medicine was initiated at the request of the European Commission following evidence from clinical trials suggesting a lack of effectiveness in the treatment of mpox. The CHMP’s decision does not affect the drugs other uses, including in the treatment of smallpox, cowpox, and complications from smallpox vaccines….

Onward, smiling — to a 90 minute isolation/flotation tank this afternoon [I will report here, scientifically if I am able to regress — to some primordial soup state(!)] — then the NCAAs tonight with buddies (at the United Center!), and “No Kings” again marching, down in the 40 degree Chi weather, tomorrow!

नमस्ते

In Which Mr. Obama Beats Me, Again…

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I had selected Houston to win the national championship this year. Mr. Obama has Arizona. He also had Illinois to beat Houston, here in the Sweet 16. And that just happened.

I didn’t think the Illini could get by a tough Houston team. But they did.

Tonight’s game puts a fork in it for me — I have no chance of catching him now. Take me off the grill; I’m cooked.

So now over 21 years I’ve only beat him four times. 

I guess there’s always next year!

नमस्ते

[U] A Day Late On This… But Good News, For Rahway…

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Updated @ 4 PM EDT: Well, at least one Leerink analyst feels that this proposal undervalues the portfolio of Terns’ onco-candidates — and he expects a bidding war / hostile topping offer to emerge. I am not too sure about that. End, updated portion.

Mr. Davis continues to position the company for the 2030s — and beyond. [There should be no problem clearing Hart-Scott on this deal.]

While I am still out of pocket, this did happen yesterday, and I wanted to note it:

…[Merck and Terns Pharma] today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck, through a subsidiary, will acquire Terns for $53.00 per share in cash for an approximate equity value of $6.7 billion. This equates to approximately $5.7 billion net of acquired cash and represents an approximate premium of 31% to the 60-day and 42% to the 90-day volume-weighted average stock price on March 24, 2026.

“The acquisition of Terns builds on our growing presence in hematology with TERN-701, a potential best-in-class candidate for the treatment of certain patients with chronic myeloid leukemia,” said Robert M. Davis, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck. “This transaction further diversifies and strengthens our position in oncology as we continue to look for opportunities to broaden our portfolio into other therapeutic areas….”

Now you know. Departing from Iowa’s med center in about six hours… grin.

नमस्ते