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“Tuskegee 2.0”? That Is Not Really Much Of A Stretch, For RFK, Jr. And Tangerine 2.0. Damn.

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This has to be read — in full — to be believed, in 2026.

Kennedy and Trump — both billionaires who believe people… living in the poorest parts of Africa — those with darker skin should be experimentation subjects. [Hey — doesn’t that ring some… Nazi bells?!]

Here’s the story — and my long term friend Paul Offit is quoted near the end — if he says it was happening, you may trust that it was:

…What do you get when you put a vaccine conspiracy theorist in charge of the agency responsible for funding medical research throughout the globe? A recipe for Tuskegee 2.0, apparently.

Some bombshell reporting over the last month has revealed a monstrous plan by Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services to fund a $1.6 million study on hepatitis B vaccines among 14,000 newborns in the West African country of Guinea-Bissau. As protocol documents obtained by Inside Medicine show, the study would have been a “randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of neonatal Hepatitis B vaccination on early-life mortality, morbidity, and long-term developmental outcomes.”

In other words, the study aimed to withhold Hep B vaccinations from 7,000 infants in one of the poorest countries on Earth — so that western researchers could compare their long-term health to babies that got the vaccine…. [searching for non-specific effects, here.]

“Non-specific effects” is a key buzzword swirling around Kennedy’s orbit of vaccine skeptics and holistic wellness influences, which essentially means “unintended harms.” The HHS’s chosen researchers for the Guinea-Bissau study were Peter Aaby and Christine Stabell Benn, a controversial Danish couple who have spent years chasing after non-specific effects in vaccines.

Thankfully, “the good guys won,” as Paul Offit, an infectious disease physician told the Guardian. “This administration did not see people in Africa as valuable… We were able to stand up for them. We were able to convince people about the fact that this was unethical….”

You literally could NOT make this malignant insanity up — if you were trying. And on MLK weekend, no less.

नमस्ते

If NASA Is Going To Reconnect With MAVEN — Its Best Shot Is… Now: January 16, 2026

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Well… Mars has just now gracefully moved, floating — this morning, from out behind our home star — relative to Earth’s vantage point. But if the tumble of MAVEN has resulted in less than complete charging via solar cells, the craft may already be dead stick, without electric juice.

There is no update from Goddard, so we may assume that so far, the tumbling spacecraft is 404 — off grid, thus (from December 15, 2025):

…Although no spacecraft telemetry has been received since Dec. 4, the team recovered a brief fragment of tracking data from Dec. 6 as part of an ongoing radio science campaign. Analysis of that signal suggests that the MAVEN spacecraft was rotating in an unexpected manner when it emerged from behind Mars.

Further, the frequency of the tracking signal suggests MAVEN’s orbit trajectory may have changed. The team continues to analyze tracking data to understand the most likely scenarios leading to the loss of signal. Efforts to reestablish contact with MAVEN also continue….

Here’s to hoping — but the realist in me accepts that this excellent, long serving spacecraft is at end of mission.

नमस्ते

In Which Scott Johnson Purports To Ask A “Non-Leninist” Question. Heh.

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Scott Johnson this morning quotes a savage approvingly, for suspending all civil law — in Minneapolis. “It’s an… insurrection, doncha’ know!?!”

And at the end of all of this, because he realizes this is idiotic, Scott throws in a rhetorical flourish, to hint that maybe he doesn’t think that this is the way to go about it… I am not amused.

Here’s Scott’s in any event: “where does he… err?” he asks.

Hilarious… but not in a good way.

When civil law is suspended and people start rounding up people like Scott Johnson for their views… We shall see how much he endorses this Attila the Hun view.

But whatever it takes to bend a knee and lick a boot for Donald Trump… The Powerline boys are more than willing to do…

Disgusting.

Out.

So — Yet Again — Tangerine 2.0 Offers A Non-Starter Short Outline, Calling It His “Great Health Plan”. Small Personal Savings Accounts Is All It Contemplates. YAWN.

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Welp — “You can fool some of the people. . . all of the time.”

But not today [for the sixth time, too!]. This same impotent clap-trap from Tangerine 1.0 died in Committee back in 2017. In a GOP Congress. There is simply no. . . “plan” — in his plans. Ever. Here’s the latest, from people not drinking Orange Kool-Aid — at NPR:

…In a video posted to social media Thursday, President Trump announced an outline for new health care legislation. The plan does not include a remedy for people who buy their health insurance on HealthCare.gov, some of whom are facing sky-high premium hikes this month.

Trump dubbed the ideas the “Great Healthcare Plan.” The White House issued a fact sheet and held a press call hosted by the chief of Medicare and Medicaid, Dr. Mehmet Oz[?!]….

Both Oz and Trump talked about the plan as if it is a replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but the proposals are much narrower in scope than that law, which passed with no Republican votes in 2010.

A bipartisan group of senators is trying to hash out a bill to extend ACA enhanced subsidies, and Trump’s plan appears not to preclude that short-term deal moving forward, but it is not a vote of confidence either….

“This looks much more like a compilation of Republican ideas, including some that are already in the Affordable Care Act. It doesn’t appear to address the rising premium payments that we’re seeing….”

What a pack of incompetent, feckless liars all these jamokes are. The return of the Obamacare subsidies is what is needed. Congress will buckle — to the so-called “affordability” pressure — from struggling families. Bank on that. Out.

नमस्ते

Based On Tonight’s Order — I Still Think USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw Plans Hold The Evidentiary Hearing — On January 28, 2026 — In Music City…

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At some point, given the AUSAs’ foot dragging and thwarting of clear USDC Jenks [and Brady] production orders, Abrego will be entitled to a dismissal — without a formal hearing. He has already offered plenty of evidence that this was a vindictive, irregular “manufacturing of a felony” — out of a three year old, 20 minute traffic stop in rural Tennessee (one where — amazingly! — no traffic tickets were even issued, at the time).

The government is thus put to its proof — to establish, as Mr. McGuire claims under oath, that he alone decided to charge Abrego. But now we see he was being directed from DC. So, he lied. That — since the government has not put on any other evidence — entitles Abrego to a dismissal. Here’s the latest scheduling order — on it all:

…ORDER as to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia:

The Government shall reply to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s Motion to Compel [286] on or before 1/21/2026.

Signed by District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr on 1/15/2026….

Now you know. Off, to the high Rockies after King Day, for a week — then on to Nashville that next Monday night. Whoosh.

नमस्ते

The Pending Minnesota TRO Will Now Be Treated As A Prelim. Inj., Against Noemites & Bovino — After Two Shootings, There.

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Trump is very unlikely to even try to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 up in Minneapolis. Certainly he knows that there is zero credibilty to the claim that local law enforcement is being prevented from keeping the peace, in any meaningful way.

And, in any event, the ICE DHS people he has deployed there have no statutory authority to work as a “mini National Guard“. And the Supremes told him just three weeks ago, that the real National Guard cannot lawfully be deployed in these situations.

In any event, the schedule will look like this, from here forward — in Minneapolis:

…The Court will treat the Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order as a Motion for Preliminary Injunction, and will handle it on an expedited basis. The Defendants must file a response to the Motion on or before January 19, 2026, by 6:00 CST. The Plaintiffs may file a reply memorandum on or before January 22, 2026, by 6:00 CST. The Court will determine when to hold a hearing and whether an evidentiary hearing is necessary following review of the Defendants position.

In addition, the Plaintiffs advised that they may seek expedited discovery regarding some of the matters at issue in this proceeding. The parties should meet and confer following January 19th to discuss this matter, and can approach the Court to address it after such a conference. The parties may also submit a Protective Order to enable the exchange of information.

Ordered by Judge Katherine M. Menendez….

Onward, resolutely — we will deal peacefully with these cretins under Greg Bovino’s command — and under Noem’s. I suppose he could try to call the US Army forward, but the Supremes have ruled that they cannot be so used (in Illinois at least) — and likely, near half of them might decide to disobey any such Hegseth order — on the authority of Scott Kelly having said that they have a duty to ignore unlawful / unconstitutional orders, under the Uniform Military Code of Justice.

नमस्ते

[U:Hinderaker’s Agitprop] Whenever Faced With Vibrant, Massive — But Largely Peaceful — Protests, Tangerine 2.0 Now Regularly Tries To Claim Its An “Insurrection” [Of 1807]. YAWN.

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He threatened it in Kenosha, WI, and in DC, and Minneapolis in Tangerine 1.0.

This time around, he’s threatened use of the Act in Chicago, Portland, LA and most recently, again in Minneapolis (this time after Bovino shock troops gunned a mother of three down, in the street).

Aside from how cowardly this all seems — he cannot have newsreels chanting “F#CK Trump!” every night — the now nearly 220 year old act simply does not apply to the people exercising their clear First Amendment rights. It just doesn’t [see flowchart at right]. This was made painfully clear when he and AG Bill Barr tried it — against the people of DC, gathered peacefully in Lafayette Square, after George Floyd’s murder by cop [when Trump held a bible upside down, involking his supposed “god’s” name]. He’s a sad lil’ man — with a sad, and repressive… lil’ mind.

Here’s today’s version, from across the pond:

…Minnesota governor Tim Walz called on Donald Trump to “turn the temperature down” as protests escalate in Minneapolis after the shooting of an immigrant, by an ICE agent on Wednesday.

In a statement he asked the president to “stop this campaign of retribution” and thousands of federal immigration agents remain in the city after last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good.

Walz also urged demonstrating Minnesotans to “speak out loudly, urgently, but also peacefully,”. Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said that those gathering at the scene of the shooting on Wednesday were “engaging in unlawful behavior….”

Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to protests in Minneapolis against federal immigration enforcement operations, as Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, overnight urged demonstrators in Minneapolis to be peaceful amid escalating tensions.

In a post on his “Truth” Social on Thursday morning, Trump said he would institute the Insurrection Act and “quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place” in Minnesota if the “corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE”….

This is a very fraught time. Be careful out there my Minneapolis friends. Onward, resolutely, just the same — confidential to Tangerine: “here’s a crazy… idea — stop gunning down innocent people in our cities.” I promise the protests will abate then.

Updated: John mocks the cries for calm. What a malign putz. Hinderaker well knows that Trump’s overall strategy here was and is to create a crisis so that he could declare martial law and probably even suggest that there shouldn’t be midterm elections. It won’t work Joan just as your forebrain… no longer works — at all.

L O S E R.

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NASA’s ISS Crew 11 Splashes Down, Just Off San Diego, Overnight — Over A Month Early. But All Is Well, Medically Speaking.

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We are thrilled that everyone returned with no new medical episodes, and they were picked up right on time, out of the Pacific waters. Excellent!

Here’s the overnight presser, with a cool infrared gif — at the top of NASA’s splashpage/homepage at the moment:

…NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission safely splashed down early Thursday morning in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, concluding a more than five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov returned to Earth at 12:41 a.m. PST. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and its crew shortly after landing.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our astronauts and the teams on the ground at NASA, SpaceX, and across our international partnerships,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Their professionalism and focus kept the mission on track, even with an adjusted timeline. Crew-11 completed more than 140 science experiments that advance human exploration. Missions like Crew-11 demonstrate the capability inherent in America’s space program—our ability to bring astronauts home as needed, launch new crews quickly, and continue pushing forward on human spaceflight….

And separately, do check the comments to the last post, for an excellent protest version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic… from across the pond, on YouTube. Onward, now.

नमस्ते

USDC Judge Perry: Bovino Is Going To Settle — To Avoid Contempt, And His Possible Jailing — In Chicago.

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April Perry is an excellent jurist.

She and Judge Ellis, also a great Chicago federal trial judge, have Greg Bovino dead to rights: he’s lied under oath to each Judge, about his personal use of excessive force / lawless brutality, and most-recently, faces the potential for lots of jail time in Minnesota, for oveerseeing the murder of Renee Gibson, last week. [Bovino also let the actual shooter leave the scene without even making a statement or filing an immediate report, as is required in any federal officer involved killing.]

And so, it makes sense that the Noemites / Bovino goons will now cut their losses and settle the civil matters in Chicago. Here’s the resulting order, from today’s status report call in the Dirksen Building:

…MINUTE entry before the Honorable April M. Perry:

Status hearing held 1/14/2026. Based upon the parties’ representations that they are engaged in settlement negotiations, the Court agrees to stay this matter and all previously-set deadlines until 1/30/2026. By 1/28/2026, the parties are to file a joint status report that updates the Court on whether the settlement negotiations have been productive and whether they request that the case be stayed for an additional period of time.

Mailed notice….

And, it may be that the Abrego Tennessee hearing gets delayed again — as once again, the US government is thwarting court orders to disclose a privilege log (due back in November of 2025), and produce its own fact witnesses’ prior on record statements (emails and texts — due January 5, 2026 — as of today, these are ten days late) for the purpose of cross-examining them, at the January 28 hearing. That’s just two weeks off, now.

We shall see — but these supposed US Attorneys are regularly cutting corners on their duties in all these cases. Bank on that — and bank on USDC Judge Crenshaw pretty soon saying “enough is enough“. Mr. Abrego Garcia goes free — this BS Nashville selective and vindictive indictment is (also)… toast. Onward.

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