Category: Uncategorized

How To Tell Insipid Lies: Hinderaker Edition (Again!)…

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

I really was just going to leave this alone… but it just keeps weighing on my Sunday afternoon:
There is zero equivalency between a January 6 storming of the capital rotunda where three people died, including law-enforcement officers, as violent protesters tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power voted by the people — and the protests in Los Angeles against what have been almost uniformly kidnapping of people in the street without a warrant, without judicial intervention, and without any due process of any kind. In many cases to be swept away to offshore black-site private prisons where torture occurs.

Protesting egregious violations of the 14th amendment, and the eighth amendment, is very different than trying to literally overthrow the government. Moreover, every single J6 violent defendant received full due process, including a judicial arrest warrant, an indictment, a presentment in front of a federal District Court Judge, and a full right to a trial (with competent defense counsel, at US expense if they were of limited means) — on the merits — before their fate was decided.

And so, Hinderaker should take a seat — and let the adults in the room handle this.

Of course, there shouldn’t ever be violence at any protest.

But if Hinderaker can’t understand that people get very frustrated (Dr. King said riots are “the language of the unheard”) when their rights are not just abridged, but intentionally and lawlessly ignored… and that that is in no manner like Trump telling the Proud Boys to “fight like hell” to overthrow the government…

I really have no more time for his flatulence.

Out.

A Sunday Motion/Response — To Ensure The Maryland Courts Retain The Power To Sanction Noem, Et Al., For “Abuse Of Process” — In The Abrego Garcia Case.

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Here on a Sunday midday — in federal court in Maryland, the capable lawyers for Mr. Abrego Garcia let USDC Judge Xinnis see what they’ve seen — between that state, the hell-hole in El Salvador — and now, the State of Tennessee.

This cannot just be allowed to be swept under any rug. It was conscious, knowing and flagrant violation of final court orders — all the way to the Supremes. And Noem/Rubio were directly pushing that lawlessness. Here’s the Sunday filing — and the sharp end of that spear:

…Though Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is, at long last, back in the United States following his illegal removal, to characterize the Government as having “complied with the Court’s order” is pure farce. ECF No. 181. The Government flouted rather than followed the orders of this Court and the United States Supreme Court. Instead of facilitating Abrego Garcia’s return, for the past two months Defendants have engaged in an elaborate, all-of-government effort to defy court orders, deny due process, and disparage Abrego Garcia. In its latest act of contempt, the Government arranged for Abrego Garcia’s return, not to Maryland in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directive to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” but rather to Tennessee so that he could be charged with a crime in a case that the Government only developed while it was under threat of sanctions.

That Tennessee indictment was filed under seal on May 21, yet six days later the Government continued to insist to this Court that it “do[es] not have the power to produce him,” ECF No. 165 at 5. The Government’s convenient ability to return Abrego Garcia in time for a press conference unveiling his indictment puts the lie to its previously feigned powerlessness to comply with this Court’s injunction.

Over the past two months, the executive branch has acted not just in contempt of multiple court orders but with open defiance towards its coequal branch of government, the judiciary. The very highest officials in the administration have publicly stated that they will follow orders of the Supreme Court, in contrast to valid lower court orders, and even that they would refuse to tell a judge about their directly relevant discussions with foreign officials.

The dichotomy between the lip service Government lawyers have paid the Court about supposed efforts to comply and the hostility and intransigence displayed by the White House and cabinet members has been stark and chilling. Two things are now crystal clear. First, the Government has always had the ability to return Abrego Garcia, but it has simply refused to do so. Second, the Government has conducted a determined stalling campaign to stave off contempt sanctions long enough to concoct a politically face-saving exit from its own predicament….

By proffering witnesses without knowledge, hiding behind questionable assertions of a potpourri of privileges, and deliberately foot-dragging on written discovery, the Government has stonewalled Plaintiffs and the Court’s efforts to get at the truth. The Court previously ordered discovery to “assist the Court in determining whether contempt proceedings are warranted….”

Indeed — onward, resolutely. Even if the government wins a conviction in Tennessee — it will likely owe him money, as he departs — for abuse of process.

Moreover (should Mr. Abrego Garcia win an acquittal in Tennessee, based on prosecutorial misconduct), this whole effort down in Nashville may well backfire on the involved AUSAs — leading to sanctions for them, as well.

What a tangled set of lies this whole effort involved. Damn.

नमस्ते

With More International Support / Resources — We Might Have Arrested The 2022 Mpox Clade 2 Outbreak More Rapidly: Study

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This is more fuel for the fire — to re-invigorate USAID.

We must do better — per CIDRAP’s cogent reporting, of last week:

…A new gene-tracking study in Nature shows that mpox spread among people in Nigeria for 8 years before it sparked a global outbreak in 2022.

Using genomic tracing, researchers from Nigeria, the United States, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Belgium estimate that the ancestor of the clade 2 mpox virus (mpxv) that ignited an international outbreak beginning in May 2022 first emerged in southern Nigeria in August 2014 and spread to 11 Nigerian states before human infections were detected in 2017.

In light of the findings, the authors write, “We need improved surveillance in the wildlife population in the forest systems to better understand the transmission and maintenance of MPXV in animal hosts,” as well as better human surveillance.

“We could have very easily prevented the 2022 multi-country outbreak if countries in Africa were given better access to therapeutics, vaccines, and surveillance technologies,” says first author Edyth Parker, PhD, MPhil, a researcher with the Institute of Genomics and Global Health and with the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science….

Onward, resolutely. When you know better, you do better.

नमस्ते

Mirengoff… Racist Tool. Damn. Still Trying To NOT Talk About Trump Violating Musk’s Rights. Wow.

~ condor ~ 4 Comments

Paul this evening tries to turn the page — by saying the Democrats were mean to the wife of the WWF king-pin… whom Tangerine 2.0 has installed as the (purported) head of US Education Dept. Yikes. [That (the mere fact of her appointment) alone should serve as indictment enough, but she is also trying to abolish that department, without Congressional approval.]

But crazily, on the way to making his “point” (whatever that might be, in his mind)… Paul stipulates to the following:

…[US Rep.] Lee asked [Education Sec’y.] McMahon whether she would consider it “illegal DEI for a lesson plan [to discuss] the Tulsa Race Massacre?” or to include Ruby Bridges’ book Through My Eyes. McMahon responded that she would get back to the Congresswoman about this.

Then, in obvious attempts at “gotcha,” Lee asked the Secretary whether she knew what the Tulsa massacre was and who Bridges is. McMahon could not identify either the event or the author….

I think the thing speaks for itself.

That’s what “education” looks like at the top of Tangerine 2.0’s “pinnacle”.

D A M N A T I O N.

And by the way, Paul is obviously also a dyed in the wool… racist. See at upper right.

O U T.

Hinderaker Is Apoplectic — To Turn The Page On Musk v. Trump “Thunderdome”…

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“…Two men enter; one man leave. Two men enter; one man leave!”

That’s always been the mantra of… Auntie Entity, in “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”.

And it does increasingly look like this will be a fight to the death. I’m good with that.

John and Paul though are losing their minds, and well they should be.

So John turns the page to… “Let’s annex Canada.” Or more specifically, but equally preposterously, “let’s annex Alberta.”

It is astonishing that he thinks a super majority vote in Alberta will be possible to join Trumpism… And that a majority vote in Congress would ever exist to add a 51st and 52nd state out of Canada…

Largely against most Canadians’ will. Of course it is always about oil, and thus for Republicans it is only about money.

This is one of those “rainbow unicorn pony” moments… where John hopes for things that will never pass… solely to avoid things that are right in his face — that are unpalatable. [However, all his flatulence — and that of Tangerine, re Alberta… may well lead to Canada as a nation joining the EU. Pretty much the worst case scenario, for these bitter old codgers Trump and Hinderaker. Prices paid by the US will rise, should that happen. Hilarious!]

[And to be sure, it is manifestly obvious that these most recent threats by Trump — to use the cudgel of taking away Musk’s government funding, to suppress Musk’s First Amendment right to support any political candidate he might choose is… wildly unlawful. But why quibble, right?!]

Precious. Out.

Trump Just This Morning Publicly Threatened / Warned Musk — Not To Provide Funding To Democrats… Geez.

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Let us stipulate, yet again — that when two narcissistic boy-babies brawl. . . it often rapidly devolves into… satire.

But, in this version… not so much, so far — with these two.

Musk may leave Tangerine 2.0 (after campaigning on a promise of humans on Mars!) with the humiliating posture that we need to “hitch rides” with Putin’s / Russia’s Soyuz, as the only real option for getting our astronauts to the ISS, and home again.

In turn, Trump can nearly bankrupt SpaceX and more importantly, Tesla and the AI projects Musk runs — by pulling government funding (as he’s tried to do, with USAID, PBS, NPR and Harvard, among many others). That Trump would ultimately lose in a court months from now would not matter (much) — as the damage to Musk’s empire would be profound, deep and lasting.

Honestly — I could not be more pleased that this is staying white hot — perhaps for weeks yet to come. It deeply damages both of them — and the MAGA/GOP in total. [Maybe even conservatism, more broadly defined — as it is very publicly and starkly unmasked for the hollow, evil, misogynist and racist “philosophy” it has been — ever since the days of Barry Goldwater.]

Here’s The Hill — on Trump’s latest threat — that Musk “better not” back any Democrats at the mid-terms:

…While Trump could pose new risks to Musk’s business outlooks, analysts say the fight could also impede the president’s ability to run the government.

SpaceX held federal contracts with agencies like NASA and the Pentagon long before Trump’s presidency, becoming a crucial partner to the federal government as it phased out the space shuttle program.

If Musk reverses on his decision to keep Dragon in commission, experts say it could debilitate the U.S. space program….

“If such threats were carried out, it would be catastrophic,” said space policy expert Mark Whittington, adding later, “Without SpaceX, we’re back to being dependent on the Russians.”

NASA has increasingly relied on SpaceX for its infrastructure, including the Dragon capsule, which is the only U.S. system capable of getting crews to the International Space Station….

Then, on Saturday, President Trump said there would be “serious consequences” if tech mogul Elon Musk funds Democratic candidates to run against Republicans who vote in favor of the GOP’s sweeping budget bill….

Damn. What a vastly-ugly clown show. And I am grinning ear to ear.

For his part, Paul Mirengoff this morning tries to suggest Trump will “win” this epic smack-down / battle of the cry-babies — but as he does so, he openly admits this is already scorching a LOT of Earth, as against many hard right objectives he had hoped to achieve — with Tangerine 2.0 at 1600 Penn. [He admits that Musk is right — as well — the “Big Bill” is a fetid pile of brown wooly monkey excrement.]

All of that is twisting in the wind… now.

Lovely!

Out.

नमस्ते

Let’s Get Granular, Shall We? Yes, Let’s… People In The US Need Not Comply With “Show Me Your Papers” Demands — From Local Traffic/Beat Cops…

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First — EmptyWheel will now do a two parter (part one is up already), on the indictment particulars, and the inconsistencies there — with the detention motion. Do go read hers; they are much better than mine, below.

But I write here — on mid-Saturday morning — to make some plain English, common sense observations. These observations should give sensible Americans pause — about what the government will ever be able to prove, as to Mr. Abrego Garcia. And there is no need to assume that the Tennessee troopers falsified evidence in any manner.

I will accept for now (unless shown otherwise) that the bodycam footage from that November 2022 traffic stop (a speeding ticket, near Cookeville) is genuine.

First — inside the US, at least more than 100 miles from any international border (which middle Tennessee clearly is), any person / passenger who is NOT DRIVING a vehicle is in no manner required, as a passenger, to carry ANY ID. The police may ask to see any ID a passenger may be carrying, once a valid stop is initiated — but no adverse inference may be drawn from a failure to have ID, or even a refusal to provide an ID (absent other idicia of lawlessness), even if one has one, on his/her person.

Second, Mr. Abrego Garcia (or KAG, for short) may have been speeding. But he paid that ticket over three years ago. And that’s definitively the end of the state law traffic matter. He effectively pled guilty by paying (assuming it was actually him, in the first place).

Third, Kristi Noem claimed in late March that he was picked up — as a lethal gang member. There was no warrant; no judicial involvement of any kind. But she had exactly zero evidence of any gang involvement at the time. And she had him flown to an offshore hell-hole without even a parade before an ALJ. She effectively kidnapped him off the streets of Baltimore.

At that late March date, he possessed a 2019 US court order (never rescinded) forbidding any ICE or DHS moves to take him out of our country. She willfully violated that 2019 order.

Ultimately, the US Supreme Court ordered Noem to promptly return him to the US, to have a due process hearing — since even she admitted it was “a mistake” to take him away to El Salvador, without a hearing.

Noem then dragged her feet for over two months, before obeying that Supreme Court order.

During that time, Tangerine 2.0 forces resurrected the 2022 traffic stop, and made wild-eyed accusations — well beyond anything they can prove in court — about the nature of the people (now gone) in the van.

Likely having threatened some supposed “co-conspirators” (men already in US custody, as MS-13 gang members, on competent evidence) with being dumped in the hell-hole CEDOT, down in El Salvador, Noem ONLY NOW claims she has at least one “witness” who will G for her whole “conspiracy to traffick humans” (by KAG) story.

She claims it will place KAG as at least a hired driver (as of 2022). But again, why should we take the word of one “witness” who is trying solely to save his own skin (and stay inside the US prison system — to avoid a torture prison offshore)?

In sum, this is very thin gruel. And the grand jury wasn’t impaneled until two months after KAG was taken, without process — in any event. That is undisputed.

Now consider that in mid-April, under oath, the Noem lawyers, in a status update, said that they would eventually comply with the US Supreme Court order by bringing him to a US prison near the Southern California/Mexico border — and have an ALJ order him deported for “lies” — to the Mexican side of the border, below San Diego.

There was no allegation — let alone proof offered — of any charge of trafficking (back in April) — and the Grand Jury didn’t indict until a week or so ago. Finally, no judge has rescinded KAG’s 2019 “no removal” order. That supposed move outside San Diego, itself, by Noem — would thus be. . . wildly unlawful.

All of this — fairly reviewed, with a sober and reasonable eye — strongly suggests ICE / DHS (after the fact) cooked the whole Nashville indictment thing up — after realizing that the kidnapping of people off US streets (people with lawful orders not to be removed)… is a bad look.

More, when EW posts her part two. Onward, resolutely.

Mr. Abrego Garcia may win his freedom to stay in the USA, yet.

नमस्ते

Power Alley: Moderna Wins Out, On Patent Appeal — Against Alnylam mRNA Covid Vaccine Infringement Claims…

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But first, a quick aside — some months ago (November 2024), a commenter had asked what I thought was a fair entry price for an investment in Moderna. At the time it was trading in the mid-$30s. I suggested that anything below $48 was a very good value bet (so it was safe to buy in), and that Moderna would in a few years rise well above — perhaps doubling. In fact, I guessed that Moderna might be an $85-plus stock by 2026.

Well… as of this moment, it sits at a only little over… $27 (but to be fair, it was over $150, just a year ago). I based my sunny view of its prospects on the strength of its mRNA vaccines generally, not just the wildly successful COVID-19 one. [And I had discounted the idea that Tangerine 2.0 would place a vax-denier at the head of HHS and FDA. I was wrong.]

Even so, I continue to hold that sunny view: mRNA vaccines are the future. And Moderna is very well-positioned to lead, after an appeals court has ruled that Moderna’s methods of manufacture do not infringe a pair of prior Alnylam patents (affirming the trial court’s view). So here is that Federal Circuit opinion, below, and a bit — but this is still going to be an $85 plus stock in a year or two:

…Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., brought two suits against Moderna, Inc., ModernaTX, Inc., and Moderna US, Inc. (collectively Moderna) in district court, alleging that Moderna’s activities involving its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine SPIKEVAX® infringed U.S. Patent Nos. 11,246,933 (parent) and 11,382,979 (child), issued to Alnylam as both applicant and assignee. Specifically, Alnylam alleged that Moderna’s vaccine contains a cationic lipid, SM-102, that is claimed by the asserted patents. The appeal here turns on a single issue of claim construction. The district court concluded that Alnylam had acted as lexicographer regarding the claim term “branched alkyl”….

The district court treated… [it as] a definition furnishing the governing construction of a “branched alkyl” and two related claim terms. Claim Construction Order at 1–2, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Moderna, Inc., No. 22-cv-335-CFC (D. Del. Aug. 21, 2023), ECF No. 125 (Order); see Transcript, at 144:7–147:8. The parties stipulated that Moderna did not infringe the asserted patent claims under that claim construction, because Moderna’s product does not meet the “branched alkyl” requirement of a carbon atom bound to at least three other carbons, and the district court entered final judgment accordingly. J.A. 5665–71; J.A. 1–2.

Alnylam appeals. We conclude that Alnylam acted as lexicographer in its requirement of a carbon bound to at least three other carbons “[u]nless otherwise specified” and that Alnylam did not otherwise specify for purposes of the asserted claims. We therefore affirm….

Onward — as on many fronts, real bioscience will win out, after the 2026 midterms are in the books. What an odd time for life sciences, between on again/off again tariffs on APIs and so on… predicting the next ten months to fourteen months will be very difficult, for would-be stock pickers.

Now you know. But do hold Moderna — for its long term leading positions. [Same, as to Merck.]

नमस्ते

Update: A Career (Non-Political) US Attorney, The Head Of Nashville’s Criminal Div., Has Resigned — In Protest Of The Charging Of Mr. Abrego Garcia.

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Well. That didn’t take very long. Although he is not commenting for the record, people familiar with his resignation (he’s also a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School) say he is deeply concerned that this was a mostly-political prosecution, driven by Tangerine 2.0 appointed heads in the Middle District of Tennessee.

So — to be fair, I’ve re-edited my prior images, to guassian blur-out the face in the 2022 police body cam image, as this fairly implies that such a case could have simply been “manufactured” — after Kristi Noem became aware that she had zero basis to grab Mr. Abrego Garcia in Maryland, over two months ago.

We will cover this case out of Music City quite closely. [In fact, I may fly down for the preliminary hearings.] This reporting comes from ABC News — tonight:

…The decision to pursue the indictment against Abrego Garcia led to the abrupt departure of Ben Schrader, a high-ranking federal prosecutor in Tennessee, sources briefed on Schrader’s decision told ABC News. Schrader’s resignation was prompted by concerns that the case was being pursued for political reasons, the sources said.

Schrader, who spent 15 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville and was most recently the chief of the criminal division, declined to comment when contacted by ABC News….

D A M N A T I O N.

As a largely trivial footnote, I should note that almost every major assertion in Hinderaker’s post on the case tonight… is demonstrably false.

In Tennessee, this is a two count indictment, which relates solely to transportation of people without papers. The indictment makes no allegation about any gang affiliation, about any domestic abuse, and does not make the claim that Mr. Abrego Garcia is here unlawfully.

In fact, the government has previously acknowledged that as of 2019 Mr. Abrego Garcia had a specific ALJ order prohibiting ICE and DHS from trying to remove him. That order was never rescinded.

But in John’s telling of his vindictive lies, he makes the false claims that (a) Mr. Abrego Garcia is here unlawfully, that (b) he is a member of a gang, and that (c) he is a domestic abuser.

Of course, we all know that John’s vision is clouded by his racism, here as ever.

Once again, the man is a libelous pile of dog shit.

Out.

नमस्ते

[U] Good News/Bad News: Mr. Abrego Garcia Is On His Way To Nashville, Tennessee Now — But He Has Been Indicted On Smuggling People Without Papers Charges There…

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Updated: The matter has led a US Attorney with 15 years of tenure — and the head of the criminal division in Nashville… to resign, in protest. See immediately following post. End update.

This is reported, without rancor. It is only fair to set out what is — to the moment — known. The felony indictment was just unsealed today, as the Noem / Rubio forces were having him flown out of El Salvador.

As ever, while the body cam images bear a reasonable resemblance to the accused (Mr. Abrego-Garcia)… let us simply report the facts, as known to this moment — and trust that the able federal district court judges in Nashville will sort this one out. We will withhold judgment, in short.

The good news is that he is no longer in a private black ops torture prison in El Salvador. And none of this justified abducting him to El Salvador without any process, in any event. Nor the foot-dragging in bringing him back, stateside. He may yet win a large judgment against Team Noem, even if convicted on these much later arriving charges. There was no indictment, or even any real substantial investigation of one — when he was grabbed out of Maryland. In fact, In fact, as late as mid-April, the government was saying (under oath) only that if they brought him stateside, they would do so at the Mexican border below San Diego, and immediately deport him into the interior of Mexico. [That is, there was no allegation of any earlier crime like this.]

[The grand jury wasn’t even convened until May 21, 2025 (almost two months after he was grabbed without process!) — and the skeptical City of Big Shoulders lawyer in me guesses that the foot-dragging on his return to the US was to give the Tennessee officers time to build an after the fact case, for his detention.]

But as I say… we will wait and see.

Here is the unsealed indictment out of Nashville.

Here is the motion to hold him in custody in Nashville, until trial. He will doubtless move (through his counsel) for bail. We will keep you informed. Trust that. Onward.

नमस्ते