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So — A Georgia Dad, Who Gave His Mentally-Disturbed 14 Year Old An AR-15 — [After A Finding Of Dangerousness] Has Been Sentenced To 15 Years, After Son Became a School Shooter. Justice.

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Our national insanity about guns… must end.

It is a public health epidemic of the first order. And wildly irresponsible, criminal parents… are not helping the matter. Yes, he deserves the 15 years in prison. Several children are injured and four are dead — due to his fecklessness. Here’s the latest, out of Georgia; and a bit:

…A man who gifted his 14-year-old son an assault rifle that he then used to unleash a mass shooting at a Georgia high school was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison.

A jury in March convicted the man, Colin Gray, on multiple charges, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, over the Christmas gift his son used in the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School….

Gray gave the weapon to his son, Colt Gray, even when a few months earlier law enforcement had come to the Gray home because the teenager had threatened to shoot up an elementary school, according to prosecutors.

“The weight of your crimes is tethered and tied to the acts of someone else, your son,” Primm said. “Two scenarios: you fail the same way in both. You fail to get Colt counseling. You fail to remove the guns from the house.”

The younger Gray, now 16, was sentenced to life without parole for the shooting, which left two students and two teachers dead. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, seven of them by gunfire….

We must reign this in. Dammit.

नमस्ते

The Private Katalyst Space Tech Team Last Updated Its Orbital Spacecraft’s Status On July 15… Hmm.

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Of course, as we noted here two days ago — NASA itself, since it is responsible for the Swift space ‘scope — updated its status, on July 28, 2026.

To be fair, the news was fairly ominous — and doubtful, for the prospects of “boosting” the aging Swift — up, to a higher, safer orbit.

Yet, the commercial venture tasked with grappling the ‘scope — and then powering it up to a higher altitude… has fallen silent, for 15 long days.

The company’s last word was that “all was well“ — on July 15. [And, yes — I do understand “for profit” market dynamics. . . but in truth, it pains me to have to write this — about a Colorado front range company.]

So — we continue to wait. We wait to hear from NASA, if it still independently thinks the craft will be safe to try an approach toward Swift — and then to grapple it — and then, to try to boost it… with its Xenon-fired engines.

The waiting… is often… the hardest part.

But Katalyst leadership would behoove themselves to be candid, magnanimous, forthright and timely — and at least cop to what NASA has already shared with the planet.

We are all on the same team here, people — and we all well know… space is… a mug. It. is. HARD. But let’s at least own up to the facts (as now known).

Onward.

नमस्ते

Congo Approaches Famine-Like Conditions, In Resettlement Camps — Due To Ebola’s Ongoing Waves, In Ituri Province.

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Collectively, we all know how to end this outbreak.

But now, with USAID off-grid — we lack the resources, where and when they are needed — to do so. Dammit. Here’s the latest, from boots on the ground reporting:

…The U.N. is sounding the alarm about a growing hunger crisis in eastern Congo that is exacerbated by the Ebola outbreak. In the DRC, the ongoing Ebola outbreak has recorded over 3,300 confirmed cases, including more than 1,400 deaths. According to the U.N.’s senior Ebola coordinator, 50 people died of Ebola just in the last 24 hours. This is the acting director of the World Food Programme.

Carl Skau said “Some 10 million people — I mean, 10 million people, that’s the population of Sweden, the country I come from — are acutely food insecure in the eastern DRC. And 3 million of those are in IPC-4 — as you know, emergency level of food insecurity. That is one step away from famine. That means they go to bed every night hungry. They wake up hungry every morning….”

This is truly going to be near the worst Ebola outbreak, in recorded history — because we in the US have decided to turn our collective backs on our fellow humans. Damnation.

To be clear, during the one outbreak during the Biden Administration (with USAID) — the dying stopped at four humans. FOUR. We are over 1,400, in a few months. Ponder that — onward.

नमस्ते

[U: John Talks Of “Today’s Battles”. Hah.] On Second Thought — I will Address John’s Latest Remarks — Re Trans-Communities… And The WNBA.

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

Yes. I know. I did just say — an hour ago, in comments — that I wouldn’t waste the time… to make a graphic for a full post.

But then I made the mistake of going and watching the X-itter feed/interview on hard right tee-vee (narrow cast) of these two… tiny, disingenuous lil’ crisis actors.

And… it is plain as day… that Hinderaker mostly wants to help the hard right sell… hate-laden merch, here.

He doesn’t give a rip about the supposed 15 year old girls.

They claim (on live video) to have endured far worse, on the streaming web, everyday — for their part.

But when a co-owner of the Seatlle Storm franchise of the WNBA tells them they are “insane“… they predictably burst into tears (as teenage girls are wont to do) — and now it is a MAGA Cause Célèbre (we are told).

The franchise is supposedly going to has issued an apology (for any disrespect) on behalf of the co-owner. [How very over-the-top gracious — and unlike the opposition, here.]

Update: After 11 PM Central — Hinderaker has now twice updated his post, throughout the night as though this was some form of national calamity… and still ongoing. It is neither.

John googled someone’s LinkedIn, and based on the fact that this person is a Reiki master, and supports alternative healing, as well as feng shui, John has decided that today “our most important battles” (between the righteous MAGA miscreants, and all others) will come to be “against crazy elitists with money”. This (he has deduced, all by his onesie!) does describe the said co-owner of the Storm franchise. “Gosh, are we ever lucky to have John and his bitter idiots out there fighting for these, the most important shared American values that will ever exist — on our planet!” Irony fully intended. End update.

Here’s my earlier view of John’s endlessly duplicitous whining and shilling — and it is, according to verified studies — about an issue that affects about 0.00004% of the US teenage population:

“…Geez — what a weird world it is… and tonight John has a sad on, because one of the lesbian co-owners of the Seattle WNBA franchise last night took two girls to task for T-shirts, which tried to proclaim that people aren’t allowed to express any other gender than the one that appeared at their birth on their genitalia. All the WNBA majority owner did was forcefully explain to these two morons that perhaps, just perhaps… they were being raised by people who did not understand the 21st-century — or much about our collective and individual pursuit of happiness, here in America — to love whomever you love.

This John tells us — left them in tears. [Ooh. I don’t care.]

Yeah — well that’s gonna’ happen. That’s how free expression works. People are free to express their derision — of your ignorance.

If you go someplace as a business invitee (time, place & manners!) where you don’t know the audience — and you can’t read the room… And you decide to wear a hateful T-shirt…. Sh!t often happens. To you.

Buckle up — and do wear a chin strap, next time — lil’ ladies.

[I cannot bring myself to spend the time it would take to create a post on this with a graphic because it is just that trivial, and it is where John focuses his attention… clearly to avoid thinking about the now widening war of choice in the Persian Gulf….]”

Yep — meanwhile, as to events that actually… matter to the rest of us — John is dead silent, about our brave soldiers dying right now in Iran and elsewhere in the Gulf — due to Tangerine 2.0’s fecklessness.

Most of all, that is what Hinderaker wishes to turn our attention AWAY from.

And toward any potential wedge issue he can invent — to divide Americans.

Damn him.

Out.

October 13, 2026 Is “Final Hearing” Before USDC Judge Alia Moses, In Dusty West Texas — On Razor Wire Barriers, On Rio Grande…

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To be certain, those maimed and killed on the Rio Grande… will receive damages from Texas, for this lawlessness.

It may take another decade — but it will come. [The related federal court mediation continues on a parallel path to this — as well.] Here’s the latest, out of Del Rio:

…Pursuant to the Court’s direction at the Status Conference in this case on July 14, 2026, Plaintiff State of Texas submits the following notice:

Plaintiff intends to offer into evidence at the final hearing of this case, currently set for October 13, 2026, some or all of the evidence and testimony previously presented to the Court at the hearings in this case on November 7, 2023; November 27, 2023; and March 4 and 5, 2024, and in addition may present testimony by the following witnesses:

1. Michael W. Banks

2. (as adverse witness) Defendant Anthony “Scott” Good, Acting Chief Patrol Agent, Del Rio Sector of U. S. Border Patrol.

3. Col. Brian Fletcher….

Now you know. What a vast and ongoing waste — of Texans’ taxpayer funds. The MAGA gubernator down there does not control federal waterways — even if Tangerine 2.0 is doing ZERO, to end the depraved and torturous lawlessness, on those waterways. Abbott cannot hop into the supposed breach to continue his cruel lawlessness. He just… can’t.

नमस्ते

Silly Mirengoff Posits That Tangerine 2.0 Could Offer ANY Cogent Speech — At All…

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

The whole thing is sad — and stupid. The sitting preznit thought it acceptable to describe an award winning female journalist’s looks as akin to a fairly famous trans person’s.

I could stop right there. He is a sad, bitter, and increasingly demented 80 year old.

Disgusting.

But Paul hopes to tell us of the speech he “should have” given, at an increasingly meaningless press dinner. [Recall here that Mr. Obama struck the perfect comedic notes, each time he attended. He roasted Trump — by showing a clip of the Disney cartoon, The Lion King. Trump fumed in the audience, on that 2013 night.]

Hey Paul — how about telling him what he “should have” said to Bibi yesterday? At least that might have… mattered beyond the following morning.

But as Paul and I agree — Tangerine 2.0 is incapable of any competent policy / governance any longer. He is effectively run by moronic 29 year olds.

What a crazy world. Bring on the mid-terms. He boasted of buying 250 Cadillacs, for the White House. This while most Americans are struggling to feed their families and keep more than a quarter of a tank of gas in their now run-down autos.

Damn, Paul. Where is your fainting couch, for that?!

New Mechanical Issues — For Privately-Funded Link Spacecraft…

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This is the ambitious private mission to grapple a handle on to the aging Swift space telescope, and power it up, into a new and higher orbit.

As we earlier reported, shortly after lift off, the spacecraft experienced erratic behavior in at least one of its gyro-wheels, causing it to over-rotate, and potentially thus fail to fully charge its solar batteries. The team thought they had solved that issue. However, some version of that issue has returned this past weekend — now more vexing — as two of the three gyro wheels are not operating properly.

As we always say, space is… hard.

Here’s the latest tonight, from the team’s blog — on the NASA website — do keep your fingers crossed:

…Over the weekend, Katalyst’s LINK servicing spacecraft experienced issues with attitude control, causing the spacecraft to spin and resulting in sporadic communications. Preliminary investigation shows that two of LINK’s three reaction wheels currently are not operable, and there is some loss of functionality in its cold gas thruster system. LINK is designed to approach, capture, and boost NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher orbital altitude.

LINK’s other major subsystems are functioning as expected. The spacecraft remains power positive and in communication with the Katalyst team.

The team is working to stop LINK’s spin over the next few days, using the spacecraft’s electric propulsion thrusters. After reestablishing stable attitude and further investigating spacecraft status, Katalyst plans to update LINK’s guidance, navigation, and control to accommodate the spacecraft’s new configuration. Working closely with NASA teams, they will then evaluate revised plans to approach and capture Swift, depending on safety of the approach and LINK’s health….

We will keep a good thought — and post updates, as, if and/or when the NASA blog publishes additional updates. Yikes. Let’s hope Swift may still be saved from a fiery death, next year.

नमस्ते

[U] Stupid Is… As Stupid Does: Johnson/Hinderaker (Recurrent) Edition

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Updated: 07.29.2026 @ 10 AM — How is it possible that John would declare that the world is burning whenever someone with a Democratic leaning decides to take the Fifth, in front of deceptively partisan MAGA questioning in Congress… a place where no one is required to testify against themselves… but he feels it’s “just a Tuesday” whenever the GOP does the exact same thing. Often though, the GOP has committed felonies when they do so. Whatever John you’re an idiot. We all know it. End update.

So… both Scott Johnson and John Hinderaker are busy chasing their tails (or “tales” — fictional) about a revered scientist who helped this nation and this planet vanquish the worst pandemic we have seen since the Spanish Flu of 1918.

The man has been out of public life for six years now.

And meanwhile, this morning, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have engineered the needless death of tens of thousands in Africa, alone — many more, rest of world — due to untreated Ebola, mpox, Lassa fever, and Marburg.

Here in the US, in addition, over 100 excess deaths in the last two years may be attributed to measles – and most of those will be among children. US children.

That is the legacy that John and Scott should be talking about: and considering indictments against RFK Junior, Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

But instead, they malign real scientists to deflect from what is going on.

Deplorable. Out.

What Doctors Without Borders Is Doing, In DRC — To Try To Plug The Gaping Hole Left By USAID Departure: Bundibugyo / Ebola ’26 Edition

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MSF (or, Doctors Without Borders, in English) is as ever, working feverishly to alleviate the crisis in Ituri Province DRC — where this Bundibugyo species of Ebola is spreading largely unchecked. [My graphic is woefully outdated: now 1,400 or more are dead — many more to come, sadly. But no one really knows the actual numbers, as people were dying for months in the region before the outbreak was officially declared, this Spring.]

This is a remote, mining camp laden province, with lots of transient workers — and a wide-spread fear of Euro/Western interference. And, to top it off, a civil war is raging in the region, with most combatants not wearing regular uniforms. So one may never know who might be a hostile force, passing through. All of that is before Tangerine 2.0/Rump cut off USAID. Damn.

In any event, here’s a bit of that — but it is a daunting effort, to be certain:

…Currently, more than 1,400 Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff are on the ground in DRC, treating patients, setting up Ebola treatment centers and isolation units, and delivering supplies to overwhelmed health facilities.

This outbreak is particularly challenging to control; just over two months in, it’s already the third-largest and fastest-growing Ebola disease outbreak on record. Unlike most previous outbreaks of Ebola disease, this one is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, and there are very few medical tools available to fight it. Further, conflict-related insecurity, airport closures, and flight restrictions are disrupting the flow of staff, diagnostics, referrals, and supply chains.

Major gaps related to diagnosis, surveillance, contact tracing, and community engagement continue to undermine efforts to bring the outbreak under control. And the response is further complicated by the concurrent health needs in DRC, where the coming rainy season will raise the risk of further outbreaks….

Please join me, and donate if you are able:

Doctors Without Borders USA

P.O. Box 5030
Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030

Onward — resolutely just the same.

नमस्ते

Mpox Clade 1b Is Spreading Like Wildfire — In Madagascar Now… Terrible News — Over 3,000 Are Ill.

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The tiny island nation off the African coast faces a very grave public health threat — as Clade 1b is spreading out of control now, in the coastal cities.

We had already mentioned this story earlier his Spring, but without USAID, this has all continued to accelerate — rather than having been quickly arrested. Here’s the latest, from the usual UK outlets:

…More than 3,000 cases of mpox have been recorded in Madagascar after the virus spread from a single port city to some of the country’s busiest coastal hubs.

A total of 3,022 cases and 20 deaths have been recorded as of this week, with cases in Toamasina and Taolagnaro accounting for more than half of all diagnoses.

The outbreak has been linked to Clade 1b mpox, a strain that emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2024, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global public health emergency at the time.

“The main factor driving the continued spread of the disease is human mobility, seeding new outbreaks in areas where the virus has not circulated before,” said Professor Carlos Maluquer de Motes of the University of Surrey….

Now you know — with ice skating ahead this evening, with grand-nieces, before they fly off to Costa Rica — kinda’ like Abrego Garcia. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते