And A Smallish Update — On The Barbarians: Texas Floating Razor Wire Cases, Before USDC Judge Ezra, Down In Del Rio…

The full bench trial on the merits in this case of lawless, barbarian action — which resulted in at least two deaths, and scores of lacerations, on the Rio Grande — is now set for July 8, 2025.

In the course of updating the calendar, the able USDC Judge took note of Tangerine 2.0’s purported “executive orders” (which we all know, are right now, as we speak — being challenged in the federal courts).

Admirably, USDC Judge Ezra sua sponte remarked, on these pieces of paper, and those signed by MAGA Gov. Abbott, down in Texas — saying even if they are held capable of doing what they attempt to do — they would likely violate the US Constitution. So his standing injunction has been modified in only the smallest of ways: local Texas troopers will not be arrested, if they simply aid federal ICE and border agents, in apprehending undocumented persons, so long as the local troopers remain “under the control and supervision” of the federal forces.

Here’s that, in a full seven pages, just entered on Friday:

…It is evident to this Court that Executive Order Nos. GA-50 through GA-546 issued by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, referenced above, are in response to President Trump’s invitation to work with the various states to secure the United States border and to direct Texas State and local law enforcement to work with, as allowed by law, federal authorities in doing so….

[A]t the time the injunction in this case was issued there was no authorization from the then-current President or Congress which would have permitted Texas State or local law enforcement agents to engage in those activities, apart from arresting individuals who were otherwise violating State or Federal law….

The injunction is hereby clarified/modified to permit Texas State or local law enforcement, including but not limited to the Texas State Guard, to cooperate with and act under the direction of Federal authorities….

[And to date, there is STILL] nothing in President Trump’s Executive Orders which would purport to permit any State of Texas Judge or law enforcement officer to engage in the actual deportation of undocumented persons from the United States as is contemplated in [a local Texas state “law” called] SB4.

Even were there such language, it would likely violate both Federal Immigration statutes and the United States Constitution. However, since no Executive Order issued by either President Trump or Governor Abbott suggests that the State of Texas possesses deportation powers, this Court need not rule on that issue beyond what is already the law of this case….

Now you know. It would seem that even Tangerine 2.0’s agents realize they lack the power to sua sponte dismiss these pieces of federal litigation — and the existing, in force injunctions previously entered by a federal court.

Onward, grinning…

नमस्ते

In Which Scott Johnson Is… “Shocked, I Tell You”… To Learn That Tucker Is… A MONSTER?!?

Tucker Carlson… is a classic nihilist.

He believes — truly believes — in almost nothing, other than making money for himself, alone. And at whatever costs there may be imposed on others… by his hateful rhetoric? He could give a rip.

What is almost… charming, in a sad sort of way… is that it took Scott and John 20 years — to figure this out. [For about 19 years, Tucker was saying the things they liked — demonizing people who don’t look like those three, together — with Paul.]

Now, he’s shifted gears — and can get more eyeballs, and ad money — all on his own, since he needs no broadcast network behind him any longer (he is literally his own “brand” now!)… by saying insipid, hateful and controversial sh!t — about Jews.

And Hitler. And sullying Churchill’s legacy.

And these boys are… shocked… shocked, I tell you. Get the fainting couches and smelling salts, you butlers.

D A M N.

Out.

Latest On Ebola ’25 From Kampala: Six Are Now Ill — All Are Contacts — Of Index Case, In Uganda.

This latest news would be tough, in any event — that six people are now ill, including the original nurse’s wife, from what will test out to be… ebola. It would be tough, but it is now… tragic, that certain hack political forces (now occupying DC, in key agencies’ offices) will work to impede (by blocking funding and logistics communiques), rather than foster — the ongoing vaccination efforts in Kampala.

In any event, here’s the update, on the outbreak, from STAT’s Helen Branswell:

…The head of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program said Saturday that six people who were in contact with Uganda’s latest Ebola case have become ill, though it’s not yet clear if they too are suffering from the dangerous viral disease. One is the wife of the patient, who died Wednesday, and several others are health workers.

Mike Ryan, who spoke to STAT from Kampala, the Ugandan capital, said the response to the outbreak is proceeding rapidly, though he noted the Trump administration’s freeze on aid has created shortfalls in key areas that the WHO has had to cover….

Now you know. What a putz that Tangerine guy is. Hopefully, even without American input and leadership — or perhaps, in spite of American idiocy — the outbreak will be small and short-lived, thanks to the solid scientific efforts of WHO, and Ugandan public health workers, on the ground in Kampala.

नमस्ते

[U] “Gee — What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!” These Three Nations Are Over $1 Of Every $3 — In The US’s Trading Economy…

We did talk (in Iteration 1.0, at great length) about what a stupid, discredited, self-defeating 19th Century idea Tangerine’s tariff policies represent. There was a reason he ended them in a matter of months: US consumers saw that they were paying for his tariffs, in higher prices on lots of goods. [B2B noticed too.]

But this time around, the goof has targeted a much wider array of goods and industrial categories, in Mexico, China and Canada.

And he has signaled that if any of the three impose reciprocal tariffs on US goods — he will escalate. As we saw last time, that is simply mutually-assured self destruction, on various economic fronts. In a word, what a… putz.

Here’s just one MSM report — as Tangerine 2.0 walks us all to the cliff’s edge — with no discernible policy goal (of any kind, logically related to the tariffs) in mind, let alone well-communicated. [To blame our domestic street drugs problem on Canada is probably the most laughable lie he’s ever told.]

…Among the common Mexican imports that will now get pricier to bring into the country: fruits, vegetables, beer, liquor and electronics. And from Canada: potatoes, grains, lumber and steel….

D A M N A T I O N.

The man is a walking… talking… economics disaster, on the hoof.

Minor Update: the WSJ opinion pages quite agree with us — even down to articulating the same rationale for calling this the dumbest US economic policy move, in history. Yes, that is the capitalists’ paper of record. Onward.

नमस्ते

Of Course, “HS B-Ball Game” Brawls Are Reprehensible — But Not Only One Group Commits Them, John. Damn.

Once again, as he has on at least 30 prior documented screeds, John Hinderaker thinks that what is true of one, or a few — is true of all.

It is the most classic of all forms of racists’ logical fallacies.

He would tell us that when he moved to Minneapolis in the 1970s, only those nice (Lutheran) whyte boys played high school basketball. And they said “yes, sir!” and “yes ma’am!” to everyone.

That there was never a fight at, or after a game, in the parking lot of any high school (or inside the gym). That never, ever was blood-shed seen between rivals, in football or baseball or soccer or wrestling in high school grudge matches [do see an ugly all-whyte prep school HS soccer brawl from 2012 there, John?!].

Sure — cooly racist story, bro.

In point of fact, far more crime in Minnesota — and the nation generally — is committed by whyte native born Americans, than by brown or Black immigrants — in absolute numbers. [Oddly, Russian immigrants are disproportionately represented in the US crime stats (relative to the size of their population), when they immigrate into the US — especially white collar financial crimes.]

But no — John thinks it is all just one brown wave — from immigrants born in Somalia, and Muslims from the world over. Damn.

What an a$$hole — feckless and malignant.

Out.

Abbott Labs’ Q4 Lobby Spend — Compared To Baxter’s… And A Dash — Of Waifish Lilly.

This is a small clean up — from stuff I didn’t get to, last month. Here are two posts, comparing Abbott to Baxter — for Q4 2024 — on the dimension of respective lobby spends.

You’ll notice that these two are tiny, compared to the majors. But now the series — looking back almost five years, as to these two, is thus kept complete. [To be certain, over the past two years, Baxter’s organic challenges are limiting what it spends on lobbying — even as the 2024 election year shrank spending industry-wide.]

Hungry for more? Just use the search box, for their names — to see the history, here. You’re welcome. Heh.

Baxter ($560,000):

▲ Issues related to pharmaceutical pricing. Issues related to drug shortages. Issues related to ESRD reimbursement….

▲ Issues relating to drug pricing, ESRD reimbursement for Hemodialysis, 340B Drug pricing, device sterilization. Issues relating to safe mobility and issues relating to diabetic retinopathy. Issues relating to pandemic preparedness act. H. Res. 550 and H.R. 4421. Issues related to artificial intelligence technology in healthcare; issues related to Hurricane Helene, and HR 10445, Further Continuing Appropriations and Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act 2025….

▲ Issues related to increasing funding for Strategic National Stockpile. Labor, Health, and Human Services appropriations….

▲Taxation of multinational companies. Monitor tax reform proposal relating to corporate tax policies….

And… the Part II, of II:

Abbott ($1,080,000):

▲ S. 2477/H.R. 1770 Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act; Proposals related to medical device cybersecurity; Proposals related to heart valve repair technologies; Proposals related to sterilization of medical devices; Proposals related to testing for malaria; Proposals related to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)….

▲S. 1000/H.R. 1835 Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act; H.R. 1691, Ensuring Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act of 2023; Proposals related to Medicare coverage of continuous glucose monitors; Proposals to ensure Medicare coverage for emerging medical device technology; Proposals regarding PAMA regulations and changes to modernize and update the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule….

▲ Proposals related to U.S. global health programs and pandemic preparedness; Proposals to advance global virus surveillance; Proposals regarding infant and child nutrition; Proposals related to tariffs on products imported into the United States….

▲ Proposals related to access to infant formula….

▲ Public Law 115-97 The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; Public Law 117-169 Inflation Reduction Act of 2022; Proposals to reform domestic and international tax structures….

You may wish to compare the above, to the series of four others (most recently) on Amgen, Pfizer, Merck and Lilly — just look back through January archives, here.

Onward — into a mild cloud dappled Saturday afternoon, here — while we wait to see if Shumate decides he needs to say some more insipid, illiterate-of-US-history… ish — on the purported “freeze” by his boss, Tangerine 2.0, in DC District Court, tonight. Heh.

नमस्ते

There Is A New Ebola Flare Up In The Capital City Of Uganda — Kampala — With 44 Known Contacts Of The Index: A Deceased Nurse.

Within a week of Tangerine 2.0 saying the US would be withdrawing its funding from WHO, we see an entirely new flare up, of the dread Ebola virus — and in a bustling, crowded capital city of about 1.8 million people, no less.

In addition, the fatality occurred among hospital workers — leaving a real possibility of much wider spread.

For now, the focus must be on vaccinating all the host/nurse’s known contacts — and then tracing the contacts, of those contacts. They all ought to be vaccinated, Mr. Kennedy — despite your loony theories. [The NewLink/Merck ZEBOV vaccine (branded now as Ervebo®) is over 98% effective, in multiple prior outbreaks, in preventing transmission and/or host infection.]

Here’s the latest from CBS — as we all look toward DC, and cringe at the prospect that junk science may cost lives, across the ocean.

…A nurse in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, has died of Ebola, a health official said Thursday, in the first recorded fatality since the last outbreak ended in 2023. Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of the health ministry, told reporters the 32-year-old male patient was an employee of Mulago Hospital, the main referral facility in Kampala….

At least 44 contacts of the patient have been listed, including 30 health workers and patients at the hospital in Kampala, according to Uganda’s Ministry of Health….

What a strange, chaotic time this is, in the US life sciences sector, at least. All the result of…. willful ignorance, or worse.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker: “Irony! That’s For ME!!!”

Tonight the sniveling panty-waist that is John Hinderaker… is burping up some decidedly hyperbolic nonsense — about Hakeem Jeffries.

Fighting Tangerine 2.0 in the streets — i.e., street marches and peaceful (if loud) protests… are very American.

My advice? Go find a fainting couch, Johnnie.

But mostly I’ll note his whining — as an extreme case of… irony.

This is the guy that tried to say that the J6 mob, inside the Capitol Rotunda, after breaking windows and doors and assaulting police officers — and getting at least one other protester killed — in what could have been charged as an act of felony murder… were “just mostly peaceful tourists…”

Yeh. Cool story, bro.

But he’s afraid of the below (see video)?! What a… snowflake.

Out.

And The National Council Weighs In: “Tangerine 2.0 Is… NO KING”. Full Stop. 240 Years Of Checks & Balances History — In Context.

Do go read all 44 pages. It is a muscular, and well-reasoned refutation of the lawless Tangerine chaos “flood the zone” machine.

As I said it would — the Council has laid 47 bare — for all the world to see. His racism and sexism are on full-display here. And similarly, it has laid Elon Musk bare — even screen-shotting his insipid, insolent Tweets. Woot. [Shumate, 47’s lawyer… is plainly unable to make “silk, from this sows ear.”]

…[Tellingly] the White House press secretary immediately announced that Memo M-25-14 was “NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” but instead an effort to avoid the effect of this Court’s order….

And the evidence shows that, although the government has restored access to some federal financial assistance, it has continued to implement the M-25-13 funding freeze, not just after the Court entered the administrative stay but even after the supposed rescission. Indeed, minutes before Plaintiffs submitted this filing, the only other Court to consider the issue determined, in a case brought by a number of state attorneys general, that “the policies in [Memo M-25-13] are still in full force and effect and thus the issues presented in the States’ TRO motion are not moot.” Order Granting TRO at 10-11, New York v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-00039 (D.R.I. Jan. 31, 2025)….

Despite [this court’s orders and] that [NYSD] order, open awards of federal financial assistance have not only remained frozen but have become frozen, even after the Court issued its administrative stay. For example, the National Science Foundation appears to have sent an e-mail to staff at 9:22 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28—more than four hours after the Court ordered an administrative stay — instructing them to continue carrying out the freeze on open awards….

Defendants cannot hope to describe that sweeping freeze as mere implementation of the relevant executive orders. So too, Colorado was unable to access payments on open federal awards that the state uses to fund public safety agencies such as the Colorado Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, among others. Id. at 30–32. Rhode Island was completely unable to access the HHS Payment Management System “through which most federal grant dollars flow….”

[T]he balance of equities heavily favors a temporary restraining order here. The M-25-13 freeze is unlawful, and the government has no legitimate interest in its continued implementation. The government’s purported “rescission” all but concedes the point that Defendants will not be harmed if they are unable to implement that freeze.

The government further ignores the public interest beyond Plaintiffs’ injuries. Plaintiffs and their members have explained in detail how the freeze harms not only them, but also other similarly situated grant recipients, and the people that they serve….

That hearing next week in DC will be… a banger! Now, we wait to see if Shumate will go to the office on a Saturday (tomorrow) to reply to the above; he must do so by tomorrow night, DC time if he intends to say any more on the topic. Onward.

His position is a dead-bang loser. [And the Council wisely chose not to waste ink in its page-limited by rule response, on the “King” nonsense. The able judge well-knows that this is in no manner “beyond contestation“.]

UPDATED: Consider the TRO just entered in Rhode Island, against Tangerine 2.0’s lawlessness here:

[Trump’s] statement that the Executive (Trump) Branch has a duty “to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,’ (ECF No. 48-1 at 11) (emphasis added) is a constitutionally flawed statement. [Trump, as the] Executive Branch has a duty to align federal spending and action with the will of the people as expressed through congressional appropriations, not through “Presidential priorities. U.S. Const, art. II, §3, cl. 3 (establishing that the Executive must “take care that the laws be faithfully executed…”). Federal law specifies how the Executive should act if it believes that appropriations are inconsistent with the President’s priorities — it must ask Congress — not act unilaterally. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may ask that Congress rescind appropriated funds. Here, there is no evidence that [Trump, acting as] the Executive has followed the law by notifying Congress and thereby effectuating a potentially legally permitted so-called “pause….”

That’s precisely correct.

नमस्ते

The [Partial?] Epilogue — On The [Former] “Hizzoner”: The Able USDC Judge Howell In DC, STILL Forcing His Full Compliance — With Her PRIOR Orders…

We had previously reported that someone, or a bunch of someones, had offered to pay what is likely a princely sum — on behalf of the broke Mr. Giuliani — to make this all “go away”. That is happening, as we speak — the two defamed Georgia women are likely very wealthy, now. Not that it makes anything before… “right” — but this is how it all goes, in American litigation.

This afternoon though, we are learning that once again, Mr. Giuliani’s inability or fecklessness or negligence are all working together, to lead to a bad outcome: he’s failed to pay a $200 a day fine, and — to this moment, has NOT filed his SWORN affidavit on the public docket, with the court, that (effectively) he lied — over and over again — about these two fine women (thus endangering their very lives).

He’s failed to admit what the jury found: he’s a damn dangerous liar. And so the capable Judge Howell is ordering him to file that affidavit, on the public docket — tuit suite. See below, for the full text:

…MINUTE ORDER (paperless) GRANTING IN PART and DENYING IN PART defendant’s [46] Motion to Defer Compliance (“Def.’s Mot.”) with January 10, 2025 Order.

To date, defendant has failed to comply with the Court’s [41] January 10, 2025 Finding of Contempt and Conditional Order (“CONTEMPT ORDER”) requiring him to file a sworn declaration, by January 20, 2025, acknowledging, inter alia, that the veracity of his unsworn statements about plaintiffs are directly contradicted by both sworn testimony of eyewitnesses and a Georgia investigation report. Id. at 3-4. That declaration served to mitigate the harm to plaintiffs of defendant’s past false statements about plaintiffs’ conduct in connection with the 2020 presidential election — and his potential future statements — by demonstrating that those statements are fabrications unsupported by evidence. See Potter v. District of Columbia, — F.4th –, No. 23-7124, 2025 WL 310525, at *3 (D.C. Cir. 2025) (“[T]he purpose [of civil contempt] is remedial.” (alteration in original) (quoting McComb v. Jacksonville Paper Co., 336 U.S. 187, 191 (1949))); id. at *4 (noting civil contempt proceedings are remedial and coercive in nature). As a result of defendant’s lack of compliance, defendant has failed to purge his contempt, has accrued for nine days a $200 per day fine, and remains in contempt.

Now, belatedly, defendant seeks to defer compliance with the CONTEMPT ORDER until February 25, 2025, so that defendant may execute a settlement agreement with plaintiffs. See Def.’s Mot. Plaintiffs carry the onus to seek additional sanctions to coerce defendants compliance and do not oppose this request, according to Def.’s Mot. See Potter, 2025 WL 310525, at *2 (“[C]ivil contempt vindicates the rights of private parties.”); id. at *4 (“[T]he parties chiefly in interest in [civil contempt proceedings’] conduct and prosecution are the individuals whose private rights and remedies they were instituted to protect or enforce.” (quoting Bessette v. W.B. Conkey Co., 194 U.S. 324, 328 (1904))). Accordingly, defendant’s motion is GRANTED insofar as the $200 per day fine will not accrue between the date of the motion’s filing, January 30, 2025, and the date of “deferred compliance” requested by defendant, February 25, 2025.

The CONTEMPT ORDER is MODIFIED to allow plaintiffs to move to seek more severe sanctions for defendant’s noncompliance on (or any date after) February 25, 2025, despite, in light of this ruling suspending the accrual of the $200 per day fine, that fine will not have accrued for 30 days by that point.

See CONTEMPT ORDER at 5 (“[I]f the $200 per day fine has accumulated for over 30 days without payment, the Court may, upon plaintiffs’ motion, reconsider the more severe sanction recommended by plaintiffs.”).

Defendant’s belated motion is DENIED, to the extent he requests retroactive absolution of his nine days of noncompliance and the associated $200 per day fine that has already accrued….

Signed by Judge Beryl A. Howell on January 31, 2025….

Now you know — these guys are all… face-planting, on the regular.

They simply seem unable to understand the adult consequences of federal court orders… pertaining to them [Musk and Tangerine 2.0, here plainly included].

And we should note that another woman has sued Giuliani (she is herself a lawyer) in the NY state courts, alleging endless sexual demands from him, for the three years he employed her. What a pig. Out.

नमस्ते