Category: Uncategorized

In Which Paul Mirengoff Offers Truly Insipid, 24 Years Out-Of-Date Opinions: VoA Edition.

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First, never let actual, personal ignorance stand in the way of idiotic opinions — that’s been a mantra for both Mirengoff and Hinderaker (this time, on NJ drones — but ever since about 2002). That is, there is no clear authority to establish that Tangerine 2.0 may lawfully remove the sitting head of Voice of America.

And perhaps it is a minor matter, but Paul seems unaware (with idle talk of Kari Lake being offered the role by Tangerine) that when a natural vacancy opened up, back in 2018-19, Trump filled it with a crony / rabidly xenophobic billionaire. So yes, Trump believes this is just another of his personal megaphones.

Putting aside the issue of whether he can demand the current VoA head’s resignation, we just chuckle at Paul weighing in, on an organ of government he claims he hasn’t paid attention to… since the turn of the Millennium. Damn:

…I haven’t followed VOA since the Bush days. However, it’s safe to assume that the left-liberals at VOA who slandered Bush’s America have been no more charitable in portraying Donald Trump’s….

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Paul’s view that it should be a propaganda MAGA organ has been repudiated by several federal court decisions. Paul could have looked it up, before popping off.

But why bother to?

Again… damnation.

Out.

Do NOT Delay! Get Your Nominations In, Before The Holidays! 8th Annual “Shkreli Awards”: @ Lown Institute…

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Yes — this is how some multi-year, multi-company pattern bad deeds… never stop “giving“. The estimable Lown Institute is now on its eighth iteration of finding all the “worst of the worst” — in (primarily US) health care delivery. The fine institute started all this, as Martin went off to the clink some years ago.

Here eight years later, it is running on all cylinders, thus stronger — and more widely known, across the globe — than ever. Well, at least in this way, Martin’s name will not be lost to the sands of time/history — of the early 21st Century. [Not sure I’d want to be famous in this way, though.]

Here’s a link to make your nominations for this 2024 year.

And here’s a bit of the story, there:

…Welcome to the Shkreli Awards, the Lown Institute’s top ten list of the worst examples of greed and dysfunction in health care, named for the infamous “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli. Join us and our esteemed guests to find out which bad actors will take home the dubious honor of a Shkreli Award.

Previous winners include:

Pharma companies that sued to stop Medicare from negotiating drug prices

The “stent king” who placed as many as 80-90 stents in a single patient

A so-called nonprofit hospital that paid their CEO $35 million….

[This one seems extra-poignant, this year as we all reel from the mentally-ill Mangione’s hit man style murder of the United Healthcare insurance CEO, about nine days ago.] Even so, I’ll try keep a positive thought going into the holidays — as in five days, I evaporate into the desert southwest, until midway through January of 2025.

Keep it spinning in good karma people!


Onward.

नमस्ते

Ugh. Texas AG Paxton Now Tries To Sue NY Doctor… Who Never Entered Texas: NY Shield Law In Play.

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A young woman in Texas (not the one in my legacy graphic) was prescribed medical treatment (an FDA approved abortion drug) by telemedicine, from the state of New York.

Ken Paxton now tries to use the plainly unconstitutional Texas “laws” to prosecute the New York doctor. It may take some time, but he will…. fail. Here’s a bit:

“The New York shield law exists to prevent Texas from having any ability to get someone in New York who is following New York law into Texas court in any way,” said David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University.

Cohen said New York’s law requires the state to refuse to order Carpenter to comply with Texas’ court orders, which effectively will leave Texas no defendant to bring this suit against….

These Texas government employees need to accept that the rest of us — gladly staying outside their borders… need not follow their loony “laws”. End of discussion. Damn.

नमस्ते

“Mirror Image” Microbes — Engineered By Humans — Might Be “Planet Killers” If They Got Loose In The Wild…

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Yesterday, the prestigious Journal of Science issued a clarion call, for a global halt to work in this area — until its risks are better understood. The idea was to try to create life, much like the “left handed” sugar projects of the late 1990s, that relied on “mirror images” of known proteins. The mirror versions, it was thought, might not be as susceptible to our existing pathogens. But the reverse would also likely be true: they would not be susceptible to our antibiotics and vaccines.

That strikes me as a very cogent observation. So, at a minimum — even though creating such life is more than a decade off, technologically — we should certainly at least pause long enough to have a principled discussion about benefit vs. risk. Let’s listen in to the UK Guardian’s deeply sourced article on it all:

…The fresh concerns over the technology are revealed in a 299-page report and a commentary in the journal Science. While enthusiastic about research on mirror molecules, the report sees substantial risks in mirror microbes and calls for a global debate on the work.

Beyond causing lethal infections, the researchers doubt the microbes could be safely contained or kept in check by natural competitors and predators. Existing antibiotics are unlikely to be effective, either.

“Unless compelling evidence emerges that mirror life would not pose extraordinary dangers, we believe that mirror bacteria and other mirror organisms, even those with engineered biocontainment measures, should not be created,” the authors write in Science.

“We therefore recommend that research with the goal of creating mirror bacteria not be permitted, and that funders make clear that they will not support such work.”

Dr Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist at the University of Minnesota and co-author on the report, was working towards a mirror cell but changed tack last year after studying the risks in detail.

“We should not be making mirror life,” she said. “We have time for the conversation. And that’s what we were trying to do with this paper, to start a global conversation….”

Onward then to a nice night out, with old friends — of a city-dinner / dessert / hot coffee — and several art shows, over on South Michigan, at Columbia. Smile.

नमस्ते

The EU Has Approved Merck’s Welireg® — “Green-Lit” Last Year By US FDA… Immaterial, But Good Friday News.

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This is nice Friday news, but many, many kidney cancer patients in the EU were already on the agent, in various clinical trials. And US patients have been receiving it since 2023, under a prior FDA clearance (see legacy graphic at right).

Fierce has the flurry of activity from across the pond, here — and a bit:

…In a flurry of decisions Friday, the European Medicines Agency’s human products committee recommended 17 new drugs for approval while letting Takeda withdraw from market an inflammatory bowel disease complication medication.

Merck’s kidney cancer drug Welireg, Bayer and BridgeBio’s transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) therapy acoramidis, and Gilead’s primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) treatment seladelpar were among the 17 for which the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) issued positive opinions.

For Welireg in third-line clear cell renal cell carcinoma and in tumors associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease, the CHMP is recommending a conditional marketing authorization. Both indications have counterpart approvals from the U.S. FDA….

Now you know — dinner out, in the chills, and then gallery viewing — on Michigan Ave. with old buddies… smile.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Claims MN Holds An $800 Billion “Reserve” Of Copper And Other Ores… WHOPPER/Wishful Thinking.

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We will use our generic “wishful, magical thinking” graphic again tonight, as Hinderaker makes the facially preposterous claim that the minerals under Minnesotans’ soil are “worth” ~$850 billion.

Having worked (loading dynamite, and running a jack-leg!) in hard rock mines more than a mile underground… I well know that copper / zinc / iron / platinum and gold ores… are only “worth” what your net profit will be, after all the extraction costs.

The ores in the upper Midwest are extremely low grade — which means open pit mining, and vast grinding / slurry and floatation pond operations (and then electrolysis operations — using thousands of megawatts of electrical energy per month!) remains the only way to extract the metals. That (for copper) would amount to perhaps 1,000 pounds of malleable metal, for every 200 tons of rock moved. That would require copper to trade at thousands of dollars a pound (close to gold pricing!) just to break-even. Damn.

There is simply no way on Earth to make that a profitable operation, even if there were ZERO environmental regulations to meet. Hinderaker knows it — but it is going to let him offer more boot licking, for Musk/Tangerine talking points about exempting billionaires from our EPA and NLRB and yes FDIC laws.

None of it makes a bit of logical sense — and all of it requires significant new legislation to pass both Houses of Congress. Read: it will never happen before 2026, and if any of it advances very far toward law, we may confidently predict that Democrats will regain control of either or both chambers by 2026 mid-terms.

So sure, Johnnie, spin your tales — just as Trump today mused that he might abolish the FDIC.

H I L A R I O U S.

The Wall St. bros listening aren’t even smart enough to realize he speaks all day, every day… about “doing things” he’s expressly forbidden by Congress… from doing.

And today he’s admitting that lowering the price of groceries — something he promised as “first week in office” on the campaign trail, over and over… is going to be “very hard”.

In sum, he didn’t even remotely understand the problems — and has zero solutions.

Just like John’s “metals reserves” in Minnesota — you cannot get there, from here, idiot.

Out.

Amazon Labor Strife Update: Over 1,000 California Amazon Workers Join Teamsters; Demand Immediate Bargaining With Management. Wow!

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This is our monthly item, on the mess that Mr. Bezos has made of his labor relations, over two decades, by thinking of himself as some 19th Century railroad-, or mining- robber-baron. He has so badly overplayed his hand, as to now face perhaps decades of wickedly expensive labor strife — on nearly 1.5 million workers he employs, directly or indirectly. Yikes.

The latest? The Teamsters today announced that over 1,000 Amazon team members have joined the union in San Bernadino, California.

…Over 1,000 Amazon workers at the company’s KSBD air hub in Southern California have formed a union with the Teamsters and demanded union recognition with a “March on the Boss” held this morning. The KSBD warehouse in San Bernardino is a crucial hub in Amazon’s logistics network and the largest air facility on the West Coast.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of the Teamsters notifying Amazon of a December 15 deadline to follow the law and agree to bargaining dates for a union contract, on behalf of thousands of Amazon delivery drivers and warehouse workers who have organized with the Teamsters nationwide.

The San Bernardino workers launched their union drive to organize with the 1.3 million-member Teamsters in November. Now, they join thousands of Amazon workers across California, Illinois, Georgia, and New York in unionizing with the Teamsters to take on the e-commerce giant in an unprecedented, coast-to-coast organizing wave.

“As Amazon prepares to rake in record profits this holiday season, it’s time Amazon workers get our fair share, and that’s exactly why we’re joining the Teamsters,” said Maggie Perez, an air hub worker at KSBD. “Every day we’re on the job, we’re breaking our bodies to get packages out on time and to keep Amazon customers happy. In return, all we’re asking for is livable wages, fair treatment, and respect. For a company worth trillions of dollars, that should be the bare minimum….”

Messrs. Musk, and Tangerine… too, should take note: “We, the people” — the real Americans — will never let you solicit bribes, in the form of “make a $1 billion investment — in US business” that would purport to let foreign (even “fren-emy”?) actors / oligarchs skirt all the EPA, SEC and federal labor laws. Never — even if, by some miracle, the US Chamber of Commerce didn’t sue — saying that all the fine upstanding US businesses that have ALWAYS complied with all laws are being put out of business by this move. Damn. Bezos and Musk — what a pair of… putzes. Onward.

नमस्ते

It Has Been A Few Years Since We’ve Detailed Merck’s Vast Array Of Large Cap Institutional Stockholders…

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I think the last time we detailed a quarterly rundown of changes in holdings by 5% or more holders of Merck was before the pandemic in 2019 or so. So it has been… a minute — and it is time to catch up, again. So, here we go.

Below is the money shot of an automated / likely AI generated item, from an NYC-based rag:

…State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Merck by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter.

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Merck by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter.

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck by 3.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,296 shares during the last quarter.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter.

Finally, UBS AM, a distinct business unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS entities now own 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,016,374,000 after buying an additional 309,656 shares in the last quarter.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock….

All of that means, in general, this stock is highly unlikely to see irrational panic selling… ever — and it sports a gaudy 3.5% annual dividend at present. Now you know.

नमस्ते

Tangerine 2.0: “Bribes ‘ᴙ‘ Us!”

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So Hinderaker thinks the nonsense at right is… conservatism?!

[This “idea” merits… only a few lines, to dismiss — out of hand. It is governing by bribe paying: what about all existing US businesses that made the investments to comply with our laws, John and Tangerine?!]

I guess to him, that word means… bribe-ready!

First — it will never happen.

See, the Tooth Fairy we mentioned, previously.

But if he does go this route, what stops Russian or Chinese state affiliates from driving legitimate, law abiding US companies off the map?

Nothing… obviously, you moron, Hinderaker.

Sure, John — that’s great for… Americans who’ve followed the rules.

Yeh. He’s not a serious preznit.

Sheesh.

Hinderaker & Mirengoff: Fabulists; And Xenophobic, Too. YAWN.

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Hinderaker thinks this was a bad thing. Updated: both of these clowns think they’ve uncovered diamonds, in this afternoon’s NYT reporting. Paul Mirengoff’s is here — and John’s, here.

Both try to make hay out of the fact that there have been lots of people who’ve immigrated to the USA in the last ten years. Silly. That’s a good thing, despite their fallacy of composition / anecdotes about a random criminal or two. [By far, more whyte, born in America, or very-long term US citizens commit horrible crimes, than all immigrants put together — since 1960 or earlier. Geez.]

I wonder who waits their country club tables… who mows their lawns… and I wonder if either is aware that mRNA vaccines (that have saved about 10 million lives so far) wouldn’t exist (or be available) in the USA, if there hadn’t been fairly forgiving immigration standards, over the last forty or so years.

Take a look at the science… immigrants offer us:

D A M N.

Out.