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UPDATED — Revised Timetable Has Van Allen Probe-A Flaming Out, At Around Noon Tomorrow — I Think…

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In truth, I cannot be certain that I am reading this freebie-website’s data correctly. It apparently collects NORAD tracking feeds, and updates them on the fly, about once every six hours. It seems to be a pretty cool place — as a not-for-profit .org. [Prior post on this, here.]

In any event, its latest feed — imaged at right from NORAD for the decaying orbit of Van Allen Probe-A, indicates about 11:50 am tomorrow, Eastern — as burnin’ time. We will keep you posted — and we will check again early mañana — to see if there are other updates:

…38752 | 2026-03-10 23:33:00 | 2026-03-10 23:36:40 | 2026-03-11 11:50:00….

For what it is worth, well… there you have it.

Smile — even as nickel-sized hail falls noisily here at the moment — no tornadoes — so all good.

नमस्ते

John Hinderaker Now Admits: We’ve Failed — We Just Created A Repressive Military Junta, In Iran — “But It Is Really A Win!” Yikes!

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Updated — now both John and Paul must have gotten angry calls from the armies of MAGA-minions, in DC Trump World: “make the story about how great we are — since our goal was NEVER going to be a free society, with elections, in EITHER Venezuela or Iran” — but focus mostly on… Iran.

D A M N.

Of the two, John’s is the most transparently… stupid (and thus deplorably evil): he would tell us that having a “Mao-style barrel of the gun” power structure (as opposed to a radical religious controlled one!?) is a great victory for our Dear Leader. No, really this is a big win, he says: we’ve created a more repressive regime, and one less stable for our oil interests. “Heckuva’ job there, Brownie!”

Hinderaker goes so far as to say… we should put our sons’ and daughters’ blood on the line, and march our troops in, toward Tehran — all to let the IRGC slaughter them. [It is thus clear that none of John’s relatives are serving in any branch of the US military.]

He pretends that he never wrote [actually, demanded!] that Trump should be aiming for a free society / full “regime change” in Iran — just a month ago, when Iranian protesters were being shot by the hundreds, in the streets.

Damn his malignant lying.

And in further nonsense — Paul Mirengoff now says we’ve “already won”. [He also demanded that Trump save the Iranians and hold free elections, just last month.] Paul says it is the press’s fault — that Americans hate this war — and the “win” is being suppressed. Insane — [he apparently didn’t see the VIDEO of our Tomahawk hitting the little girls’ school]. That’s no “suppression” — that’s factual accountability. Damn.

What are these two senile old geezers… smoking, anyway?

Quagmire ahead, to a near certainty. Pakistani warships are escorting tankers through the Strait… well, that’s “another Donnie-tastrophe” — and just so… precious!

Y I K E S.

More Disconcerting News, Out Of The Island Nation Madagascar: Mpox Totals Still Rising — Significantly.

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Just one week ago, we reported on the first Mpox fatality, on the island — a three year old little girl. Now we see that the total lab confirmed case count is approaching 400, there. [There were only five — as of New Year’s Day ’26.]

Overall, there have been 53 deaths this year across Africa, from the virus just this year. Here’s the latest:

…The Madagascar Ministry of Health reported an additional 55 laboratory confirmed mpox cases since late February, bringing the the outbreak total to 387 lab confirmed cases and no deaths since the outbreak began in December 2025….

Cases have been reported in 27 of Madagascar’s 114 health districts. Clade 1b was isolated from sequenced samples.

In Africa since the beginning of 2026, over 9,000 total mpox cases, including 1480 lab confirmed cases were reported from 22 African Union Member States.

A total of 53 deaths have been reported….

Now you know. “Not with a bang, but with… a whimper…” it would seem. Ugh.

नमस्ते

Head’s Up! Van Allen Probe-A — 1,300 Lbs. Of Metal, Burning In — Later Tuesday: NASA

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To be clear — I am sure NASA is double-checking SpaceForce’s work. And I think SAIC is generally competent — but here less than 16 hours away from “burn-in”, SpaceForce only gives a plus-or-minus 24 hour guess, on timing. That’s pretty underwhelming, from a math standpoint. And the link SpaceForce gave NASA, for updated calcs… is actually a password-only SAIC logged site.

So, if it is going to hit your house… it is just gonna’… hit your house, pal. Crazy. Here’s the more well-thought out piece, from NASA:

…NASA’s Van Allen Probe A is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere almost 14 years after launch. From 2012 to 2019, the spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, flew through the Van Allen belts, rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, to understand how particles were gained and lost. The belts shield Earth from cosmic radiation, solar storms, and the constantly streaming solar wind that are harmful to humans and can damage technology, so understanding them is important.

As of March 9, 2026, [agencies] predicted that the roughly 1,323-pound spacecraft will re-enter the atmosphere at approximately 7:45 p.m. EDT on March 10, 2026, with an uncertainty of +/- 24 hours.

NASA expects most of the spacecraft to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive re-entry.

The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is low — approximately 1 in 4,200….

In any event, while I do trust NASA, it may be that SAIC isn’t supplying the best raw telemetry data… it might be a good idea to wear that hardhat, after about noon here US time, on Tuesday — if you’re going outside for lunch — just the same. Grin.

नमस्ते

Awaiting A Mediation Schedule, Now — In Merck v. Merck Lanham Act Litigation In USDC NJ…

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Along with Judge Hammer, we await a schedule for this colossal mediation.

There are literally high-single-digit (to low double digit) billions at stake, to a certainty, here:

…TEXT ORDER:

The parties having agreed on the selection of Judge Hochberg as a mediator per their March 6, 2026 joint letter, on or before March 27th, the parties will kindly inform the Undersigned of the date of the mediation.

So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer on 3/9/2026. (Hammer, Michael)….

Onward, smiling.

नमस्ते

The Iran War (However Long It Lasts) Will Not Be Kind To Bitcoin — Or The Alt-Coins. Trust That. Get… Overweighted, Into Pharma.

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Yes… it was a tumultuous day in the trad-fi markets. Oil was over $110 a barrel early, but as calmer heads prevailed (and realized that mostly affects China’s supplies of oil), it is now around $88 and change. General industrial stocks were off early, but even they are moderating late today.

My central point here is this: in times of war and upheaval, it is generally true that pharma and life-science companies will far outperform the regular stocks — and will out-run gold, and certainly will be safer than Bitcoin (or crypto- ones and zeroes, overall).

People will need life-saving bioscience solutions — as we all age, independent of any war.

And with war, the medicines used “in the field” are always bought in vast supplies, by the Israeli and US forces [and stockpiled as reserves].

[Here think about antibiotics, IV bags, vaccines and… wound dressing kits.]

So — as CoinDesk vainly tries to polish the BTC turd [early today, saying a long war favors BTC — then reversing after Tangerine 2.0 said it could be a short war (CoinDesk claims — three hours later — that too favors BTC!?) do recall that it was over double where it is now, as recently as October 2025. [This is no safe-haven asset — in fact, gold really isn’t either — but that’s a story for another day.]

Do also note that cutting edge bio-science like that seen at above right… for Huntington’s Disease… has tripled, in just a week’s time. And that is not fading with today’s volatility. In fact, overall pharma was up about 2% all day today.

Sure, there will be some see-saw, but Merck, Moderna and Amgen (as examples) will NOT lose half their value in any six weeks on record.

Want a bet on safety,with fat dividends? And a proven decades long track record of high earnings?

Bet on the big life sciences names… though at the moment, I might shy away from… Pfizer.

You heard it here first [of course, do your own due diligence]. When someone touts an investment — always ask yourself: “What is the REAL risk profile vs. the return possibility?” And… “What are… the other alternatives, open to me?”

BTC… doesn’t make the cut in war times.

Out.

नमस्ते

Update: Abrego’s Motion For Sanctions [And Damages!] Against The Noemites — To Be Forthcoming, In Maryland… Per This Morning’s Phone Conference With USDC Judge Xinis.

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About time! This below means that the DoJ / DHS and ICE will owe Mr. Abrego Garcia a (large) payment for all the legal fees he expended, fighting for his right… to have… rights.

Mr. Hecker’s firm will be reimbursed for what is easily at least a million dollars, here and in Nashville — too. But Abrego and his family should also win damages, for being unlawfully ID-ed in Maryland court documents (including home addresses!) filed by the Noemites. This forced his family to go into hiding, after death threats were received at the home. Here’s that order [and separately, Mr. Abrego Garcia has won the right to go to a church of his choosing (all details sealed) on Sundays, without any person on the government side disclosing any details about those private faith-based activities — that order was entered in Nashville over the weekend]:

…PAPERLESS ORDER:

For the reasons discussed during today’s recorded call, ECF No. 200 is DENIED as moot.

Plaintiffs’ Oral Motion to Withdrawn ECF No. 211 is GRANTED, pending a renewed motion to be filed no later than March 23, 2026.

By March 23, 2026, the parties SHALL file a joint status report proposing a hearing and briefing schedule in connection with any supplemental motion for sanctions.

Signed by Judge Paula Xinis on 3/9/2026….

What a topsy-turvy world these ICE folks have engendered with their… endless lawlessness. Damn.

नमस्ते

Updates, On Lassa Fever’s Continued Spread, In West Africa…

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We had last reported in 2016 on an elegant knockout approach — at Oxford University — to subduing Ebola. Lassa is a close cousin, though not quite as lethal as the Ebola virus. Still, it presents with high hemorrhagic fevers and not too infrequently, a spiral down and then… death. [In fact, a man who had traveled to Liberia last year — returned to Iowa, and was diagnosed with Lassa… and even with the fine care, and facilities — at the University of Iowa, ultimately succumbed to the virus.]

And so, building on that earlier Oxford work, the med school continues working on a protein-based Lassa vaccine candidate — which is now in investigational trials, in Africa. We are hopeful that it will deliver high efficacy — since the virus is known to be circulating in Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa. Here’s the latest, from GAVI:

…Lassa fever kills thousands of people every year in West Africa, but many of those infections go undiagnosed until it’s too late.

With the Ebola-like haemorrhagic disease now emerging in hospitals from Iowa to Johannesburg and Beijing, it’s a problem that is pushing beyond West Africa’s borders.

A new study in Liberia, published by the Lancet Infectious Diseases, found that 11% of people admitted to hospital with fever who weren’t suspected to have Lassa fever, turned out to be infected.

The study authors argue this points to an urgent need for a clearer understanding of the symptomology and better detection and treatment….

Among people admitted with fever with no clinical suspicion of Lassa… children and adolescents between 5 and 17 years old accounted for about 43% of confirmed cases, above….

Now you know — and, where is the USA [and USAID] on all of this? Damn.

नमस्ते

Geneva Convention, Art. 54: The Bombing / Destruction Of Drinking Water Facilities… Is Clearly To Be OFF-LIMITS.

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This would have been unthinkable (of LBJ / Nixon) — even in the darkest days of Vietnam (and was last widely employed by Nazis, in 1945 — as they were being run over and routed — at the end of WWII).

Here tonight, we see the US is indisputably “looking the other way“, as Israel targets desalination plants — in Iran. This is a desert nation, and its drinking water comes from taking the salt out of… the sea water.

That is — the bulk of its civilian population… will be dead — in weeks — without these industrial scale desalination plants. [And this is a deplorable echo, of the Israeli forces pouring concrete down the drinking water wells, in Gaza — just two years ago.] These are… unmistakably… pattern act / war crimes.

Even if the US is not itself firing the missiles and dropping the bombs — it is complicit in letting Bibi do these unspeakable horrors. History will not be kind to Whiskey Pete Hegseth, Lil’ Marco Rubio, and Tangerine 2.0. Nor Bibi. Specifically, this is the Article of the Geneva Conventions at issue:

…Article 54 – Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population

1. Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited.

2. It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive….

Who are… these… evil men? This cruel insanity must be reigned in, by our Congress — as Trump himself is now the senile vassal — of Bibi. Damnation. Out.

नमस्ते

Trump “Couldn’t Be Bothered” To Obey Military Protocol — And Take His Hat Off. Damn.

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Though, for me — the idea that the bodies of the fallen were “held” on the plane, on the tarmac — from about 2 AM Friday morning, to yesterday afternoon… is the most disgusting aspect of it all.

At least three times during his two terms, President Obama rose at around 1 AM, to meet a plane at 2 AM, promptly arriving to stand at attention, during the fallen troops’ transport — at Dover AFB. That was when the planes landed — and the dead should not be housed (like beef), in a locker — until Tangerine 2.0 can get around to fitting them in to his golf / campaigning schedule. Damnation:

…The transfer is considered one of the most somber duties of any commander-in-chief. During Saturday’s event, the president wore a Trump-branded “USA” golf cap. Cellphones were not allowed during the entirety of the dignified transfer….

Those killed in action were Sgt first class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Chief warrant officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; Maj Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Sgt first class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist.

The families of the six army reserve members were present during the transfer….

I truly have… no words. Damn. This dishonors their sacrifices — and the families of the fallen.

Indeed, “…Shape without form, shade without colour,

Paralyzed force, gesture without motion…

Is it like this

In death’s other kingdom

Waking alone…”

TS Eliot was spot-on.

नमस्ते