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How Is It — That Mirengoff Has Developed “PSI Powers”, Late In His Sixth Decade?

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Now for the fourth time, in three weeks, Mirengoff makes declarative statements (of purported fact!) — about what was going on inside the MINDS of Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth admissions officers, each and all.

He is such a silly little gnome. [This is not just inadmissible as “hearsay” — this is pure fantasy/fiction!]

Even so, he feeds… an insidious false grievance economy — with his entirely preposterous ongoing lies. He cannot read minds. But the MAGA | KKK-ers, with their pointed-white-sheet hoods, and pointy heads… are plenty stupid enough to believe him.

So it is… no joking matter.

Just like lies about eating pets, and the peril it all has put Haitian immigrants — even US citizens, who’ve come from Haiti generations ago — in potentially mortal danger, in Springfield, Ohio… Paul’s entirely pretend crystal balling is going to incite some nut-job Proud Boy with a tiki torch and khakis… to decide to bomb an admissions office — at an Ivy.

And should that domestic / whyte terrorists’ attack befall some campus, he ought to be charged with inciting… sedition, and felony hate crimes (20 years each).

In short, Paul has ZERO admissible evidence that any college is not abiding by current Supreme Court decisions.

No, the problem is… Paul (and Steve and John and Scott) — cannot read the plain English in the actual decisions… to understand what they do — and more precisely… DO NOT… hold.

Sit down, you dangerous, bitter, decrepit old clowns.

The “Fire Next Time…” Keeps On Spreading… What Are We Prepared… To Do About It? Now, Morocco.

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This is all… deeply frustrating — as almost all of the spread should have been largely avoidable — with an on-ground vaccine campaign.

Here’s the latest, from the Beeb:

…Morocco has confirmed a case of mpox in a man in the city of Marrakech, the health ministry said.

This is the first such discovery since the current outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month.

That was in response to the rapid spread of a new variant, or clade, of the virus in central Africa. The Moroccan authorities have not said which variant the man has. . . .

In 2024, more than 20,000 cases and 500 deaths have been recorded across 14 African countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo is at the centre of the outbreak with more than 5,000 cases this year.

Vaccines, which are thought to be a vital measure in preventing the spread, have arrived in DR Congo, but because of logistical challenges it could be several weeks before they arrive in the most affected areas in the east of the country.

When declaring the outbreak a public health emergency on 14 August, WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was “clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives….”

C’mon people. Get it together. [And I’m hoping my Buffs win the instate rivalry series this evening, but it is in Ft. Collins, so no way to know. It took three overtimes last year, and the loss (to injury — lacerated liver) of Travis Hunter — but the Buffs did prevail… in Boulder.] Onward.

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The “Boys” Were Clearly Rattled By Pappa Dick’s Endorsement Of Kamala.

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Now even Steve Hayward is gnashing his teeth tonight — about losing the support of a guy who’s long been to the right of Attila the Hun — ever since Nixon’s time in the White House.

And like his co-hosts, he cannot admit what all others do see.

To be sure, though I disagree vehemently with their conceptions of the “unitary executive” (see that one — and about 100 other posts, at that now mostly-mothballed property), the theory of a single unitary executive acting as one, with all its power… absolutely cannot survive, with a corrupt felon in the seat. These folks’ worldview is that a President is very nearly a king. [And even so, or perhaps because of that, they well-know that the unchecked power means this must be an exceedingly moral man or woman in the seat.]

And after 260 years or more of experience, they recognize that any malign actor — in a role that powerful (leading the free world)… very soon could end… the free world.

So from that perspective, it makes absolutely perfect sense that Dick Cheney will not support a 34 time convicted felon to be king.

Hilarious.

I think the Powerline boys know… Cheney was a giant wooden stake — into the throat — of the once (but no longer) Teflon Don.

Onward.

Eddy Grant Just Won Summary Judgment — Against Tangerine 2020, For Theft Of His Copyrights, In And To “Electric Avenue.” WOOT!

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We’ve covered this story for about four years. The Trump 2020 Campaign used “Electric Avenue” without payment or permission in his 2020 campaign ads. In sum… he stole it.

Tonight, the USDC in Manhattan ruled he is liable for that. The only task left now, is assess damages by trial. My bet is Tangerine will settle this one — rather than add to bevy of litigation already pending, where judgments have found him liable into the half-billion dollar range. It is supremely ironic that the musical work he stole… was originally a protest against Brixton (UK) police brutality — against Britons of color. Here’s the 31 page ruling — and a bit:

…As the Court previously found, “[a]s to the first consideration, it is clear that Electric Avenue is a creative work and therefore is closer to the core of intended copyright protection.” Grant, 563 F. Supp. 3d at 287–88 (citing Campbell, 510 U.S. at 586; Henley, 733 F. Supp. 2d at 1160). The defendants “concede that [Electric Avenue] is a creative and published work, and therefore the second fair use factor favors Plaintiffs.” Defs.’ Opp’n at 14.

Accordingly, the second factor, although “assigned limited weight in the overall fair use determination[,]” Grant, 563 F. Supp. 3d at 288 (citing Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., 804 F.3d 202, 220 (2d Cir. 2015)), favors the plaintiffs….

The third fair use factor considers “the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.” 17 U.S.C. § 107(3). “In assessing this factor, [the court] consider[s] not only the quantity of the materials used but also their quality and importance in relation to the original work.” Andy Warhol Found., 11 F.4th at 45–46 (quoting Campbell, 510 U.S. at 587).

As this Court found in its decision denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss, “[t]he song plays for the majority of the animation; the excerpt is of central importance to the original work; and the defendants have not articulated any purpose for the copying.” Grant, 563 F. Supp. 3d at 288….

In other words, the issue “is not solely whether the secondary work harms an existing market for the specific work alleged to have been infringed. Rather, [the court] must also consider whether unrestricted and widespread conduct of the sort engaged in by [the defendants] would result in a substantially adverse impact on the potential market[.]”
Id. at 49 (citing Campbell, 510 U.S. at 590).

In this case, there is no public benefit as a result of the defendants’ use of “Electric Avenue.” As the plaintiffs correctly argue, the defendants “could have used any song, created a new song, or used no song at all, to convey the same political message in the Infringing Video.” Pls.’ Reply at 5, ECF No. 121. And as the Court previously found, while “political speech… is a rich part of our First Amendment tradition[,] denying the defendants’ fair use defense in this case… will not chill legitimate political satire.” Grant, 563 F. Supp. 3d at 289. Even after discovery in this case, the defendants provide no evidence of public benefit. See Defs.’ Opp’n at 11-14.

The defendants also argue that the plaintiffs “have previously shown no interest in licensing the Song for political use, and have strongly indicated that they have no interest in doing so in the future[.]” Defs.’ Opp’n at 14. However, the definition of “potential markets” is not so narrow; it includes any markets that “creators of original works would in general develop or license others to develop.” Campbell, 510 U.S. at 592. The plaintiffs’ ability to license “Electric Avenue” in the market for licensed music for videos — political or otherwise — would be affected by widespread, uncompensated use….

Onward, grinning!

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Despite Best Efforts, It’s Still Gonna’ Be October — Before Bulk Vaccine Pallets Reach Remote Areas Of Bas-Uélé Province — From Kinshasa’s N’djili International Airport…

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To be sure — this is an… improvement. But it all remains a vast logistical problem: most modern vaccines still require refrigeration trucks — for effective transport and delivery. They need to be as cold as popsicles.

And keeping anything cold — in the scorching African heat… is a daunting challenge. Doubly so, when the roads the heavy trucks must traverse are in many cases, for the last hundred miles, or so. . . little more than motor-bike paths, deeply rutted, and mostly overgrown. A breakdown of the truck, or its refrigerant system, ruins hundreds of thousands of doses, within hours.

So — we will keep hoping that some nation will donate a small fleet of helicopter services, to the most remote locales in northern Bas-Uélé province. Even then a clear patch to set down on will be a… challenge up there in the mountains. Here is the latest, in any event, from Reuters, reporting in Kinshasa, DRC:

…Democratic Republic of Congo will start its mpox vaccination campaign on Oct. 2, nearly a week earlier than previously planned, the head of its outbreak response said on Wednesday.

Congo is the epicentre of the ongoing mpox outbreak that the World Health Organization declared to be a global public health emergency last month, but a lack of vaccines has until now hampered efforts to curb the spread of the sometimes deadly virus….

The central African country had been planning to launch vaccinations on Oct. 8 after receiving its first delivery of mpox doses last week. But health authorities now intend to start the campaign on Oct. 2, response chief Cris Kacita told Reuters.

“There are procedures that have evolved and helped reduce delays,” he said, adding that the vaccination campaign will last 10 days and target only adults, including healthcare professionals, park rangers and sex workers, in Congo’s six provinces….

Now you know. Onward, resolutely.

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Needs To End His $10,000 A Month Contract With “Lawfair”. It Is A Two Person Shop With Deep (Newly Former) Ties To Whyte Supremacy Theorists…

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This is… deplorable. In a word — deplorable. The lead lawyer at this “firm” was once a clerk for… Clarence Thomas.

He then hired a contract basis (it is claimed) co-lawyer, after winning a $10,000 a month retainer — to aid the State of Tennessee in appealing the knock-down, of its anti-trans care laws. [See our prior coverage of the case, generally, here.] That case in now pending before the Supremes, for argument next term.

The only lawyer besides the former Justice Thomas clerk who worked at the firm Lawfair, during the relevant period was… an avowed whyte supremacist, with a decades-long history of posting racist / misogynistic crap on public websites, often in a derivative of his own given name. That he was recently let go… (after this came to light, no less!) is no reason for the taxpayers of Tennessee to continue to spend $10,000 per month, with the firm called Lawfair.

There are literally dozens of more competent, less racist, two-person shops all over the nation who could do as capable a job as these jamokes (this isn’t even a local Tennessee firm — it is a beltway / DC swamp shop, grown out of dank MAGA land). If Gov. Lee doesn’t cut ties with this firm, it will be entirely fair for the Vanderbilt University Health System lawyers to ask — at oral argument — whether Gov. Lee’s goal here is simply. . . ongoing oppression — and political back scratching for odious racists who donate to the GOP coffers in Tennessee. Here’s the latest, but we’ve covered this case for over a year now:

…A WIRED investigation reveals that one of two lawyers known to have worked for or with Lawfair, a firm working on a case that could affect minors’ access to gender-affirming care, has ties to accounts with long histories of posting white supremacist content….

Now you know. Onward — scowling — at the former cross-dresser, one Tennessee GOP Gov. Bill Lee.

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Bavarian Nordic Will Now Postpone Other In Country Vaccine Orders, Worldwide — To Commit All Facilities To Manufacturing Vastly More Mpox Jabs, 24/7 Through Year End.

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I suppose the good news now is that over two million doses can reach Africa — by year end. The harder news is that almost all of these dead — all of this, in fact — was… largely… avoidable.

That is, these doses could have been delivered last year, but for red tape in the international delivery / payments [non-]system — for high burden disease vaccine programs (like Ebola, Marburgs and yes, Mpox Clade Ib).

And candidly, there has been a fair amount of entirely-proper indignation — over Bavarian’s earlier pricing — previously at around $100 per dose. That figure just won’t work, in sub-Saharan Africa. In DRC for example, that would exceed the annual budget for all health care treatments, in the country (on just ten million doses, with a population of ~100 million people) — with cholera, malaria and even Ebola a constant threat. The official DRC health ministers cannot spend the entire budget on a single set of vaccines, no matter how urgent the need.

So — Bavarian has agreed to reduced / subsidized pricing, from WHO — and from other contributing nations. [Still, charging over $100 per jab to US- and EU- buyers… is largely why the currently existing supplies never reached Africa during the prior two years. We must do better. There are clearly very capable vaccine manufacturing facilities in India, for example, that could contract manufacture at a much lower price point, if Bavarian would just sign an IP license (again at lower margins) — for/to these others. Much like the approach used — gridding out the globe, by agreed therapies / price bands — as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.]

In any event, here is the latest news, on this retooling effort:

…While the two million additional doses announced by the laboratory “appears to be sufficient to meet the anticipated short- to medium-term demand” the Danish drugmaker “continues to explore additional levers that could further expand the capacity,” the company said.

This includes looking at transferring “manufacturing to other companies either in Africa or other parts of the world.”

The vaccine is intended for adults only….

As a result of the priority given to the mpox vaccine, Bavarian Nordic will postpone certain other orders that were due to be fulfilled in 2024 to 2025, the company said without providing further detail….

And obviously, with about ~70 percent of the DRC Clade Ib Mpox cases appearing in children (at present), we need better options… for kids. The approved vaccines are not yet FDA-tested, as safe for children under age 14.

Now, we may reasonably suspect, based on very similar smallpox vaccines being safe in young children, that the Mpox vaccine will also be — but we need more data, to be certain.

Onward — into a vexing moment, indeed.

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Again, John Is Missing The Obvious Answer: “These Guys Know A Felon — When They See One”.

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John’s closing lament tonight is deliciously clue-free (even for him, in his twilight years edition of rhetorical forms):

…It is a puzzle, and one can’t overstate how disappointing the conduct of Cheney, Bush and Romney is….

Look — more than many, my disagreements with Dick Cheney and W., and Mitt Romney… are all very public — and written down, in copious detail — in nearly 3,000 blog posts, across three separate blogs — this one being an offshoot of my original Cheney blog from 2001 to about 2009.

So… I harbor no delusions — each of them held deeply flawed views of what American pluralism’s great strengths are all about.

But one place they’ve now coalesced — is none of them would have ever exhorted their acolytes to kill their running mate, in order to illicitly holdover — in an elective office they had been fired from, by 81 million fellow Americans.

John pretends a deeply wounded bafflement here — labeling Cheney’s change of heart as especially outrageous (a “true conservative”!) — the twisting of a knife in John’s own back.

But John refuses to see that there are still GOP political types, for whom felonious assaults on our Capitol… are a bridge too far. [A legacy graphic at left documents that Poppy Bush hated Trumpism so much he voted for HRC. Were he still living, he would have voted Biden and this time, Kamala.]

Just not for John, is insurrection a bridge too far, it is clear.

And that will be to his eternal… damnation.

Trumpism… died last night, as any legitimate public philosophy.

He will lose in a landslide now — as both Texas and Florida are now in play… he’s DOA.

Even John knows it. Just last night, John said that Cheney’s endorsement of Kamala Harris… would mean nothing. After reading today’s conservative newspapers, and blogs…

He knows it was a death knell.

Out.

Why The US Political Matters… Belong, Here: I ALSO Write A Long-Standing Life Sciences And Health Care Delivery Blog…

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Tangerine has now had [checks notes] nine full years, to fulfill his 2016 promises, and offer any concrete US health care delivery plan — one that competes with or improves on Obamacare. He held votes 60 separate times, to repeal it — and failed. He sent it to the Supremes four times. That too largely… failed.

So, here — after nine long years, for Trump to openly say he has some ill-defined “concepts of a plan” on Obamacare (but not articulating even a single detail)… is simply disqualifying.

In his closing, he asked why Kamala Harris hadn’t done the things she talked about (in one third the time). That may be fair — against Mr. Biden — but it is impossible to say that Veeps can act wholly alone — in any administration. In his, 45 eviscerated Mike Pence regularly — and then encouraged the J6 rioters to… “hang him“, calling him a coward. Charming. [Seriously, what in four years did Veep Pence do? Nothing. Right.]

45 promised reduced US prescription drug prices — also, in 2016. He did nothing to make it happen. By way of comparison, Biden/Harris did get it done, just this year. Price negotiations with federal agencies — on top ten by sales US drugs are now the enforced US policy.

Finally, perhaps trivially (given all the rest), at this point — nine years ago, he said he’d release his IRS 1040s after the 2016 election. He never did.

To this day, no one can even verify what his net worth might be — or whether he’s ever paid his fair share of his US income taxes in any respect. And several felony indictments strongly suggest grand juries have seen enough documentary evidence, to reach the reasonable belief that he did not.

In point of fact, what the NYT, ProPublica, EmptyWheel and WaPo were able to piece together from public court documents… strongly suggests he is in at least open disputes with the IRS, into the hundreds of millions of dollars. So he has a very strong motivation to use a (now improbable) 2024 win to blunt that charge, and / or offer specific “payouts” to people like Elon Musk, from federal coffers. In this regard, although I do believe EVs are the future, we must remember that Elon Musk’s companies receive by far, the largest federal subsidies of any single group of businesses, in the US — and that has been true for over 11 long years.

So… when it comes time to pay for early childhood education, or public STEM education curricula (a feeder to domestic life sciences innovation), or clean energy, or drug benefit plans, at the federal level… I’d expect Tangerine would seek to first reimburse Mr. Musk for these $100 million plus “campaign donations” here in 2024. We cannot afford a federal government apparatus that has been sold off, to his cadre of real (as opposed to imagined, fellow) billionaires (as was the case with DeJoy and the postal service in 2017).

So yes, when it comes to US politics and policies — these matters will affect US health outcomes significantly. And there is only one clear choice: we go forward — not back. Forward, toward a government… by, for and of. . . the people.

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Mpox Updates: DRC Is A Very Vast Country; The Vaccines Must Be Cold Transported — Overland, By Trucks — To Very Remote Regions…

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We’ve been saying this for weeks. The logistical problems — of getting refrigerated trucks to traverse (in many cases) a couple thousand miles of mostly dirt roads, or even deeply-rutted Jeep paths… is quite daunting.

So much so, that it is now likely that the actual vaccine vials will not reach the most remote areas of concern before September rolls into… October.

So as thrilled as I am about the “Childless Cat Lady’s” endorsement of Kamala Harris — and droll trolling of Tangerine (by that I mean to refer to Taylor Swift, along with her 280 million followers)… this is by far a more compelling story, from the Beeb:

…Medical staff on the front line of the battle against mpox in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have told the BBC they are desperate for vaccines to arrive so they can stem the rate of new infections. At a treatment centre in South Kivu province that the BBC visited in the epicentre of the outbreak, they say more patients are arriving every day — especially babies — and there is a shortage of essential equipment.

Mpox — formerly known as monkeypox — is a highly contagious disease and has killed at least 635 people in DR Congo this year. Even though 200,000 vaccines, donated by the European Commission, were flown into the capital, Kinshasa, last week, they are yet to be transported across this vast country — and it could be several weeks before they reach South Kivu….

The lack of infrastructure and bad roads mean that helicopters could possibly be used to drop some of the vaccines, which will further drive up costs in a country that is already struggling financially. At the community clinic, Dr Pacifique Karanzo appeared fatigued and downbeat having been rushed off his feet all morning. Although he wore a face shield, I could see the sweat running down his face. He said he was saddened to see patients sharing beds. “You will even see that the patients are sleeping on the floor,” he told me, clearly exasperated. “The only support we have already had is a little medicine for the patients and water. As far as other challenges are concerned, there’s still no staff motivation….”

As you enter Lwiro community hospital, which is about an hour’s drive north of South Kivu’s main city of Bukavu, two main things hit you. First the resounding and loud cries of babies. The second is the stench — a mix of urine and stagnant water.

The clinic is running out of clean water, meaning they have to ration what they have in the small jerrycans underneath their beds. Within the last three weeks, the clinic, which usually treats about 80 patients a month, has been inundated with nearly 200 patients — who are getting younger. “It’s sad to see my firstborn suffering from this strange disease. I have a lot of pain in my heart,” 18-year-old Faraja Rukara said….

Now you know. This is deeply troubling news. [Even so, it is said that Beyoncé, with about 320 million followers… is planning a big announcement event — for Harris/Walz, as we speak. It bothers me a little that celebrity endorsements mean so much to younger voters — but you have to meet people where they actually are, in their journey to becoming politically sophisticated. So, this too is good news.] Onward.

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