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UPDATE — Floating Razor Wire Case: The US Moves To Force Disclosure Of Texas’s “Expert Testimony” Notes — Since They Were Shared With Non-Party/Witnesses…

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MAGA Gov. Greg Abbott continues to ignore federal court orders to produce the documents and showings he expects the state of Texas officials to rely upon — at the upcoming USDC trial before Senior Judge Ezra, over whether he has violated the Rivers and Harbors Act, in installing concertina wire floating barriers (which have already killed two asylum seekers, to a certainty) on the Rio Grande, in Mexican waters, near Eagles Pass, Texas.

Over the weekend, the US attorneys learned that he’s been sharing supposed “work product” exempt documents with non-parties — and people the state plans to call as fact witnesses — at the trial, in defense of the violations. Hilarious.

That blew all his work product privileges — and the US will now shortly see the documents, unredacted, thus:

…The Magistrate Judge ordered Defendants, the State of Texas and Governor Greg Abbott (“Texas”), to produce copies of the two documents in question — consisting of a “proposed expert-report outline” containing key facts and assumptions given to Texas’s expert witnesses and an email transmitting that document—to the United States by July 29, 2024, with redactions removing information purportedly protected by the work product doctrine. Id. at 2. This motion for reconsideration is based on newly discovered information within those documents that was not available to the United States at the time the Magistrate Judge resolved the Motion to Compel.

In reviewing the redacted documents produced by Texas (attached as Exhibits A and B), the United States discovered that Texas also sent these supposedly privileged trial preparation documents to Rodney Scott, who is not a testifying expert witness, an attorney for Texas, or an employee of Texas, but rather an unaffiliated fact witness that Texas has represented it will call at trial. The Magistrate Judge, who reviewed these documents in camera but had not seen Texas’s initial disclosures or witness list, could not have been aware of this fact.

Because Texas’s transmission of the documents to this non-client fact witness defeats any claim of work product privilege, the United States respectfully requests that the Court:

(1) vacate the portion of its July 25, 2024 Order partially denying the United States’ Motion to Compel;

(2) grant the United States’ Motion to Compel in full; and (3) order Texas to produce unredacted versions of both documents….

Now you know.

What an incompetent (and malign) Rube Goldberg machine, the entirety of Texas State (GOP) government is.

Mpox Clade 1b Update: Now A Case In Germany… Over 42,000 Worldwide Afflicted

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The more dangerous variant has now appeared in at least 18 African nations.

Troublingly, the vaccine roll out has suffered fits and starts. By my count, we are now at a dozen non-African geographies, with one or more Clade 1b patients.

Here is the latest, from ABC News, reporting:

…Germany’s disease control center said Tuesday that a new, more infectious variant of the mpox virus has been detected in Germany for the first time.

The Robert Koch Institute said the person was infected abroad but didn’t give any further details, including on where the case was being treated….

The first case of the mpox virus variant outside the African continent was confirmed in Sweden in mid-August….

The World Health Organization has declared that the increasing spread of mpox in Africa is a global health emergency….

Now you know… and as we’ve long said… we are all each other’s keepers. Onward.

नमस्ते

This Morning’s Brief Summary Order At The Supremes Grants Both The Provider, And The Patients’ Families (And The Solicitor General) Separated Argument Time…

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As many well-know, we have closely followed the purported Tennessee law known as Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-33-101, as its constitutionality is tested in the federal courts. It purports to tell doctors that there is only one class of patients they may not treat for gender dysphoria.

That cannot survive strict scrutiny. And that is what Tennessee legislators should face, in trying to explain this measure.

Importantly, but nearly unnoticed by the MSM (see the bottom of page one of today’s orders, here), it has reached the docket of the US Supreme Court. There, this morning, the Nine granted each party opposing the law a separate slot of time to argue its pernicious effects, on their specific interests.

That is significant. The Supremes will hear from a lawyer for the patients, a lawyer for the treating doctors and Vanderbilt Med Center… and then, a lawyer for the federal government — an administration that believes the law exceeds Tennessee’s power, as a member of the UNITED states… of America. Do stay tuned. The decision will come in 2025. And… just to reset the state of the play, here:

…L.W., Ryan Roe, and John Doe are three transgender adolescents who have lived in Tennessee all their lives. After years of suffering severe distress from gender dysphoria — and after careful deliberation with their doctors and the informed consent of their parents — L.W., Ryan, and John each found tremendous relief from doctor-prescribed, gender affirming medication. They now face severe physical and emotional harm because Tennessee has prohibited them from accessing the medical treatment they need. And their parents — Samantha and Brian Williams, Rebecca Roe, and Jane and James Doe — are each living a parent’s worst nightmare at the prospect of watching their children lose the prescribed healthcare that has enabled them to thrive.

Transgender adolescents like Petitioners have been receiving such care for decades. But in the past three years, Tennessee and 20 other states have banned these treatments altogether, forcing families to upend their lives and move out of state to ensure that their children get the medical treatment they need. District courts across the country have enjoined these bans preliminarily or permanently. The Eighth Circuit has affirmed one of those injunctions in Arkansas….

Now you know. Onward, to a better — less bigoted — tomorrow.

नमस्ते

Well… I Am Surprised That It Needs To Be Debated: Running A $1 Million A Day Raffle — To Create Calling/Contact Lists, For Voting… Violates 52 USC § 10307(c).

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This “pay to register to vote” scheme clearly violates 52 USC § 10307(c) [see page 38, et seq. there] — and that’s a five year felony.

It seems we live in an Orwellian world where between Tangerine and Musk, they’ve decided that they can go “buy the votes they want, in swing states”. Damn. Here’s a bit from Reuters, this morning:

…To be eligible for the $1 million, petition signers must be a registered voter and live in one of the seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to the America PAC website.

The petition also offers $100 to each registered Pennsylvania voter who signs and $100 for referring a registered Pennsylvania voter to sign.

The legality of the giveaways is sure to come under scrutiny in the coming days.

It is a federal crime to pay people with the intention of inducing or rewarding them to cast a vote or to get registered, an offense punishable by prison time. The prohibition covers not only monetary expenditures, but also anything of monetary value like liquor or lottery chances, a Justice Department election-crimes manual says….

There is only one way to put this insanity to bed: we must vote these corrupt but wealthy burping-jokers down, in overwhelming numbers, nationwide, on Tuesday November 5, 2024.

Quoth the DoJ: …Cases arising under this statute that involve corruption of the process by which individuals register, as distinguished from the circumstances under which they vote, present a different federal jurisdictional issue that is easily satisfied.

This is because voter registration in every state is “unitary” in the sense that one registers to vote only once in order to become eligible to vote for all candidates on the ballot — local, state, and federal. Although a state could choose to maintain separate registration lists for federal and non-federal elections, at the time this book was written, no state had chosen to do so.

Consequently, any corrupt act that affects the voter registration process and that can be reached under § 10307(c) satisfies this federal jurisdictional requirement. An excellent discussion of this issue is contained in United States v. Cianciulli, 482 F. Supp. 585, 617–18 (E.D. Pa. 1979)….

Onward.

नमस्ते

It Looks Like… As We Long Ago Said… Tangerine Has No… Electoral College Math. Y A W N.

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To be sure, it will be a close election, as we’ve said.

And though Kamala will likely win by 10 to 12 million votes nation-wide, all that matters are the swing states. Those electoral college votes actually choose the next president.

And this morning shows Kamala Harris clearly in the lead in five of the seven.

So Trump cannot win, if the last two weeks remain unchanged, per Newsweek, this morning:

…A Washington Post-Schar School poll of 5,016 likely voters in the seven key battleground states have the vice president ahead of Trump in Georgia (51 percent to 47), Michigan (49 percent to 47), Pennsylvania (49 percent to 47) and Wisconsin (50 percent to 47).

Trump and Harris are tied at 48 percent in Nevada, with the Republican winning in North Carolina (50 percent to 47) and in Arizona (49 percent to 46).

Even if Trump wins Nevada, Harris would be on course to win November’s election with 286 Electoral College votes if the Washington Post-Schar School polling proves accurate….

And so it goes.

Suck that “schlong”, boys.

[U] Well… Except That Tangerine Got Flipped-Off, And The McD’s Was Closed. Staged. Hilarious, Scott.

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These guys are so precious. They think it a “come back” / or “burn” — for a MAGA McD’s franchisee to close his Pittsburg outlet, and stage a commercial — in response to the FACT that Kamala ACTUALLY worked a summer job 45 years ago… at McD’s?! This is desperate, and silly.

But I’ll note that later last night, MAGA ran a video, that “thanked Pittsburg” for being so supportive of Tangerine at the NFL game against the Jets there. The footage it used of the crowd however (unedited!) clearly shows several NFL fans flipping Trump the two handed “birds up” salute — telling his team to.. “F*ck off!”

Yep — that’s just about as telling/persuasive… as a multimillionaire staging a five minute video in a closed McD’s franchise, as he stands in front of the fry oil, holding an empty basket.

Here is some truly insipid commentary from Scott “Delusional” Johnson’s keyboard.

Scott thinks these videos will help Tangerine — with undecided Middle America. [Updated —- so much so, he’s belched about it a second time, here three days later. What an idiot. End update.]

Me? I think we see… yet again… a low-brow con-man, and [un-]reality TV… actor.

And… a FELON. One who commented on the deceased Arnold Palmer’s “schlong” being huge. Or should I say… “Y-Y-Y-Y-U-U-U-U-UGE”?

Cheers, boys.

Gilead And Merck Announce Encouraging New Findings, In Treating Longer Term HIV Infections…

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This is good news, to be certain. But it is unlikely to be material, near term — for either company, as so many are already on this therapy combo. [We’ve covered the victories in HIV treatments, since 2012 — and here is one of our 2021-era backgrounders, on the progress for this combo therapy.]

There was a time — which persisted for nearly three decades (from 1980 onward) — when an HIV+ diagnosis was… nearly certainly, a death sentence. And more often that not, a slow, painful, debilitating spiral-down — into a walking skeleton (as anyone of that age can attest, as to friends and loved ones).

But that time has ended. We are very lucky to be alive in the era of engineered human protein / monoclonal antibody therapies — now increasingly tailored to individuals’ unique disease manifestation factors, and other ailments profiles. Here’s the latest, from Yahoo! news:

…At 48 weeks, the novel investigational combination maintained a high rate (n=49; 94.2%) of viral suppression (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL) in virologically suppressed adults, a secondary endpoint of the study. Zero participants had a viral load of ≥50 copies/mL at Week 48. Week 24 results, including the study’s primary endpoint, were previously presented at the 31st Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI)….

“The future of HIV treatment is person-centered, with long-acting options tailored to help meet the needs and preferences of people affected by HIV,” said Jared Baeten, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President, Virology Therapeutic Area Head, Gilead Sciences. “There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach….

The complexities of HIV care require putting people first in the development of biomedical innovations as we keep striving to offer options for all those living with HIV. These data presented at IDWeek demonstrate our commitment to continuous scientific discovery aimed at further transforming the HIV treatment landscape….”

Treatment-related-adverse events (TRAEs), as attributed by study investigator, were experienced by 19.2% of participants (n=10/52) in the ISL + LEN group and the most common were dry mouth (n=2/52; 3.8%) and nausea (n=2/52; 3.8%)….

The side effects can still be daunting, but people live long, happy and productive lives now — decades and decades after diagnosis. The magnitude of this leap forward in bio-science cannot be overstated.

Onward, smiling — with the Oregon Ducks to be the No. 1 team in the nation, when they host the Illini in Eugene, this weekend. And Buffs now go back home, to meet a potentially dangerous Cincy team, in Boulder Saturday night. Grin.

नमस्ते

Sunday Trivia: What’s Old — Is New, Again?! Penn State “Speaking” Nonsense Shkreli / Milo Y. Tour Oct. 28, 2024…

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Back in 2017, a much-earlier (pre-federal-prison) iteration of this event was cancelled — and at a second “stop” on this “speaking tour”, a student threw dog feces in Shkreli’s face (I think that was at UC Davis, if memory serves). Hilarious, and well-deserved.

But as Milo’s 15 minutes are ending, he seeks to renew his brand as a hate-provocateur… with a speaking gig at Penn State. The rumor is that Martin will tag along, have his flight paid for, but will not be paid to speak [since that money should first go to his fraud victims].

Here’s that goofy news item, overnight:

…Shkreli, according to Uncensored America’s release, spent five years in prison “after making a joke about Hillary Clinton.” [Ed. Note: Obviously, this is a lie. He was convicted of felony wire fraud, for deceiving his investors, repeatedly, over many years.] Shkreli was charged with securities fraud in 2015, sentenced to seven years in jail in 2017, and was released in 2022. [That’s the truth of it.]

According to University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC) minutes, Uncensored America was given $15,990.26 by UPAC to fund the event. The fee covered Yiannopoulos’ flight and speaker fees and Shkreli’s flight fees….

I think Martin still needs BoP permission to leave Queens County. So, that may or may not happen — but it is hilarious that these two are trying to re-energize the nonsense that died out in the 2016 election cycle. For his part, Milo is no longer working on MAGA Marjorie Taylor-Green’s political operations — he’s jobless; as is Martin. But Martin is also broke, and a decade out of date, on life science politics and policies.

Pretty sure there will be nothing even remotely interesting said, here.

That is, assuming the LGBTQ+ community at Penn State doesn’t protest / shout them down — with the “hecklers’ veto“…

…or the “Bag of Hot Dog Poop” — in their faces (as obtained at Harvard
or UC Davis — I forget which — in the Winter of 2017).

We shall see.

Charming.

[U] Paul Got A Small Bit Right, Tonight…

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Modern, cell enabled polling is something Paul knows nuthin’ about.

This is what he gets right — in blue. But the rest… he’s (woefully) mistaken about:

…Trump claimed he won the election but never proved that he did. Trump called on supporters to come to Washington and attempt to prevent the certification of his defeat. Trump improperly possessed classified documents and gave federal agents the runaround (and in my view obstructed justice) when they tried to retrieve them. Trump was convicted of [34] felonies….

If voters have been reluctant to admit an intention to vote for Trump in the past, there’s still plenty of reason — arguably more than before — for the reluctance….

Paul hopes that pollsters have undercounted Tangerine support — thrice.

I’ll bet they have haven’t. Occam’s Razor here applies.

Meanwhile, Hinderaker preposterously thinks that two former pro athletes (each of whom suffered numerous concussions, no less!) who were last really top shelf some 40 years ago… because they are “macho” — give Tangerine… meaningful boosts/street cred?

I’m unconvinced. John is… like Tangerine — senile.

Cheers.

Saturday Life Sciences: Of Ancient DNA — And What It Can Tell Us… Of The Origin Stories — Of Essentially All Modern Humans…

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We have spoken before of the ancient African Nama people. Their genetic makeup appears to have been the “parent DNA” of essentially all modern humans. And it has long been known that the Jomon peoples, of about 35,000 years ago, were related to Africans, genetically — and inhabited much of what is the modern Korean peninsula.

This new genetic sequencing confirms that what became the modern Japanese peoples also show significant admixtures of Jomon, which of course traces right back to Africa between 50,000 — and 100,000 years ago. No one knows if the Africans travelled by foot to these peninsulas, or if they might have sailed from what becomes Eastern India, to reach the Japanese islands — but it is clear that they were (in some measure) the progenitors of modern Japan.

Here’s the latest:

…A research team led by Jonghyun Kim and Jun Ohashi from the University of Tokyo has found that during the Yayoi and Kofun periods (300 BCE to 538 CE), the majority of immigrants to the Japanese Archipelago came from the Korean Peninsula.

Their study analyzed the complete genome of a “Yayoi” individual and found that, among the non-Japanese populations, the results showed the genetic makeup most closely resembled that of Korean populations.

Although it is widely accepted that modern Japanese populations have a dual ancestry, the discovery provides insight into the details of immigration patterns to the archipelago that had previously puzzled researchers. The findings were published today (October 14) in the Journal of Human Genetics….

I mention it all… because with the outbreaks of Marburg, and Mpox we now see in Africa… we are reminded… we are all our brothers’ — and sisters’… keepers. Onward.

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