USDC Moses Offers Her Additional Fact Findings, To The Fifth Circuit, In The Land Razor Wire Barrier Cases — Where Two People Were Drowned In January.

March 27, 2024March 27, 2024 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

It seems that much will be decided in the coming few days — on all these cases, now that it is clear that Texas cannot use “show us your papers!” [SB-4] as an approach to detaining and deporting people who might simply look Latino — on its own.

This is the third order / report of the day. In this 20 plus page decision, Alia Moses finds that the Texas obstructions in Shelby Park may well have contributed to the deaths of a mother and child in the river in frigid water, on January 11. She further finds that rescues had to be accomplished from the Mexico Rio Grande shore-side, by Mexican charitable organizations, on January 28, 2024 — again due to delays and impediments on the US side, erected and maintained by Texas state officers. Somewhere they absolutely, under long standing federal law, are NOT allowed to be in action — in the first place. Damnation. Just. . . damn.

Do read it all — but the actions of Texas’s Gov. Abbott-led agents… are now beyond dispute both unlawful, and lethal. I would add… barbarian — to that list. Here’s the money quote, on the drownings — this from a deeply conservative West Texas USDC Chief Judge, Alia Moses, in Del Rio:

…Garcia explained to McKinney that three migrants had “possibly drowned” and there were two migrants on the U.S. side of the river. Garcia said he needed access to Shelby Park to locate any migrants still in the water and to attempt to rescue them. According to Garcia, McKinney advised he was unable to allow access but that he would send soldiers to that area to look for those subjects. McKinney offered to retrieve at least two of the migrants. Martinez stood behind Garcia during this conversation and recorded names, information, and times. According to Garcia, he clearly communicated to McKinney that there was an urgent situation and that he was requesting access into Shelby Park, but that McKinney denied him access. Danley testified that his understanding that night was that BP was trying to rescue three people “who were believed to be drowning or potential drowning victims,” and two additional people “who were believed to be hypothermic and needed assistance.” Garcia testified he learned the following day that the three migrants had drowned….

Migrants continue to cross in Eagle Pass and the entire Del Rio Sector. Most of the migrants are in the “Removal Process.” Clarification of the term revealed that the “removal process” includes the asylum adjudication procedure. It is unclear from the testimony what percentage of the migrants crossing into the United States in the Del Rio Sector or the southwest border are actually deported or physically removed from the United States, and how many are allowed to remain in the “removal process” while awaiting an administrative asylum determination….

She goes on to lament the fact that for reasons she won’t name — the dispute is harming otherwise good federal / state relations at the “on the line” working level. That reason is singular: one TX GOP / MAGA Gov. Abbott’s cruel and lawlessly lethal desire to end putative asylees and other undocumented people’s very lives. Out.

नमस्ते

Okay — Smart Deal-Making… Becomes… Excessive (Price Gouging) At Some Point: Merck’s Winrevair™ Edition

March 27, 2024March 27, 2024 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Unrelated trivia, at the top, though: it seems Powerline is being hit with porno-themed ads… in all its comment fields! That is hilarious, as the site refuses to let people swear in comments (I was banned there over a decade ago for it — thus this site!)… and regularly claims to be near absolutist, on free expression. And these are presumably paying the boys’ service provider, for the ads — and sharing the $$$ with the boys! So, for now — if you comment at Powerline — you get to see some very graphic porn.

It couldn’t happen to nicer… guys. [Pretty clear it is a cyber-attack campaign against the site’s overall odious racism and sexism.] Now the main topic:

I have repeatedly said that Merck got a good deal when it bought all of Acceleron for $11.5 billion in 2021. That was smart deal-making. Now, for just one lead biologic from that stable, Merck is pricing the PAH therapy so that it will conservatively generate revenue of around $2 billion dollars a year on the about 40,000 patients — from this franchise, alone.

Women will literally die, without this breakthrough drug (much like Keytruda™ / pembrolizumab). As the graphic indicates, if we very conservatively guess that Merck only achieves 20 percent market penetration in the first five years, it will get back the entirety of what it paid for all of Acceleron — in cash. Everything after that is pure profit. And if it reaches a larger portion of the patients here and overseas, in time — it will make over 100X on its investment — before the patents expire.

Yes, I am a capitalist — dyed in the wool. But this seems… unduly excessive.

I am long Merck stock — and I support the immense scientific advances — life saving advances, in fact — it generates. [And of course, a much better candidate could emerge at BMS, Amgen or Abbott or Baxter… but that is no excuse for gouging, today. And this does look like… gouging, to my experienced eye.]

But seriously — Merck should be looking more often at math that pays back over the 20 years of the patent life. Not payback in the first five years. With great ability… comes equally great… responsibility.

That is to say, Mr. Davis ought to be careful, that his first mover advantage in various arenas… is not blunted by Executive Order, or Congressional action. At some point, if the cost of US health care reaches a quarter of GDP, he is going to see a lot more of “required bargaining” — by HHS; or an outright and early grant of patent free generics, for these and other therapies — and perhaps one-fiftieth of these prices. Damn. Onward.

नमस्ते

In MAGA Gov. Abbott’s Inhumane Floating Razor Wire Barrier Case, In The Rio Grande… The Feds Have Filed Added Authority To Dump Him, Overnight.

March 26, 2024March 26, 2024 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

This should be over as soon as Judge Ezra calls the hearing — there is no plausible basis for Texas to interfere in Mexico’s treaties with the United States government — now stretching back almost 180 years. None.

Here it is — 20 pages, very well argued — and a bit:

…A treaty’s provision for international dispute resolution mechanisms does not preclude its domestic enforcement through direct judicial application. The question is whether the text indicates the treatymakers understood the treaty’s dispute resolution provisions to preclude direct application. In Medellin, the Supreme Court found there was “no reason to believe that the President and Senate signed up” to make decisions of the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) self-executing and enforceable in domestic courts because it would negate the treaty’s specific dispute mechanism, which afforded the United States an “unqualified right” to opt for noncompliance with an ICJ decision by vetoing any enforcement resolution in the U.N. Security Council. 552 U.S. at 510-11.

By contrast, giving direct effect to Article VII would not undermine Article XXI, which simply states that should certain disputes arise between the two countries, they will endeavor to resolve them without resorting to hostility or reprisals….

That MAGA Gov. Abbott — he’s a whole tall juice-box of stoopid — yes, with two “o’s”! Damn.

नमस्ते

Winrevair™ Now FDA-Approved, For PAH: Merck’s Latest Blockbuster…

March 26, 2024March 26, 2024 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

As we mentioned this morning, this had been widely expected. But it is good to have the FDA greenight in Rahway’s folder.

Merck will brand sotatercept as “Winrevair™”, and market it factually for pulmonary arterial hypertension, as the first FDA-approved activin signaling inhibitor therapy, representing a new class of treatment by once every three-week injection, that works by improving the balance between pro- and anti-proliferative signaling to regulate vascular cell proliferation underlying hypertension. That is a significant breakthrough in therapy options, for the biologic injection. Here’s the NYSE after-market close presser — and a bit:

…“Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a rare, progressive and ultimately life-threatening disease in which blood vessels in the lungs thicken and narrow, causing significant strain on the heart,” said Dr. Marc Humbert, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Reference Center at the Université Paris-Saclay and investigator on the Phase 3 STELLAR study. “Based on the Phase 3 STELLAR trial, adding WINREVAIR to background PAH therapy demonstrated significant clinical benefits compared to background PAH therapy alone. This approval is an important milestone, as it offers healthcare providers a novel therapeutic option that targets a new PAH treatment pathway….”

Now you know. And significantly, with training, FDA has approved it being self-injected by patients able to do so. So no need to go to the doctor’s office, or the hospital. That is a nice pull-through possibility.

And in unrelated news… the able NY Judge Merchan — in Tangerine’s hush money felony case — has imposed a prospective gag order — he’s plainly not going to tolerate the nonsense that accompanied Tangerine’s libel loss, and his $464 million tax- and bank-fraud loss.

“The uncontested record reflecting [Trump’s] prior extrajudicial statements establishes a sufficient risk to the administration of justice…. Such inflammatory extrajudicial statements undoubtedly risk impeding the orderly administation of this Court….” Merchan wrote in his order tonight.

And so, the Cheeto-lini™ might just end up in the clink, for 24 hours to cool his heels, on a contempt finding — the first time he pops off, this time around. Sweet.

नमस्ते

Hey John: “The earth… This Realm… This… [Scotland]”?! Sweet Will Penned It Thus (Mostly).

March 26, 2024March 26, 2024 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

This is simply… a guy with too little sense, and too much time… on his hands.

Hinderaker was previously angry that one of his neighbors flew a rainbow flag. Yikes.

Now the same home in the bucolic Minnesota ex-urbs is flying the flag of Scotland.

A land of fierce independence — since long before Charlemagne. And likely before the Romans, too. Going back to the stone age — clans did as they pleased, it seems.

This offends John, apparently since others of his neighbors have seen fit for the first time, to take to flying US flags in response.

John takes it as all as a supposed statement that the Scottish flag represents (to John, only — it seems) the repression of what he deems… “free speech” — freedom to hate speak, about Muslims, in this case.

Wow — that’s a loony stretch, there Hinderaker.

Out.

[U: Warrant to Issue April 9 — If She’s A No Show, Again.] At Least One Of The Two People Who Stole Biden’s Daughter’s Diary… Is Now A Fugitive From Justice.

March 26, 2024March 27, 2024 ~ condor ~ 1 Comment

The full AUSAs’ letter — a three pager — is here. But she has repeatedly ignored both state and federal court orders, in criminal matters. It seems likely that she may not even be in Florida — or the US — any longer. And this is the “patriot” the Powerline boys cheered, after she and a co-conspirator transported the stolen diary from Florida to New York.

She is very likely to see a fairly long sentence with real incarceration, in the teeth, now. But the difficulty will likely be getting the US Marshals to apprehend her — wherever she is, hiding out — and on the lam. Do read the letter — she’s clearly contemptuous of judicial authority.

Her own lawyer puts it this way — as she’s unlikely to be in Manhattan to be sentenced, and presumably be taken into custody, tomorrow at 2 PM EDT:

“…Since Ms. Harris’s last appearance on February 5, 2024, we advised Ms. Harris multiple times to comply with the Court’s Order directing her to provide Pretrial Services with the requested authorization forms and financial information by February 19, 2024.

Despite our consistent and ongoing efforts, she has not done so. We have also endeavored to prepare for her sentencing, including coordinating her travel [from Florida, supposedly]. Unfortunately, her lack of communication has not permitted us to coordinate her travel and work with her to prepare for sentencing. As such, we do not know if she plans to appear tomorrow….”

If I had to guess, assuming she’s a no show tomorrow — the sentence will exceed three years… when she is eventually taken into custody.

Onward.

Merck Joins Michael J. Fox Foundation, And Koneksa — In Supporting Remote Digital Biomarker Study Via Wrist-Worn Phone Apps — To Track Parkinson’s Progression

March 26, 2024March 26, 2024 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Parkinson’s is a vexing, high burden (and not well-understood) disease.

And it is excellent that Merck will lock arms with Koneksa, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation, to provide support and funding for this innovative approach to studying patients — at an early stage. The idea is to get real time bio feedback from sufferers, and use it in a big data model, hopefully to make predictions, and tailor later care… perhaps one day, even identify some promising therapies — for human trials. Here’s the latest:

…Merck joined the data syndication partnership for the study, giving its researchers immediate and real-time access to data and results as the trial progresses, said Koneksa, the company leading LEARNS.

Digital biomarkers that can be assessed remotely using smartphones and wearable devices have the potential to aid in diagnosing Parkinson’s and allow patients to begin treatment while still in the disease’s early stages.

“The healthcare community urgently needs better, well-validated measures of Parkinson’s disease progression to inform drug development,” Chris Benko, CEO of Koneksa, said in a company press release. “We are establishing data syndication partnerships as a new form of pre-competitive collaboration that brings together a community around real-time data sharing and analysis throughout our studies to accelerate the validation and adoption of better digital measures….”

It is likely that most of the richest data will be mined from observations related to early onset patients’ disturbed sleep patterns. But here’s to hoping we learn a lot more than just about that. Onward, smiling an optimistic smile.

नमस्ते

In More Weighty News… I’d Say The Case Against The Abortion Pill… Is Dead.

March 26, 2024March 26, 2024 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

I listened to large parts of the argument this morning.

It seems there is a solid majority to bounce this nonsense claim against a drug that is safer than Tylenol, and has been lawfully on the US market since 2001 — under FDA approval, after a very complete vetting. [It was re-examined again in 2016, by FDA — for a reformulated version — and approved.] Listen to one sensible commenter’s plain English take on it all:

…[T]he anti-abortion plaintiffs who brought this contrived case don’t have legal standing. If a majority of the court recognizes this plain fact, then the appeal can be resolved on that ground alone, without further thwarting the reproductive rights that the court trashed in its Dobbs decision.

To have standing, people who bring lawsuits need to show that they are — or will soon be — injured in a way that a ruling in their favor can remedy. But the plaintiffs who challenged the Food and Drug Administration’s approval and regulation of mifepristone don’t satisfy that rudimentary requirement.

As the Biden administration pointed out in a brief ahead of the hearing, the anti-abortion doctors and groups who brought the suit “do not prescribe mifepristone, and FDA’s actions allowing other providers to prescribe the drug do not require them to do or refrain from doing anything….”

Condor bets the plaintiffs lose, when the opinion comes out — 6-3 in June 2024. Onward.

नमस्ते

Unexpected But Trivial Dept.: I Wouldn’t Have Guessed That Paul Holds Gambling Is… Immoral.

March 26, 2024March 26, 2024 ~ condor ~ Leave a comment

The authorities cited in various of the synagogues… are not of one mind on whether gambling is sinful, in Jewish traditions, historically speaking. But the more widely held view is… that it is frowned upon.

Yesterday, Mr. Mirengoff rose to point out the ill-effects of sports betting… on sports — as a pure form of entertainment. Fine — even though I might agree with him on the narrow point, I accept the counter arguments… as reasonable views.

Why I write about this trivial matter… is to note that sports aren’t and never were… pure. They are forever at least in part corrupted by all the various ills that afflict humanity more widely, in my view. Selfishness, ego… and of course unearned favoritism… infect every sport.

So the exercise is more academic than useful, in my estimation — despite Paul’s twin posts on its ills, over the last 28 hours or so.

[Plainly, the soon to be convicted felon, running for president, under 93 counts of four separate felony indictments should merit wall-to-wall, 24/7/365 coverage from Paul and the Powerline boys — if in fact they get this worked up about simple entertainment’s… flaws. In most cases the betting is lawful — not a traffic ticket — let alone a felony, boys. What say ye, about Tangerine?]

This is all particularly ironic, given that Scott Johnson today claims Mr. Biden lied, about why he went to work in the Public Defender’s office in Delaware, up and leaving a white shoe law firm, over 60 years ago. Even if the story cannot be documented, from a more than half century old set of court records, in admin. law — where the workers’ comp claim would have first been heard… that is not unusual. It would not have gone into any published trial court records, unless the worker had appealed. Apparently the worker did not appeal the denial of claim. Damn son… you are fussing about that, with your felon-in-waiting… running for preznit — today?

In any event, it is ALSO interesting that he and his former colleagues claim from time to time, to no longer watch certain sports, and leagues — solely because they’ve adopted one other perceived flaw (one they term “wokeness“). [But in fact, I think in those cases it has more to do with so few whyte athletes any longer enjoying unearned favoritism — from their coaches, managers and paymasters.]

So, to write off a sport for the imagined offense of “wokeness” makes even less sense than writing a sport off because a lot of people… bet on it.

We accept that from time to time, even in New York, at the Met Opera… a discordant note is occasionally heard. But it is still… entertainment.

And that is all sports represent: an unscripted drama.

To be sure, when kids play sports, we should all work hard to keep it as pure as humanly possible — no one should be betting on outcomes — for there, the sport is primarily a teacher, about humility, free-lancing the best outcome, while committing to hard-work — to team efforts… and simply the joy of being on the field or the court. Breathing fresh air.

Here ends my trivial pursuit.

Out.