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Tomorrow, It Will Have Been 54 Loops Around The Sun, Since The Very First “Earth Day”…

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So on the eve of it, we will now re-run the one we posted — at a half century on.

…It has been [a half century] since that first Earth Day in New York City — and Philly, New Orleans… and Boulder. It certainly doesn’t seem a half-century ago — but it now is.

To be sure, the work attached to the movement has never been more vital — more urgent. We all share this fragile orb — and we are all responsible for how we pass it on, to our children, and theirs. So join with the kiddos… here:

…Earth Day was a unified response to an environment in crisis — oil spills, smog, rivers so polluted they literally caught fire.

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — 10% of the U.S. population at the time — took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet.

The first Earth Day is credited with launching the modern environmental movement, and is now recognized as the planet’s largest civic event….

Now you know. Do something, even from home — to move the agenda forward, in your sphere of influence. Please. It will help our fragile, beautiful blue sphere, immeasurably.

नमस्ते

Off-Key, Part Deux… Scott Johnson’s Sunday Reflections.

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As luck would have it, Johnson made his usual Sunday music reminiscence about… Columbia University in the year 1969. [Maybe he is actually being followed by gray ghosts, late in the night — robbing him of sleep — the ghosts of his current hypocrisy, when laid out next to his own “youthful protests” profiles.]

His underlying goal this morning, it seemed — was to cluck, cluck about how awful a lawn camp out is, as a protest. How Columbia has gone rotten to the core.

To demonize kids who did nothing violent — simply because they might hold an idealized view — and a simplified view — of the Middle East, here in 2024. But his telling paints his 1969 Vietnam protests as… deeply patriotic. Wow. That’s something, indeed:

…Like so many, myself included, I think our motives constituted an utterly misguided mix of idealism, patriotism, and cowardice. I never hated the United States for one second….

He concludes by lamenting that the current Columbia protestors share no history with his Vietnam ones.

And as to his momentary self-awareness — “the cowardice” he saw in himself, only on looking back — was due to the knowledge that could be drafted to go fight in Vietnam. As so many others were. [In fact, in my tiny mountain town, no fewer than five of my older brothers’ friends came home from Southeast Asia — in body bags. They weren’t college kids; they were miners’ sons — and three of them were not documented. They had come with their families from Mexico. But they died for this nation — whether one agrees with the goals in Vietnam, or not — they paid a price Scott, Paul and John would have never considered paying. Damn.]

Of course, returning to April 2024 at Columbia, on the lawn — in the tents — no one who lives in the US will be “drafted” to go fight in Israel, against their will. Nor to fight for Hamas — if they are living here, they can stay here — in relative safety. They are/were “camping out”. Entirely non-violently.

So it is particularly cowardly, in my estimation that Scott Johnson calls these camp-out kids the “kill the J*ws” crowd. Over and over.

He is an embittered, sad old man now… left awake at night, about his apparent inability to see the shades of gray he used to, as an undergrad. He sees only black and white, in his dotage.

That’s… unfortunate — indeed.

[U, X3] John, Paul & Scott: Strangely Off-Key, On Consequences — At Ivy League “Student Takeover” Protests…

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I’ve put up a new post, on all of this over the weekend — and here on Monday morning, Scott triples down on the claim that the Columbia tent city is somehow Nazis… reborn. Sheesh — were Paul, John and Scott… equal to Josef Stalin, reborn — when the takeover of Parkhurst occurred, on Dartmouth’s campus in 1969?

This is about to become a collapsible farce (by those opposing the protests). There is an argument that the protests are misguided — but that argument doesn’t include calling them… Nazis.

The old rule on the internet here obtains — if you call your opponent a Nazi… you’ve admitted to losing the rational argument. The boys are failing to make a rational argument against the present protests — especially since many Jews are joining the protesters. [22 children were killed by the IDF in Gaza this past weekend — a “raid”, that kills mostly kids?!? How is that a Geneva Convention compliant operation, boys?] End, update.

As we have long ago, and now repeatedly — pointed out, the boys, in 1968-69, look over an administration building then called Parkhurst, for three days — as a Vietnam protest. Each was arrested, but quickly bailed — and each graduated with all honors restored. [That Scott offers no quarter to today’s Ivy protesters… is unsurprising — but feckless, just the same.]

Scott in particular has dramatized / played / portrayed the current Columbia protests / “takeover” — of a lawn space, camping outside… as a hate crime. By the protesters, for supporting the people of Gaza. [He churlishly and falsely calls it a “kill the J*ws” movement.]

In any event, here is how the NYT sees it:

…Students who camped in tents to protest the war in Gaza, including the daughter of Representative Ilhan Omar, may be barred from finishing the semester.…

I guess many saw what the boys did in ‘69 — inside a building / trespassing for three days… as equivalent to a hate crime against US troops then fighting, and dying in Vietnam (most without the privilege of a bucolic Ivy League undergrad stay).

The cries for expulsions and long jail terms — to try to equate this “camp out”… to J6?

Are in my estimation… Poppycock.

No one has died. There was no breaking down of barricaded doors. And no threats to kill Mike Pence.

The kids simply camped out. And refused to leave the lawn.

Me?! I think the boys’ reactions here… speak volumes about how little they believe in free expression in our system of ordered liberty.

Out.

And… What Texas Gets Wrong — About Two Supremes’ Cases, Decided This Past Week…

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Last week, the Supremes decided two cases… in wildly different circumstances (veterans’ benefits, for example) that have literally nothing to do with Texas’s open violation of the federal immigration schemes (of a half-century’s standing, now).

But that “super genius” Ken Paxton (MAGA TX AG) told the Fifth Circuit on Thursday, that these two cases mean… Texas should win in the SB-4 / Razor Wire Barrier cases.

That’s… simply… unhinged.

So the ACLU (for the asylees’ groups in Texas) said so, thus — just last night:

…Neither of Texas’s supplemental authorities help its case. DeVillier v. Texas declined to decide whether a person may sue under the Takings Clause because it found Texas law provided a cause of action. The decision has no bearing here. DeVillier involved a claim for “just compensation.” 2024 WL 1624576, at *2. The Court explained that such a “damages” remedy “is legal, not equitable,” and so prior Takings Clause cases permitting “equitable claims” for “injunctions” were inapposite. Id. at *3. Here, plaintiffs seek only equitable relief. That makes all the difference. Crown Castle Fiber, L.L.C. v. City of Pasadena, 76 F.4th 425, 434 (5th Cir. 2023) (“But Crown Castle is not asking for damages here. The company seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, bringing the suit in equity.”).

In Labrador v. Poe, the Supreme Court issued a partial stay of an injunction against an Idaho law. There is no opinion for the Court, only a summary order. See 2024 WL 1625724, at *12 (Kavanaugh, J., concurring). And the Justices’ separate opinions have little relevance here. Poe involved a statewide injunction based on harm to two individual children. Id. at *2 (Gorsuch, J., concurring). The crux of the dispute was whether the need to protect those individuals’ anonymity warranted statewide relief. See id. at *13 (Jackson, J., dissenting) (explaining this “fact-specific reason” for affording statewide relief); id. at *4 n.2 (Gorsuch, J., concurring) (suggesting the district court should have considered “the adequacy of less intrusive” relief to address anonymity concerns). Here, unlike in Poe, the United States is a plaintiff harmed by every application of S.B. 4.

And, even apart from that, Texas (suggesting the district court should have considered “the adequacy of less intrusive” relief to address anonymity concerns). Here, unlike in Poe, the United States is a plaintiff harmed by every application of S.B. 4. And, even apart from that, Texas has never even tried to explain how something less than a statewide injunction would provide complete relief for the Las Americas plaintiffs — two organizations and a municipality harmed by the systemic application of S.B. 4….

In any case, Texas waived any argument on appeal for plaintiff-specific relief by failing to brief it. See Lozovyy v. Kurtz, 813 F.3d 576, 580 n.2 (5th Cir. 2015) (“because this argument was not raised in Lozovyy’s initial brief, it is waived”)….

For the record, here is the feds’ version of the same argument. It is every bit as persuasive, and makes much the same point: AG Paxton… cannot read, for comprehension. [Where did AG Paxton get his law degree? DeVry? DAMNATION.]

Actually, it was Virginia — but that fine University should rescind his degree, on these papers alone.

Out.

The Case On The Preposterous “Arrest On Sight” SB-4 Law In Texas… Will Be Mothballed, At Trial Court Level, Until Fifth Cir. (And Supremes) Rule…

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Just a smallish matter, since one or more of the upper courts will almost certainly agree (as they did in 2013, as to Arizona’s version) that Texas SB-4 is an unconstitutional attempt by Texas to usurp federal “field preempted” law.

In any event, the Texas law remains enjoined, nationwide during the appeals. So, it matters little. Here’s that smallish note, in an overnight filing in West Texas:

…Currently, the grant of a preliminary injunction by this Court has been appealed, with proceedings currently ongoing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. ECF No. 49. The Fifth Circuit’s (and, possibly, the Supreme Court’s) review of the preliminary injunction order is likely to substantially affect subsequent proceedings in this litigation. Accordingly, staying all proceedings in these consolidated cases in this Court will conserve the parties’ and the Court’s resources….

Now you know — onward, grinning, still — about the UAW win.

नमस्ते

UPDATE: The UAW Will Bargain For The ~4,300 Workers, At The Tenn. Volkswagen USA Plant — In Chattanooga!

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The Detroit Free Press has called it — VW lost the vote in Chattanooga.

Yep. VW is unionized, in Tennessee. This is… exceedingly good news. And an “idea, whose time has come….” AGAIN.

The lesson? Multinational companies may only treat workers as disposable for so long. Then, the tide changes. It has changed tonight, in America — not just for this year, and this plant — but for workers, everywhere, and perhaps for decades yet to come. From NPR, then — a bit, from earlier tonight:

…Some 4,300 hourly workers were eligible to vote this week. The union needs a simple majority of votes cast to win the election. Just about 20 minutes into the counting, the UAW had received 73% of the first 1,000 votes….

All eyes are on the vote, especially because previous attempts by the UAW to unionize the same Chattanooga plant in 2014 and 2019 ended in defeat. Similar efforts at several other auto manufacturing plants in the South have also failed over the years….

[And from the Detroit Free Press:] “By having Ford, GM and Stellantis, after the ratification of the new contracts, immediately go to their stockholders and say, ‘It’s no big deal, we can still be very profitable,’ meant Chattanooga workers didn’t have to listen to the Republican governors who said that a union will shut them down,” Wheaton said. “Ford, GM and Stellantis showed that (a rich contract) does not dramatically damage their bottom line and they can still afford to give stock buybacks, give their CEOs big pay checks, and now the workers can afford to buy groceries….”

Onward, grinning ear to ear. Be excellent to one another!

नमस्ते

A Guess At Q1 2024 Earnings, For Merck — Next Week: Should Be Strong…

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This event next week. . . is unlikely to make a big wave in Merck’s NYSE stock price, because the dynamics of pembrolizumab’s ever rising revenue penetration are pretty well understood, on Wall Street. So — in the main, the open variables reside in the op. expense / M&A / cap ex. lines (all controllable by the executive team, quarter to quarter). And even as to those smaller ones that are not, Merck’s executives have spent about 75 years fine-tuning quarter to quarter levers, to pull should a wrinkle arise.

So, again — next Thursday morning is barely likely to be news, at all. And you may bet it will not be a train-wreck (though THAT would be… news).

Here’s at least one analyst’s view — and I’d expect Rahway to meet, and perhaps slightly exceed… these figures:

…Merck & Co., Inc. will announce its Q1 2024 earnings next Thursday, April 25. Analysts’ consensus opinion is that earnings per share will be about $1.99 on a normalized basis, or $1.87 on a GAAP basis, on revenues of ~$15.2 billion….

Big pharma is generally regarded as a strong sector for investment, with most companies driving wide profit margins — my calculated average net profit margin of the world’s 15 biggest pharma companies is 19% — paying handsome dividends — my calculated average dividend yield is ~3.1% — and delivering solid, S&P-beating share price / trading returns….

Onward — to a wonderful Spring weekend! Be excellent to one another….

नमस्ते

[U: He Has Died.] Truly Sad. Nuthin’ More To Say About It.

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Who knows… how a man’s mind gets… broken?

We will likely never know where he lost touch with reality.

But it is not a bridge too far — to suggest many of Tangerine’s acolytes… to varying degrees — have also lost touch with objective, rational, reality.

Still this is immensely sad. I hope he pulls through, but it seems unlikely at this point.

Update: by 10:30 pm EDT on the same day, he had succumbed to his self-inflicted burn injuries. Hard to understand.

Onward.

A Slow Motion… Heart-Break? Seems Likely — Of Pluto, And The Surprising Findings From Nine Years Ago…

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I’ll have more later, but I wanted to get this one right out (in case union labor law isn’t doing it for you, this noon-time!).

There’s a very elegant, graceful explanation for how Pluto came to show a vast heart shape — on its lower surface (as imaged in New Horizon’s flyby of 2015). Get this:

…Now, researchers believe they’ve uncovered the origin of this cosmic Valentine. The heart, they report today (April 15) in the journal Nature Astronomy, was formed in a slow-motion, glancing collision with an icy rock wider than [Tennessee] is long.

The researchers determined this scenario by using computer models to simulate the impacts on Pluto’s surface and the resulting formations. Pluto’s heart, scientifically known as Tombaugh Regio, gets its light coloration from nitrogen ice. Impacts between icy bodies in the far reaches of the solar system aren’t like those closer to the sun, said study co-author Erik Asphaug, a professor at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory….

Led by Martin Jutzi, a senior researcher at the University of Bern in Switzerland, the team used a simulation method called smoothed particle hydrodynamics to test various angles of collision and sizes of impactors to learn which dynamics would lead to the formation of Sputnik Planitia, the western portion of Pluto’s heart. This roughly 800-square-mile (2,000 square kilometers) region sits about 2.5 miles (4 km) lower than its surroundings….

The icy rock that hit Pluto was probably around 454 miles (730 km) in diameter, the study authors said. Because of Pluto’s icy core, the impact did not melt and liquefy portions of the planet as might happen in an impact in warmer climes, allowing the impacting body to sink into the planet’s core.

Instead, the impactor likely flattened on Pluto’s surface. Even now, it may sit just under the smooth nitrogen ice that covers Sputnik Planitia….

We covered it, back then — mostly whimsically — but now we know the planetary science origins of such a strikingly beautiful feature: A long-lived, subtle heart-ache — from a slow motion collision that long ago went… awry. Poetic, indeed.

नमस्ते

Labor Matters, On A Friday: Not Since The Late-1940s, Has A Union Won Any Industrial Plant Election, South Of The Mason-Dixon Line…

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But it is very likely to happen tonight, around 11 pm EDT — in Chattanooga, Tennessee… the United Auto Workers will have voted to unionize the VW America plant there.

Since we have been following the resurgence of workers’ rights — and the new teeth accorded to NLRB decisions, for about five years here — largely at Amazon, but also at Starbucks and a few other shops… I thought it important to point to the larger narrative: for over three decades, larger employers have been increasingly unfair to their blue collar workforces. With almost no push back, in evidence.

Well… that time has now likely ended. The UAW may not be perfect, but it is certain that something was needed — to counter the highly unequal bargaining power, and bully-tactics, of the German carmaker, in the Volunteer State. Auto-makers (including Tesla, obviously) should take heed: the time of Draconian “workshop rules” (which, in Tesla’s case — nearly amount to patriarchal / thought policing) is (once again) coming to an end. Here’s the latest, from Reuters:

…The United Auto Workers is counting on scoring a seismic victory at Volkswagen’s Tennessee plant as unionization votes are tallied on Friday – one that opens up the anti-union U.S. South to organized labor.

A win would make the Chattanooga factory the first auto plant in the South to unionize via election since the 1940s and the first foreign-owned auto plant in the South to do so.

[The UAW is presently attempting] to unionize plants owned by more than a dozen automakers across the U.S., including Tesla….

Federal officials from the National Labor Relations Board on Friday evening will start the counting of ballots after three days of voting ends, with results expected around 11 p.m. Eastern Time (0300 GMT).

“Everybody else is watching,” said Isaac Meadows, a worker at the VW plant, who said he voted in support of the union. “This is going to change the labor landscape across the country….”

And real wage levels — ones upon which a normal American family might actually afford health care, and a modest home… shall return, in the process. Or so I am hoping. Onward, into the sunshine!

नमस्ते