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Why Did A Magnetar In The Milky Way Rapidly Decelerate — And Emit FRBs — Then Reaccelerate?

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As I often remark — we are privileged to live in an age when deep space is yielding its secrets to us.

This one, however (with green lines depicting magnetic waves, at right)… will be a puzzle, for just a while longer: why did this magnetar rapidly slow its rotation, emit a wildly-high energy fast radio burst, and then immediately reaccelerate? Its surface revolves at about 7,000 miles an hour, making a complete rotation about every three seconds.

Here’s the Valentine’s mystery — from NASA, tonight:

…[M]agnetars (which are a type of neutron star) are so dense that a teaspoon of their material would weigh about a billion tons on Earth. Such a high density also means a strong gravitational pull: A marshmallow falling onto a typical neutron star would impact with the force of an early atomic bomb.

The strong gravity means the surface of a magnetar is a volatile place, regularly releasing bursts of X-rays and higher-energy light. Before the fast radio burst that occurred in 2022, the magnetar started releasing eruptions of X-rays and gamma rays (even more energetic wavelengths of light)….

[T]he exterior of a magnetar is solid, and the high density crushes the interior into a state called a superfluid. Occasionally, the two can get out of sync, like water sloshing around inside a spinning fishbowl. When this happens, the fluid can deliver energy to the crust. The paper authors think this is likely what caused both glitches that bookended the fast radio burst….

Anyone wish to hazard a guess / theory? Anyone? Bueller? Smile. . . .

US Special Counsel Jack Smith Forcefully Explains Tonight… Why “We The People” Have A Right To See Tangerine’s J6 Trial Conducted Promptly.

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This is an excellent 40 page primer — on all that’s wrong with Tangerine’s unhinged claims to avoid, or even delay, his DC trial on insurrection felonies.

Do read it all — that’s my advice. This (like the Nixon Watergate matter) will be taught in US History classes, in the decades ahead. And it will come out the way Nixon’s did; but Tangerine will likely be… jailed, or at least a felon… in the end. See:

…[This Supreme Court must be mindful of] the serious harm to the government — and to the public — of postponing the resolution of the criminal charges against applicant outweighs [which] outweigh any equities he can assert to preclude further pre-trial proceedings while he seeks certiorari. The thorough opinions of the courts below considering and unanimously rejecting his arguments — and applicant’s failure to point to any Founding Era suggestion of such absolute immunity, any former President making such a claim, or even any scholarly commentary positing such immunity — underscore how remote the possibility is that this Court will agree with his unprecedented legal position….

And the public interest in a prompt trial is at its zenith where, as here, a former President is charged with conspiring to subvert the electoral process so that he could remain in office. The Nation has a compelling interest in seeing the charges brought to trial….

Indeed. We do. It’s time to find out, of what… this Supreme Court is… made.

And — not. so. serious is Trump, John — at least, not in the way you meant it. [He is, though, a serious threat to ordered liberty — to this day.]

नमस्ते

Hinderaker (Once Again!) Claims Section 3 Of The 14th Amendment… Doesn’t Exist… And Other Junk.

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Welp. He’s a delusional old codger, to be certain.

He’s long said that there can be no insurrection without AR-15s on the J6-ers backs. He seems to forget that fists alone have… overthrown governments. And, that the crowd was searching for Mike Pence, inside the Capitol — chanting “hang him!”… but whatever John. Dozens are each doing decades in prison for insurrection, right now.

Reality — it seems — has collided with your… delusions.

But he also today burps about the enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Section 3, by Colorado and Maine. He simply ignores… all constitutional directives that get in the way of his desired insurrectionist’s would-be dictatorship — and then has the nerve to call Democrats… undemocratic for enforcing the Constitution.

Damn son — that’s some… rich irony.

The Contract’s Strict “Fine Print” Terms May Have Allowed It, But The Claim Is That It Was A “Deceptive” Trade Practice — A “Bait And Switch”… I’m Not So Sure.

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Let this serve as my mid-February item on Amazon. As Mr. Bezos upped his one week’s total cash out figure to over $4 billion(!), the company he founded was hit with a federal suit in LA, seeking class action status. The suit claims it is a deceptive trade practice to now charge Prime members for movies the company advertised for years — would be “free”.

The reason I am just a lil’ skeptical of this… is prime-arily (see what I did there?) due to the fact that the company gave almost a year’s prior notice that this change was coming.

Sure, I think it is lousy customer relations, but I am unconvinced that it was unlawful. And true, it advertised the service as “free” — and ad free — movies to build millions of ordinary customers into Prime regulars, for a monthly added fee. But it has given ample advance notice of the change — and users may either opt out, or vote with their feet — en todo. In any event, here’s the story, from the venerable old Hollywood Reporter:

…[W]hen Amazon altered its terms, users who had signed up for annual subscriptions were also impacted. They allege the change is deceptive.

“Subscribers must now pay extra to get something they already paid for,” the complaint states.

In addition to being “unfair,” the suit alleges that Amazon illegally benefited by advertising Prime Video as “commercial-free” for years prior to launching its ad-supported tier, which “harms both consumers and honest competition,” according to the complaint.

The proposed class action seeks at least $5 million and a court order barring Amazon from engaging in further deceptive conduct on behalf of users who subscribed to Prime prior to Dec. 28, 2023. It brings claims for breach of contract, false advertising and unfair competition, among other alleged violations of consumer protection laws in California and Washington.

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission sued the tech giant for allegedly duping consumers into signing up for its Prime service and then impeding them from canceling their subscriptions. The suit argued Amazon employs a “manipulative” and “coercive” interface to trick users into enrolling in automatically renewing subscriptions. It also alleged that many subscribers intended to sign up solely for Prime Video, which is a lower-cost option.

Prime is considered a vital part of Amazon’s retail dominance because it keeps users locked into the company’s marketplace by offering them perks, including access to Prime Video, according to the FTC….

I would also note that Amazon avoided a class action suit a few years ago, when it cut off access to some movies that users had purchased — citing at the time that the studios themselves were changing licensing terms to the wholesalers — here, Amazon. But we will keep an eye on this, just the same.

It does (Bezos’ ~$4 billion in cash outs — while mistreating his customers) put me in mind of the old Voltaire quote: “Verily — the sharp employ the sharp. A man may be by his lawyer, known….” Be excellent to one another, today — and always!

नमस्ते

Won’t Read Too Too Much Into It, But Santos’ Long Island Seat Flips Blue…

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This is sweeter than Valentine’s Godivas….

Ordinarily, I’d let a minor GOP/MAGA player’s US House seat loss, to a Democrat… slide. But not this one… his seat… flipped blue tonight.

That may be a nationwide trend come November, but it may also reflect Santos’ false, and repeated-in-writing, claims to be a direct heir to a Holocaust / survivor legacy (in a substantially Jewish district). His lies were so reprehensible — the vote is likely primarily an explicit rebuke, of him personally.

But the GOP did nothing to terminate his service for over a year… so this could be anti-MAGA voting emerging, as well.

INSANE — that GOP National did nothing about this serial pattern crook, wandering the halls of power in their name, for over a year.

Now… you know. If you live on Long Island, or in Queens, you can be proud tonight, that you forced his departure.

The Powerliners won’t say so, but these are their own chickens — coming home to roost. Update: Scott mentions it, but never assesses, let alone admits to — the fact that Santos “was the Trump BrandTM.” Hilarious.

नमस्ते

A Move In The US House, By One Vote… Is Silly Grandstanding. Zero Actual Meaning.

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Even Hinderaker well-knows… the motion will die in the Senate. There will be no hearings; nothing.

And for this, the taxpayers pay the GOP loons’ salaries and eventual pensions?!

Hilarious.

And hilariously… sad.

There’s far more interesting drama… in the NJ area behemoth facilities / corporate real estate moves, than this.

That’s… truly hilarious. See… below. [Grow up John.]

Yet Another Effort To Repurpose The White Elephant HQ In Kenilworth Gets Underway… “Old Fast Fred”… [Legacy SGP]

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As Fred Hassan was ushered off-stage, about 13 years ago — it became clear that Kenilworth would never be bought by another major pharma player — as a whole. [It was over two million square feet, after all.] So the proposal was to split it up and create “R&D incubators” — but that never got off the ground. So “New Merck” moved back in. Then last year, HQ was moved… W A Y back — to Rahway, under Mr. Davis. [That’s a 1960s throwback move, BTW.]

And so, once again, Onyx and another firm are being tasked with trying to turn Kenilworth into small incubators of R&D, leased to independents… over time. Same old. . . same old. Here’s the story — from 13 years ago, now — from first time around, at legacy Schering-Plough:

…Anonymous said…

The way it was explained to us (1 of the 580 being let go) They are closing every building on site, except one research building that they are dumping the $120 million into, and selling off the rest of the space.

The size of the site will be about 1/4 what it is now. Fred’s old office building will be gone by 2013; a few other buildings are already vacant. That nj.com story makes this seem like a good thing.

January 7, 2011 3:06 PM….

I’d expect about the same level of… non-success, this time around — in all honesty. The real estate needs of big companies are smaller, now — post COVID, and pro- tele-work. Smile — happy V-day, to all. . . .

नमस्ते

I Expect USDC Judge Ezra Will Grant Only A Short Extension, Since We Are Now Reading Of Live-Streamed Armed Vigilante “Hunting Parties” In Del Rio.

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This is a very volatile — and evolving — situatiuon along the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, Texas. Apparently, heavily armed bands of roving vigilantes are selling online access to live-cam streamed “Huntin’ Parties” (per Wired.com) — each night, down there.

Gov. Abbott will be personally liable for any subsequent bloodshed, there — as he is the whole reason these embittered loons are roving about — with AR-15s on their backs. So the able USDC Judge Ezra in San Antonio cannot get a trial and decision entered quickly enough. He will jump on it, we predict. Here’s the latest motion, now that online docket access has been restored this afternoon:

…The United States and Texas request that the Court vacate the current case schedule and order the parties to meet and confer on a new discovery and pretrial schedule….

Several of the deadlines set forth at the January 19 status conference and in the Court’s subsequent orders, see ECF 69, 73, 75, will pass in the near future, including the close of all fact discovery (February 16) and disclosure of expert reports (February 22). Vacating those deadlines would provide certainty regarding the Parties’ obligations until such time as the Parties are able to confer regarding a new schedule and the Court is able to enter an updated scheduling order in light of the Fifth Circuit’s temporary administrative stay and subsequent order denying Texas’s stay motion….

The idea that Texas wants lawless, heavily-armed liquored up bands of dead-enders roving its scrub brush terrain in SUVs at night… is hard to stomach. But here we are. Onward. Who are… these people?!

नमस्ते

In Tuesday Trivia™, We Get A Chuckle Out Of Poorly Thought Out “Investment Advice” — On Merck.

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From time to time, Yahoo’s biz news section runs supposed investment advice columns that frankly look like they are generated by AI over templates, without any human review. This below is one of those. It is laughably… bad.

The claim is that Merck cannot afford to pay its dividend, over time. The further claim is that its return on equity(!) is… poor. Uh-huh.

As we all now well-know, Merck now has the world’s highest revenue drug franchise, in Keytruda®, and is generating a staggering ~$20 billion in operating income, on sales of over $60 billion a year — which deliver over $5.70 a share in EPS. Its dividend is a tiny obligation compared to those earnings. Oh, and it generates free cash flow of over $15 billion (with a “b”!) a year. Hilarious. [This is why Bernie is angry about its pricing hubris, for life-saving medicines.] And so, Yahoo needs some human editors, for this drivel:

…Merck has a three-year median payout ratio as high as 110% meaning that the company is paying a dividend which is beyond its means. The absence of growth in Merck’s earnings therefore, doesn’t come as a surprise. Paying a dividend higher than reported profits is not a sustainable move. That’s a huge risk in our books…. [Ed. Note: Merck intentionally “reports” very low net US profits, to minimize its tax burden. The relevant metric for dividend coverage is free cash flow. See above — not to mention that a dividend is a permissive, not mandatory, payment. Cash here is what matters; and Rahway generates truckloads of it.]

Additionally, Merck has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years [Ed. Note: for over seven decades — but why quibble, right?], which means that the company’s management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 37% over the next three years. As a result, the expected drop in Merck’s payout ratio explains the anticipated rise in the company’s future ROE to 38%, over the same period….

In total, we would have a hard think [Ed. Nota bene: SIC; as in original] before deciding on any investment action concerning Merck. Specifically, it has shown quite an unsatisfactory performance as far as earnings growth is concerned….

In truth, I felt like some fair balance was needed, given how viciously we’ve savaged Mr. Davis’ specious suit prospects — against his largest customer. Smile — onward, to a happy V-Day — for one, and all!

नमस्ते