Category: Uncategorized

In Which Tangerine Tries — And Fails! — To Morph A Federal Defamation Damages Trial… Into [UN-]Reality Tee-Vee… YAWN.

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Marcy Wheeler does a much better job at this than I ever might… in 100 lifetimes.

And she dashes ’em off, three or four a day — for two decades running now.

Do go read all of her stuff.

It is Trump and rule of law focused for the last 6 years, but goes back to 2000 or earlier, on Bush/Cheney, torture and the misuse of the Patriot Act.

This morning, she’s ably pointed out that Tangerine thinks insulting a USDC Judge — and a hard-boiled Manhattan one, at that… will help his fading political chances.

As Dr. Wheeler mentions — it is almost certainly just… multiplying the damages the NYC jury will award E. Jean Carroll.

Do go read all of hers, here.

Smiling — onward.

Hinderaker’s Whining Is Deadly… Boring.

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John Hinderaker — an embittered, mediocre old whyte dude (who had seen his entire career benefited at exclusionary clubs, and other forms of plainly unearned privilege)… wants to believe (in silly fashion) that a few red states acting alone can stop federal, and plainly constitutional efforts to make sure … everyone gets a chance at the privileges he reaped at Dartmouth, and later… at Harvard.

But he knows that state house approach is a dead letter; so instead he simply grinds his ax — on the wedge issue he imagines he’d found.

What a petulant… loser he is.

“Something… Wasteful, And STUPID… This Way Comes.” En Banc Rehearing In Fifth Cir., Scheduled For May 2024 For US v. Abbott.

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Apparently, this is a political decision… to run out the clock in the vain hope that Tangerine might re-take 1600 Penn. Nothing more.

This afternoon, the full Fifth Circuit voted to rehear the Eagle Pass WATER Razor Wire case, and vacated the prior order (favorable to the Biden Administration) that sent it to the Supremes. The Supremes may still decide that clear federal law favors Mr. Biden, and that would moot this dumb, wasteful grand-standing BS. Texas has no right to impede federal waterways. NONE.

Here’s the nonsense just entered:

…Per Curiam:

A member of the court having requested a poll on the petition for rehearing en banc, and a majority of the circuit judges in regular active service and not disqualified having voted in favor, to hear this case en banc,

IT IS ORDERED that this cause shall be reheard by the court en banc with oral argument on a date hereafter to be fixed. The Clerk will specify a briefing schedule for the filing of supplemental briefs. Pursuant to Fifth Circuit Rule 41.3, the panel opinion in this case dated December 01, 2023, is VACATED….

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

Gee it must be an election year in the Ruby Red Fifth Circuit. Yup. 2024.

Fun, But Plainly Unvetted, Unverified RANK Speculation, In The MSM — About What The Latest Gen Space ‘Scope May Already Have Documented At K2-18 b…

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It is only about 120 light years away — and is about nine times larger than Earth, but like Earth is mostly a liquid water planet.

Being so close (relatively speaking, of course — being “only” 120 years away, when travelling at the speed of light!) allows very precise readings of the spectrum of its atmosphere, as it transits its host star. And that, as we reported in real time last year, had some tantalizing clues. But that is all they are — as we say in the law, there… is only circumstantial evidence. [Which is pretty close to saying… no evidence at all.] Here’s the hype machine on it though — and, fun to think about, on a frigid day against the fifth largest fresh water body — on our own planet:

…The hype, elevated by the near-mythic capabilities of the James Webb, stems from the telescope’s detection of a potential biosignature on the exoplanet K2-18 b last year, a suspected ocean world around 8.6 times more massive than Earth and approximately 120 light years away….

That’s a huge clue that this “Hyacean” world — one with oceans and a hydrogen-rich atmosphere — is potentially home to life. Even better, the exoplanet lies in its star’s habitable or “Goldilocks” zone, meaning the surface is neither too hot nor too cold for life as we know it….

But the evidence, as Colón said, isn’t definitive. More observations, perhaps with entirely new instruments, will be needed to confirm the detection. Moreover, it’s possible that dimethyl sulfide can be produced without life. Understandably, scientists don’t want to jump the gun….

All those caveats aside, it hasn’t stopped many in the community from being hopeful.

“I think we are going to get a paper that has strong evidence for a biosignature on an exoplanet very, very soon,” said Rebecca Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford, as quoted by The Spectator….

Now you know. Smiling into a warming trend — positive numbers on the thermometer, until Friday night now, then another sub-zero plunge for about 30 hours — and more new snow. So it… goes.

नमस्ते

Power Alley: Excellent FiercePharma Analysis Of FDA’s Emerging Approval Calculus… And An Immaterial Merck Win, For Keytruda, In Cervical Cancers…

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When a patient has reached stage four, in cervical cancer, the oncologist is likely to try just about any combo — experimentally — if the patient consents, and most do. So this approval largely just codifies reimbursement from insurers for that already existing (and fairly smallish) patient population. Immaterial, to Merck — so I didn’t cover it yesterday.

What bears close reading, and further thinking, is FiercePharma‘s very fine reading / parsing of FDA’s now steeping tea leaves, as to approvals — generally.

That is, FDA increasing looks to see clear benefit in subgroups, before granting broad label approvals or expansions. By that light, Merck’s Keynote-A18 study was… underwhelming. In time, the longer term data may support additional label expansion, to earlier stages of cervical cancer… but for now, the approval is smallish and narrow. Do read every word of this, at the link, if these matters are of more than passing interest to you, or your loved ones:

…Thanks to a new FDA nod, Merck’s Keytruda is the first PD-1 drug to be approved in combination with chemoradiotherapy to treat patients with stage 3 to 4a cervical cancer, the New Jersey pharma giant said Friday. This marks Keytruda’s 39th indication in the U.S.

The approval, however, was narrower than expected. It came on the back of results from the Keynote-A18 trial, which showed a tumor progression benefit for the Keytruda-chemoradiation regimen in a broader patient population with earlier-stage cervical cancer….

Keynote-A18 tested the Keytruda combo in patients whose cancer was as early as stage 1b2. Among the entire trial population, adding Keytruda to chemoradiotherapy slashed the risk of progression or death by 30%.

But the progression-free survival benefit was markedly more pronounced in those with stage 3 to 4a disease, the approved FDA indication, where Keytruda’s addition was associated with a 41% improvement in the trial endpoint. In those with stage 1b2 to 2b disease, the benefit was just 9%, according to data presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology annual meeting in October….

The imperfect nod for Keytruda tracks with an emerging trend from the FDA’s oncology department, which is increasingly looking for patient subgroups who didn’t benefit from large, inclusive trials. Drug companies often find that their strategy of asserting a statistically powered, overall trial win to seek a broad label—despite weak subgroup performances—no longer works with the FDA….

Indeed. That is a piercing insight. Well done, by the dogged journalists at Fierce — and onward.

नमस्ते

Ackman And Johnson… Fail To Account For — Or Even Mention — The Effect On GOP Of NOT Nominating Tangerine…

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Because a relative of Scott’s is the preferred Democrat / stealth neo-con being shoved forward by billionaire Bill Ackman… Scott pulls all his punches in this one.

Y A W N.

But it won’t matter. None of Ackman’s moves will change anything.

That young man has zero chance of reaching the general, and if Ackman quixotically pays for a third party bid by the young man, he is as likely to siphon votes away from the GOP, as Democrats. Either way the GOP loses, and loses big.

So this entire post… is naught but bird cage liner, from Scott Johnson.

No, Trump will be the GOP nominee, almost certainly. And he will lose to Mr. Biden.

Oddly, had Nikki Haley won in Iowa, the GOP might have had a chance here — of convincing Trump to move quietly off stage, right. But no more. He says he believes his god chose him — to sexually assault a long string of younger women, steal from tax- and banking- authorities in NY and foment insurrection, in DC… all before stealing top secret US property and stuffing it in a bathroom in Florida club… where any guest might read or steal it all.

That sounds more like a demon’s choice — than some bearded old whyte dude in flowing robes, to me. Oh… well.

Out.

Mirengoff Complains About NYT Coverage Of Iowa — Because The “Win” Is Essentially… Meaningless.

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Paul is so… precious.

He well knows that he and the other GOOPERS face an increasingly dire prisoners’ dilemma: the chances of a Trump win in the general almost completely evaporate if he is barred from the ballot in two or more states, and under indictment (or convicted) on several felonies by November. The math says he CANNOT win.

So Paul churlishly deflects, to complain about how the Times describes this possibility.

And he makes no mention of what happens if the normie GOP does not nominate Trump: we all know he runs a third party campaign, solely to scorch the Earth. And again the GOP loses.

So… what’s not to like, as a thinking voter?

Yep — Paul is… precious.

Out.

Now Bill Otis (Like Mirengoff, Earlier!) Wants To Return To Hammurabi’s Code Of Justice, As Well. Y A W N.

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Bill Otis was once a hard-ass, hard-right prosecutor, we are told… many, many decades ago. Like in Reagan’s “zero tolerance” for non-violent drug offenders’ era. He was an AUSA.

He doubtless put hundreds of peaceful old hippies, pot heads, mostly… away in federal prisons for decades. Sure they broke a law. But he and his buddies regularly would not bargain for anything short of the max, on any case involving drugs… because… Nan Reagan “Just Say No!”… or sumthin’.

So you’ll forgive me… if I look askance at his now decades out of date view of (a plainly racially discriminatory) criminal justice / prison industrial complex system — even at the federal level.

They both are willfully blind to racial disparities — and the need for productive members of society, once an incarcerated person has paid their debt in full (whether Paul or Bill disagrees with the sentencing judge, or not).

They complain about immigration, but in part we need immigrants in the labor force, precisely because we’ve locked so many young men (primarily Brown and Black men) up for countless decades. If we’d address this for non-violent offenders, in a meaningful way… perhaps I could see an argument for reducing immigration… but at the moment, the nation’s economy is being slowed (in no small part) by a lack of available labor, in ordinary jobs.

You could look it up, boys.

Out.

Hinderaker Goes Full-On “QAnon” Tonight, Re Convicted And Sentenced J6 Oath Keepers.

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Here is John’s loony conspiracy theory.

The evidence was overwhelming — literally… mountains of it.

But John claims some slapped together, edited video snippets, many missing time stamps… mean that the J6 Oath Keepers were wrongly convicted.

Poppycock.

To make astonishing claims, one ought to have astonishingly-excellent evidence, especially post trial and conviction by a jury of peers. In federal court. But all of Rhodes’ arguments… were (to put it charitably) completely bat-sh!t crazy.

This isn’t (even if genuine, and accurately pieced together) even a tiny pimple — on the backside of the prosecution. There are literally hundreds of other bases for conviction.

What a insufferable ass that Hinderaker is — in trying to foment violent dissent among Tangerine’s loons, here.

Out.

Gov. Abbott Is Intentionally Allowing Babies And Women To Drown, At Eagle Pass, Texas. He Is… Preventing Them From Being Rescued By CBP & DHS…

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Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is now… literally indelibly stained, with the blood of drowned babies and women at Eagle Pass, along the Rio Grande in Texas. The temperatures were in single digits along that stretch in the evenings of King Weekend, 2024. What is normally a brisk but crossable river… became a death trap if one cannot swim very swiftly — a distance of over 250 yards, due to the plunging temps.

So… the responsible federal CBP and DHS agents just swore out an affidavit in front of the United States Supreme Court to that effect, this afternoon. And Texas delights in these… killings.

It would be difficult to overstate the depravity at work here, by Texas. Gov. Abbott has apparently ordered his Texas agents to ignore the terms of both a district court’s, and the Fifth Circuit’s orders. CBP is to be granted access, unfettered, in “emergency situations” under both those orders. But Texas State Guard supervisors are explicitly prevented from complying with the federal court orders. This case warrants a summary dissolution of the prior injunctions.

Not only is Gov. Abbott directly ignoring the exclusive federal jurisdiction for border matters, he is intentionally killing would be asylum seekers. So it is, that the Mexican government has had to alert its federal counterparts, rather than the Texas State Troopers, due to non-cooperation by Texas, with their federal betters. Here is the latest sworn pleading from the federal agencies (and Abbott will have much to explain, to his maker… when he seeks entrance at the pearly gates — as he has claimed he believes in such things):

…On January 12, 2024, at approximately 9:00 p.m., Mexican officials advised Border Patrol of two migrants in distress on the U.S. side of the river in the area near the Shelby Park boat ramp. App., infra, 2a. Mexican officials also informed Border Patrol that three migrants — one woman and two children — had drowned at approximately 8:00 p.m. in the same area….

[A] Supervisory [federal] Border Patrol Agent went to the Shelby Park entrance gate and informed the guardsmen from the Texas National Guard stationed there of the drowned migrants and the migrants in distress. Ibid. Speaking through the closed gate, the guardsmen refused to let the Acting Supervisor enter because they had been ordered not to allow Border Patrol access to the park. Id. at 2a3a. The Acting Supervisor requested to speak with the guardsmen’s supervisor to relay the seriousness of the situation. Id. at 3a. The guardsmen at the gate called the Texas National Guard Staff Sergeant on speakerphone. Ibid. The Border Patrol Acting Supervisor again explained the situation, but the Staff Sergeant likewise denied the Acting Supervisor access, conveying that Border Patrol was not permitted to enter the area “even in emergency situations.” Ibid. Instead, the Staff Sergeant sent Texas guardsmen to investigate….

The following day [January 13, 2024], Mexican officials confirmed to Border Patrol that the two migrants who Mexican officials had reported were in distress on the U.S. side had attempted to return to Mexico and were rescued by a Mexican government airboat while suffering from hypothermia. App., infra, 3a. Mexican officials also confirmed that they had recovered the bodies of the three drowned migrants and had rescued two additional migrants who had attempted to cross that night….

I am utterly disgusted by the MAGA wing of the GOP — and by the “normie” GOP… which will do nothing to end this fascists’ reign of terror in Texas, and increasingly — in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, as well.

It is past time for the Supremes to act. Else, this blood is on their hands, as well.

Onward resolutely, just the same.

नमस्ते