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[U] I Do NOT Intend To Cover Much More Of This, As It Is… Preposterous. But Tangerine Is Going To Lose In NY Frauds Trial.

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Updated, Monday afternoon: Now Hinderaker admits what we all long knew: Tangerine’s bellicose style is absolutely killing his chances — in the court of law. Gee — I wonder how much traction the GOP is going to be able to generate with a convict as their nominee. Trump thinks this is all just theater. I suspect independent voters will see him as the cheat and fraud and soon-to-felon he undoubtedly is. Hmm… in any event, should be good theater. End, updates.

As we all are painfully aware, Tangerine is under oath today, in NY state level court — trying to defend his actions in the $250 million of financial frauds case brought by NY AG Letitia James.

And, zero surprise — it is an act of… self-immolation. Here’s a bit of The Guardian’s (UK) live blogging:

“…Mr. Kise [Trump trial counsel], that was a simple yes or no question,” [NY State Judge] Engoron said.

“The question was whether he believed that was an accurate number. We got another speech.”

Engoron threatened to boot Trump from proceedings and urged Kise to control his client or else.

“If you can’t, I will. I will excuse him and draw every [permissible] negative inference….”

Kise said that it was only right for Engoron to hear Trump out.

“No, I do not want to hear everything that he has to say,” said Engoron with increasing annoyance. “He has a lot to say that has nothing to do with the case or the questions.” [Ed. Note: Clearly the able judge has the right — and the obligation — to control his courtroom, and his proceedings. Only Tangerine’s moron lawyers don’t seem to grasp this fact. The judge could jail him overnight, to impress upon the witness his duty to directly answer questions. He likely won’t though.]

“I would urge the court to take in all the questions,” Kise pushed back. “This is a situation where you have, on the stand, [a witness who is] a candidate for president of the United States.”

Kise then invoked Trump’s campaign, saying of the testimony that: “Having him here takes away from that effort.”

Another Trump attorney, Alina Habba, voiced opposition. Engoron eventually told them “sit down already….”

When questioning resumed, Trump grumbled: “This is a very unfair trial… and I hope the public is watching….”

Sheesh. We are. And you are an insufferable buffoon, man.

And (while I’m at it)… any purported polling in swing states, here a year out… is less than meaningless. [Perhaps never in the history of the nation is any one candidate more likely to be a convicted felon, by next November. Jailed, even perhaps.]

More broadly, there has never been a candidate whose fortunes may/will change so radically, in under 11 months, due entirely to factors he no longer has any meaningful control over.

His ship — on all this sailed three years ago, now — and in the case of NY State, at least a decade ago. In addition, no polling takes into accout the millions of votes Mr. Kennedy will ultimately siphon away from Trump, primarily.

So, never in the history of the world… have polls taken more than a year out, held less predictive value. Out, grinning….

नमस्ते

Mirengoff: Dumb, And Dumber — About 2024.

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So… we are now exactly a year away from the next Presidential election.

And both the NYT and Paul are bleating — about a single poll covering five states.

Each of their tellings suffer from a form of delusional fanaticism.

Perhaps never in the history of the nation is any one candidate more likely to be a convicted felon, by next November. Jailed, even perhaps.

More broadly, there has never been a candidate whose fortunes may well change so radically, in under 11 months, due entirely to factors he no longer has any meaningful control over.

His ship — on all this sailed three years ago, now — and in the case of NY State, at least a decade ago.

So, never in the history of the world have polls taken more than a year out meant… less.

More than that, assuming the GOP does not nominate Tangerine (still a very real possibility if he’s a felony convict by July 2024) — he will certainly kill the GOP by running third party. You know he will.

And… the poll takes no account of the millions and millions of votes Kennedy is likely to siphon off of Tangerine. So… it is less than meaningless, at this point.

Hilarious. But go ahead — sell your faux drama, boys.

Me? I’ll look in on it all, again — at about September 2024.

Cheers.

[U, X2] Hinderaker Forgets Over 2,300 Years Of History — Blood Is On The Hands Of All, In Gaza For Generations Upon Generations…

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As we’ve written repeatedly, what Hamas did on October 7… will live in infamy. It was an abomination — not war, so much as a pure act of terrorism — a terrorist attack.

But that said, it also did not occur in a vacuum — and certainly not solely in the “history of the world started yesterday” re-telling that Hinderaker’s tiny intellect offers — day after day.

Updated: late Sunday night, Hinderaker again doubles down on his myopic, stilted and thus largely false tellings.

I am already making too much of this (apparently, to John, rather subtle) point — but the only place Hinderaker, Mirengoff, Hayward and Johnson would lead the world, or would have it respond… would be to a place where… we are all blinded.

Blinded — by plucking out each others’ eyes.

Here endeth the sermon.

But seriously, John — easy to scream murder when you have… exactly zero skin in the game.

The “Nationwide Sick-Out / Walkout” By Pharmacists — Working At The Largest Chain Drugstores… Was Largely Ineffectual.

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Please do not misunderstand. I completely agree with the view the organizers of “Pharmageddon” expressed: the largest retail chain drugstores treat their generally excellent and well-trained pharmacists… abysmally.

And something needs to be done, as the mega-chains report record profits, and the professionals are treated like chattels. But a voluntary three day walkout, without a union at all — is of little moment.

Perhaps what is needed, is a true Amazon / Chris Smalls organizing drive at CVS and Wags and (the likely disappearing) Rite-Aid (the latter now filing bankruptcy over its opioids debacle). Here’s at least one assessment of the week’s events:

…CVS Health Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance on Wednesday said that a work action by some U.S. pharmacists this week had minimal impact on operations, with most stores remaining open. CVS Chief Executive Karen Lynch said in an interview that employees had called in sick at a few stores this week, but there were no store closures or disruptions to shifts due to the action. The company has about 30,000 pharmacists across stores and operates over 9,000 retail locations….

It would seem that the time of unionizing… is returning — after decades of excess, from fecklessly vengeful middle managements, not yet born when the labor actions of the the 1940s reshaped American working life. [This appears here and at the Tesla site because Elon Musk is chief among those feckless managements.] But ignorance here is no excuse. Onward.

नमस्ते

The NASA Asteroid Imaging Mission Called “Lucy” Tested Her High Speed Cams This Week, On A Lil’ Rock Called Dinkinesh — We Await Imagery!

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As we’d mentioned in January of 2023, the ultimate targets of this mission are many millions more miles, and years of travel off… but this test was needed.

The craft will have imaged something much smaller, in a much shorter duration “whiz-by“… with cameras designed for the task. That way any adjustments can be made, if needed, prior to actual science ops.

And while we wait a week for the actual downloads, that day we mentioned in January has now arrived, here in November. Here is the story, from the ops. team at NASA:

…The Lucy operations team has confirmed that NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has phoned home after its encounter with the small main belt asteroid, Dinkinesh. Based on the information received, the team has determined that the spacecraft is in good health and the team has commanded the spacecraft to start downlinking the data collected during the encounter. It will take up to a week for all the data collected during the encounter to be downlinked to Earth. . . .

[Earlier blog entry: Lucy’s] first close up look at the small inner-main belt asteroid, Dinkinesh [occurred this week]. Dinkinesh is 10 to 100 times smaller than the Jupiter Trojan asteroids that are the mission’s main targets. The Dinkinesh encounter serves as a first in-flight test of the spacecraft’s terminal tracking system.

Lucy’s closest approach [came] on November 1, at 12:54 p.m. EDT (16:54 UTC) at a distance within 270 miles (430 km) of Dinkinesh. However, there [wasn’t] much time to observe the asteroid at this distance as Lucy sped past at 10,000 mph (4.5 km/s)….

Onward… grinning into a perfect “fall back” sunny Sunday morning — the extra pillow time is always… welcome!

नमस्ते

Why Mr. Kennedy Should Not Be Allowed To “Line Jump” — To The Supremes…

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We earlier mentioned that Mr. Kennedy is just a citizen, as to this suit — despite his dreams of being a candidate for 1600 Penn. So, he is bound by all the usual rules of restraint, the ones that curtail random citizens from “hopping into” US Supreme Court cases, to which they are NOT a party.

The government has filed its opposition to Mr. Kennedy’s attempt to “cut the line.” It is plainly correct on the law. If Kennedy has views to offer, he may do so via an amicus brief. Thats where this will end. He will not be a party to this case, on the loony ruling out of Monroe, Louisiana’s USDC Judge Doughty. Here’s that sensible filing, and a bit of it:

…Before filing that suit, two of the three movants (Kennedy and CHD) had sought to intervene in this case for the limited purpose of accessing discovery. See D. Ct. Doc. 118 (Nov. 17, 2022). The district court denied that motion….

In granting consolidation, the [trial] court stated that it “will not rule on the preliminary injunction in Kennedy v. Biden until after a ruling by the Fifth Circuit and/or the Supreme Court of the United States on the preliminary injunction in [this case]; that will keep the consolidation from complicating the matter on appeal and will likely result in a more streamlined resolution of the preliminary injunction in Kennedy v. Biden….”

[N]onparties [like Kennedy] with an interest in the precedent that will be set by this Court’s decision in a pending case present their views by participating as amici curiae: “The obvious alternative for one who desires to intervene in a pending Supreme Court proceeding is to seek to file an amicus curiae brief.” Supreme Court Practice Ch. 6.16(c), at 6-63. Movants themselves have already done just that during the emergency stay proceedings. See Kennedy Pls.’ Amici Br. in Opp. to Stay (filed Sept. 20, 2023). They are free to participate as amici curiae again at the merits stage….

Now you know. Smiling — ever… smiling. It’s been a great weekend, despite the Buffs losing (again). Heh. Onward.

नमस्ते

This Past Week, Merck Saw Another Approval — This Time In Biliary Tract Cancers… For Keytruda®.

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The good news train just keeps chugging along, out of FDA — for the immuno-oncology franchise anchored in pembrolizumab at Rahway, NJ.

During the past week, FDA approved another indication in the $22 billion a year franchise’s target markets. Here’s the press release from Merck, and a bit:

…[T]he U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic biliary tract cancer (BTC).

The approval was based on results from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-966 trial, in which KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the study’s primary endpoint of overall survival (OS), reducing the risk of death by 17% (HR=0.83 [95% CI, 0.72-0.95]; one-sided p=0.0034) compared to chemotherapy alone at the trial’s pre-specified final analysis for OS. Median OS was 12.7 months (95% CI, 11.5-13.6) for KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy versus 10.9 months (95% CI, 9.9-11.6) for chemotherapy alone. This approval marks the sixth indication for KEYTRUDA in gastrointestinal cancers….

As ever, quite impressive (it should yield a minimum of two additional good months, over existing chemo- alone — for a cancer patient). Who would have guessed that just twelve birthdays / trips around the Sun ago, while Merck was still foundering in the fallout of the Vytorin® / cholesterol management joint venture with by then disappearing Schering Plough… a market transformingly new and extremely effective cancer therapy would come out of what was then Whitehouse Station?

How things change — Merck was struggling to reach $40 a share on the NYSE then. Now? Over $100, indeed. Grinning, to the south and east — in the sunshine.

नमस्ते

There Is NO Right To Threaten Felony Witnesses — NONE.

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The DC Circuit will see expedited briefing, and a speedy oral argument on USDC Judge Chutkan’s gag order against Tangerine — after Abigail Jo Shyr threatened to kill the judge — when urged on by Tangerine via his social media postings.

That argument will be on November 20, 2023.

Expect a ruling within a day or two after that.

No matter what office a candidate claims to be running for, he may not lawfully threaten witnesses after he’s been indicted for felonies (as here, in four separate court rooms).

That is crystal clear, under more than a century of black letter law. His right to speak must yield to the criminal process rights of the public.

The end.

Closing Out: The Taxpayers Of Tennessee Have Shelled Out $150,000 — Due To The Unlawful Firing Of A State MD Who Offered Legal Rights Advice To Teens, About COVID-19 Vaccines…

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We covered her firing in real time in 2021 — when the Governor of Tennessee (GOP) refused to let science rule the planning and implementation of a Tennessee Department of Health roll-out to combat the pandemic. [Specifically, the state fired her for correctly advising teens over the age of 14 that under applicable federal law, they did not need their parents’ consent to get a vaccine dose. Life-saving advice, that.]

Here, about two and a quarter years later, she has seen a settlement of her wrongful termination claims. This costs the taxpayers of Tennessee — for their government’s feckless flat-Earth approach to vaccine science. Here’s a bit from NPR, back then — and the full settlement agreement:

…Dr. Michelle Fiscus was caught up in a controversy after she passed along legal guidance to health providers saying teenagers do not need parents’ consent to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot — a position established by decades of state law. Fiscus was named medical director of Tennessee’s immunization program in early 2019. Later that same year, she was elected to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ board of directors as a district chair, representing five states….

“Specifically, it was MY job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19,” Fiscus said in a scathing statement about her firing. “I have now been terminated for doing exactly that….”

Fiscus said that “the ‘leaders’ of this state who have put their heads in the sand and denied the existence of COVID-19 or who thought they knew better than the scientists who have spent their lives working to prevent disease… they are what is ‘reprehensible.’ I am ashamed of them. I am afraid for my state….

As we said in July of 2021 — If she sues, she will win her job back. [She has seen a settlement.] She simply provided accurate medical information and disclosed, as allowed by existing law, what teens’ rights are in the USA — with the objective of educating vulnerable teens, about their right to protect themselves. Crazy, that firing.

Finally now, the 2021 injustice is… undone (though the defamatory nature of the 2021 firing cannot be put back in the bottle — the Genie is out, on that). So the least we can do is run this, to repair her reputation. She is a fine scientist. Onward, with a baby girls’ sleep-ova’ tonight! Woot….

नमस्ते