Category: Uncategorized

SBF Is Cooked — By His Own Cross Ex; While He & Theranos Get Roasted On Simpsons, As Well…

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Sure — it’s a lil’ stale by now. But when the would-be Theranos logo on the ball park is tossed into the abyss… of never-was — and FTX appears, along with MoviePass, Quibi as other misfit toys — I couldn’t stifle my laughter.

The bit about her up and marrying Burns was classic, as well.

See it if you’d like — and I suspect we are reaching the end of the 15 minutes for her… and SBF, in truth. He’ll see the same outcome in about a week or so.

Here’s a bit of a nice review of the episode in SFGate though — do go read it all:

…While the focus on Holmes might seem a bit dated considering her trial ended last year and the tech industry is currently dealing with a surge in layoffs, there are a few strikingly timely scenes.

When “Lifeboat” [the faux-Theranos logo] is removed from a sports stadium, a logo for the bankrupt crypto company “FTX” is shown underneath, then iconography for similarly failed startups “Moviepass” and “Quibi.”

Elon Musk gets a harsher treatment than in his early “Simpsons” appearances: Burns buys Twitter for Persephone [a/k/a Holmes] as a gift, and at a bargain price after the billionaire’s “self-driving Mars rocket crashed into the International Space Station….”

Hilarious. Yes — SBF has fallen right onto his own sword (testifying disastrously, under able cross-examination, yesterday and today), and yes, the wound is… fatal.

Onward — enjoying a snowy, spooky Halloween ’23 now — kids a go go, at the door!

Oddly, Hinderaker Only Approves Of “Amendment One” Rights When Guys Storm The Capitol — And Kill Cops.

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Hinderaker is right, though, about this much: the protesters at the hearings today are mostly very-poorly informed, and do not speak for me.

But I understand their right to be arrested for speaking. You don’t. Okay.

That is a right we all possess — if we are willing to go to jail for disrupting an official proceeding. [Ahem. Speaking / even shouting in a hearing, with a sign… is not… the same as beating a cop until he is unconscious — with a metal flagpole.]

And yes, John — they are likely to be released without bond — and the charges ultimately will amount to a traffic ticket, inside DC.

But let us not forget: you praised the insurrectionists. You’ve written repeatedly that Nancy Pelosi is to blame for 01.06.21 — that she was the reason felony murders occured.

That is. . . utterly. . . insane.

You’ve hinted that these miscreants were wrongly prosecuted — even as Ashli Babbitt lay dead, due to Tangerine’s lawless exhortations.

You cannot see. . . your own bottomless hypocrisy.

And yes, you are… one lost soul.

Out.

[U] Texas Gov. Abbott Poised To Lose, Again — On His Land Based Razor Wire Structures. Feds Have Begun Cutting It Away — Texas Sues. Yawn.

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This is nothing more than a strike suit, by Texas — Gov. Abbott knows he’s already lost this one. It is all over, but the shouting.

There is no doubt that border matters are purely federal in jurisdiction. No role for. . . Texas. So, DHS has been removing dangerous razor wire Gov. Abbott overland as well. Abbott sued — and there will be a hearing next week. Abbott will lose, just as he did, on the Rio Grande. Here’s a bit of the latest, from ABC local:

…”You find actually, a lot of the actual wall structures in Texas are well within U.S. territory. Even for the portion from the international boundary line, up to that wall, anyone standing in that area has equal rights under the law to seek asylum as someone standing north of whatever boundary line,” said Elissa Steglich, a clinical professor and co-director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law….

[A federal border official said] “We do not comment on pending litigation. Generally speaking, Border Patrol agents have a responsibility under federal law to take those who have crossed onto U.S. soil without authorization into custody for processing, as well as to act when there are conditions that put our workforce or migrants at risk….”

[Another federal border official said in September that] “…I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about what Border Patrol agents can and can’t do. We see a lot of a lot of folks say just push people back, just don’t let them cross or send them back immediately. The U.S. Border Patrol is a law enforcement agency, we enforce the laws that are on the books, we don’t have the right, nor should we, to deny somebody due process once they are on American soil… you don’t want a law enforcement agency that goes rogue and doesn’t adhere to those principles….”

Indeed. Do stay tuned… snowing steadily here, for the trick or treaters this evening. Grin.

Updated — at 5 pm EDT: I finally found the filings; the only thing that has happened is a one week stay order (to preserve the status quo), without having heard from any agency of the federal government.

A November 7, 2023 (one week out) hearing will address whether the stay ends, and whether the feds may return to removing the razor wire barrier, on federal border pathways. So, most of the MSM out of Texas is largely mis-reporting the status of the matter. The “order” of yesterday was ex parte — and no adversay filings yet exist. It will all change next week.

नमस्ते

[U] The Guy Who Praised Martin Shkreli’s Price Gouging… Now To Pay DoJ Up To $50 Million, For Gouging Nitro OS At Nostrum Labs. Karma.

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Updated — my buddie, Ed Silverman, over at Pharmalot, has a story on it now as well. Excellent! End update.

Not at all… surprising.

I’ll let the able DoJ staff attorneys explain. See below. But do note that this guy was praising Martin back in the 2018 time frame. That (like SBF running his mouth) now proves to be exceedingly unwise. And cost his shareholders. . . a ton.

…Nostrum Laboratories Inc. (Nostrum), located in Missouri and New Jersey, and its founder and CEO, Nirmal Mulye, Ph.D. (Mulye), have agreed to pay a minimum of $3,825,000, and up to $50 million if certain financial contingencies are met, to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying Medicaid rebates due for Nostrum’s drug Nitrofurantoin Oral Suspension (Nitro OS). The settlement is based on Nostrum’s and Mulye’s financial condition….

Pursuant to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, drug manufacturers are required to pay quarterly rebates to state Medicaid programs in exchange for Medicaid’s coverage of the manufacturers’ drugs. The statute requires manufacturers to pay inflation-based rebates for drugs, which are designed to insulate the Medicaid program from drug price increases that outpace inflation….

After relaunching Nitro OS in August 2018, Nostrum increased its price from $474.75 to $2,392.32 per bottle, which triggered significantly higher Medicaid Drug Rebate invoices from State Medicaid programs on account of the inflation-based rebate….

“The department is committed to ensuring that pharmaceutical manufacturers meet their obligations to taxpayer funded health care programs, which support elderly and vulnerable populations,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “As this settlement demonstrates, the department will hold accountable those who knowingly fail to satisfy these obligations….”

Now you know — yep this is a… snowy, scary Halloween-ey story. Grin. Onward.

नमस्ते

Both Actors’ Equity, And Muslim Con. Law Groups File, As Amici — In The Anti-Drag Case On Appeal In Sixth Cir., Tonight.

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Two more amicus briefs were filed today, to encourage the Sixth Circuit to affirm the trial court in Memphis, in permanently striking the Tennessee version of the anti-drag law enacted this past March. [So this is a status update, while we await an argument date, there.]

Here is one — the Muslim con. law brief, and here is the actors’ union brief, and a bit:

…Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), a labor organization that represents live theatrical actors and stage managers, is devoted to protecting live theatre as an essential component of a thriving civil society and the basis of its members’ livelihoods. Since 1913, Equity has fought to win its members a dignified workplace at the theatre, from pay guarantees and pension and welfare benefits to the rules governing auditions.

With more than 51,000 members across the nation, Equity is among the oldest and largest labor unions in the performing arts in America. Broadway tours of America’s favorite musicals come to Tennessee each year, and approximately 380 Equity members reside in Tennessee, where they can perform in fifteen Equity-affiliated theatres. Preserving the First Amendment right to perform in uncensored, controversial works of art in the public sphere is essential to Equity’s mission. It is in defense of this freedom, and for the reasons set out in this brief, that Equity now urges this Court to affirm the ruling of the district court….

This may mean that no members of the union will be willing to perform in Tennessee for so long as, or if, the law takes effect. We shall see. That would mean no travelling company would visit Nashville, to perform “Wicked”, “The Lion King” or “Hamilton”. That would be an immeasurable loss for all the good people of Tennessee. Damn. Do read both — they are well-argued.

नमस्ते

It MAY Be That Gmail Now Regards The Powerline Boys… As In Violation Of Gmail’s ToS. Delicious!

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This very morning, Scott Johnson notes over “the PA address system” — of a public post, that the gmail server they use for public interactions (forwarded story ideas, tips and feedback) no longer is working, as of last Friday.

They have switched to one with a “5” on the end of the address. Thus, over the last 20 or so years, this is their fifth time, being booted.

I cannot say with any certainty that they were again booted — for repeated terms of service violations, but it does seem likely, with Hinderaker repeatedly calling for the eradication of all Gazans who might… unwillingly, or unwittingly now be harboring members of Hamas.

Could well be.

But in any event, it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of… psychos.

Out.

Intriguing Q.: Will Latest Machine Learning, Mated To CRISPR / Ancient Neanderthal Peptides Extraction… Lead To New Classes Of Antibiotics?

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NPR has a popular science explainer out this morning. And to be fair, any general audience writing on the topic — of necessity — drops a lot of the technical complexity. So too, here — but the central narrative holds up pretty well, from this much earlier paper on the topic generally.

The idea is that the peptides of Neanderthals and Denisovans, now available to us intact, with the advent of better DNA extraction techniques… might offer future pathways to solving our emerging modern DNA’s resistance to many antibiotics. Here’s that entertaining NPR bit — decades off, though it may be:

…”We use a technique called solid phase chemical synthesis, which essentially is like little robots that allow us to make the peptides and they make one amino acid at the time and then they link them in a chain to essentially get your final peptide, which again is a tiny protein,” de la Fuente explains. “And then we expose them to bacteria that we grow in the laboratory and we see whether they’re able to kill clinically relevant bacteria or not.”

They found several peptides that effectively killed bacteria in petri dishes, and tested them in animal models.

“In one of the mouse models, which was a skin infection model, one of the Neanderthal peptides was able to reduce the infection to levels comparable to a standard of care antibiotic called Polymyxin B,” de la Fuente says.

They called it “neanderthalin-1” and, while the peptide itself is not potent enough to be an antibiotic on its own, de la Fuente says he and his team hope to use it and other peptides as templates for further study of anti-microbials….

Now you know — onward to a sunny if cool Halloween kids’ walk this afternoon. Grinning ear to ear, as Jurassic Park like science fiction slowly enters real world petri dishes… what an amazing time to be alive!

नमस्ते

Naturally Arising Nanostructures, Forming In/On Ancient Glass — Made In Rome — Of Pure Egyptian Sand… Some 2,000 Years Ago. “Now You Know” Sunday Dept.

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The shards laid in the mud of the Tiber riverbanks…

They laid there, in endless cycles of drying and wetting, in the fine, mineral rich silt of Rome’s central river.

Likely more than 2,000 years worth.

What has emerged… from this natural process… is a luminescence, like those of fish scales… and it is teaching materials engineers new lessons about how we might make useful optical storage devices, based on the principles there laid down.

Do stay tuned — as there will be much more to this story… in the coming decade. Perhaps even a drive, on your desk top… or alongside your phone.

We shall see. Onward.

नमस्ते

Paul Mirengoff, On Behalf Of Israel, Wants Mr. Biden To Do Everything… The Way Israel Wants. YAWN.

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Sure — I get his advocacy. I too (as I’ve long indicated) have skin in this game.

But two points bear repeating: (1) America’s interests, and thus, Mr. Biden’s (properly understood and faithfully reported) differ (and in some senses, markedly) from those of Israel.

Paul knows it, but he writes of a world where only Israel’s interests should be considered. That’s never going to happen. Not at NATO; not in the EU, Russia, China or the US. It is important to accept reality when making sweeping policy statements, as he has.

(2) Tangerine (in many ways) has precipitated this moment. Saying his actions as 45 “destroyed” ISIS… is a pure prevarication. He emboldened any and all radicals, of all stripes — in openly indicating — around the globe, that under him, US policy was always for sale to the highest monetary bidder. Not the right — but just the… green.

So, Mirengoff simply and knowingly lies when he praises anything Tangerine did in the Middle East. Barely worth mentioning, as it is all so blindingly obvious.

I’ll leave it at that.

Out.

Mr. Mirengoff Won’t Accept That “Eyes, Traded For Eyes” Simply Makes… A World Filled With… The BLIND.

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Again, there was a time — even in war-zones (and especially in wartime) — when the supposed enlightened world adhered to the Geneva Convention.

There was a time.

And truly, Hamas made clear that that time… is nothing to them. Paul is correct in that assessment.

But so too has Israel over the past twenty years — at least from time to (isolated) time. So too (to be fair, clearly) did the US — in Nissour Square, obviously, and elsewhere — in the past 20.

But that does not make Paul right, here.

It makes Mr. Biden’s way… the right one.

All must dial back.

All.

Else, the end game will be… all are blinded men.

Out.