Just a lil’ late to the party, there John.
Tonight Hinderaker wonders if Tucker’s cheese has slid off his cracker.
It has.
More than two decades ago.
Hilarious.
Better late than never, I guess, John.
But… well done, just the same.
Cheers.
Category: Uncategorized
A Second Success, In As Many Weeks: India Launches A Solar-Observing Craft — Called Aditya-L1…
So… there will now be an Indian counterpart, watching the Sun (and NASA’s Parker solar probe, flit about the near vicinity of our home star). Though to be clear, the Indian mission will observe from quite a distance away from Sol… in a largely stationary orbit, as compared to Parker’s dynamic close ellipses. [The latter remains the fastest human made craft… ever.]
This must be quite gratifying, for the fine people of India — and all her diaspora. We are going to keep tabs on this lil’ one, to be certain:
…India launched its first spacecraft dedicated to studying the sun, building on a month of historic successes for the country’s civil space efforts.
The spacecraft, called Aditya-L1, launched from Sriharikota, an island off the Bay of Bengal, at 11:50 a.m. Saturday local time (2:20 am ET). And it’s headed to a parking spot in orbit about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth.
The successful liftoff of Aditya-L1 comes less than two weeks after India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization, made history by landing its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface. The achievement made India only the fourth nation in the world — and the second in the 21st century — to land a vehicle safely on the moon….
We will keep you informed — about this lithe copper clad beauty, indeed. Grinning, out….
नमस्ते
Today, Both “Powerline”, And “Ringside”… Are Retailing Wholly-Discredited Heather Mac Donald Racist Tripe…
So… it is clear that the hard frothy right… is out of “scare” issue fodder.
The anti-climate change stuff is a yawner — and a false one, at that.
So, the two switch to… crime — specifically racial aspects of crime (again, with false premises — and flawed “data”) all supplied by Heather.
Y A W N. As the graphic indicates, we’ve mentioned her lies before. Repeatedly.
But now Bill Otis, in addition to John Hinderaker… is retailing this racist BS — about Oakland.
These poor, old, embittered saps (Heather plainly included here)… are just flat out of any sort of interesting polemic rhetoric.
That much is clear.
Cheers, chuckleheads.
Oral Arguments — Of Only One Half Hour, In Total — On The Tenn. “Law” § 68-33-101 Et Seq. Case, Tomorrow — September 1, 2023.
It is finally time — the bill, as they say… has come due. The patient/physician privilege will be reaffirmed.
Almost certainly — at 3:30 pm Eastern tomorrow in Cincy, thus:
…NOTIFICATION regarding conference details for the video arguments at 3:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Friday, September 1, 2023. ** This is a restricted document. If you are unable to open the attachment, contact [access limited to parties appearing tomorrow]….
Video Argument, 3:30 P.M. Friday, September 1, 2023 — before: Sutton, White, Thapar
23-5600For L.W., et al.: Chase Strangio
Arguing 1st – 10 Minutes
Plaintiffs – AppelleesUnited States of America: Barbara Schwabauer
Arguing 2nd – 5 Minutes
Intervenor – AppelleeFor State of Tennessee: Clark Lassiter Hildabrand
3 Minutes Rebuttal
Defendants – Appellants….
Now you know. The federal law is clear, here — this measure must… fall, if a federal 14th Amendment right still exists at all, as applied to the several states….
नमस्ते
Several More Multinationals’ Drugs And Vaccines Will See Distribution Ending, Inside Russia — As A Result Of Ukraine Sanctions…
New sales of Merck’s Zepatier®, a Hep C juggernaut, will be ending in Russia. To be certain, this won’t fully roll out, until 2025 — and by then, it may be that the Ukraine situation has been resolved, in favor of the people of Ukraine. We shall see — but expect more of this, especially as to drugs/vaccines with alternatives already available in Russia (without regard to the pricing of the competitor therapeutic or vaccine).
Here’s the story — from the excellent inside source called The PharmaLetter:
…MSD has been reducing its portfolio in Russia since 2022, stopping supplying vaccines against chickenpox, measles, rubella and mumps, and the HIV drug raltegravir. MSD said it would focus on supplying life-saving supplies and vaccines for which there are no alternative products or treatments available in the Russian Federation.
Zepatier is used to treat hepatitis C genotypes 1, 3 and 4 in adults. In recent years, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health have given priority to pangenotypic schemes (that is, suitable for any type of virus), which also include AbbVie’s (NYSE: ABBV) Mavyret (glecaprevir/pibrentasvir) and Gilead Sciences’ (Nasdaq: GILD) Epclusa (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir).
Nevertheless, Zepatier is one of the three most popular treatment regimens besides pangenotypic agents. In 2022, the share of this drug in treatment regimens paid for by the state accounted for 19%, in the first half of 2023 – 18% – the Russian Zdravresurs expert group reported….
In April 2023, the Russian drugmaker Promomed received permission to conduct a bioequivalence study of its Zepatier generic.
The end of supplies of Zepatier will not be critical for patients, as there are several more schemes for the first genotype, says Natalia Egorova, an analyst at Zdravresurs….
Now you know — and of course, it is not the fault of Hep C patients and their doctors that Putin and his oligarchs have chosen this lawlessly murderous course. But each of these drugs and vaccines have already seen either generic, or local “in-Russia” equivalents on market, or each will soon.
Out, approaching a long weekend! Grinning….
नमस्ते
Now, Tonight, Mirengoff Doubles Down, On Lies About Dr. King — And Throws In Lies About BHO 44, To Boot!
My erstwhile commenter Greg Tulonen (see prior post) has deftly put the lie to Paul’s BS about MLK, Jr. I’ll leave it at that.
But tonight, I will observe that Paul chooses to highlight quotes from a doughy old whyte guy (of not much note) whose written books on MLK and BHO 44.
And Mirengoff feels it is important to highlight — with a pull-quote no less — what this doughy old whyte guy… tells us HE PERSONALLY KNOWS about BHO’s racial cred, saying Michelle saw him as non-Black / “a creature from another planet” (and how deeply he expresses his absolute certainty, on the subject). Then he offered this — directly — on how Barack might be ALLOWED to identify as Black(!):
“…Barack has the ability to identify himself as Black, not just for the vast majority of American white folks, but for the vast majority of American Black folks who have roots like Dr. King’s or Michelle’s. But both groups know that this is not a representative American Black person. It’s something else….”
Just to reiterate — Paul and Mr. David Garrow are pontificating… on who is allowed / not allowed… to call themselves… BLACK. And both put Mr. Obama in the category of “not allowed” — to be “black” — in their eyes.
Two doughy old whyte guys. Yes. Sure. Damn.
You read that right. This is the very picture of… racism. In the flesh.
Out.
Well — BOTH Of These… Are… Fundamentally… SILLY. Stauffer And Mirengoff.
Paul Mirengoff’s is… easiest. We will take it first. In it — he purports to speak for a civil rights leader (perhaps THE civil rights leader) felled by an assassin’s bullet now 56 years ago. He purports to tell us that… Dr. King would have opposed BLM.
We need not give that even a moment’s thought. The author speaks of nothing he ever knew — or knows.
It is pathetic, actually. And yet so… “on brand“. A privileged older whyte Stanford Law grad telling us what a Black man who died among garbage workers in Memphis 50-some years ago would think? Hard. Pass. Nope. No thanks.
Elizabeth Stauffer (this morning) tries to sell us an eeriely similar a busload of nonsense — about a transparently partisan suit against the NARA, about a vice president’s email accounts… from now almost a decade ago.
How do we know it is a partisan stunt? Because this same strike plaintiff organization never filed suit against not just MISSING Trump emails… and NOT JUST off-grid cell phones he used on J6, AND NOT JUST money he openly stole in perks for the DC hotel he owned while at 1600 Penn… BUT ALSO NEVER FILED SUIT over the top secret documents he PLAINLY… STOLE.
C’mon Bitsy — this is a wildly-amateurish effort, even by your low bar for such BS.
Out.
The Ten Drugs Which Will Be “Mandatorily” Subject To Direct US Government Price Negotiations Include Only One Merck Drug, Diabetes Medicine Januvia.
Merck was the first to sue over the Administration’s plans. . . and in the intervening months, it has been joined by three others. It is noteworthy that no company had more than one drug on the initial list.
And it is noteworthy that not one of them has a generic alternative, despite being on market for at least a decade each. As reported by MSNBC, here are the first ten (more to come — in 2024):
…Eliquis, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb, is used to prevent blood clotting to reduce the risk of stroke.
Jardiance, made by Boehringer Ingelheim, is used to lower blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes.
Xarelto, made by Johnson & Johnson, is used to prevent blood clotting to reduce the risk of stroke.
Januvia, made by Merck, is used to lower blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes.
Farxiga, made by AstraZeneca, is used to treat type 2 diabetes.
Entresto, made by Novartis, is used to treat certain types of heart failure.
Enbrel, made by Amgen, is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Imbruvica, made by AbbVie, is used to treat different types of blood cancers.
Stelara, made by Janssen, is used to treat Crohn’s disease.
Fiasp and NovoLog, insulins made by Novo Nordisk
The 10 medicines accounted for $50.5 billion, or about 20%, of total Part D prescription drug costs from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS.
In 2022 alone, 9 million seniors spent $3.4 billion out of pocket on the 10 drugs, a senior Biden administration official told reporters Tuesday during a call.
Medicare covers roughly 66 million people in the U.S., and 50.5 million patients are currently enrolled in Part D plans, according to health policy research organization KFF.
Nearly 10% of Medicare enrollees ages 65 and older, and 20% of those under 65, report challenges in affording drugs, a senior administration official said Tuesday….
I continue to believe the strike suits will lead to… nothing. Just a rhetorical flourish. Not much more. Onward — we have waited for three decades, and since 1994 (HRC Plan that fell short) more concretely — for this day. Now it finally has arrived. Smile.
नमस्ते
Bill Otis Claims To See “Tea Leaves” That The GOP Might NOT Nominate Tangerine… Afterall. YAWN.
And, as we’ve long told John Hinderaker… that possibility (a non Trumpian top of the ’24 GOP ticket) probably is as bad or worse as Trump at the top — in the general. You know, the one that… matters.
Everyone with a working forebrain well-knows Tangerine won’t bow out gracefully, for the good of party (or country — whatever that might now mean to the GOP). Never. Never in his life — not once — has he ever been… magnanimous.
So, yep — all that does, if it is DeSantis, or less probably, Haley… is GUARANTEE a Trump third party declaration — and the MAGAts walk out of the GOP, and thus kill 2024.
It literally won’t matter who the Democratic nominee is. He she or it will… win in a cake walk.
The GOP regulars like Hinderaker, Johnson, Hayward, Stauffer and Mirengoff had, over six years ago — effectively insured this moment… by backing what they knew was a mobster, with zero humility, and utterly lacking in the grace it takes to accept a defeat honorably.
Enjoy the ride, fellas.
XRISM Joint JAXA/NASA Mission Launch Delayed: Weather; Etc.
Always… always… safety, first.
We will let you know when there is a new launch date.
…Editor’s Note, Aug. 27, 2023: The XRISM launch scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 27 (Monday, Aug. 28, in Japan) has been postponed. The new launch date and time will be announced once confirmed.
A powerful satellite called XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) is set to provide astronomers with a revolutionary look at the X-ray sky….
XRISM, led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency), was scheduled to launch on an H-IIA rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center [last night, US time]….
“Some of the things we hope to study with XRISM include the aftermath of stellar explosions and near-light-speed particle jets launched by supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies,” said Richard Kelley, NASA’s XRISM principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But of course, we’re most excited about all the unexpected phenomena XRISM will discover as it observes our cosmos….”
Now you know. Onward, grinning — into the afternoon sunshine. Be excellent to one another….
नमस्ते
