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[U] Indeed, The “Calling Forth” Clause Is Exceedingly Narrow In Scope: Exh. A — Chicago!

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Update: 11 pm Central — the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed with the trial court. Trump lacks the power to roll the National Guard into Chicago. The panel said that “political opposition is not insurrection”. Quite so. End update.

Honestly, I thought I had already posted this — given that it was a hometown win — but I was mistaken. This all transpired almost a week ago — but it is very good news nonetheless.

Here is the very well reasoned 51 page federal court opinion, and a bit:

…That the Framers understood the Calling Forth Clause narrowly can be seen in Congress’s earliest efforts to put the clause into legislative practice. In 1792, Congress enacted an Act to “provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.” Act of May 2, 1792, 1 Stat. 264 (1792). In 1795, Congress repealed the 1792 Act and passed an amended version. Act of February 28, 1795, 1 Stat. 424 (1795).

…[F]or the President to call forth the militia in cases where “the laws of the United States shall be opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed,” stricter controls were imposed. Id. Specifically, Congress authorized the calling forth of militia only when the forces of obstruction were “too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals” by the Act. Id.

These early efforts demonstrate contemporaneous understanding that military deployment for purpose of executing the laws was to be an act of last resort, only after other systems had failed….

So be unafraid. Stand up for your rights. And resist peacefully. These moments of resistance, in the face of lawlessness, are all of our responsibilities, to our fellow citizens, and to our fellow humans whether they have papers or not.

नमस्ते

A Guess — At Merck’s Q3 2025 EPS: All Results In Line — Steady As A Rock. [Power Alley]

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Most unbiased Wall Street analysts have a 12 month price target on Merck at something over $104 a share — that’s about a 20% upside, from today’s NYSE price. This is so, because no matter what Tangerine 2.0 actually does (or, more precisely, is UNABLE to do, on pharma and health care delivery in the US)… Rahway is exceedingly well-positioned, with a ~$28 billion a year juggernaut in immuno oncology — into the mid 2030s.

As ever, do your own diligence, but here are the consenus Wall Street prognostications:

…The healthcare giant is gearing up to unveil its third-quarter results before the market opens on Thursday, Oct. 30. Ahead of the event, analysts expect MRK to deliver a profit of $2.37 per share, up 51% from $1.57 per share reported in the year-ago quarter. Further, the company has a solid earnings surprise history and has surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters….

For the full fiscal 2025, analysts expect MRK to deliver an EPS of $8.94, up 16.9% from $7.65 reported in 2024. While in fiscal 2026, its earnings are expected to grow 5.8% year-over-year to $9.46 per share….

Analysts take an optimistic view of the stock’s prospects. MRK maintains a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating overall. Of the 25 analysts covering the stock, opinions include 11 “Strong Buys,” one “Moderate Buy,” and 13 “Holds.” Its mean price target of $102.43 suggests a 19.5% upside potential from current price levels….

Smiling now, as I head into the gleaming steel and glass canyons for a sunny Fall day — will find my favorite taco truck down there, too! Onward!

नमस्ते

Trump’s Supposed “Peace” Is Now Exclusively… Lethal Chaos, In Gaza…

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Yep.

As I now long ago predicted, and Scott Johnson now openly admits this morning… Trump‘s peace in Israel is no such thing.

When Scott and John backed and elected a narcissistic moron with a third grade education… it was quite predictable that he would say he would solve the Ukraine war in the first 24 hours, and he would broker a lasting peace in the Middle East in his first six months…

Now he’s flown home after 20 hostages were released… And continues to claim that he created peace. He created a temporary cease-fire, withdrew the IDF… And in the void, the worst actors have emerged to execute their opponents in Gaza.

This is precisely the opposite of peace.

But it is exactly what we should expect when you elect a clown: you get a circus.

It is unfortunate in the extreme that this is a particularly lethal circus.

Out.

The Putative Class Action Complaint Against Noem, Et Al., Has Been Refiled — And Amended — With New Facts, In DC Federal Court. It Is A Banger.

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Sanity is indeed… making a comeback. Trump cannot just grab children and dump them into meat grinders, in Guatemala — without process.

This amended complaint at law lays out, in muscular fashion, the manifold abuses of the Noem / Miller / Tangerine 2.0 regime — attempted on a US holiday weekend (but impotently so). [It is specifically red-lined, for ease of comparison to the original filing, made on an emergency basis — after midnight on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, 2025.]

…Plaintiffs are unaccompanied minors in Refugee Resettlement (“ORR”) custody whom Defendants have sought or are seeking to remove from the United States in clear violation of the unambiguous protections that Congress has provided them as vulnerable children. Defendants have unlawfully claimed the power to expel these children, in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, (“TVPRA”), the Immigration and Nationality Act, (“INA”), and the Constitution. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class of unaccompanied children who are or will be placed in ORR custody and who do not have a final order of removal or grant of voluntary departure by an immigration judge.

Recognizing their unique vulnerability, Congress has created a special statutory scheme to ensure that unaccompanied minors receive enhanced protection and care, including whenever the government seeks to remove them from the United States. Summary expulsion plainly violates this statutory scheme….

Now you know. Stand tall. Speak up. Be unafraid. His time of fear mongering is coming to an end. These are your rights. Out.

नमस्ते

Mr. Khalil Moves For A Restriction-Free Release, Now. He Should Win It.

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The Noemites have no plausible reason to oppose it. He is here lawfully. They jailed him for four months for a peaceful expression of his feelings, on campus at Columbia — about the Gaza situation. Noem only has until tomorrow morning to oppose it, in any event.

Damn — who are these monsters?! Here’s the latest, from the Newark federal district courts:

…Petitioner Mahmoud Khalil hereby respectfully requests that the Court lift the restrictions on his travel within the United States that are presently imposed among the conditions of his release provided in the Court’s June 20, 2025, Order (ECF 317) (“the Order”).

He seeks this modification of those conditions so that he may attend the upcoming oral argument in his case, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, occurring the morning of October 21, 2025; attend conferences and events nationwide to which he has been invited to speak; travel with family as needed or desired; and attend dental appointments (he had been receiving his dental care from a dentist in New Jersey since 2023). This modification of his bail order is consistent with the Court’s findings of his lack of flight risk and dangerousness and, by avoiding piecemeal modification requests, conserves judicial resources and aligns with similar orders issued in similar cases….

TEXT ORDER:

Petitioner [Mr. Khalil] has filed a letter application to remove the restrictions on his conditions of release [D.E. 390].

The Government will file a response by 9:00 a.m. on October 16, 2025.

So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer on 10/15/2025. (Hammer, Michael)….

Now you know. Do stand tall; speak your mind peacefully. Resist. Be unafraid. These are… your rights, too.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker And I Agree: Trump Is Delusional, About Gaza / Israel, Post Hostage Exchange.

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As I’ve said before, this was in no manner a comprehensive peace deal. It did return 20 hostages, in return for some 2,000 alleged terrorists.

But that is all it did.

Yep — as Hinderaker himself openly acknowledges it now, Trump is delusional.

There is zero chance that the American people will sign up for US troops “to disarm” Hamas in Gaza.

John knows it, too.

But sure — let us all bow and curtsy — while we admire and praise the Emperor’s new robes… it’s disgusting.

Out.

[U] As Expected, USDC Judge Crenshaw Has Set A Very Tight Timetable — For The Nov. 3 Evidentiary Hearing/Motion To Dismiss The Abrego Indictment, In Nashville.

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This may morally require my appearance — in Music City — come November 3. It is increasingly likely that Mr. Abrego-Garcia walks free that evening. The entire Noem-led indictment is vindictive BS.

Here’s that latest three page scheduling order (as a .pdf file — and a bit, below). Buckle up!

…[T]he Government [has] indicated it would not file any pretrial motions. It did not.

Defendant indicated he would file three pretrials motions: (1) a motion to suppress related to the November 2022 traffic stop; (2) a motion to suppress any statements made by Defendant during a custodial interview in March 2025; and (3) a motion to strike surplusage in the indictment. Defendant, as represented, filed two Motions to Suppress (Doc. Nos. 151 and 155) and a Motion to Strike Surplusage (Doc. No. 158).

As set in the August 7, 2025 Scheduling Order (Doc. No. 103), responses to pretrial motions are due on October 24, 2025, and replies are due on October 31, 2025….

Onward, grinning. Ever, grinning — with video of the local public school closure protests later, tonight. Out.

नमस्ते

A Magnetic “Hole” — About Half The Size Of Europe Is Opening, In The Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, Off South America. ESA’s Swarm Sat. Data Crucial — In Monitoring It.

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As you’ll learn at the linked item, in addition to the “growing hole” depicted at right, with Earth’s shifting magnetic north pole, toward Siberia — the magnetic field strength over northern Canada is waning, and rising, over northern Siberia. These changes are eaily measurable here in just one decade’s time. [My prior November 2022 coverage — of this ESA multi-sat. mission is here.]

Scientists now debate the long term implications for us, but it is not seriously open to debate that the global climate… magnetically and meteorologically… is shifting. Here’s the latest from ESA (with NASA still off-line due to Trump’s stupidly cruel shutdown still ruling the day — a full two weeks on):

…Swarm data underpins the global magnetic models used for navigation, monitor space weather hazards, and allow unprecedented insights into our Earth system from its core through to the outer reaches of Earth’s atmosphere.

The latest Swarm results highlight the dynamic nature of Earth’s magnetism. For example, in the southern hemisphere there is one point where the magnetic field is particularly strong, and in the northern hemisphere there are two – one around Canada and the other around Siberia.

“When you’re trying to understand Earth’s magnetic field, it’s important to remember that it’s not just a simple dipole, like a bar magnet. It’s only by having satellites like Swarm that we can fully map this structure and see it changing,” said Prof. Finlay.

However, since Swarm has been in orbit the magnetic field over Siberia has strengthened while it has weakened over Canada. The Canadian strong field region has shrunk by 0.65% of Earth’s surface area, which is almost the size of India, while the Siberian region has grown by 0.42% of Earth’s surface area, which is comparable to the size of Greenland. . . .

ESA’s Swarm Mission Manager, Anja Stromme, said, “It’s really wonderful to see the big picture of our dynamic Earth thanks to Swarm’s extended timeseries. The satellites are all healthy and providing excellent data, so we can hopefully extend that record beyond 2030, when the solar minimum will allow more unprecedented insights into our planet….”

Now you know. Onward to meetings about funding our public schools here — as Tangerine 2.0 cuts take hold.

नमस्ते

Mr. Hecker In Nashville (Again) Demands That The Noemites Comply With Judge Crenshaw’s Limited Discovery Order, On Vindictiveness…

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Sean Hecker is a great lawyer — no doubt about it. And with each passing day, I am more convinced that he may be the best US immigration litigator I’ve ever seen — and I’ve seen a LOT of them.

Tonight’s filing cements that impression — in my mind. Here it is, and a bit:

…The government has made something of a habit of stonewalling when it comes to Mr. Abrego. Cf. Abrego Garcia v. Noem, No. 8:25-cv-00951, 2025 WL 2062203, at *2 (D. Md. July 23, 2025) (“For three months after this Court issued the injunction, Defendants disclaimed any authority to facilitate his return and disregarded court orders. Defendants’ defiance and foot-dragging are, to be sure, the subject of a separate sanctions motion…. The Court will not recount this troubling history in detail, other than to note Defendants’ persistent lack of transparency with the tribunal adds to why further injunctive relief is warranted.”)….

[T]he privileges the government has indicated it will assert — deliberative-process privilege, executive privilege, and the attorney work-product doctrine — simply do not apply. As Mr. Abrego’s response to the government’s status report already explained, all three are “qualified,” as opposed to absolute, privileges. They give way, as a general proposition, upon a showing of substantial need — which Mr. Abrego has already made here. And they also give way in a criminal case where they are necessary to establish a defense — as they are here. Moreover, they cannot be invoked to shield evidence of government misconduct in the face of an order seeking discovery to assess the nature and extent of that misconduct. (See generally Dkt. 148).

Second, even if the government had some theoretical privilege claim over some subset of the documents that could survive the analysis just discussed, asserting privilege requires more than the mere blanket assumption that all relevant materials would be privileged without so much as collecting or glancing at them….

Mr. Hecker will not let Noem slide by… and delay forever. Nor will the capable USDC Judge Crenshaw in Music City. Stay tuned.

नमस्ते

RFK Jr.’s Legacy — And Trump 2.0’s: Excess Deaths, From Measles — Nationwide, Due To Luddite Bleating, On Excellent Vaccines.

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We were again reminded, over the weekend past, that both infection rates — and deaths from measles (a once eradicated virus in humans, in the USA) are again spiking.

This is the direct result of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lunacy — and Tangerine’s tolerating the same. They are both responsible, as lil’ kids across the nation… become sick, and some… die.

Not surprisingly, but tragic just the same — the deaths are concentrated in red states. Where the false anti-vax propaganda runs… almost wholly unchecked. Especially so, Texas — and now, lately in Utah. But to be certain, relative to their tiny populations — the outbreaks in the Dakotas are… devastating. Again, attributable to Kristi Noem’s feckless anti-scientific policies (as the former MAGA Governor), over the last decade.

Here’s the latest, from NBC News:

…Measles is among the most contagious diseases in the world, and case counts in the United States are ticking up.

NBC News is tracking confirmed measles cases across the country with data from state health departments.

See the map for more detailed case rates per thousand….

Damnation. Just… damn. Out.

नमस्ते