Category: Uncategorized

Hayward’s Pernicious False Equivalenvies…

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Tonight, Steve Hayward claims AA is dead under a Supremes’ forthcoming pair of rulings.

Yawn. I’m not so sure.

And, even if the Supremes write broad opinions, he overstates his own case.

In truly disingenuous fashion, he tries to paint college administrators who seek diverse representation in the student body… as equal to George Wallace, whom we all well-know, tried to PREVENT just that.

Obviously, what Steve tries… is dishonest rhetoric.

Equally obviously, there are many many ways to improve the diversity quotients — of students admitted. All of them clearly lawful.

So, his crowing will be… largely impotent — in any event.

But his hateful, hard right frothers desperately need something — anything! — to distract from the train wreck they’ve created in going all in with a sociopath.

Hilarious!

Carry on, Stevie.

Paul Mirengoff Has Now Admitted To — And Corrected — His Errors Of Judgment. Very Good.

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On Friday, I wrote that I’d wait to see whether Paul changed his mind after reading the actual speaking indictment.

Here on Sunday morning, I note that he has both read the 44 pager, and that it has… changed his opinion, completely.

That’s all well and good. Kudos, Paul.

But it does raise the question of why he, John, Betsy, Scott, Bill and Steve have so long willfully refused to see the reality in documents authenticated by endless press reports — almost all based on first hand witness accounts, video footage and FBI files made public in other prosecutions (J6 among them).

For a group that claims to be patriots — and claims to support the rule of law — Trump was a reprobate his entire life, prior to public office.

That they all threw away their principles to champion a pure sociopath… tells us much about them.

These people are not our parents’ “Dwight Eisenhower” republicans. These are not just the boring, slow and steady (and overly patrician) stewards we once saw — and while we disagreed with them on social policies — respected their commitment to this fragile experiment in ordered liberty.

No — these are fellow travellers on the “grab all you can” corrupt gravy trains that may be made of having a Manchurian Candidate under one’s thumb.

D I S G U S T I N G.

But a small nod, to Paul — for calling the spade — a spade… finally.

Bub-bye, Tangerine.

Hinderaker’s Latest Frothy Spew — On Aussie Tee-Vee… Sadly Deluded.

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Not much worthy of mention in any of this — not by a long shot.

It is all the standard embittered, entitled whining of an aging whyte guy who knows his time on the planet has long ago come… and is now (long) gone.

The only line worth memorializing is that here (obliquely) Hinderaker acknowledges that the there will be additional Trump indictments (out of DC, Georgia and elsewhere). Absolutely… correct, John.

And as Bill Barr said on the Sunday morning news shows, just now — once the special counsel proves what he’s alleged even in this current 37 count speaking indictment (for which he has two of Trump’s own lawyers’ sworn statements!)… “Trump is toast.”

By that, Bill Barr means… Trump is going to prison.

And Hinderaker knows it — long having called him a “terrific” and “serious” President. [The adjective terrific seems to have a double meaning now.]

Do you think John perhaps meant… a “serious” espionage-committing, serial felon?

I wonder.

[Tangent] As A Lapsed Metals Miner, This One Sparks My Imagination… Over One Million Pennies For Sale, As A Collection — Original Copper Ones.

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So — to be clear, the idea is not so much that there might actually be a 1943 Copper Wheat Penny, or even more improbably — a 1944 Steel Wheat Penny in good condition, in one of these boxes or bags — though that is not… strictly speaking, impossibile.

[Just one of either of those might fetch $500,000, by itself. And since they’ve all been laying untouched — in a dark crawlspace — for a half century, minimum — the find could well be… in pretty pristine shape.]

No, the idea — as these brothers from Germany understood it — was that the pure copper itself (as was the case in pre-1980-era pennies) would gradually become more valuable over time. And (even accounting for minerals and commodities markets cycles) that is true today. But melting all these old pennies down… will likely only yield about $25,000 at today’s spot prices. Here’s the item:

…Fritz and his brother were German immigrants who Reyes described as “war babies,” who understood the importance of metals and materials.

When the nation switched from copper to zinc to press its pennies, Fritz saw an opportunity to help build generational wealth for his family.

Fritz, a well-known butcher who worked in Hollywood for years, would take his paychecks to the bank and purchase copper pennies, knowing their value would only go up in time.

He was “always worrying and best trying to position himself,” Reyes recalled.

Years after his death, Fritz and his brother are still looking out for his family, and Reyes intends to make sure their hard work pays off — even if it’s a headache in the meantime….

Now that’s a. . . fundamentally charming story! Be excellent to one another… smile.

नमस्ते

Update, And New Post — Epilogue, On Why PhRMA Won’t Join The Merck Suit Against CMS And HHS…

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Updated — 06.10.2023 @ Noon: Here about five days later, the US Chamber of Commerce has said it will also bring an offensive suit, on the same general allegations, as Merck’s of early last week. No surprise there — that a dyed in the wool pro-capitalism organization would do so. [The notion here is that when it comes to millions of seniors having to choose between eating — and affording their monthly meds… well, that is a deeply deplorable set of circumstances in any post-industrial society.] No… what is interesting… is who is NOT filing suit:

What is interesting about that is that PhRMA, the trade group for pharma companies. . . has remained silent about a suit. Of course, PhRMA has published white papers, and so on — but will not sue the feds on this. Mr. Davis should think — and think, deeply — about why that is so… and ask whether he really thinks this suit serves his shareholders’ interests, long term (or just his own egotistical ones).

I don’t want to overstate this, but as one of my earlier ones last week indicated, on the Merck suit… the surprise there is that, given how many good lawyers Mr. Davis has at his disposal… he decided to follow his own counsel, rather than… theirs.

PhRMA’s decision not to officially join, in the sprawling federal litigation battle… is solid proof of that (by omission).

Onward, grinning. The Tangerine perp walk will dominate Tuesday… and we will be smiling the whole day. As I say, onward — there are very likely still more indictments to come, here — from the DC federal grand jury, as well.

नमस्ते

Elizabeth Stauffer: Serial Fabulist; Idiot At Rhetoric — And Mental Midget.

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Let us not waste a lot of time on hers, this morning.

The comparison (in hers) of fish and bicycles… is too laughable for even a few paragraphs’ worth of prose. She’s — as at right — a whole clown.

She preposterously would tell us (even if we stipulate that Hunter was a drug involved, troubled man) that his legal tangles, on a few investigative reports (never even sent to a grand jury while Tangerine was in office, BTW) are equal in gravity to the former preznit hisself being now a twice indicted on felonies (for a grand total of 74 counts) twice-arrested criminal defendant.

She would tell us not to be concerned that testimony from his own lawyers that he tried to destroy Top Secret battle plan evidence, to keep it from being seen by FBI agents with a warrant and a subpoena — and that at least one Top Secret document he brags on tape about having and showing (potentially) to Saudi nationals, an Iraq attack plan — is now vanished. Is gone.

The logical inference is that it was sold or bartered to the Saudis — perhaps even as part of that crazy golf at his clubs deal.

This is the current runaway front-runner to be the GOP’s 2024 nominee. But Bitsy wants us to worry more about a guy who has never held any office at any level, selling some art in DC galleries a decade ago.

Okay, hun — good luck with all that.

At least Scott Johnson dresses his equally puddin’-headed suppositions / farce theses up… in some jaunty Roman garb. That at least offers some comical antiquities relief.

Try harder, Bets’.

Out.

Paul Wrote His Today BEFORE The Speaking Indictment Dropped…

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Even so, this is a rather churlish take.

I will wait to see if he amends his thinking by Saturday afternoon, once he’s read the 44 pager.

The exchanges where Trump is openly soliciting lawyers and aids to commit felonies for him, and committing the same himself — 37 times, in several cases with respect to documents that are top secret war plans… simply cannot be overstated, as to the gravity of that… it is damn near… espionage, by a former preznit.

This is not a close call.

He. Must. Be. Jailed.

And for a decade to a decade and a half. Yes that is a life sentence.

Wake up,Paul: as I said, Watergate was just a frat prank by comparison.

[U] Nope. Not Seven — But THIRTY-SEVEN FELONY Counts.

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I had planned to wait until he was perp walked to say much more, figuring the buzz of it all would be enough.

And it certainly is. But I feel compelled to write, and link to the full 44 page speaking indictment now that it is unsealed.

I do so. . . because the wanton criminality — already documented by Trump’s OWN lawyers in the indictment (who’ve since resigned) makes what Nixon had on tape (and had his secretary erase). . . look like a game of paddy-cake. And to be sure, there will be more indictments — in DC, on the Top Secret documents stolen, and flown to Bedminster — never to be seen again.

This brazen, ongoing, constant criminality… is breath-taking, even factoring in that we all knew Trump has been dishonest at the core, his whole life long. Two lawyers have now confirmed under oath that Trump encouraged them to destroy Top Secret documents that were, in a few days, to be delivered to the lawyers from the government, under a subpoena — “if they found anything really bad”. This is… utterly gob-smacking:

…After Trump Attorney 1 finished sealing the Redweld folder containing the documents with classification markings that he had found inside Trump’s boxes, Nauta took Trump Attorney 1 to the dining room in the Mar-a-Lago club, to meet with Trump after Trump Attorney 1 confirmed that he had finished with his search of the storage room….

Trump asked, “Did you find anything? Is it bad?….” Trump Attorney 1 then discussed what to do with the Redweld folder, and whether Trump Attorney 1 should bring them to his hotel room and put them in a safe there….

During the conversation Trump made a plucking motion as memorialized by Trump Attorney 1, he made a funny motion as though “Well, okay why don’t you just take them to your hotel room and then if there’s anything really bad in there like you know, pluck them out” and that was the motion that he made though he didn’t say that….

This goes on for about twenty paragraphs, out of his own lawyers’ mouths, under oath. And numerous documents bearing Classification markings were found, loose, on the floor in a closet — spilled over, out of their folders. Finally, the Gen. Milley war plan document is… according to Trump’s own lawyers… G O N E. Missing.

Only a moron would think Trump didn’t either sell it, steal it, gift it or destroy it… at some point. Those were Top Secret US battle plans. The break-in at the Watergate Hotel was a Toga Party by comparison. Damn. Damn. Damn.

नमस्ते

The European Space Agency’s Euclid Mission: An Update…

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While we await a more detailed list of felonies, and the Tuesday arraignment in Miami, I thought we’d talk a little bit about why space programs, in the main, are so often successful (in contrast to the mode of operation Tangerine as followed his entire life).

They are so often successful because they chase down and follow every detail, trouble-shooting all issues — in any number of pre-planning sessions and simulations, either via software, or actual mechanical mockups. And there is always a second team of very capable scientists, duplicating the work of the original team, and pressure testing, and error checking it.

This process for the Euclid mission — which is launching to look for discoveries in dark matter, in the deep interstellar Universe — is now identifying issues that might arise with not just one, but two sets of redundant thrusters. Here’s that story:

…Currently about halfway through the Euclid simulations campaign, the key focus in the Main Control Room is the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and spacecraft commissioning.

These are the two most critical moments in a mission’s life; as it wakes up after the rigours of launch, makes its first manoeuvres towards its target destination and as its instruments are commissioned….

[The team] broke not just one, but two sets of thrusters on the Euclid spacecraft simulator. It was up to the Flight Control and Flight Dynamics Teams to decide which they could and should use.

“All of a sudden, a suspected mechanical failure meant one of Euclid’s attitude thrusters was stuck shut, producing no force at all, forcing us to use the backup set of thrusters. But then, the orbit control thrusters, part of that backup set, began behaving strangely, one overperforming by 10% and the other underperforming by the same amount,” recalls Tiago Loureiro, Euclid Flight Operations Director….

It would be unlucky for something like this to happen for real, but it’s certainly not impossible. Whether it’s Euclid’s thrusters, solar arrays or any number of other critical spacecraft components, the teams’ ability to keep cool yet decisive in the midst of a serious problem, to know who to call in and rely on at what time, will be vital for mission success….

Euclid’s exceptionally sensitive 1.2-metre telescope will capture light that is ten billion years old, originating from the early Universe and only now reaching us. In doing this, it will shed light on a simple question for which we still don’t have an answer: what is the Universe made of? Amazingly, this is today a cosmic mystery….

Welp. Now you know — this is the way we (as responsible scientists) avoid ending up as a grotesque tragic-comic mess (a la Tangerine). We science the sh!t outta’ stuff. Grin. Have a great weekend!

नमस्ते