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While Pulling In, For Orbital Close-Up No. 50, Juno [At Jupiter] Will Bonus Us, Capturing Extreme Close-Ups Of Volcanic Lil’ Io, Tomorrow…

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graceful, copper hued, long legged craft continues to… amaze — with unwasted grace, indeed.

She’s flown over 510 million miles into the cold nights… and 49 times, already, through the furnace of the magnetosphere at each pole — of the gas giant Jupiter. She’s shown us many views of Io, but will give us a truly DeMille worthy close up set, tomorrow — if all goes as planned.

Here’s the rundown, for tomorrow — but she has already vastly exceeded her engineering best cases, by every measure:

…“Io is the most volcanic celestial body that we know of in our solar system,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “By observing it over time on multiple passes, we can watch how the volcanoes vary – how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, whether they are linked to a group or solo, and if the shape of the lava flow changes.”

Slightly larger than Earth’s moon, Io is a world in constant torment. Not only is the biggest planet in the solar system forever pulling at it gravitationally, but so are its Galilean siblings – Europa and the biggest moon in the solar system, Ganymede. The result is that Io is continuously stretched and squeezed, actions linked to the creation of the lava seen erupting from its many volcanoes.

While Juno was designed to study Jupiter, its many sensors have additionally provided a wealth of data on the planet’s moons. Along with its visible light imager JunoCam, the spacecraft’s JIRAM (Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper), SRU (Stellar Reference Unit), and MWR (Microwave Radiometer) will be studying Io’s volcanoes and how volcanic eruptions interact with Jupiter’s powerful magnetosphere and auroras….

Do stay tuned. This is absolutely, positively… an amazing time to be alive! “She walks in starry climes… her night, a blackened-pavement — powdered with… Milton’s stars… all with an unwasted grace….” Smile….

नमस्ते

[U: A Second Hearing, On Thursday Aft., Now…] The Able USDC Judge Jon S. Tigar, In Oakland, Will Hold A Status Conference Tuesday, In East Bay Sanctuary III… To Decide Next Steps In View Of Title 42 Expiration.

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UPDATED @ 6 pm EDT 05.16.2023 — USDC Judge Jon S. Tigar has ordered a further submission from the parties by Wednesday evening, and a continued hearing on Thursday, at today’s status call, thus:

…Further Case Management Conference held on 5/16/2023. Hearing held via Zoom video conference. The parties are ordered to meet and confer about, and make a joint proposal regarding, the motion briefing schedule and discovery that must be exchanged immediately among the parties. If the parties are unable to agree, they must submit competing proposals. In the latter event, the Court will endeavor to choose, in all respects, the single proposal it concludes is most reasonable. Joint or competing proposals due by 5/17/2023. Further Case Management Conference set for 5/18/2023 03:30 PM in Oakland, Videoconference Only. This proceeding will be held via a Zoom webinar…

Now you know — end updated portion.

As many regular readers will recall, we’ve been following the manifold pieces of federal “public interest” litigation — ones that effectively blunted the worst of Tangerine’s intentional violations of US treaty obligations (backgrounder: 2017-2021), as to undocumented persons arriving, or residing in the US.

As a follow-up, Judge Tigar intends to question the government, about how it will comport with his prior rulings in the case, and continue to honor our treaty obligations, I am certain. And so, we will listen in on a status conference set for noon, tomorrow Eastern, now. And we will report back — as to what’s likely next:

…On February 23, 2023, the Departments published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) that would, if finalized, rescind the two rules at issue in these cases. See Circumvention of Lawful Pathways, 88 Fed. Reg. 11,704 (Feb. 23, 2023), available at [prolix web-address]. That NPRM proposes to “address the reality of unprecedented migratory flows” and “potential surge of migration at the southwest border [] of the United States following the eventual termination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (‘CDC’) public health Order” by “establish[ing] a presumptive condition on asylum eligibility for certain noncitizens who fail to take advantage of” “existing and expanded lawful pathways to enter the United States, including the opportunity to schedule a time and place to present at a port of entry and thus seek asylum or other forms of protection in a lawful, safe, and orderly manner, or to seek asylum or other protection in one of the countries through which they travel on their way to the United States.” Id. at 11,704, 11,706. The NPRM further proposes that the final rule be in effect for a period of two years. Id. at 11,726.

As part of the NPRM, “[t]he Departments propose rescinding prior rules establishing bars to asylum,” specifically Aliens Subject to a Bar on Entry Under Certain Presidential Proclamations; Procedures for Protection Claims, 83 Fed. Reg. 55,934 (Nov. 9, 2018) and Asylum Eligibility and Procedural Modifications, 85 Fed. Reg. 82,260 (Dec. 17, 2020). Id. at 11,727-28. “The Departments have reconsidered the approaches taken in those rules and now believe that the tailored, time-limited approach proposed here—which couples mechanisms for individuals to enter lawfully (and as appropriate make protection claims) with new conditions on asylum eligibility for those who enter without taking advantage of these and other lawful processes — is better suited to address increased flows across the” Southwest Border. Id. at 11,728….

[Subsequent order, from this past Friday:] Plaintiffs have moved to lift the stay in this case and seek leave to file an amended and supplemental complaint. ECF No. 147. Plaintiffs also intend to move for preliminary relief. Id. at 3.

The parties shall appear for a case management conference on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at 9 a.m. to discuss a schedule for briefing and hearing on both the present motion and Plaintiffs’ intended motion for preliminary injunctive relief….

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: May 12, 2023….

We will keep you posted, but the aim (once again) will be to protect those seeking entrance — at our southern borders from abuse. And ensure we honor our treaty and protocol obligations, here — as Title 42 sunsets.

नमस्ते

[U: He Can’t Take The Heat!] Probably The Only Time I’ll Ever Mention William Otis, Paul Mirengoff’s Latest New Co-Blogger…

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

Updated @ About Noon Eastern: Welp. I cut and pasted this post, into the comment box at “Ringside” — for our buddy William Otis. He has deleted it. Charming. Seems he believes that free expression, comment and criticism… only should apply when his commenters conform to his world views.

Y A W N.

How utterly… boring. I won’t try to repost mine — this below will stand, in eternity — long after he’s faded to dust, in some obscure graveyard, somewhere…. perfect. End, update.

And I mention his — only because Paul Mirengoff is on vacation in Europe — and we debunked this exact same line of racist, and false “crime stats” crap just about three weeks ago — when uttered at Powerline. [As we said repeatedly before, it all flows from the shrew Heather Mac Donald’s intentionally mal-informed, illogical and bad stats methods “science”… writings.]

So, Bill Otis, apparently a former prosecutor, and thus presumably-a-trained-in-logic lawyer… and now, card carrying member of the frothy, illogical hard right… argues the same old canard, about proportions of US violent crime, whyte v. Black.

What he — and the people he quotes — intentionally fail to mention is that there are about SEVEN times as many non-Black people, as there are… Black people in the US.

Thus the actual ‘incidence rate’ — of violent crime occurs slightly more often at the hands of whyte perps. Simply because they are a larger portion of the overall population. Thus his stats… are meaningless — and misleading, at best.

Said another way, any person in the US — but especially any whyte person — is about 15% more likely to experience violent crime at the hands of a whyte perp, than at the hands of any person of color.

It is a fact, that has been true since the 1960s — and yet, these dyed in the wool racists… do their (like Otis, and Hayward and Hinderaker) absolute level best to only talk about raw overall numbers — ignoring relative risks.

But (for example) when doctors treat humans, they always rely on relative benefit v. relative risk — in a drug regimen, or surgical intervention. What are the odds it improves one’s condition, compared to the odds it leads to a bad side effect / outcome?

Of course, Mr. Otis intentionally ignores here the very same advice he’d gladly credit his physician for offering him.

Malevolent… and moronic — a lethal combination, that.

Out.

[U: Finally… Corrected.] Why Would We Credit The “Reporting” Of An Old Coot Who Gets The Murder Date Wrong — Twice — By Two Decades?!

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Scott is bleating about a murder in Shakopee.

He blames our US policies — on immigration.

But makes zero mention of our refusal to deal proactively with mental illness, all (in this case) evidenced repeatedly — in public places.

Charming isn’t he? Obviously, the latter being proximate cause, the former being only a highly-attenuated but for cause.

But in Scott’s telling, the murder occurs 22 years ago, not just two years ago. [Finally corrected, by 8:45 a.m., Eastern.]

He repeats this error without correction, in his story — (even here mid-morning, some four hours later) despite claiming “deep research” on the case.

The murder was tragic, true enough. Scott Johnson’s apparently endless need to demonize immigrants as a class… is unbecoming any logical (former) lawyer.

Out.

Well — Isn’t Hinderaker… Simply Precious? Yes, He Is. Ironic Content, Pegged Off — Scale High.

~ condor ~ 4 Comments

Here on the closing hours / night of Mothers Day 2023, John is bitterly complaining that a Princeton and Yale educated black woman, and a mother of a daughter of her own has used her Constitutional First Amendment rights to seek PEACEFUL redress of grievances, on a Sunday morning televised network news program. The head of Planned Parenthood has called for an expanded Supreme Court, a power that could come from the Congress, next term — or at least arguably, from a Presidential order.

This sort of free expression is Hinderaker’s anathema: he cannot stand anything that doesn’t break backward, draggin’ us all back, toward the 1950s, or earlier — in world-views.

But for over two years now, he has repeatedly cheered the dozens of thugs, vigilantes and rioters who took the Capitol by violence on 01.06.21, in an effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to the certified winner of the 2020 Presidential election. Many will now serve decades in prison for it, and Tangerine may also be indicted, for it — shortly.

Violent insurrection (and conspiracy to commit the same) is not protected, by our laws. Smoke that, Johnnie.

But peaceably addressing the nation, for change in our government — as Planned Parenthood plainly has… is both protected, and encouraged, in the founding documents. At least a dozen of the Federalist papers expressly champion it, as a check and balance against runaway power in the judiciary or legislative or executive branches.

So — you may safely just laugh at the bitter old coot named John Hinderaker.

He’s as impotent — as he is misguided.

Classy! Stauffer Chooses To Libel Rape Victims, On Mothers Day 2023… Was She Not Cuddled, As A Child?

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This really bears no longer form essay, in rebuttal — as it is preposterous, and monstrous, on its face.

Here Bitsy offers us a few old tweets, in which a gossip/advice columnist made playful statements about men and women pursuing each other… all more than a decade after being raped (or… forcibly sexually assaulted by 45, as found by a federal jury of his peers, last week!)… for the odious proposition that the victim “was asking for it” — from the Tangerine Serial Sexual Predator.

This, despite the uncontroverted fact that they are all over a decade after the rape, and written or retweeted by a journalist, whose job it was (in part)… to offer playful observations, about male/female relationships — and intimacy.

That the crone Elizabeth Stauffer chose Mothers Day 2023 to make these unctuous remarks… tells us all we need to know about old Bitsy’s character (or more precisely — lack thereof).

Out.

In Which Steve Hayward Cannot Understand That Mr. Penny… WAS NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT.

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Again, we see a stupid column — one which bears very little time and attention — as stupid columns from Powerliners go.

Here, Steve Hayward Scott Johnson somehow imagines that Mr. Penny should have had the same “police / qualified immunity” powers that Derek Chauvin was imbued with.

That a whyte ex-military vigilante KILLED people of color on a train — by choosing to keep choking the deceased, long beyond simple unconsciousness… is a “purported police power”, granted to any ugly vigilante, even where no form of deadly force was in evidence, from the original aggressor?! Sheesh.

Damn, Stevie Scott — do read some US case law — any case law, from the Twenty-First Century.

A Fresh Appearance — One New Suspected Ebola Case, In DRC — Butembo. Now, Often In The Spring, It Seems…

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It was early May of 2022, that saw the last DRC flare up — with five cases, and four deaths. That alone was a victory of sorts, as it was all arrested right after first detection, using ring vaccinations.

Hopefully, we will see the same this year — perhaps holding the line at one case, and no deaths. [Would be interested in a solid theory, as to why in DRC, particularly, a clear spring-time outbreak pattern is emerging.] In any event, here is the latest — once again:

…Local media recently reported a case of Ebola virus disease in The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on May 8, 2023. The last Ebola outbreak in the DRC occurred in 2022.

“Regarding Ebola virus disease surveillance, we received a sample that turned out to be positive from the Kyondo health zone and in the Butembo site. We have received four samples, and among the four, one is positive,” commented Damulo Luhavo, the communicator of the provincial health division of Butembo.

Luhavo called on the local population to continue to be vaccinated….

Now you know. And it is clear that the available mRNA vaccines (ring-administered) are chiefly responsible for giving public health officials the upper hand, in the last three or four outbreaks.

Do go out, and honor all moms, everywhere — grand-mums and great grand-mums — and moms by proxy, too! Smile….

नमस्ते

We Should Have An Actual NASA Story Here, In About Two Weeks… Until Then, Happy Mothers’ Day!

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But as a placeholder, until then, I will offer my most favorite-est campy 1960s sci-fi thriller of all time, on the topic.

It was originally a Hammer Studios (UK) title called “Quatermass and the Pit“, part of a series of beloved British tales involving the heroic Professor Quatermass.

Repackaged for American audiences, it was called “Five Million Years to Earth“. As near as I can tell, the exact same print ran in the US as in the UK — labeled for mature audiences, of course. No nudity — just mind-bending possibilities about the origin of what was called the devil in christian tellings (or other names, in more ancient religious traditions).

The theory offered was that ancient aliens (likely from Barsoom) had seeded the proto-apes with a higher intelligence, but also with viciously violent, territorial inclinations, likely for the first time. Those violent warlike creatures evolved over millions of years, to become what we think of as humans.

And naturally, entirely by accident, in digging a new London Tube station, we moderns re-awaken the energy that brought the aliens from their then dying world, on Mars. The last of their energy had been entombed here, by the same proto-humans who built Stonehenge — with the idea to banish the evil, for all eternity. But we needed new underground stops. Heh.

And… chaos ensues, of course.

Grin. See ya’ in two weeks, on the real science embedded here.

नमस्ते

Apparently Scott Cannot Understand / Is Unaware That Mr. Biden’s Adult Son Is Not A Sitting Congressman…

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Ahem. There are times when law enforcement ought to make a case a priority. To be certain there are not enough cops to chase every jay-walking incident, immediately. [So, prioritizing is… important — and simply, unavoidable.]

For example, when a serial liar and fraudster is sponsoring a bill to increase penalties on people who fraudulently collect unemployment benefits… while being under an unsealed felony indictment himself, FOR. COLLECTING. UNEMPLOYMENT. BENEFITS. BY. FRAUD.

And that is only one of dozens — including using a fictitious name / “Jewish-sounding” alias last name, to collect campaign donations, from Long Island’s Jewish community — and spending those funds… on clothing shopping sprees. Yes, he is and was the GOP endorsed Congressman from Long Island.

But Scott thinks the troubled private citizen son — who has never held any office, at any level, but has struggled with addiction a fair portion of his adult life, ought to be a higher priority than this guy?

Um… okay, there Scott — you do you.