Category: Uncategorized

This Kennedy IS NO Democrat. He’s A Fake Item. Y A W N.

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You may rest assured that he is a stalking horse, funded by conservative hard-right GOP-ers (like the Powerliners), to try to split the Democratic vote in 2024, in the same way Tangerine’s coming third party run will split the regular GOP vote.

It is all very… silly. This Faux “Kennedy” will pull less than 1% of the nationwide Democratic voters, with his anti-abortion / anti-vaccine lunacy.

In contrast, old Tangerine is likely to pull off about 30% of the committed GOP voters.

Hilarious.

See ya’, Scott — no chance. Democrats will still be running things — into 2028 minimum.

The “Two Mercks” Will Meet — To Pick A New Near(er) Term Pretrial Conference Date, By Agreement…

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Just a bit of house-keeping / clean up, from that last note, in which I indicated I found German Merck’s counsel to be rather “cheeky” — or self important.

The able USDC Magistrate Judge agrees, at least in part. So the parties will meet and confer to jointly pick a near term pre-trial date:

…The Court has reviewed Mr. Bernstein’s April 12, 2023 letter request to adjourn the submission of the proposed Final Pretrial Order and the date of the Final Pretrial Conference. [D.E. 219] The Court also has reviewed Ms. Betz’s letter in response. [D.E. 220]

While the Court appreciates Plaintiff’s desire to advance this matter such as by moving the Final Pretrial Conference to June 1, 2023, this Court’s own scheduling of the many other matters before it precludes doing so.

However, the Court is reticent to functionally stay this case until October 16, 2023. The Court also emphasizes that it cannot predict whether the trial will occur in 2024 or 2025, as trial scheduling turns on myriad dynamic factors. The Court, rather than simply assigning new dates, first will afford counsel the opportunity to meet and confer to determine if they can agree on the dates.

Counsel will submit a joint status report by April 26, 2023.

So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer on 4/19/2023. (Hammer, Michael)….

Now you know — and that’s it for today’s Thursday trivia.

Except, of course, it seems the RHESSI craft did not strike any populated area last night. Whew. There were false reports that a fireball over the night sky in Kviv might have been RHESSI — it was not. That happened almost 15 hours too early. But it is safely gone, now. Out, grinning.

नमस्ते

Prelim. Injunction Hearing On TN’s Drag Law Tuesday 04.25.2023: Tennessee Deputy AG Mulroy Still Being Sued Personally.

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Okay, the hearing is next Tuesday, on the scheduling for a preliminary injunction / TRO.

And the bar has dropped its complaint against various state officials, in their personal capacities, but not the state itself, not the DAG personally. Here’s that bit (mostly to streamline the arguments tomorrow — if DA Mulroy refuses to provide “clear assurances that [he] will not prosecute” Friends of George’s drag performers under this law — then Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti is indeed without enforcement powers):

…COMES NOW Plaintiff, Friends of George’s, Inc., (hereinafter “Plaintiff”), by and through its undersigned attorneys, and gives Notice of Voluntary Dismissal. Plaintiff filed suit in this matter on March 27, 2023. Defendants have not yet filed an Answer to Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint, nor have they filed a Motion for Summary Judgment.

Plaintiff now enters a voluntary dismissal pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(i) against Governor Bill Lee in his individual and official capacities, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti in his individual and official capacity, and District Attorney General Steven J. Mulroy in his official capacity only. Plaintiff does not voluntarily dismiss Steven J. Mulroy in his individual capacity….

Status Conference set for Tuesday, 4/25/2023 at 3:30 PM before Judge Thomas L. Parker.
The proceeding will be [held] via Microsoft Teams video conference. The Court will email the parties an invitation for the video conference prior to the proceeding.

Counsel should submit any exhibits to be offered to the Judge’s ECF mailbox prior to the proceeding.

The public may also access the video proceeding. If the public and/or media wish to attend in the video proceeding, please click on the following link to request access information: https://www.tnwd.uscourts.gov/videohearings The access information will be delivered via email to the email address from which the request originated.

Parties should consult the instructions for Joining a Meeting in Teams or Joining a Meeting Without a Teams Account.

Please email Sandra McClain at sandra_mcclain@tnwd.uscourts.gov for any questions….

Do stay tuned.

NASA’s Solar Craft RHESSI: Due To Burn In, Tonight…

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After over a 21 year mission studying the Sun, from a low Earth orbit, RHESSI is end of mission.

The smallish craft weighs less than 700 pounds, and almost all of it will now burn up on re-entry, though small bits could reach the surface of the Earth.

It is expected to come in over water, so very little chance of any human contact, at all. Here’s the updated window:

…DoD has updated the targeted drop in time, here on Wednesday afternoon — with a little more clarity: reentry could occur about 9:40 p.m. ET this evening, plus or minus three hours, NASA said….

Now you know. Separately, NASA’s Mars copter has now completed 50 powered, flawless flights on Barsoom. Grin….

And. . . update — as of 04.20.2023 — we now know it burnt in, over the Sahara desert:

. . .The Department of Defense confirmed that the 660-pound spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere over the Sahara Desert region, at approximately 21.3 degrees north latitude and 26 degrees east longitude. NASA expected most of the spacecraft to burn up as it traveled through the atmosphere, but for some components to survive re-entry. . . .

Grin. . . .

नमस्ते

[U] Justice Alito Keeps The Texas / Matthew Kacsmaryk’s Abortion Pill Ruling “In Time-Out” Until Midnight Friday Night…

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Updated 04.21.2023 @ 7 pm Eastern — the time out is now permanent until the Supremes rule on any future appeal out of the Fifth Circuit. End update.

The Justices continue to discuss next steps.

Will they simply strike Matthew Kacsmaryk’s crazy opinion, and/or the only slightly less cray-cray Fifth Circuit one… or wait (continue the stay for weeks or months) to hear more argument?

No sensible person is betting they will let the trial court opinion take effect. Here’s the latest:

…UPON FURTHER CONSIDERATION of the application of counsel for the applicants, the response, and the reply filed thereto,

IT IS ORDERED that the stay issued on April 14, 2023, is hereby extended until 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, April 21, 2023.

/s/ Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

Associate Justice of the Supreme

Court of the United States

Dated this 19th day of April 2023….

Now you know. Onward. [And you know the Powerline boys are out of stuff to write about, when they don’t comment on old whyte men killing kids on their porches, or on Faux News losing nearly a billion dollar settlement for LYING on air about the 2020 election, or even on this case… but instead decide to go nutty on CANADIAN public television and public radio… funding. WTF, Steve — what business of yours, is that?!]

नमस्ते

In Which… Hinderaker “Has A Sad On” — About One Reprobate He Was Instrumental In Creating.

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Tonight, John again laments (and weakly so) that Tangerine cannot be trusted to behave like an actual human being, in any civilized society.

He’s more of a feral man-pig, as we all have known for going on three decades.

But only now, after John did level best (including cheating!) to get him elected in 2016, and then insulate him from all lawful processes of checks and balances for over five years, only now… does Hinderaker want him to exit quietly. Gracefully. [But seriously, John — name anything in his entire life Trump ever did… gracefully!?!] Nope.

I suppose this will be nearly my most-rollicking good-time joy: watching Trump destroy any- and every- thing John thinks of as “GOP-constructive” — if Trump is not at the center of it.

Most of all, tonight — that would be Ron DeSantis. And. I. Love. To. See. It!

The truth is, the lawyers and board of directors of Disney outplayed that stupid brown-shirted chump — at every turn. And Rick Scott before him. Disney still controls the outcome in Florida, and may ignore DeSantis’ impotent board of overseers any time it wishes.

DeSantis didn’t even bother to read the bond indenture Florida’s legislature (then desperate to have new development in Central Florida, and not let another billion dollar a year park land in California or the Carolinas) signed some 60 years ago — to create what became Reedy Creek.

It lets Disney force the immediate repayment of all bonds, if it is no longer calling the shots on the IDB, and that immediate repayment obligation belongs SOLELY to the State and municipal governments of… Florida. No one else.

So — in the end, Disney will do whatever it pleases. That much Tangerine is RIGHT about. DeSantis overplayed a hand he never held: he had a pair of fours. Disney has a full boat. Literally.

But I digress. Hinderaker’s time to rein Trump in… came and went in 2016.

Now he is only a Democratic controlled wrecking ball — of all things non-MAGA in the GOP.

Truly John — thanks for the weapon. We WILL use it.

And a Democratic candidate will win the White House in 2024, now.

Perfect — all your (and your numb-skull co-conspirators’) doing.

[U] Fox “News” Must Pay Nearly A Billion Dollars, For Knowingly Lying On Air…

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Updated at 5 pm EDT — Fox News will pay Dominion $787.5 million, for lies it knowingly told on air about the company, and the outcome of the 2020 election. Grinning ear to ear!

Dominion has been able to prove to the world that Tucker Carlson and the rest… are all inveterate liars. It takes a LOT to lose a libel suit in America, but old Rupert sure figured out how to. [On the morning after, Powerline gets around to admitting that lies designed to destroy the business of a company, on air repeatedly for months on end — with actual malice — do allow for presumed punitive damages. Thus nearly… a billion.]

This also means (shocking no one!) Trump and Rudy and Failson are… liars.

नमस्ते

BREAKING! The “Direct Purchasers” Have Been Paid By Merck & Glenmark To Settle — But The Other Plaintiffs Continue Against Retail Pharmacies

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No figures are likely to be disclosed until the SEC Form 8-K is filed (if material to Merck), but this resolves about one-half of the antitrust action now set to begin picking a federal class action jury — starting tomorrow.

I would expect that this settlement was for boxcar numbers. I can’t imagine going this far (around a decade or more, now), and not getting some big numbers — on the proof as I’ve seen it come in, over the years.

In any event — we will learn more tomorrow, as jury selection begins, in the federal district courts in Norfolk, Virginia:

…Before jury selection commenced as scheduled, the court was advised that Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs (DPPs) had reached a settlement agreement with the Merck Defendants and the Glenmark Defendants.

Thus, the jury panel was released for the remainder of the day and jury selection was continued for remaining parties to April 19, 2023 at 11:00 a.m….

Fascinating. More as we get it.

नमस्ते

Scott Retreads The BS Comer Is Peddling About Mr. Biden’s Family. Still Silent On Trump’s.

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I continue to find it precious that Scott never mentions the over $166 million Trump hisself personally made by having the taxpayers foot the bill at his clubs and businesses. And the money he steered to Ivanka and Jared and Junior.

Tangerine was absolutely the most corrupt preznit America has ever seen. Consider this, from CREW:

…Donald Trump made up to $160 million from international business dealings while he was serving as president of the United States, according to an analysis of his tax returns by CREW.

Throughout his time in office, President Trump, his family and his Republican allies repeatedly assured the public that his refusal to divest from his businesses wouldn’t lead to any conflicts of interest.

Americans were promised that Trump would donate his salary, which he did, until maybe he didn’t—all while siphoning millions from taxpayers that more than offset his presidential pay. When it came to foreign conflicts of interest, Trump and his company pledged to pause foreign business. They did not….

In 2019, Trump stunned the US foreign policy establishment by pulling US troops out of northeast Syria. The decision had no obvious benefits to the US and was a bombshell reversal to allied Kurds, but it was a victory for Turkey, where Trump had done business for years. In China, Trump again shocked even his GOP allies when he pledged to help sanctioned Chinese company ZTE because, as he tweeted, there were “[t]oo many jobs in China lost,” despite warnings from US intelligence officials that the company’s products may be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans….

Today’s Scott Johnson item and last week’s from Ms. Stauffer regular drumbeat of “what-about-ism” posts are all to deflect from the above (about Tangerine), of course.

In any event, it is no wonder Tangerine wants to run again — it lets him make back all the graft he’s lost — in defending rape charges, and hush money payment cases and stolen top secret documents — on top of tax and bank fraud investigations.

Damn.

UPDATE On That Multi-Billion Dollar Civil Zetia® “Pay To Delay” Federal Antitrust Class Action Trial

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As expected, the parties are still working through the final flurry of motions to exclude certain evidence, and to admit / include other batches of evidence, in the federal courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia.

Thus, the parties have not yet begun to pick a jury. That may happen Thursday or Friday. Here’s the latest order (plus a note that a transcript of yesterday’s hearings will be available after July 17, 2023):

So… this antitrust matter crawls slowly to opening statements. . . .

…Set Hearings: Discovery Hearing / Status Conference set for 4/17/2023 at 12:00 PM in Norfolk Mag Courtroom 1 w/OCR before Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller….

In the end, this trial is likely to demonstrate that even far more careful attempts to corner a drug market, and extend the exclusivity of a drug patent portfolio… and thus either maintain or increase selling prices, is unlawful — to the tune of billions in damages. [Martin Shkreli’s schemes were a sledgehammer compared to this scalpel, here.]

Now you know, with 30 degree warmer sunshine ahead! Ah… Spring — everything… exploding with fragrance and color! Grin….

नमस्ते