Steve Hayward — Not A Lawyer — Condescends To Tell A Black Woman Supreme… “She Should Be Seen; Not Heard.” Wow.

So, I do get it: Steve loved that for nearly two decades, Clarence Thomas uttered the fewest words of any Justice in history.

He well knew the job (as Steve / Federalists saw it): shut up and vote with the hard right wing.

But Thomas has become far more talkative, ever since the term following Scalia’s death. [Perhaps he cannot be bullied so easily, now? Who knows?!]

But to be certain, Steve is non-plussed obviously now that KBJ has arrived. It is… more than his frail whyte mediocrity… should be asked to bear.

Oh. The. Humanities!

What’s next, Steve?

These women/people of color on the highest court may ask (nay, order — forcefully)… a return of all women’s right to control their own… bodily functions?!

To have fair voting power, in southern districts?! Clutch your pearls, Stevie!

Eek!

All three of these remaining Powerline geezers are about 65 years… out of date.

Ugly.

Me? I think it quite wise of the newest Justice to let her colleagues on the far right… she won’t be steam-rolled.

And to serve notice on the far right women Justices in particular that she intends to press them forcefully, as she ought.

Buckle up, buttercup!

Trying An Unproven Course, Gilead And Mapp Make Joint Therapies Available In Uganda For Sudan Variant Ebola.

This should well-impress on people who’ve not been following the developing crisis in Uganda closely… just how fraught the situation is becoming, with active exposure cases now as far away as… Pakistan, and Israel.

While both antibody candidates have separately been shown safe in humans, they haven’t been tested in combination, at all yet. Moreover, they’ve only ever been given in response to infections with variants of the COVID virus. However, there they worked pretty well [recall that when infected, Tangerine was given Remdesivir and recovered well]. So, in a non-human study, when given together as a combination therapy, the two drug candidates helped about 80 per cent of primates with Sudan variant Ebola. . . survive.

Encouraging, but this would only then be a last ditch therapy — if an infected health worker or patient agreed, after a fully-informed consent processes. And to be sure, it should only be given AFTER a positive test for the actual Sudan variant Ebolavirus, and as early thereafter as possible. It might save some lives — but candidly, it is unknown… what the longer term cognitive side-effects might be.

So… we are down to using wholly non-approved therapeutics, since the emerging vaccine candidate is still wholly-unproven. That’s… pretty serious:

…The U.S. sent Gilead Sciences Inc’s remdesivir and Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc’s experimental Ebola antibody drug MBP134 to Uganda as a response to the Ebola outbreak….

The medicines will (it is hoped) help safeguard healthcare workers responding to an outbreak for which there is currently no vaccine….

A study of MBP134 and remdesivir in non-human primates showed that either drug given individually rescued 20% of animals infected with the Sudan species of Ebola, but when given in combination, 80% of infected animals survived….

Now you know — but still agog over the guy walking in a cave a half mile from his home — where his 300th generation grandad was buried, about 9,000 years ago — likely the most famous paleolithic man in Britain. Wow.

नमस्ते

Scott Just Cannot Keep His Whyte Supremacists Sorted Out. But He Loves Them… ALL!

Ultimately, Scott Johnson has nothing to say, here, this morning. But he takes about 15 paragraphs… to say it.

His entire premise is that police and the FBI may have the wrong guy — as a suspect.

But both agree: this video is genuine.

And most law enforcement to whom the perp’s name is known, agree: he has clear ties to whyte supremacy fringe groups.

So it is sensible to infer that he was smashing windows at Auto-Zone, to incite/provoke exactly the mayhem that followed. A true false flag operation.

See this, from near real time:

…This wasn’t the only time the “Umbrella Man” was allegedly involved in a hateful incident this summer.

According to the warrant, on June 27 the man was on the scene when a group of people wearing Aryan Cowboy leather vests harassed a Muslim woman in Stillwater.

What seems to be his Facebook profile contains white supremacist imagery including pictures of people with swastika tattoos and giving Hitler salutes….

But this Scott cannot abide… so he spends 15 paragraphs to say… well, nothing that contradicts the main theme: some whyte supremacist, unnamed… was instrumental in starting the uprisings / rioting in the Third Precinct in Minneapolis after Mr. Floyd was murdered by Officer Derek Chauvin.

Damn — just… damn, Scott.

A Truly… Mind-Bending Story… Turns Out “Cheddar Man” Now Has A ~300th-Generation “Grandson” Living A Half Mile From His Cave Of 9,000 Years Ago!

I think a close look at the image at right… really tells the whole story. Do look.

But it is plain that — despite the darker skin, due to life long, nearly full-time outdoor / sun exposure (and a generally sunnier climate then, in what ultimately became foggy Britain)… the two actually do look… related. And that’s because DNA analysis confirms… they are. By mitochondrial DNA, they share a maternal line. Here’s the story:

…Adrian Targett visited the home of a close relative yesterday. He had to put on Wellington boots because the floor is muddy. The relative was not in. Hardly surprising: he died 9,000 years ago.

But there is no doubt: Mr Targett, a 42-year-old history teacher in Cheddar, Somerset, has been shown by DNA tests to be a direct descendant, by his mother’s line, of “Cheddar Man”, the oldest complete skeleton ever found in Britain, and now also the world’s most distant confirmed relative.

Even the Royal Family can only trace its heritage back to King Ecgbert, who ruled from 829 AD to 830 AD. By contrast, Cheddar Man, a hunter-gatherer who pre-dated the arrival of farming, lived in 7150 BC….

Cheddar Man was discovered in 1903, 20 metres inside Gough’s cave, which is the largest of 100 caverns in Cheddar Gorge — Britain’s prime site for Palaeolithic human remains. He had been buried alone in a chamber near the mouth of a deep cave, about 1,000 years before hunter-gathering began to give way to farming….

The oldest previously recorded relative was the great- great-great-great grandfather of Confucius who lived in the eighth century BC. Two of Confucius’s 85th lineal male descendants today live in Taiwan….

Yep — mind… blown! As I often say, these days… what an extraordinary time to be… alive. Grinning, ear to ear.

नमस्ते

Merck To Give Gates Foundation Global Rights To Tuberculosis Candidates…

This is part of Bill & Melinda Gates’ foundation commitment of a new $1.2 billion toward global health.

It is well-, and widely- known that tuberculosis is a persistent high burden disease in much of the lower income geographies around the globe. So this is quintessentially “doing good, after doing well” — at Merck. Here’s the latest:

…Under the agreement, Merck granted the Gates MRI an exclusive global license for MK-7762 and MK-3854.

“At Merck we have a proud legacy of addressing some of the world’s most challenging infectious diseases,” said Dr. Dean Y. Li, president, Merck Research Laboratories. “With the expertise and capabilities of the Gates MRI, MK-7762 and MK-3854 are positioned for rigorous evaluation of their potential as components of novel TB treatment regimens. . . .”

Dr. Li added that Gates MRI will undertake non-clinical and clinical studies of the candidates to evaluate their potential in new affordable combination treatment regimens for TB with the aim of shortening treatment duration irrespective of resistance to current TB drugs….

Onward, smiling — finding Taco Tuesdays, and my favorite truck vendors later today in the steel and glass canyons, as we had our first snowfall here overnight… whoosh….

नमस्ते

So — It All Makes Sense, Now: Candace “Courted” Kanye — To Get His $$$ Into George Farmer’s Failing Parler App…

Welp. I heard this rumor last night — but now NPR has confirmed it with the people involved.

And for her part, Candace Owens… always has an angle. ALWAYS.

Keep hubs’ job as CEO of this trainwreck company… compete against Tangerine, who she perceives has snubbed her…

And get into Ye’s pockets, for a likely $5 million to $15 million. Wow — hilarious:

…In a statement announcing Ye’s expected acquisition, Parler CEO George Farmer [NOTE: HUSBAND of Candace Owens!] predicted that the deal would have a far-reaching impact on online speech.

“Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again,” Farmer said. “Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative….”

And… Candace proves she can manipulate a bi-polar man off his meds into plunking down millions on a failing social media platform (but perfect for his anti-semitic views!)… that her husband’s legacy wealth in England no longer wishes to fund.

It is sort of the “super-sized” version of a classic “Nigerian Prince” scam… but one being run by a supposed old friend of ‘Ye’s… while he’s off his meds.

A M A Z I N G.

And… disgusting, too.

There Are Now Two Ugandan Districts Under Lockdown Orders: No Travel; No Church-, Bar-, Restaurant- Or Social Club- Gatherings…

PSA, from another of our properties: We are updating an item from yesterday, since it seems it hasn’t yet received wider US airplay. The report is from NPR.

ORIGINAL DATELINE — 10.16.2022: NPR has the difficult news this afternoon, that two districts inside Uganda are imposing outright lock-down orders.

With one case reported to have “snuck into” the capital of Kampala, to seek hospital treatment there, obviously the concern (given our masthead, below) is that more contacts of these cases will board planes at the international airport and depart from the capital, for points unknown — across the globe. That is the source of both the cases seen in Pakistan and now Israel. Without a vaccine in hand… this cannot be allowed to become a wider regional viral chain. Here’s a bit, from NPR:

…Ugandan authorities on Saturday imposed a travel lockdown on two Ebola-hit districts as part of efforts to stop the spread of the contagious disease.

The measures announced by President Yoweri Museveni mean residents of the central Ugandan districts of Mubende and Kassanda can’t travel into or out of those areas by private or public means. Cargo vehicles and others transiting from Kampala, the capital, to southwestern Uganda are still allowed to operate, he said.

All entertainment places, including bars, as well as places of worship are ordered closed, and all burials in those districts must be supervised by health officials, he said. A nighttime curfew also has been imposed. The restrictions will last at least 21 days….

Now you know. This is a very serious, and developing, situation — now over 1,000 contacts are known to exist — and yet not all can be monitored in the two districts, with the persistent travel patterns of workers who need to move about to earn wages, to survive. Off, to a gray Monday start… after Vampire interviews (new form), later last night. Grin….

नमस्ते

In Which Hinderaker Cannot Accept That “Trickle Down” Never Worked…

So, tonight… instead — he attributes the soon to come ouster of a fifth PM in six years… to the Tories not being… courageous enough.

Or something. [I suppose saying “we faked the Moon landing”… takes some form of courage… though (like this) I might label that… ignorant foolishness.]

In any event, in John’s telling, it was liberal financiers who conspired to wreak havoc on Truss’s tax cut / trickle down economics.

No John — it is that that “myth” of economics was debunked by 1990 in the US, and just failed in Britain (now without the old EU cushioning).

She is being sacked for choosing discredited voo doo economics as her “help only the rich “ / dog whistle.

Cheers — old man!

A Sitting President Pursuing Foreign Policy Goals — Which May Improve His Chances Of Re-Election — Can NEVER Be Unlawful.

I don’t know who this Tom what’s-his-puss / whoever Rep. in Congress, from the MAGA / GOP is… but someone ought to teach him about federal law — and the treaties and Constitution of the United States. [Yep — it has been a busy morning, for “the village idiots’ parades“, around our nation!]

He’s preposterously sent more than one letter, now — alleging that a President conducting foreign policy (but in no manner soliciting contributions of cash or oil, to the President’s NON-EXISTENT campaign, at this point…) violates “the law”.

He’s obviously mistaken this nonsense of his, for the rules applicable to a non-office-holding pure candidate (like Tangerine in 2016, during a campaign) in telling Russian secret agents that they’d “be GREATLY rewarded,” if they found and released purported HRC emails. See Tommy, Tangerine was not allowed to conduct foreign policy for the US — let alone solicit bribes! — as he then held no office. He was violating about ten statutes when he did so.

That was a pure campaign finance violation (among others), no doubt — but Mr. Biden is not campaigning yet for a second term, and even if he were — the Constitution grants him very wide power to conduct foreign policy.

If what he does improves his — or other Democrats’… standings in mid-term polls… well, that (incidentally) is the point of holding periodic elections: to have the winning candidate set the best course for the nation… a nation made up of “we the people“.

It is also fascinating that he was silent as the grave, when Tangerine — in office — sought to require the President of Ukraine [in direct dereliction of money CONGRESS had voted be sent to Ukraine!]… to go find dirt on Joe Biden, as a condition of delivering said foreign aid, again… already ordered, by the Congress by a clear majority.

That too, Tommy boy — is the solicitation of a naked bribe. Nothing like what you are whining about, now. Nah — I’ve changed my mind: let’s name this MAGAt idiot, in full: this is one Tom Tiffany, R/MAGA, out of northwestern Wisconsin’s deep frothy right/red 7th District.

[He grew up on a farm near Elmwood, about 330 miles west of Green Bay, and about an hour east of Minneapolis (a rural land not so long ago run by the KKK) — and was, until 2020, a local state hack, who lucked into a Congressional seat, filling an unexpired term — never having yet stood for a full two year election cycle.]

Damn son… just… damn.

You should resign — for failure to understand… how your own nation… works.

[U] So — Thomas Barrack Is In More Hot Water, For Withholding Documents He Used At Trial, That Were Not Privileged…

Update on Sunday afternoon, Eastern time: the able Judge Cogan has decided in an order just entered on the docket in Brooklyn, that Mr. Barrack himself likely did not intend for his counsel to thwart the discovery rules on these 84 documents. So, he will not give an instruction to the jury, or impose other sanctions on Barrack himself. Again, in my experience it is common to see a federal judge go easy on the defendant, and impliedly blame an error of counsel, so as not to make it worse for the Defendant (here, Mr. Barrack). Barrack is going to be convicted, Judge Cogan pretty much knows it — and he will lean toward limiting appeal avenues now. End, updates.

Not surprising, as it is common for white-collar felony defense lawyers to try to run “trial by ambush” tactics under the court’s radar, since the government possesses such vast advantages in resources, as compared to almost all accused indictees. Not so, Mr. Barrack — his billions, have meant tens of millions already spent on defense.

But apparently, at Friday’s session in Brooklyn, his lawyers began cross examining a government witness on a string of emails and documents… documents in the control of Team Barrack, ones that are not privileged, and ones he, and they, never showed the government (as plainly required by long standing federal criminal procedure / evidentiary rules). [The idea is to surprise, and hope to befuddle a witness before the jury and cast doubt on his or her testimony, in the eyes of the jury. But it rarely works, even though defense counsel probably correctly assess that their client is going to jail no matter what, for felonies — so breaking some evidentiary rules won’t add to his sentence much, and may get him… an acquittal by juror confusion.]

We may infer that this ticked off the able USDC trial judge Brian Cogan — as he has ordered a full disclosure by Barrack’s team — of at least 84 documents, to the US, by no later than 5 PM EDT, on yesterday — a Saturday.

This may yet result in an instruction to the jury that they may make adverse inferences against Mr. Barrack for these obvious misdeeds. Even up to and including that it is more evidence of his… awareness of his ultimate culpability, on the felonies:

…The Court is reconsidering its decision on the issues raised in [321, 322] and will rule on the issues raised therein after the Government has had a chance to respond. Defendant Barrack should produce to the Government all withheld documents that are plainly not privileged by 5:00 PM today.

Ordered by Judge Brian M. Cogan on 10/15/2022….

Were I Mr. Barrack, I would get my various powers of attorney and estate planning documents in good and refreshed order, for all my financial dealings, for at least the next ten years… I think he is going into a federal prison for at least that long, to be sure.

Which with the hideous limits on / lack of health care access in all prisons… may mean he dies… before he breathes free air again. He will be in his late seventies when he goes away.

Damn — that explains, in my mind, these flagrant misdeeds, at trial.

Onward — to see Tangerine squirm when he is convicted will be… delicious.