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In Which John All But Openly Admits “Almost None Of This Will Ever Come To Pass”. Hilarious.

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

Again we see that Tangerine 2.0 puts out scads of mostly impotent talking points… and foolishly assumes… that they are self-executing, since the pumpkin-king declared it to be so.

Here Hinderaker applauds it all, wildly, but closes his 25 paragraph essay with essentially an admission: “good luck — with all that“.

Hilarious. What a goddamn dumb-show this whole she-bang has become.

[And that is before I even mention the disgusting claim (by Trump, on social media today — one morning after the astonishingly brutal murder — by knife attacks, of Rob Reiner, and his wife of many years, by his drug-involved and troubled, son) that the murder was a result of his spouting “Trump Derangement Syndrome” talking points.]

The man is… a foul-mouthed monster. A monster, indeed.

DOGE Caused This. “The Stoopid: it Burns…” Capture of Whole Sectors Dept. — 2025

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Tangerine 2.0 is now touting something he calls “Tech-Force“. It exists primarily because Elon Musk and DOGE gutted almost all the technology workers in the federal government. And now we will all pay — to rebuild it?!?

So now the Donald is calling on private [tech] industry players to supply what amounts to a government controlled and funded “Peace Corps“-like cadre of workers (albeit in government tech) — for two-year stints each, to ostensibly catch up from, and repair… all the things that were wrecked by one Elon Musk. And, moreover, he proposes that we increase the deficit to do so.

Hard pass — here is Apple Insider, on all of that:

…[Tangerine 2.0’s X account announced] Monday… a program that offers salaries from $150,000 to $200,000 plus benefits, targeting early- and mid-career talent for agencies like [the US Dept. of] Treasury and [the US Dept. of] Defense [which Hegseth has renamed the War Dept.]. Participants will work directly with leaders on financial systems and defense efforts, partnering with tech giants. [OPM has] framed it as a vital step to keep America leading in technology amid global AI competition. Applications are open now at techforce.gov….

[And from an unbiased source, Apple Insider:] Every attempt to create teams of technologists to aid the government in consultation and education has been met with resistance. The first of such initiatives was created in 1972 [due largely to the rampant conflicts of interest — which in turn lead to gaping opportunities for graft and corruption].

The fundamental misunderstanding of technology and its implementation in the government has reared its head for the last three decades. We’ve heard White House officials share absurd ideas about automating nuclear power and more lately converting entire organizations into AI-powered chatbots.

It remains to be seen exactly what the Tech Force might accomplish, but only time will tell. There is no doubt that there are portions of the government that could benefit from technology being implemented efficiently, but sadly, the bets for such advancement are put on the wrong horses….

This is essentially a super-sized version of the capture Trump 1.0 ran on the US Postal Service, allowing DeJoy to gut it — in preference for DeJoy’s own private contractor delivery services… but this threatens all govt. tech. Damn. You will note that Apple is not participating. Good on ’em!

नमस्ते

The Noemites… Believe No Law, At All, Governs Their Endless Abuse Of Due Process — Her Latest Abrego Nonsense Has Been… Already Dumped.

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Yesterday (on a Sunday!), the “government” finally got around to filing its opposition to Friday’s TRO. It has already lost. Noem and her minions are. . . enjoined. Just as we said.

But… just for a complete record — I’ll link it. But I will not quote it. I did already (on Friday night) quote the TRO (issued from the bench, by the ever-capable USDC Judge Xinis in Maryland). It is already in force — and here is what those moving papers say:

…Unlawful detention inflicts irreparable harm. Miranda v. Garland, 34 F.4th 338, 365 (4th Cir. 2022) (noting that the erroneous deprivation of an alien’s liberty, “for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury”); Mata Velasquez v. Kurzdorfer, 794 F. Supp. 3d 128, 154 (W.D.N.Y. 2025) (“[T]here is no question that unlawful detention causes irreparable harm.”). Petitioner will thus suffer irreparable harm if he is unlawfully detained….

The balance of harms and public interest decisively favor injunctive relief. There is no equitable or public interest in detaining individuals without legal authority. And there is “no public interest in the perpetuation of unlawful [government] action.” Am. Fed’n of State, Cnty. & Mun. Emps., AFL-CIO v. Soc. Sec. Admin., No. 25-cv-1411, 2025 WL 1249608, at *62 (4th Cir. Apr. 30, 2025) (citations omitted). Conversely, both the equities and the public interest favor ensuring government agencies comply with court orders and respect fundamental liberty interests.

Because “habeas corpus is, at its core, an equitable remedy,” a district court has “substantial discretion to appropriately redress any violation of an order granting habeas corpus relief.” Wolfe v. Clarke, 718 F.3d 277, 285 (4th Cir. 2013) (citing Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 319 (1995)). Here, that equitable authority supports entry of a temporary restraining order preventing Respondents from circumventing yesterday’s release order through re-detention on the same unlawful grounds….

Onward, resolutely. He will remain free — certainly until mid-January, and the final hearings in Tennessee.

नमस्ते

Updated / Monday Tangent: Peter L. Brandt Is A Trading Legend — Since The 1980s… And He’s Right — About Bitcoin Spot Price-Trends.

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A year and a half ago — in Spring ’24, he pointed out that the parabolic upswings in Bitcoin spot prices… were over.

He makes the case more on chart psychology than on pure economics. But the point he makes is valid — because in any capital market, a decent portion of the demand vs. supply curves, which drive all price points… is due to traders’ collective psychology.

Do they think there are more suckers, waiting in the wings, with cash to burn?

Or do they think that it is going to be a hard-scrabble Xmas (again)?

The latter seems clearly correct — with Tangerine 2.0’s chaos everywhere.

So he posits that once the parabola breaks — not bends — a 80% draw-down (to spot pricing around $25,000) will come. Maybe by mid-2026.

Here’s CoinDesk on it all, on this dourly-chilly mid-December Monday morning:

…Veteran trader and chart analyst Peter Brandt has warned that bitcoin’s signature growth parabola has fractured, opening the door to a brutal slide potentially down to $25,000.

Brandt’s call hinges on exponential decay in bitcoin’s bull cycles. The cryptocurrency has historically rallied hard in 12-18 months after halving and subsequently slipped into a bear market, characterized by 70% to 80% pullback from record highs….

However, each bull cycle has seen diminishing returns. For instance, following the first halving on Nov. 28, 2012, BTC chalked out a 100-fold rise to $1,240 by December 2013. The 2016 halving produced a 74-fold rise and the 2020 halving brought an eight-fold rise.

The latest post-halving cycle, which kicked off following the quadrennial event in April 2024, saw prices double to a record high of $126,000 by October this year. Since then, prices have pulled back to well-under $90,000, slicing through the parabola curve that has marked massive price uptrends during each prior cycle….

I can first hand verify that Mr. Brandt was making multi-millions, on his charting — of CFTC regulated commodities pools, back in the mid-1980s — when I was just a neophyte junior associate attorney at a big Chicago lawfirm, one that was writing his disclosure documents.

Yep, I spent a lot of late nights, at a financial printer (what an old school world that was, with steaks delivered at 1 am, from Gene & Georgetti’s — then back at my desk on the 69th floor facing north by 7:30 am, shaved and showered, in another double breasted Italian designer suit — the same morning! Whoah!) all while reading over his theories on markets (proofing them, actually).

And so, I can vouch for his now 45 year history of… far more good calls than bad ones.

And so, Riot Platforms will tank — perhaps to below $10 — and maybe back toward… $4, before it is all over. Onward, grinning.

Now you know.

नमस्ते

NASA Sees Two Of Its Vehicles Named [By Time] As Top 25 “Groundbreaking” — Here, In The Young New Millennium. Sweet.

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It must be said: even with all the Tangerine 2.0 caused-chaos, this agency continues to… shine.

Since the mid- to late-1950s… “the best and brightest” have uniformly, and spectacularly… applied themselves, at NASA. The Barsoomian rover, NASA’s rolling science lab — has spent more than a decade uncovering clues that Mars once could have supported life (in exactly the forms as we understand that term) — transforming our understanding of our planetary neighbor. Truly, these discoveries could not have happened, without the hardy lil’ rover.

And despite the initial naming controversy — there is now no room for doubt: JWST is (far and away) the finest telescope [of any kind!] in all of human history. The stunning images — and resulting discoveries — arrive almost daily, now. It sits out at L2, the Lagrange Point, where it floats in gravitational equilibrium, under its mylar shades (in very nearly absolute zero temps).

Here’s the story from the mavens at NASA:

…Two icons of discovery, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope [JWST] and NASA’s Curiosity rover, have earned places in TIME’s “Best Inventions Hall of Fame,” which recognizes the 25 groundbreaking inventions of the past quarter century that have had the most global impact, since TIME began its annual Best Inventions list in 2000. The inventions are celebrated in TIME’s December print issue.

“NASA does the impossible every day, and it starts with the visionary science that propels humanity farther than ever before,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Congratulations to the teams who made the world’s great engineering feats, the JWST and the Mars Curiosity Rover, a reality. Through their work, distant galaxies feel closer, and the red sands of Mars are more familiar, as they expanded and redefined the bounds of human achievement in the cosmos — for the benefit of all….”

Excellent — now you know. And here’s to hoping that we soon hear a ping-back from the orbiting MAVEN, around Barsoom, having operated for some 11 years, almost flawlessly — but now having fallen silent… with each passing day, the probability fades, that we will ever hear from it again. And so, I’m smiling a rather sad smile, tonight. But as ever, tomorrow is… a new day.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Lies About Not Taking Govt. Bailout Money…

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Tonight Hinderaker bloviates about the state of US charitable giving in 2025.

He claims that Democratic organizations get far more money from the federal government in the form of charitable funding / donations than do Republican ones. I am certain that is false in 2025. Consider USAID, as just one example.

But the real reason I write is to note that he claims his charitable organization does not take — and has never taken — government money.

That statement is wildly false — and from his own mouth, no less — in 2021. He took about a fifth of a million dollars in PPP funding. Most recently, he filed disclosure forms that indicated he took PPP funding during Covid ostensibly to continue paying paychecks to his staff. But then a few months later, he crowed that he wasn’t ever going to pay back any of the money that theoretically he had borrowed. [He’s a millionaire, many times over.]

Charming.

The man is reprobate and a liar, and he’s given us all the proof… himself.

Out.

UPDATE: Abrego Garcia Remains Safe, At Home — With His Family — Until At Least Mid-January 2026.

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Yawn. No surprise. The able USDC Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland agrees that we don’t run star chambers, where fake ICE employees claiming to be “judges” may completely re-write, and then “enter” orders on six year old cases, to make someone lawfully here… immediately removable — without any notice, or opportunity to be heard in opposition (violating due process).

That is antithetical to our system of ordered liberty. But it is just… Thursday, to the Noemites, and Tangeriners 2.0. Here’s the order, and a bit:

…See 8 U.S.C. § 1231 (a)(1)(A) (“when an alien is ordered removed, the Attorney General shall remove the alien from the United States within a period of 90 days.”). Respondents also have detained Abrego Garcia for the six-month presumptive period articulated in Zadvydas, when conservatively considering the time spent in ICE detention since 2019, combined with the time spent in detention in El Salvador, and in ICE custody after securing his release in the Tennessee Criminal Matter. Nor had Respondents done anything to secure Abrego Garcia’s third-country removal between 2019 and August 2025. Cf. Zavvar v. Scott, Civ. No. TDC-25-2104, 2025 WL 2592543 at *4 (D. Md. Sept. 8, 2025). Thus, for the reasons previously articulated in ECF No. 110 and in this Order, Abrego Garcia is likely to succeed on the merits of any further Zadvydas claim….

[T]he public retains keen interest in ensuring that government agencies comply with court orders, especially those necessary to protect individual liberties. In this respect, the Court reminds Respondents that … [f]or the public to have any faith in the orderly administration of justice, the Court’s narrowly crafted remedy cannot be so quickly and easily upended without further briefing and consideration….

Onward, resolutely — to a matinee later today, of the “Nutcracker on Ice” — little kids’ edition! Wind-chills are now between minus 14 and minus 25… so, “on ice” — quite literally!

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Is Right About One Thing…

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That is, that Donald J. Trump‘s time — with any real power — any clearly operative authority, or vibrant ability to act broadly — and complete any particular “policy” initiative… is already almost over.

Hinderaker knows this to be true — and says so, tonight. But along the way he wants to point to externalities that (he imagines) are causing it, rather than admitting that Trump never had any moral authority to do anything, and completely eradicated any sense of “the high ground”, literally from his first day in office on.

So yes, John, you are right (as to outcome): Trump‘s time is nearly at an end. The Democrats will control the US House — and they probably will win control of the Senate. Excellent — you have only yourselves to blame, for every bit of it.

So far, no one at Powerline as far as I’ve seen, has exhibited the courage to admit that for the first time in over a quarter of a century, after last week, there is a Democrat holding the office of Mayor in Miami. This is not only in Trump‘s kitchen, but it’s also in the MAGA / faux theocrat DeSantis’… that’s a very bad omen for these boys.

Correspondingly, it is a pretty good barometer of how disgusted ordinary Americans are with the way the corrupt MAGA agenda’s “rubber meets the road”.

So the midterm losses for the GOP are likely to be worse even than John imagines.

I for one cannot wait for November of 2026 to show up on my calendar.

Grin!

What The Nancy Grace Roman ‘Scope Will See / Map… In About A Year. Amazing!

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To be certain, in most of the sciences (despite the odd examples we report on here), the dank darkness — of ignorance. . . is being pushed backward, into the background, day by day — and illuminated, by excellent — and more than occasionally… female genius scientists.

And Nancy Grace Roman clearly fits all those bills.

We’ve spoken of her before — and of the coming 2026 mission… but now we have… video, to explain what she’s looking for: a map of our Milky Way galaxy, edge on… across its whole breadth. That is nearly a million light years across. Wow. Here is all that, from NASA | JPL:

…This visualization begins with a view of the Homunculus Nebula, which houses the massive binary star Eta Carinae, as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. The view pulls back to reveal the wider Carina Nebula — a giant, relatively nearby star-forming region in the southern sky. A single Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope pointing will cover more than the Hubble image, which was built from multiple pointings. Roman will view more of the Carina Nebula repeatedly over time with six pointings, allowing astronomers to observe any changes that take place.

The entire nebula as well as its surroundings, including a 10,000 light-year-long swath of the spiral arm it resides in, are included in the overall Roman Galactic Plane Survey. The full survey will cover 691 square degrees and is to be completed over the course of two years. The observations will offer an unparalleled opportunity to watch how stars grow, interact, and sculpt their environments, and it’s just one of many thousands of highlights astronomers are looking forward to from this Roman survey. . . .

“The Galactic Plane Survey will revolutionize our understanding of the Milky Way,” said Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’ll be able to explore the mysterious far side of our galaxy and its star-studded heart. Because of the survey’s breadth and depth, it will be a scientific mother lode.”

The Galactic Plane Survey is Roman’s first selected general astrophysics survey — one of many observation programs Roman will do in addition to its three core surveys and Coronagraph technology demonstration. At least 25% of Roman’s five-year primary mission is reserved for astronomers worldwide to propose more surveys beyond the core programs, fully leveraging Roman’s capabilities to conduct groundbreaking science. Roman is slated to launch by May 2027, but the team is on track for launch as early as fall 2026….

Now you know — grinning — what an amazing time to be alive, and in possession of the ability to learn… all the sciences!

नमस्ते

A Goofy / Corrupt[?] Admin. Immig. Judge Claims A “Right” To Modify, Sua Sponte — An Order Undisturbed Since 2019?! WTAH?! Abrego Case In Maryland…

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As ever, when Tangerine / Miller / Noem / Rubio are confronted with a loss — because they plainly violated our laws, and our Constitution [here, in Abrego Garcia’s case — repeatedly]… they simply try to rewrite the history of the case, in a fraudulent fashion. It will not work.

Here, six years later — and after being repeatedly warned by the courts that the government’s OWN record plainly indicated that Abrego was here LAWFULLY — these jamokes claim he is deportable, as they vainly try to reach back six years to “correct” what they disingenuously call a “scriveners’ error” — and enter an entirely NEW order. That is simply… insane — and a banana dictator’s move, unbecoming a nation of limited governemental authority over her peoples. Here’s the deal, from this evening:

…[Last night, at] approximately 7:01 p.m., an immigration judge issued a document with the heading “Order of the Immigration Judge,” and the subheading “Immigration Court’s Sua Sponte Order Correcting Scrivener’s Error.” Ex. B. This sua sponte order states that, in the October 10, 2019, order granting Petitioner withholding of removal, “the order of removal to El Salvador, which should have preceded the order granting him withholding of removal to El Salvador, was erroneously omitted.” Id. at 4.

It then goes on to state: “The Immigration Court now corrects that scrivener’s error and amends the written decision in this case by adding the following: The Respondent is ordered removed to El Salvador based on the charge contained in the Notice to Appear, but the Respondent’s application for withholding of removal to El Salvador pursuant to INA § 241(b)(3) is granted.”

The Order further states that “These corrections are hereby issued nunc pro tunc to the Immigration Court’s written decision and order of October 10, 2019….”

The Government’s attempt to manufacture a removal order sua sponte through an ex parte proceeding, without notice to Petitioner and without any opportunity to be heard, violates the INA and due process. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a. The opportunity to be heard is essential to due process. Sagastizado v. Noem, 2025 WL 2957003, at *2 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 10, 2025) (“Noncitizens have a right to meaningful notice and opportunity to be heard before being deported to a third country.”); see also ECF No. 110 at 30 (citing Nguyen v. Scott, — F. Supp. 3d —, 2025 WL 2419288 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 21, 2025) (granting immediate release and enjoining removal absent meaningful opportunity to be heard in reopened removal proceedings).

The Government had six years to identify and correct any alleged “scrivener’s error,” and Petitioner has repeatedly pointed out the lack of an Order throughout these proceedings. See ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 54, 68–69; ECF No. 32 at 3, 9, 10, 20; ECF No. 87 at 11, 18. The Government chose to pursue this path only after losing on habeas and only through a process that denied Petitioner any opportunity to be heard….

Detention is also inconsistent with Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001). Yesterday, this Court held that Petitioner’s removal could not be considered “reasonably foreseeable, imminent, or consistent with due process” because the government lacked statutory authority to remove him absent a final order of removal. . . .

Tangerine 2.0 mostly runs. . . a crime syndicate — not a… government, under any recognized principles. This gambit will of course… fail. And Abrego is safe at home, tonight — he will remain there. Bank on it. Out.

नमस्ते