Category: Uncategorized

McMahon / Hinderaker Seem To Forget Themselves — And History, Here.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

This is precious — precious, beyond words.

John would now tell us that Harvard will cower in fear — before the mighty, blazing intellectual acumen of… a WWF wrestling wife.

Uh-huh.

He (and she!) conveniently forget that just this past weekend the moron-in-chief directly violated a felony statute in writing — threatening Harvard University with an IRS investigation. All she writes will be evidence that this administration is discriminating — lawlessly — against Harvard.

[She works for that very same moron — purportedly as his Secretary of Education. What a crock.]

He directed her to write this stupidly threatening letter. It evinces a shocking lack of sophistication about how the federal government works, and how to write an effective letter.

And it will all come tumbling down on them in federal court very shortly, in Boston.

But to hear John tell it, tonight was the night of… victory.

Victory, presumably… because her letter contains no obvious spelling or grammatical errors. I guess… that’s… something.

Hilarious.

Out.

At The “Crunchy” Milky Way Center: A Galactic “Bone” Fracture…

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

These are very unusual, and truly ginormous… structures — deep inside our Milky Way, very near the galactic center.

And for a few decades, astronomers have puzzled as to what might have caused a “fracture” in this vast structure. By using several different instruments (space telescopes and the ground based VLA), it seems the mystery has been solved. Here’s the latest from NASA:

…Astronomers have discovered a likely explanation for a fracture in a huge cosmic “bone” in the Milky Way galaxy, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and radio telescopes.

The bone appears to have been struck by a fast-moving, rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar. Neutron stars are the densest known stars and form from the collapse and explosion of massive stars. They often receive a powerful kick from these explosions, sending them away from the explosion’s location at high speeds.

Enormous structures resembling bones or snakes are found near the center of the galaxy. These elongated formations are seen in radio waves and are threaded by magnetic fields running parallel to them. The radio waves are caused by energized particles spiraling along the magnetic fields….

Now you know, with the “revenge of the sixth” just a day away… and “the fourth be you” just passed — another deep mystery… unraveled. Grin.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Touts Silly, Cooked Polls… Here Is Reality.

~ condor ~ 3 Comments

As ever, Hinderaker cherry-picks a Rasmussen (fake pollsters!) partisan heavy result, to argue Tangerine is not in trouble.

But in fact, he is.

He’s almost 8% underwater.

That’s reality — the worst gap, in modern history for someone who is still supposedly in the “honeymoon” period (at only 103 days in office):

…As of this update [05.04.25], 44.2 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance and 51.8 percent disapprove…

That’s in no small part due to his tanking of the US, in international trade matters.

What a… putz.

Out.

Sadly, NASA Has Been Forced To Carry A Trump/Musk Commercial… And Pay Out ~$1 Billion In Private Mars “Boots In Soil” Funding…

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

This is a pure campaign donation reimbursement, to one Elon Musk, from Tangerine 2.0 — Trump is a crooked old skally-wag:

…Increased commitment to human space exploration in pursuit of exploration of both the Moon and Mars. By allocating more than $7 billion for lunar exploration and introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs, the budget ensures America’s human space exploration efforts remain unparalleled, innovative, and efficient….

Welcome to the world of a guy who attends a Pope’s funeral — and then a week later, posts his own AI generated version of himself, wearing the Pope’s robes — saying he’s fit for the job.

What a completely bonkers world. It seems the Derby winner, Sovereignty, has declined a trip to the White House — to meet the preznit, saying “If’n I wanted to see a horse’s A$$, I’d ‘u’v INTENTIONALLY come in SECOND….”

Out.

26 USC § 7217(a) and (d): When Tangerine 2.0 Is Dumber Than A Bag Of… Rocks — Harvard’s Tax Status Is Safe.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

As of this Saturday mid-day, the Trump [mal-]administration is little more than a mobsters’-clown-show. I’ll link only one of the now endless news reports — and Trump’s own writings — in which he’s threatened Harvard’s tax-exempt stauts, overtly.

Harvard’s tax exempt status is now completely safe, largely because Trump is too stupid to avoid expressly violating a 1999 law making it a crime to try to politicize the IRS’s work. See this, at 26 USC § 7217(a) and (d):

…(a) It shall be unlawful for [the US President, or almost any other governmental official] to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer….

(d)Penalty

Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution….

No — I do not think he will go to jail over this latest felony, but the IRS will lose, and lose completely, if it takes any action against Harvard, now that Trump has intentionally violated 26 USC § 7217(a) and (d). He’s a… soulless putz.

नमस्ते

ACLU Colorado Files Muscular Argument That All AEA Detainees Are Able To Challenge, As A Federal Class — No Need For One-By-One Suits…

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

This is why the federal class action rules, and federal equitable principles… exist.

These men are held in a high security Colorado federal facility. There are very likely more than 200 people so detained. Making each find a lawyer, and get a case filed… is just a way to undermine their due process rights. The court will grant provisional class status here, and use its equitable powers to decide a likely omnibus habeas release order, especially after USDC Judge Rodriguez’s courageous Texas ruling this week. Here’s the latest overnight, from the ACLU:

…Even if Rule 23 did not technically apply in habeas proceedings, Respondents recognize that courts sitting in equity have used Rule 23 as a guidepost to certify a class under the All Writs Act and principles of habeas jurisdiction and equity. Opp. 7. Judge Rodriguez, in the Southern District of Texas, recently surveyed these circuit court decisions to conclude that “district courts, in appropriate circumstances, may rely on the All Writs Act to fashion relief analogous to a class action,” and that class certification was appropriate for a district-wide class similar to the one provisionally certified here. J.A.V., 2025 WL 1256996, at *2. And as Respondents concede, the Tenth Circuit relied on cases like Sero and Bijeol to hold that “class treatment” could be available by the court “apply[ing] an analogous procedure by reference to Rule 23.” Napier, 542 F.2d at 827 & n.2; see also Opp. 6.

Respondents disagree that a class habeas is appropriate here, primarily because they believe that Petitioners do not have standing to provide jurisdiction over the case. Opp. 9. As demonstrated above, it is sufficient for Petitioners to show they face an imminent risk of being subject to the Proclamation. Stricklin, 594 F.3d at 1197–98. Moreover, neither of the cases cited by Respondents limit class habeas to “narrow circumstances,” Opp. 7; they, like others, use Rule 23 as a guide. See Sero, 506 F.2d at 1126 (“[O]ur conclusion that an analogous procedure [to Rule 23] may be employed in this case is bolstered by the Federal Rules’ delineation of the circumstances which make multi-party actions appropriate.”); Bijeol, 513 F.2d at 968 (“a representative procedure analogous to the class action provided for in Rule 23 may be appropriate in a habeas corpus action under some circumstances”); see also Napier, 542 F.2d at 827 n.2.5….

Onward — and “Bust” is an excellent Afrocurrentist play — in the genre of Jordan Peele’s “Get Out“. Both comical, and tragic in one — a new form of fantasy / sci-fi / mystery. Sweet!

नमस्ते

Intercept Media Seeks Unsealing Of The Warrant Materials Backing Ms. Chung’s Arrest. It WILL Prevail.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Most of all, Noem / Rubio / Tangerine 2.0 has decided not to oppose the unsealing.

The people’s right here is pretty clear: we are entitled to see what law enforcement claims to do in our name.

…Absent a documented showing of unreasonable administrative burdens (and a two page order, published at the same moment, makes it plain that this is no administrative burden!), the public’s right to contemporaneous access to judicial records cannot be overcome. See, e.g., Courthouse News Serv. v. Planet, No. CV 11-08083 SJO (FFMx), 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105197, at *62 (C.D. Cal. May 26, 2016) (“to the extent Planet might argue that such a practice would have been cost-prohibitive or unduly labor intensive, she has not quantified the cost. . . nor has she detailed the additional labor that would have been required). . . .

Absent such evidence, the Court cannot ‘articulate facts demonstrating an administrative burden sufficient to deny access.’”) (citation omitted), aff’ in part rev’d in part, 947 F.3d 581, 597 (9th Cir. 2020) (holding that “Ventura County’s no-access-before-process policy bears no real relationship to the County’s legitimate administrative concerns about. . . efficient court administration”); see also United States v. Valenti, 987 F.2d 708, 715 (11th Cir. 1993) (holding unconstitutional the district court’s maintenance of a dual-docketing system, where certain docket entries were visible only to the parties, and expressly rejecting the argument that unsealing would bind the court to a “formal procedure that is unduly burdensome”)….

Now you know. Onward; saw a great Afrocurrentist play last night at the Goodman — called “Bust”.

नमस्ते

Yawn. When We Don’t Mention Hinderaker…

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

…it is not because he’s gone silent.

No, he’s posting lots and lots of items.

But none are of any serious moment — they are, uniformly… insipid.

There he cheers Stephen Miller (a/k/a Brownshirt Lurch), whose bunk legal “theories” are now batting 3-105, in the courts.

The sad truth is — Hinderaker no longer offers anything, in the way of meaningful adult conversation.

All while Tangerine 2.0 has done essentially nothing in 101 days.

Ukraine? Nope.

Tax cuts? Nope.

Wall? Nope.

Ended birthright citizenship? Nope.

Gotten NATO to “pay up”? Nope.

Done anything meaningful — about sane immigration reform? Nope.

Held a car commercial (for his mega-donor) — on the White House lawn? Yup!

Issued a conflicted, ugly shitcoin?! Let it tank? Yup and yup.

Snubbed by other serious leaders, at the Pope’s funeral? Check!

Out.

USDC Judge Rodriguez Is First To Directly Rule Trump Cannot Use Alien Enemies Act. We Are NOT At War…

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

When all that matters is… the law, it really doesn’t matter which Prez. appointed… the judge. It is just… the law. But I will mention here — in this strange time — even Trump appointees well-know this is… the law, Donnie. And I love that Trump touted him has his “first (and I think, only) Latino” appointee.

Here is the excellently-reasoned opinion in full — and a bit of it:

…Petitioners J.A.V., J.G.G., and W.G.H. are natives of Venezuela currently detained at the El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas. They bring this action under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, alleging that by seeking to remove them from the United States based on the Proclamation, Respondents do so unlawfully and in violation of their due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Petitioners challenge that the President can invoke the AEA under the alleged circumstances, and also deny that they are members of TdA. They bring suit individually and as representatives of a class of persons within the Southern District of Texas whom the Respondents will seek to remove based on the Proclamation and the AEA. Petitioners seek a permanent injunction barring the Respondents from employing the AEA to remove them….

The question that this lawsuit presents is whether the President can utilize a specific statute, the AEA, to detain and remove Venezuelan aliens who are members of TdA. As to that question, the historical record renders clear that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms. As a result, the Court concludes that as a matter of law, the Executive Branch cannot rely on the AEA, based on the Proclamation, to detain the Named Petitioners and the certified class, or to remove them from the country….

Now you know. Grinning ear to ear!

नमस्ते