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Noem / McMahon / Rubio / Tangerine 2.0 Have Appealed Their Complete Loss, In The Harvard Intl. Student Visas Case… Y A W N.

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It won’t change the outcome — and it is… utterly unsurprising. [Here, as a refresher, is the very well-reasoned 44 page opinion, from the able USDC Judge Burroughs, in Boston, on the earlier complete loss, while I was down in Nashville last week.]

But here it that Friday night entry, in the federal district courthouse in Boston:

…NOTICE OF APPEAL as to 75 Memorandum & ORDER, by Pamela Bondi, John Doe, James Hicks, Todd Lyons, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, Student and Exchange Visitor Program, United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Department of Justice, United States Department of State, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fee Status: US Government….

Onward — but it is ironic — and, astonishing actually — look at the vast millions these idiots are wasting in taxpayer funds, to try to subvert freedom of expression, at private universities.

One would think real conservatives would complain to them about how all this Kabuki theater is just ballooning the nation’s deficits. But one would be mistaken: the cruelty… is the whole point. Out.

नमस्ते

CIDRAP Details Latest Studies — In Mpox Abatement — For Pregnant Women, Infants and Toddlers. Good News!

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The vaccine has long shown efficacy in other -pox viral vectors, and it has worked well, in adult Mpox Clade 1b outbreaks. So, there is reason to believe it should work here, in the most vulnerable population/cohorts — infants, toddlers and pregnant women.

We will keep you posted, but here’s the latest, via the estimable CIDRAP — on global public health/viral disease matters:

…Bavarian Nordic President and CEO Paul Chaplin, PhD, said, “These new studies will fill the gap by providing important data about the use of MVA-BN in infants and pregnant women, and we applaud the study partners as well as the funding partners, EDCTP3 and CEPI [Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations] for supporting this important work, which could help support a label expansion for MVA-BN to include the most vulnerable populations.”

Both studies are part of the PregInPoxVac research project, led by the University of Antwerp and the University of Kinshasa.

In addition, Bavarian Nordic is sponsoring a trial of Jynneos in children aged 2 to 11 years old, which has received funding support from CEPI. It expects results from this trial later this year….

Now you know. Onward, resolutely — eleven on. Grin.

नमस्ते

Elon Musk’s “Ten Things I Hate About” Trump, Again Tonight?!?

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Global, and mutually self-destructive, war — Musk v. Tangerine — Part Deux returns!

I am 100% here for it — pour all the tea:

…Weeks after ending his war of words with President Trump, Elon Musk called the president’s bill “utterly insane and destructive; [it] raises the debt ceiling by $5 TRILLION, the biggest increase in history, putting America in the fast lane to debt slavery!….”

“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” Musk wrote in a separate X post, “It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future….”

Yup. In this limited instance… Elon is correct. Hilarious!

नमस्ते

Where Is Tangerine? Solidly Unpopular. And, On ALL FRONTS, Too.

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Here’s an accurate poll — for the moron Hinderaker.

…As of today, 45.3 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing and 51.7 percent disapprove. That’s a net approval rating of -6.2….

Here’s how his net approval on immigration, the economy, trade, and inflation have changed in our average between June 10th and today:

Immigration: +4.0 —> -3.7

Economy: -10.9 —> -13.4

Trade: -7.7 —> -14.7

Inflation: -18.6 —> -22.6….

Hinderaker is trying to hide this — by talking up Rasmussen polls, tonight.

Primarily, he’s trying to obscure that Trump is deeply unpopular on his “signature” issue: immigration. Hilarious.

What a chump.

Out.

Why… “Mars — For Human-Crewed Missions…” Will Be VERY HARD: New NASA Podcast.

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The honest truth is… there are precious few “science-y things” that would require a human on Mars. Our existing, proven chopper-, and rover- technology — all robotic and semi-autonomous — is a far smarter choice. The radiation and cold and lack of oxygen (and / or potable water) bother them… far less. It is a simple fact — despite what the world’s richest loon sez.

While doing it all remotely takes more iterative mission-time, it is far safer — for the human scientists / astronauts. In any event, here’s this excellent podcast, and its transcription into text, at NASA:

…[As an initial matter,] Mars at its furthest, is on the order of 250 million miles away from the Earth, or 1,000 times further into space than the Moon or a million times further into space than the space station. . . .

You land on Mars, now I got to wait for my launch window to come back from Earth, and that happens a year after I land, one Earth year, half a Mars’ year. So, you’re going to go halfway around the Sun on the planet Mars, and then your launch window opens so you can come back to Earth. So, once you have left Earth, and no spacecraft that we can possibly design has enough propellant on board to come back, once we’ve done that burn and headed off to Mars, you can’t abort and say, no, I don’t like this, I’m coming home. You’re committed. You’re committed to nine months out, you’re committed to a year on the surface, you’re committed to nine months back. Now we can mess with things and say, well, what if we do a special different trajectory and we’re going to come back and go closer to the Sun than the Earth and do a swing by the planet Venus and get a little boost from Venus’ current gravity and then we’ll come back to Earth a little earlier.

That adds complexity to your mission, now I got a have a bunch of heat shielding because I’m getting close to the Sun. And as with certain other philosophical conflicts in spaceflight, there has been a great deal of discussion and no winner on whether it’s better to just suck it up and do the long haul or try to be fancy and do this faster thing.

The pros and cons on both sides have not shown a clear victor on that one. So, basically, when you are committing to Mars, you’re committing to two and a half to three years away from the Earth and nothing important can break, nothing important can run out. All those engine burns have to work right and you have to launch yourself off a planet without help….

And all of the above is before we discuss how we’ve not solved the issue of protecting a crew from interstellar radiation, on those three or so years. Cancer, on return will be a likely scenario, for anyone going out that way. Damn. 2050 at the earliest is my guess — after we solve the shielding problems. Onward.

नमस्ते

Well, Tangerine — It Seems It’s Not So “Obliterated” — After All… Damn.

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First, he lied about a cease fire. Then he lied about the contervailing intel coming out of both Israel, and our own federal agencies — tasked with using satellite imagery to assess the mission’s effectiveness.

Now we are learning that Iran’s nuke workers are back at it (per CNN), already. Trump’s [largely impotent] response? “We will bomb ’em, again.” Idiot. Here’s ABC — and then, CNN — on it all this afternoon:

…Trump officials had a more nuanced take after news reports surfaced Tuesday about an initial Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that said the attack set back Iran’s nuclear program only by months….

The director general of the U.N.’s nuclear oversight agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said Wednesday that he believed some of Iran’s enriched uranium had been moved from the sites before the attacks….

According to the two people familiar with the DIA’s classified report, the bombing sealed off the entrances to two of the three nuclear sites targeted in the attack but most of the damage was done to structures above ground, leaving the lower structures intact. The assessment also found that at least some enriched uranium remained — possibly moved from the nuclear sites ahead of the blasts….

[There is renewed work at at least two of the sites, already — reopening the tunnels]….

Hey — here’s a much better idea: why not wait for the REAL intel to come in — then assess — and then… tell the truth? A nutty idea, I know, man. But that is what leadership… is.

नमस्ते

Time (Again!) To Praise Lenacapavir — And Gilead’s HIV Treatment Ethics…

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We last mentioned this in July of 2024 — but on Pride Weekend ’25, Time magazine has a longish story… on Gilead’s business ethics under CEO O’Day.

Excellent — and here’s a bit of it:

…Leading HIV treatment developer Gilead’s scientists spent 20 years developing lenacapavir, an antiviral drug that targets a specific protein on the virus’ shell. Vaccines have similarly targeted other outer viral proteins, and the idea is that priming the immune system to recognize this part of HIV can help it to generate defenses against the virus if someone is later exposed. Lenacapavir was already approved to treat HIV, and in June the FDA also approved it as a preventive therapy. Widespread use of the medication could bring the world closer to ending the HIV epidemic.

The company’s CEO Dan O’Day says Gilead is equally committed to ensuring that those who are at highest risk of getting infected with HIV have access to the drug. He signed a voluntary licensing agreement in 2024 that allows half a dozen generic manu- facturers to make lenacapavir for 120 low and middle income countries, where HIV remains a significant threat.

Close to 40 million people have HIV or AIDS globally, but a disproportionate number — about two-thirds — live in subsaharan Africa. “Not that many companies focus on virology,” he says. “And if we are going to produce a drug, and put our blood, sweat and tears into it, then it’s got to end up in everybody’s hands who can use it…”

Pride Run ’25 in the books, already. Done, and done! Onward.

नमस्ते

[Confidential — For Hinderaker.] “Come, Let Us Reason Together”: What Justice Barrett’s Decision DOES NOT Hold.

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Trumpie 2.0 is making all sorts of idiotic statements — lies, actually… about what this PROCEDURAL Supremes decision means, about so-called “birthright citizenship”.

All it really does, is give plaintiff groups around the country 30 more days, to amend their suits — to bring them on behalf of all persons in the US, as a class — who were born here. This is a silly decision, in the main (by the six conservatives). It in no manner contradicts the plain English commands, of the 14th Amendment. See below, from NPR.

…The amendment says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” It was enacted in 1866 after the civil war and aimed at reversing the Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott decision, which had declared that Black people, enslaved or free, could not be citizens. It has always been applied to anyone born in the U.S. And the Supreme Court on Friday did nothing to change that 150 year understanding….

So yes — this is a punt, as the main merits case continues toward a plain reading of the Constitution — one which refutes completely, Trump’s “fringer-ish” theories. Do stay tuned.

Hinderaker today claimed — in a bit of frothy hubris / nonsense — that this ends nationwide injunctions. That is also a lie. Obviously, it only applies in THIS case — and in a few days, all people born in the US will be named as the CLASS of plaintiffs. That will plainly support a new nationwide injunction. What a putz.

Man — is he a terrible liar. [Out — outdoor movies in the park with grand-nieces, tonight to see “Wicked“ (again) — and a bocce ball picnic, before. Heh.]

नमस्ते

Now The Independent Adv. Comm. Backs Merck’s RSV Vaccine For Administration To Infants This Fall Season…

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Back on June 10 here, we reported the FDA clearance — and in prior times, the independent Vaccines Advisory Committee would have been a non-event, as it always followed FDA approvals. But with Kennedy/Tangerine 2.0 — there was a reasonable concern, that un-science might rule the day.

Thankfully that has not happened. So on to fall RSV season, and two competing providers of the mRNA vaccines, for infants. Price competition here is a good thing:

…The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, also voted unanimously to include Merck’s shot in the government’s list of recommended childhood immunizations that receive wide insurance coverage.

The votes in favor of the injectable antibody, Enflonsia, are a sigh of relief for drugmakers and the medical community after Kennedy earlier this month gutted the panel and tapped replacements, some of whom are well-known vaccine critics.

The signoff will allow the company to launch the shot ahead of the RSV season that typically kicks off around fall and winter and lasts through the spring. Enflonsia, recommended for infants during their first RSV season, will compete head-to-head with a rival shot from Sanofi / AstraZeneca, called Beyfortus….

Welp. This is good news. For both Merck, and the future of modernized vaccine science. We cannot let low information forces in dusty West Texas or rural Alabama decide to open all Americans… to a return of dread (and preventable) disease / pandemics. Onward, resolutely.

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