Actually John — You And Trump Have Gutted Mental Heath Care/Coverage. These Deaths Are On… YOU GUYS.

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

So — (according to John, tonight) we are to believe that changing mental illness definitions in the Physicians’ Desk Reference, in the 1960s… are responsible for random stabbings (by Ms. Cisneros — who was not yet born)… some 65 years later?!

Give me a break — you idiotic liar.

John concludes — unctuously — thus:

…There are vastly too many mentally ill people loose on our streets, most often being preyed on by others but sometimes, like Pamela Cisneros, harming or murdering innocent people. This is largely the result of emptying the mental hospitals, one of the most misguided fruits of 1960s liberalism. My organization is now working on a project to revitalize involuntary commitment of certain categories of the mentally ill. It should be unveiled soon.

Meanwhile, the untreated psychotics on our streets will claim many more victims….

Actually, John — most of the mentally-challenged people released from what were then called “insane asylums” during/in the early 1960s… are now dead. And they weren’t insane at all — they were just… awkward.

The majority of the people he is complaining about tonight (people exhibiting violent tendencies) WERE receiving mental health services and meds, when Obamacare was fully-funded (2011 to 2018).

Then Tangerine 1.0 cut it all away. No more med coverage — no more check-ins with trained physiological workers and counselors.

Now, in Tangerine 2.0, the government seems to want to criminalize the status of being unhoused (which is a Venn Diagram that resembles a pure circle with mental illness).

Which is where many of those Trump kicked out of Obamacare ended up: unhoused; and on the street.

Own your own truly proximate cause — you loser.

Damn. And your “project” will mostly resemble the Salem witch trials of three and a half centuries ago. Damnation, on thee.

Out.

Note That Hinderaker Doesn’t Even Hint That He Might Ask Trump To Do… Anything, Re Putin. He’s Aware… That’s Futile.

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

John Hinderaker has finally mentioned that Russia has been attacking… Germany. And that Germany says it is not at peace with Putin. But it is not at war, either.

Welp. Here’s the lunacy — by conspicuous silence.

Were this the Reagan or Bush years, Hinderaker would shout for — and get at least blistering bully-pulpit speeches out of 1600 Penn, against the evil aggressors from Moscow.

Here, he doesn’t even peep about it — he knows Tangerine 2.0 is a dead letter, as to standing up to the Russian aggression.

So he just… clutches his pearls, and speaks ever so softly, through his clenched teeth.

Damnation — what a putz.

Nancy Grace Roman Continues To Hit All Her Benchmarks, As She Sails Off, Into The Inky Black Of Deeper Space…

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The main course correcting / fine-tuning burns are complete. Roman is on her way to L2 — just over a million miles out, into the blackness.

Yesterday, the team was able to switch on the very high tech, next-gen coronagraph — a software and deformable mirror system far more advanced than a simple hood over the scope (though it features one of those as well). This is a high tech starlight shield of sorts — to block out excess stray starlight, when gazing at a particlar exo-planetary (or even dark energy) target.

Do watch the NASA explainer video at bottom. And, it is a near certainty now that Roman will achieve most of her interstellar space / science missions. Here’s the latest — with one more optional (if needed) very short course correcting burn next week:

…NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully activated the mission’s Coronagraph Instrument, which will block starlight to view planets and dusty disks around nearby stars. Now the instrument will undergo a monthslong series of calibrations and tests prior to beginning full science operations.

The coronagraph power-on began at 7:27 a.m. EDT and completed at 8:22 a.m. on Sept. 1.

The Roman Coronagraph is a system of optics, masks, self-flexing mirrors, and sensors designed to demonstrate the most advanced technologies ever flown in space for directly imaging planets around other stars. It will block the glare from stars and make it possible for scientists to see the faint reflected light from planets in orbit around them….

Getting very excited now — to see all my kiddos — and extended family, gathered on the Côte-d’Or in a few days… for a month — then on, to Florence, Italy… smile.

नमस्ते

A Global Initiative [To Replace US Government’s Abandonment] — To Improve Mpox Vaccine Access — Now In High Gear: WHO.

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As we have previously documented, right here (see that link), it seems that — moreso than in some other recent viral outbreaks, inside Africa — Mpox Clade 1b had exhibited a propensity to affect young adults via sexual contact early on in an outbreak, and then, over time (as the viral loads mature, evolve and spread out), they “migrate” to primarily affect younger children — in simple household contact scenarios. This is why we should be especially concerned.

Here’s all the latest from the WHO public health offices, on the ground, and in country — but many of these partners ahve been kicking in since 2017, or earlier — as my legacy graphic depicts:

…A global initiative to establish a stockpile of mpox vaccines was launched on 27 August, creating a long-term mechanism to ensure countries have access to vaccines when responding to mpox outbreaks.

Set to begin operations later this month, this new global mpox vaccine stockpile that all countries can access is a resource that was approved by the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) in 2025, and is funded by Gavi and coordinated by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision. The ICG partners are the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The initiative builds on the Access and Allocation Mechanism established in 2024 during the last mpox Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), and will ensure that countries have timely and equitable access to vaccines for outbreak response.

Mpox continues to cause outbreaks globally, with two-thirds of reported cases occurring in the African Region. From 1 January 2022 to 31 July 2026, 145 countries and territories reported 190 683 confirmed cases and 529 deaths. Mpox is a viral disease that spreads primarily through close physical contact between people, while animal-to-human transmission continues to occur in parts of Africa, contributing to the ongoing risk of new outbreaks….

Now you know. Last cold water / open water swim now logged. Smile — onward; across the pond — in mere hours.

नमस्ते

Counting Sanctioned (Dark) Tankers Leaving The Straight… Helps Only China And Russia And North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, John (You Idiot).

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Tonight, Hinderaker would tell us that we should add back in… tankers that have been on the sanctions lists across the globe, in Trump’s “triumphant totals“, coming out of the Straight.

But those dark tankers are delivering to North Korea or China or Russia — in violation of international law. Laws that we in the US put in place to discourage genocide. John tells us we should be happy that Trump is helping ship oil to banned nations — and getting other banned nations… paid, for it all. Geez.

John makes the preposterous assertion that all of that dark tanker oil is reaching the US, and the western world — to our benefit. It is absolutely not. It amounts to about 7% of the world’s supply — but this thwarts our foreign policy goals, as it makes our economic sanctions less burdensome — for/to totalitarian dictators like Putin and Kim Jong Un. John cheers these a-holes, tonight. Damn.

What a malignant liar Hinderaker is… here, trying to cover up for Trump’s lies of last week. It should clearly be beneath his dignity, but… it is not. Whatever, dude. Cool story.

Out.

Two More Spacecraft Burn Up Before Reaching The Ocean: ESA Edition, Overnight.

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The scientists at ESA flew “chase aircraft” over the South Pacific, overnight, to watch these two smallish disk orbiters burn up — nothing was expected to reach the ocean — just entirely vaporize… on the way down.

And that is precisely what happened. Well done! Here’s all that:

…The final two of ESA’s pioneering Cluster spacecraft, Samba and Tango, will end their journeys as they burn up in our atmosphere on 31 August and 1 September respectively. Their targeted reentries mark the end of a mission that has transformed our understanding of Earth’s magnetic environment. The final moments also offer a rare scientific opportunity for reentry observations from a plane. . . .

“When a spacecraft reenters the atmosphere, it experiences extreme forces. Temperatures soar, materials melt and vaporise, and the spacecraft gradually breaks apart. But how exactly?” says Stijn Lemmens, senior space debris mitigation analyst at ESA.

“We need to understand better how they disintegrate to inform the design of spacecraft that can burn up completely, reducing the risk on the ground, while we also aim to prevent pollution of the atmosphere….”

As we wait until we can share the first image from Samba’s demise today, the final reentry time prediction was confirmed for Tango.

Later today, Tango will reenter the atmosphere at 21:30:31 UTC / 23:30:31 CEST, with an uncertainty remaining of +/- 10 seconds either way….

That is obviously an artist’s impression, above. Onward — just the same… and, just for grins, I may drop in on the tourism-friendly ESA facility in Paris, on my last day in September (09.30.2026). Smile… we shall see.

नमस्ते

Thanks To Anon., We Have Learned That A Large Part Of Legacy S-P Kenilworth Is Becoming An Ai Data / Compute Center Owned By CoreWeave…

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I do think getting a local taxes-paying, at least marginally-job-creating tenant/owner into the behemoth space is a good thing.

But it is clear that there may be vast environmental and social/life costs associated with mega-compute centers. These are not “clean pharma” jobs. And the locals are right to be concerned.

We have long covered Fred Hassan’s legacy white elephant called Kenilworth (and the Merck Whitehouse Station version, too). It was opulent and wildly over-built, from the go. Just like Fast Fred. It sat nearly idle for a decade after the S/P to Merck yard sale, and Google looked at it, but ultimately passed on it.

Now it has new life, with a crypto-cum-AI compute company… struggling itself to retool into a consistently profitable model. Here’s the latest — again thanks to our eagle-eyed commenters:

…A $1.8 billion artificial intelligence data center under construction in Kenilworth is facing pushback from residents.

The project is located at the Northeast Science and Technology Center (NEST) campus. The old Merck & Co. building will house the data center.

CoreWeave, a company that specializes in AI infrastructure, purchased a large portion of property on the campus in 2025 to build the center.

Despite the Kenilworth Borough Council’s approval of the project, it has largely flown under the radar until recently.

“Social media, that’s the only way you’ll hear about it here even though we’re only 200 yards from the location,” said Union County resident Brent Krueger….

That hapless forever money losing company, Riot Platforms (in West Texas) is attempting much the same, as we mentioned yesterday. Wild. Onward, smiling.

नमस्ते

“Dumb — Dumber — Dumber-er”. And Chief Justice Roberts Dissents: Trump Lacks Power To Tear Down And Rebuild Ballroom (Without Congressional Say-So).

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Truly this is trivial — compared to all his other criminality. And, in any event, perhaps it is good (relatively speaking) to let this reprobate waste his days obsessing over gold leaf in a new ballroom, rather than waging wars of choice and vastly destructive (to ordinary Americans) trade wars with Canada.

Perhaps that is what the Chief now thinks. But it is clear that the other five are wrong: only Congress has this power.

As soon as a plaintiff appears with standing (like a taxpayer, in a new suit) this will all end.

But do read this: Amy Howe — over at ScotusBlog has it exactly right:

…In his six-page dissent, which Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined, Roberts countered that “[a] historic preservationist such as Hoagland can be aesthetically injured in a concrete, particularized way by the transformation of a historic building that she frequently enjoys, just as,” based on prior court precedent, “an environmentalist can sustain a concrete, particularized aesthetic injury from the extinction of a particular animal or the transformation of a particular forest or river that he regularly enjoys.” Roberts ended the opinion by quoting Winston Churchill, who said that “[w]e shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” “All the more reason,” according to Roberts, “to ensure that those responsible follow the rules in deciding what to tear down and what to build up at the People’s House….”

Now you know… with an exciting week ahead. Smile.

नमस्ते

The Actual Total Is Likely Under-Reported By A 2X Factor, But Officially There Are Now Over 6,000 Ebola/Bundibugyo Sufferers In DRC — Over 3,000 Are Already Dead.

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As I’ve written what seems like a million times, already here — this is directly the fault of Donald Trump and Elon Musk. They essentially ended preventative public health aid outside the US — by gutting USAID. Now the world rides the lightning on it all.

Still out of control — and spreading, in the mountainous rural mining camps in Ituri and several other provinces. Here’s the latest, from AP news reporters this morning:

…Congo’s authorities said Monday that the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history has topped 6,000 cases… [and likely well-over 3,000 deaths].

More than 1,360 people have recovered from the virus, in what authorities said was an “encouraging” development.

The outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements. The situation is particularly concerning at displacement sites, where residents already live in extremely precarious conditions….

The World Health Organization has said that it remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone….

On a brighter note, my daughter has already decamped to Côte d’Or / Cannes (as her 90 days’ work visa was up, in the UK) — awaiting the rest of us this weekend, down in Nice. Racing — then on, to Florence, Italy for about ten days. Woot! Flying back home, out of Rome — at Sept. month’s end.

नमस्ते

TANGENT: TIKR Analysis Seems A Lil’ Too Optimistic, But Correct As To Where The Pivot Point Sits.

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This — at least in its concluding paragraph — gets it mostly right. Riot faces a near term existential crisis: vast cap ex needed — very lil’ revenue, before late 2028. Watch Q3 for the proverbial “canary in the coal mine“, says TIKR. I agree.

The TIKR analyst thinks Riot might be able to use a strategy its CFO calls “recycling financing”. I highly doubt that (not to its intended effect, in any event).
Moreover, and of equal importance, the management of Riot was an abject failure, the last time it tried to be a customer service / contractor (for third party computes, then running Bitcoin miners — all under these same West Texas roofs).

My strong suspicion is that Riot hasn’t transformed its culture from “pirate rules” — to a true “customer service mentality”… at the rank and file / operating levels.

And that will all be deeply damaging to Riot — with demanding clients like AMD and Anthropic pushing the limit of what is humanly possible, 24×7.

Note that Riot is still embroiled in a $546 million suit with a Japanese mega tech co., over what is claimed to have been “deceptive accounting”, for electric power credit sharing, when the company was hosting others’ Bitcoin mining racks.

That is a strong tell. And those sorts of shenanigans will cause Anthropic and AMD to take the side exit, very early — if that is what the CFO means by “recycling financing”.

Here’s TIKR — and it is correct, speaking in directionality — if a lil’ too rosy:

…The cleanest test comes in late October or early November, when Riot reports its third quarter. Two things decide whether the cheap price is opportunity or trap. First, does the Corsicana LOI convert into a signed lease, turning a two-tenant company into a three-tenant platform with more than $1 billion of additional annual rent behind it?

Second, does the AMD project financing close at nearly double the initial equity, as management guided, proving the capital-recycling engine works outside a slide deck? Both would validate the thesis that the stock refuses to pay for. Another quarter of “advanced discussions” with nothing executed, against a widening cash burn, tells that the market’s caution was correct. Riot’s backlog says one thing, and its share price says another, and only delivery breaks the tie….

Now you know — onward (the second, legacy-2021 era graphic tells the tale — from last time around, with GMO Internet).

नमस्ते