Shut It, You Lying Chump, Hinderaker… MN Wrongful Prosecution Edition.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

This evening, Hinderaker chooses to lie about the 2006 Hayes murder prosecution in his town.

He fails to inform readers that all but one of the supposed witnesses later recanted their testimony.

He fails to admit that there was no forensic evidence tying the then 16 year old to the crime scene. No video, and no gun was ever recovered, so no ballistics on the slugs that killed the woman in the shop. That is tragic — but that certainly doesn’t compel the inference that this particular 16 year old “did it.”

But he’s a Black man — and that’s all John sees, increasingly.

The prosecution never explained why no forensic evidence existed. Never explained — on later appeals- — why the witnesses had recanted.

It wasn’t until just a few years ago — after serving over 20 years of a life sentence, that the new prosecutor took a look at the case — and agreed that Hayes had been unjustly imprisoned for his entire adult life.

And yes, he’s received a $4.4 million settlement for that injustice.

But you may bet your last dollar that John won’t ever even mention Tangerine’s now derailed — conflicted and wildly corrupt — attempts to pay out $1.8 billion (and largely, in secret), to the J6 rioters who beat police offers senseless — among others. [Others like Michael Flynn and Roger Stone and Steve Bannon.]

Why? Because these thugs are overwhelmingly whyte — and were “his kind of reprobates“.

That’s why.

Out.

There Are No More Criminal Proceedings Which Might Assert… Anything, Against Mr. Abrego Garcia. Justice… Has [Finally] Come.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Just as we’ve predicted for months on end — we’ve now finally arrived at… justice, in Music City. Well done, USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw! He is a free man.

And now, very shortly in Maryland, the able USDC Judge Xinis is likely to rule that ICE/DHS possesses no right to deport him, in any event. Not without an all new set of proceedings — and its specious claim to be able to remove him to Liberia or the Sudan… is going to fall apart.

There is no procedural hook, upon which to hang it. And his own suit against the government agencies — for their attempt to punish him for having the temerity to assert his Constitutional rights… just got a BIG boost, from the Nashville dismissal. Excellent. Here’s that well-reasoned, careful… and precise opinion, just entered:

…[T]he Court must consider the full evidentiary record to determine if the Government has carried its burden of rebutting the presumption of vindictiveness.

In short, the timing of Agent VanWie’s decision to reopen the closed HSI investigation of the November 2022 traffic stop and [Now Acting US AG Todd] Blanche’s now unrebutted public statements tying the reopened investigation to Abrego’s successful lawsuit taints the investigation with a vindictive motive. That vindictive taint continued with Singh’s close substantive oversight of McGuire’s and his prosecution team’s work leading to the indictment. Finally, after the indictment was presented, the Executive Branch found a way to return Abrego to the United States to comply with the District of Maryland’s order to facilitate his return. While the Court finds insufficient evidence of actual vindictiveness, the Court concludes that the Government has failed to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness. The evidence it labels as newly discovered was available to be obtained with due diligence long before April 2025.

Even more, it does not explain the Government’s change in position to remove Abrego and not prosecute him to then prosecute and not remove him. McGuire’s subjective explanations also do not cure the retaliatory taint that set the investigation and resulting indictment in motion.

Because the presumption of vindictiveness remains unrebutted, the indictment must be dismissed….

The Government chose to pursue that evidence only after Abrego’s successful lawsuit and the ongoing requirement to report daily to Judge Xinis on efforts to return Abrego to the United States. This supports the inference that the Government would not have reopened the investigation or secured testimony from Hernandez-Reyes but for Abrego’s successful lawsuit. Bragan, 249 F.3d at 481 (citing Adams, 870 F.2d at 1145); see also Carey, 816 F. Supp. 3d at 141–42….

The evidence before this Court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power….

Since he is now a free man, he may choose — on his own — without fear, to move his family to Costa Rica — until Tangerine 2.0’s time is at an end. And he may return with his US Citizen wife, without any trouble then — in early 2029. I think that might be where he lands. In any event, this is an important victory… for justice, without fear or favor in the US. A long time coming, but the right result. And yes, just to avoid more vindictive BS, I might counsel a voluntary move…. to the island nation, temporarily.

Onward, grinning.

नमस्ते

Very Ominous News, Out Of Rwampara, DRC — And, Ebola ’26 Has Now Afflicted Over 750 People; More Than 177 Are Dead, Already.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

And… because this provincial area lies in a remote, largely hilly and forested civil war/conflict zone — still highly influenced by very poorly informed / fundamentalist “christian” religious leaders running mega-churches… highly unscientific rumors are often accepted as fact.

Thus, some remote pastors are telling their faithful on Sundays that the outbreak is a hoax, and divine protection is all they need (for a price, of course). So much so, that some young people burned a treatment center down, when they were refused in a request to take a friend’s body for burial. The young person had died of Ebola, and unsafe burials are a prime way that the virus is spread.

Here is the latest, very disturbing news, from AP reports:

…The World Health Organization chief said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly and now poses a “very high” risk there, as a lack of medical resources and anger among the population hamper the response in a vulnerable and conflict-ridden region.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of global spread remains low, but that the U.N. health agency was revising upward its assessment of the risk within Congo from its previous categorization of “high….”

Frontline medical staff have struggled with a lack of resources and, in some cases, pushback due to what has been characterized as misinformation or situations where medical policy has clashed with local customs such as burial rites….

On Thursday, an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara was set on fire by youths who were angered when they were blocked from retrieving the body of a friend who apparently had died of Ebola, according to witnesses and police.

Bodies of Ebola victims can be highly contagious, and medical authorities are trying to control burials whenever possible.

Julienne Lusenge, president of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, a local aid group, said the population’s anger is mostly due to misinformation.

“We have lived through years and years of conflict and hardship so rumors spread easily,” she said.

She said some churches have told their large congregations that the outbreak is fake and that divine protection makes medical care unnecessary….

Yikes. This could easily begin to approach the 2012-14 outbreak — when over 12,400 ultimately died and over 25,000 were ill. Truly… tragic.

नमस्ते

The “Direct Corollary Effects” — Of Allowing Trumpian Lies To Fester — In Circles Where Education… Is Undervalued: Knox County, TN Edition.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

First — the good news: I am 100% certain the ACLU will be able to win — if/when it files a case against this small-minded attempt at the repression of US history.

The ACLU will win all the way through the United States Supreme Court, and have this local Tennessee law invalidated, as both impermissibly vague — and as contrary to nearly 100 years of clear Supreme Court precedent.

These cases say the work as a whole must be considered, even before taking only the least restrictive means of addressing a compelling state interest. See, Island Trees, et al., 457 U.S. 853 — decided 1982. None of that has happened in Knoxville, Tennessee. Obviously.

And, moreover, all of this would be unthinkable, prior to the “time of Tangerine” — looking back, given Supreme Court black letter law — of at least 60 years’ standing:

…Roots: The Saga of an American Family, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alex Haley that helped shape public understanding of slavery and inspired generations of Americans to trace their ancestry, has been banned from library shelves in Knox County Schools under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act….

“Roots” was among the first widely read works of fiction to offer a detailed account of the Middle Passage, the horrific transatlantic journey to America endured by enslaved Africans between the 16th and 19th centuries….

Roots had recently been elevated to the district’s review committee for consideration over a passage in the novel’s 84th chapter, which it determined was not “age appropriate” under Tennessee law. “Broader themes or historical significance of a work as a whole is not a consideration under the law,” Harrington added. [Then this Tennessee law plainly violates the Supreme Court’s cases on the First Amendment; Chapter 84 narrates the forcible rape and beating of an enslaved woman — by a white domestic terrorist / plantation owner.]

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that the KCS book-banning committee had previously reviewed an excerpt from Roots and did not recommend banning it. KCS did not answer questions… on what new concerns had been raised.

The decision means the material can still be taught in classes; it just cannot be available on library shelves….

This is why no preznit should be allowed to endlessly lie — about the uglier aspects of our shared US history. Before long, the acolytes of such a demagogue will seek to erase that uglier history entirely, from written records.

That is exactly what hard right / faux-Xtian Tennessee legislators are vainly attempting here. Damnation. It will not stand, in any event.

नमस्ते

Friday Early AM Tangent: About $25 Billion In Bitcoin Derivatives Expire Next Friday — Likely Drags BTC Down To Around $75,000.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Nothing about life in even the near future is mathematically certain — but absent some other monumental shift in the existing macro-catalysts, the ratio of puts-to-calls at various strike prices, both in- and out- of the money, would suggest that the spot price for Bitcoin will fall about $2,000 to $3,000 — by next Friday, early morning US time.

Here’s that story — and a bit of it:

…The put/call ratio of 0.86 reflects a modestly bullish market, though with max pain sitting $2,000 below the current price, a gravitational pull toward $75,000 remains a real risk heading into May 29 settlement…

Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, told CoinDesk “The bigger problem, is macro: investors are de-risking as long-term yields rise, oil and inflation risks remain in focus, and there is currently no compelling reason for new capital to enter the market.”…

Hilarious.

And all of this coincides with Mark Cuban admitting he has sold off almost all of his Bitcoin stack (mostly, in the lower ranges of this downturn), now that the supposed “Bitcoin as a hedge against traditional finance excesses” narrative… has been proven to be a lie.

Look out below, in seven days. Or sooner.

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Wants To Talk About Reich’s Misleading Tax Soundbites — Are You KIDDING ME?!

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

So even Senate Republicans are refusing to advance a budget and many are in open revolt about an end the Iran war measure — they won’t vote it down.

Why is his own party imploding?

Well… because Trump is now purporting to openly create multi-billion dollar bribery / slush funds (from taxpayer funds) — with iron clad secrecy as to outcomes, so as to allow Trump’s Crime Syndicate® to charge the J6-ers a kickback on any “restitution” they are slated to receive.

That’s why.

But John’s knickers are in a twist about Robert Reich — who holds no office, and hasn’t — in about three decades.

Reich compares Mr. Bezos’ personal taxes to his company’s and to the average American’s.

Taxes.

Yep — we all pay them — but on a percentage basis — proportionately, billionaires pay far less of them than the average American does on a percentage of income basis. That is beyond dispute, John.

This is something that John is more worked up about, than the idea that Tangerine is openly, and actively trying to loot the nation — for billions of his own benefits.

Charming. [And Mirengoff is writing book reviews, about rarefied academic SCOTUS tomes — to avoid talking about crossing Tangerine 2.0. Insane.]

This is open and notorious criming boys. Speak up. Losers.

O U T.

It Seems RFK, Jr. Just Figured Out That A US Passport Or Green Card… Does NOT Imbue A “Magical Pixie Dust” / Bundibugyo Ebola Vaccination.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Well… there is some sanity, slowly returning, to MAGA leadership at the CDC. As we mentioned this morning, until earlier today, if you were carrying a US Passport, but had been to South Sudan, DRC or Uganda in the past three weeks — you could come right home.

But now — after mine of this morning pointing out the jingoistic lunacy in that policy set — the federal government will now require ALL arrivals to the Us from those countries (in the last 21 days) to be “enhanced checked / screened” through Dulles, before ANY onward travel.

In any event, here’s the latest — from the NYT reporting:

…Earlier this week, the C.D.C. invoked an emergency public health rule to block entry into the United States by travelers who had been in the three African nations in the past 21 days. That restriction did not apply to American citizens or U.S. service members.

The restrictions came after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak a global health emergency last weekend. The outbreak is suspected to have caused more than 130 deaths and nearly 600 infections, according to the W.H.O. The agency’s head said on Wednesday that there was little risk of the outbreak developing into a pandemic, even as the number of suspected cases and deaths continued to climb….

At least that makes. . . some logical sense. Onward — fingers crossed.

नमस्ते

What To Make Of The Coming SpaceX ~$2 Trillion IPO? Will Goldman Really… Lead?!

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Okay. It is time to look (well past the hype, and nonsense) — and decide, whether Elon Musk can make anything sensible, financially — for the investing public, not just himself(!) — out of what is slated to become the largest IPO in history.

The SEC Rule 424(b) red herring is here. Mr. Musk will hold 85% voting control over the company and be its CEO, chairman and chief technology officer, post the IPO. In this preliminary SEC prospectus, we see — minus the shineola — that…

SpaceX lost over $4.9 billion in 2025 and $4.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, during which the company acquired xAI, the owner of the digital artificial intelligence assistant Grok. [Yikes.]

Starlink is the most profitable segment in the SpaceX fold, with net income from operations of $4.4 billion in 2025 [and adjusted EBITDA of nearly $7.2 billion, including an add-back of ~$2.4 billion in depreciation and amortization].

In the first quarter of 2026, Starlink generated an operating profit of nearly $1.2 billion and similarly adjusted EBITDA of over $2 billion.

Nice. But the satellites must be completely replaced every three to five years — so the cap ex burden is… staggering. And much of the networks is now approaching the end of its useful life. He needs lots more launches, and deployments — without explosive failures — just to keep the treadmill rolling, here.

And, ominously, he’s dropping the per customer revenue from $86 per month, to about $66 per month outside the USA. [The rest of world won’t pay what these stupid Americans will, it seems.] No, in the US, his market will remain wealthy people who live in remote / mountainous areas of the west, mostly… where traditional wi-fi / cell towers are… scarce.

Sorry — that is a market far too narrow (and increasingly shrinking — as cell towers and cable lines reach deeper and deeper into the mountain west, year after year), to support the vast and continual cap ex burden, me thinks.

In 2025, the worst performing segment — his AI boondoggle — posted an operating loss of nearly $6.4 billion. In the first quarter of 2026, those numbers improved to a $936 million operating loss, but the AI segment too is a very heavy capital spender, with significant research and development expenses. AI spent $12.7 billion of capital ex, in 2025 and over $7.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026. This is not sustainable — with the aggregate cap ex figures for Starlink, and space-launch operations.

So… while this might make him personally the world’s first trillion-aire — I think he is (once again) — as he did in Twitter / X-itter — taking on massive obligations, and telling us to just “trust him”.

[X-itter (according to some pretty good intel) is still hemorrhaging money, now four years later, BTW. But it is private, so there are no complaining public shareholders — or really much, in the way of vetted, audited financial metrics about his X-itter forray.]

All while he looks to / works his Trump-World connections for SpaceX, to try to win lots of NASA / federal government funding — which he hopes will have an endless on ramp for the forever money-losing, cash flow burning SpaceX launch segment / now a lumbering colossus.

Me?

I’ll… pass.

Hard pass, in fact.

This is — when all the smoke and mirrors are moved to the side — simply Musk, laying a vast amount of his personal fortune’s risk profile… off — on a gullible public investor populace.

Enrich him, by funding his money-losers, if you like. But you do so at your considerable peril.

You cannot afford a perhaps $100 billion negative liquidity event. Most of all, not year after year. But that is what he is facing.

If you all don’t come to his rescue, that is.

H I L A R I O U S.

Out.

Well — This Is The Best “Indictment” I’ve Yet Seen — Of Trump’s Corrupt “Weaponization / Lawfare” Slush-Fund! Jim Comey Edition.

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

Many here will recall that Trump has insisted twice — and baselessly so — that Jim Comey be indicted by US DoJ MAGA acolytes serving under the tangerine dotard.

Apparently, overnight, Mr. Comey has sardonically raised his hand — and said he will apply for $2 million to $5 million, from the slush-fund — since both of these indictments were dismissed within weeks, as clearly baseless political stunts.

[Actually, though — his next words were that “this must be an Onion piece — it cannot be serious….”] I love the satire — and delicious irony. Mr. Comey is quite right, this Trumpian language is a tailored suit of clothes, to what has befallen him — albeit from Trump’s minions. He’s entitled to a payout, and Acting US AG Todd Blanche has said both Democrats and Republicans are eligible, donchaknow:

…The so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will be administered by four commissioners appointed by Trump’s attorney general and one appointed “in consultation” with congressional leadership — Trump, who can fire the commissioners, will have ultimate control.

It will have the authority to issue formal apologies for alleged mistreatment of conservative political actors by previous administrations…. When Trump leaves office, any remaining money will not be available for his successor to use similarly, but will instead be distributed back to the federal government….

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American,” said the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, which is probably news to all those who have been subjected to politically motivated prosecutions by the justice department since Trump returned to power….

[T]here is no requirement that the fund’s work be made public, and required reports to the attorney general on its conduct are to be confidential. In addition to the creation of this massive slush fund, the agreement also requires that the IRS drop all audits of Trump and his family….

Geez. I’m actually feeling… a lil’ left out. No one ever bothers to indict me. Dammit. In any event, go get ’em Jim Comey! Grin….

नमस्ते

Two Minor Items — Both Bizarre Public Health Angle Stories… France, And Arkansas Editions.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Of this first nonsense, I hesitate to highlight mentally deranged idiots — except to note that when they make credible threats of mass violence… they should be, and will be… jailed. That’s this Arkansas man, who from his mom’s basement, while playing multi-player online video games, threatened to shoot up the local Wal-Mart, if the US CDC were to decide, in the future, to impose any “lockdown” — over the cruise ship / Hantavirus event in the Atlantic. [No such thing has even been discussed, in Trump-World, BTW. There are 17 US residents isolating in Omaha for two more weeks. That is all.]

The more serious / disconcerting public health/Ebola story comes to us, from Paris — Air France had to divert from Detroit to Montreal, overnight — since French authorities had allowed a Congolese passenger to board the flight in error. This week, Tangerine 2.0 restricted people who’ve been in Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the past 21 days — saying all such passengers must fly in to Dulles, for enhanced screenings, if they wish to enter the US.

…“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” the CBP spokesperson said in a statement.

Montreal Trudeau International Airport directed request for comment to Air France, which confirmed that Flight 378 was diverted “at the request of U.S. authorities” after it departed Paris on Wednesday, landing in Montreal shortly after 5 p.m. ET.

“There was no medical emergency on board, and like all airlines, Air France is required to comply with the entry requirements of the countries it serves,” an Air France spokesperson said in a statement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that the U.S. will restrict entry for people without U.S. passports who were in Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the last three weeks. The restriction is in effect for the next 30 days….

This is a fairly minor thing, but I was not aware that owning a US Passport gave magical vaccinations / endless immunity dosages… to never get Ebola. My point, with the bolded bit above… is again, Tangerine 2.0 is playing on racist / xenophobic stereotypes: Any US Citizen can — and might — be carrying the Ebola virus after being in Uganda or DRC, in the last three weeks.

To exempt them from screening — while forcing all others to enter through Dulles. . . makes zero public health / epidemiological abatement sense. Onward, just the same. These are truly… bizarre times, indeed. Just more of Trump’s asinine “sh!t-hole countries” rhetoric. Out.

नमस्ते