Now, Trump / Vance Claims To Be Able To Dictate What The Exhibits At The Smithsonian May “Depict, Think And Say” — As To… American History?!

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Man… these “Dear Leader” Chronicles are… off the hook. He claims a power to militarize DC — while lying about declining crime in the District. He claims a power to “deport” the DC homeless… to Virginia. He’s rolled federales — into LA — uninvited.

And now (as he’s previously threatened — as to the National Parks, yet hasn’t so far overtly acted upon…) he has sent “a letter” telling the Smithsonian… that he and he alone, will decide what’s “pro-American” enough — to remain on display, and in label / narrative and sign-copy.

This is — at bottom — a sad, small… uneducated man (who, along with JD Vance. . . cannot accept dissent of any sort). Charming, per The Guardian (UK), tonight:

…The Trump administration is evidently extending its control of cultural representation at the Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum and research complex.

In a letter posted on the White House website, the administration told the Smithsonian that it plans a wide review of exhibitions, materials and operations ahead of the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations in 2026….

And we all know — this latest chaos is solely to be bread and circuses, to distract from his failing economy, rising tariffs / inflation rates, and stagnant employment (also largely due to tariff uncertainty). Damnation. Out.

नमस्ते

Q.: Why Can’t Mirengoff (And Hinderaker) Each Just Admit It? Trump Is An Utterly Hapless Mobster.

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Both Hinderaker and Mirangoff now admit: there is nothing for Bondi to “investigate” around Leticia James, the NY AG. This is simply federal DoJ willful abuse of process.

But neither of them will call Trump the ham-handed, oafish and impotent mobster he is… for doing this. What a pair of cowards.

Here’s Paul’s this morning:

…[T]he main point to make about this investigation is that there’s no crime to investigate. There’s no case against James for wrongful prosecution because the case she brought was civil, not criminal.

There are penalties for bringing frivolous civil cases, but they do not include criminal investigations. In any case, James’ case succeeded at trial. Thus, it could not be deemed frivolous in a legally actionable sense, even if Trump were to win on appeal.

Reportedly, James is being investigated for violating Trump’s civil rights. To convert the bringing of a civil lawsuit into a civil rights violation would require contortions…. Thus, Romer Debbas, the attorney I quoted above, is spot-on when he compares the two cases and finds both lacking in merit….

Man up! — you two little panty waists… call the thing by its name.

Crook.

Trump is… a crook. A felonious, repeat pattern… crook.

A federal verdict says so.

While Awaiting A Ninth Circuit Decision (On Trump’s Appeal Of A Loss), USDC Judge Chen Is Urged To Keep Marching Toward A Trial Date…

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Like the case we just mentioned moments ago (the Ms. L. class action), this one (filed in 2025) is likely to percolate for a decade or two (unless Congress acts to reform the immigration law morass).

So we will continually cover it. And it makes sense for the able USDC Judge Chen to get as much wood chopped as possible here, as soon as possible, as undocumented persons’ lives literally… hang, in the balance — with deadlines looming. Here’s the latest, filed just a few days ago now — in SF:

…Plaintiffs always want to be respectful of the Court’s time and resources, and appreciate that this matter already has entailed considerable judicial oversight. . . .

Plaintiffs have pressed forward with their claims… because that is the only way to protect themselves and their members from ongoing irreparable harm. As this Court has recognized, uncertainty about whether you can continue to live and work in the United States, surrounded by family and friends, or instead may be grabbed off the street and deported to a country that you have never been to, causes irreparable harm. Such uncertainty will only be exacerbated if the Court postpones decisions on pending motions, especially when Plaintiffs have developed the record far beyond what is currently before the Ninth Circuit and press APA claims not considered at the time of the original postponement order and also not before the Ninth Circuit….

Plaintiffs thus object to a stay or postponing resolving pending motions in hopes that the Ninth Circuit will promptly issue a decision that may (or may not) resolve some of the legal questions presented by those motions. As this Court has previously recognized, a stay of proceedings would impose significant hardships on Plaintiffs. Even when not sent to third countries, the approximately 350,000 Venezuelans who hold TPS under the 2023 designation face being deported to a country where they are not safe, separated from their U.S. citizen children, detained in immigration jails, fired from their jobs, and deprived of opportunities to seek other lawful forms of immigration status as a result of the vacatur and termination decisions challenged in this case — all without any final adjudication of the legality of those orders. These harms are happening now.

Another approximately 250,000 Venezuelans who hold TPS under Venezuela’s 2021 designation are currently set to lose status on September 9, 2025, after which they will face similar harms absent the ability to avail themselves of the January 17, 2025 extension vacated by the Secretary. On the other side, adjudicating pending, fully briefed motions that seek different relief than the postponement motion imposes no hardship on the government….

In short, Plaintiffs hope that the Ninth Circuit will quickly rule on the pending appeal. But there is no such assurance. And if past is prologue, the Ninth Circuit will not have the final say on the questions in this case. Defendants here request not just a stay pending a decision from the Ninth Circuit, but also pending the disposition of any certiorari petition. Plaintiffs’ lives, meanwhile, hang in the balance. Plaintiffs therefore submit that the only avenue to mitigate the irreparable harm and uncertainty endured by Plaintiffs and TPS holders is to resolve the pending motions without awaiting further guidance from the Ninth Circuit….

Now you know. Onward… getting excited to see my great, grown, wonderful kids, again — for a week of sea-side fun, this time — as opposed to Boise / Half-Iron / racing schedules! Grin….

नमस्ते

The Asylum Seekers’ Attorneys File To Extend The Ms. L. Settlement Agreement Provisions, Based On Noem / Miller / Trump’s Willful Violations Of USDC Orders…

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This is all collateral damage, from DOGE / Musk bloodletting. Those fecklessly malign morons summarily shut down contracts that are mandated by federal law — specifically the Ms. L. class action settlement, a deal that Trump himself signed during Tangerine 1.0. [But make no mistake — the intentional goal was to practically render inoperable, the undocumented persons’ constitutional rights.]

So the ACLU and its partners in San Diego are working to restore legal services to the class members / asylum seekers and their families. This is just a vast waste of federal judicial resources / time, engendering the repeated ordering of ICE agents — to do what they’ve repeatedly been ordered to do, over and over again, over the last seven years. Here’s the 15-page overnight motion, in full — and a bit of it. It will be granted:

…[Noem / Rubio / Trump / Miller’s] breaches of the Settlement Agreement have left class members and their families without mandated legal services for nearly four months and without case management services for three. During this time, hundreds of class and family members have lost their parole status, leaving them vulnerable to detention, removal, and reseparation. Thousands more have been deprived of the services they need to access relief through the Settlement. All the while, the two-year deadline to apply for crucial asylum relief, designed by the parties to remedy the harm of separation, has approached. For the thousands of families in the class when the Settlement became effective, the deadline to apply for this relief is just months away, on December 11, 2025.

The Court has already ordered Defendants to comply with the Settlement by entering into new contracts with Acacia Center for Justice (“Acacia”) and Seneca Family of Agencies (“Seneca”) by August 25, 2025. But both Acacia and Seneca will take months to restaff and rebuild the terminated programs to their pre-termination capacity. As they do so, the organizations must address the backlogs created by the Defendants’ breaches. Individuals who were in the services pipeline must be recontacted and readvised; individuals whose parole ended must reapply. And these organizations must address these immediate needs before it can even prepare people to apply for asylum in advance of the fast approaching deadline….

Without the further relief requested here, Defendants’ breaches will continue to frustrate the purpose and terms of the Settlement:

Plaintiffs request a one-year extension of certain deadlines under the Settlement. The extensions are necessary to address the harm of Defendants’ breaches by allowing service providers the necessary time to rebuild capacity and to ensure class and family members have the time necessary to access relief….

Plaintiffs request that the Court extend all eligibility periods in Settlement § IV.B. by six months. These periods for either signing up to start certain benefits, or for the actual duration of receiving such benefits, could be unjustly shortened because Defendants ceased providing services.

The Court has the authority to order the relief. The parties have agreed that the Court has the jurisdiction and authority to issue “such relief… as the Court deems necessary for enforcement of the Settlement Agreement.” ECF No. 831, at 11. The relief requested is necessary and tailored to address the breach and further the purposes of the Settlement. In addition, Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 60(b) authorizes the Court to modify the judgment in light of changed circumstances. A party’s breach of a court ordered settlement agreement constitutes changed circumstances, and modification of deadlines is appropriately tailored to address the breach….

The vast majority of class members — several thousand individuals — have upcoming asylum deadlines on December 11, 2025, in just four months….

The able USDC Judge Sabraw will grant this relief. Trump and Noem have been distainful of this court ordered settlement, one Trump himself agreed to, during his first term in office, in 2018. Damn — this is what… fascism looks like, in 2025.

नमस्ते

Power Alley: IO Biotech Shows Nice Survival Benefit In Melanomas, With Its Novel Vaccine Candidate — When In Combo Therapy With Keytruda®…

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First off, the disclaimers: this is not the Scottish company Merck acquired back in January of 2016. But it is. . . working the same heaters / pitch count, in the same ballpark.

The results of the clinical trial came in just short of being statistically-significant, but an about ten month survival benefit was seen — so that’s quite encouraging. Here’s the whole story — and IO’s stock is up about 7% on the morning pre-market, on the news:

…IO Biotech said on Monday its experimental combination cancer vaccine helped slow the disease’s progression in a late-stage study, but narrowly missed the main goal as the results did not show statistical significance.

Shares of the drug developer, which had surged as much as 50% in pre-market trading, were last trading 7.2% up before the bell….

The company said patients who received the vaccine, in combination with Merck’s Keytruda®, lived without their disease getting worse for a median of 19.4 months, compared to 11 months for those who received Keytruda® alone….

Now you know… but by late morning, the IO shares were seeing a “buy the sizzle; sell the steak” effect — with many traders selling, to lock in their profits — and so, it is now down about 20% — from Friday’s close. So it goes. IO will recover from this temporary dip, sez Condor. Onward.

नमस्ते

[Steve V. Has The Goods — Read His.] More Delusional [Impotent] Threats About DC, From Tangerine 2.0. Yawn.

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Update No. 2 | The esteemed Prof. Stevie Vladeck has the goods. Trust him. Mine below contained some important errors of law.

But the upshot is [still] much the same: Tangerine only has very limited in time and scope powers, here:

…[M]ost significantly, the Home Rule Act gives the President the power to take control of the D.C. Police “whenever [he] determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for federal purposes.” The authority is limited to no more than 30 days (it’s limited to 48 hours unless the President sends a special notification to the Chair and Ranking Members of the relevant congressional committees explaining why he needs the authority for longer). And even within those 30 days, the authority is simply to use the MPD “for federal purposes.” In other words, the President can borrow the MPD for his own priorities; but he can’t control how they discharge their other duties….

End second updated portion.

Update 08.11.2025 — here’s what this is really trying to mask. End update.

Trump imagines that he can roll federal troops into DC. What a feckless moron.

He possesses no such power — absent a truly national emergency, or an act of war. Nope. He has no. such. power.

So this is all just more agit-prop, for his mal-informed MAGA base. It will come to… nothing. [That is a link to NPR reporting, BTW. Do go read it all — but here’s a bit:]

…White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller… called the nation’s capital “more violent than Baghdad….”

[DC Mayor (and Democrat) Muriel Bowser promptly replied] “Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false….” Bowser said.

They mayor did acknowledge a crime spike in 2023, but said there had been a steep, two-year drop in violence since then. District crime data show violent crime is down 26% when compared to last year….

What a pack of losers. Out.

नमस्ते

[U: Noem Rebuffed, By USDC Judge Breyer!] “Erh…It Comes With The Territory, Kristi.” When You Take A Federal Job — You Are A PUBLIC Servant. Accountable To The PUBLIC. Grow Up!

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Updated: Here on Sunday at noon, the able USDC Judge Charles Breyer has ruled that a Zoom audio feed of the below hearing will be made available to the people of the United States. Exactly correct. Here’s that, in a full PDF — and a bit:

…As Plaintiffs correctly point out, the trial will be held in open court, so witness names and testimony may be reported upon publicly, regardless of remote access. Id.

The Court concludes that audio-only streaming strikes the right balance between accommodating Defendants’ concerns and ensuring public access to the upcoming bench trial, which will involve issues of significant public concern and interest. Accordingly, the Court orders that the August 11–13 bench trial will be accessible to members of the public via audio-only Zoom pursuant to Civil Local Rule 77-3.

IT IS SO ORDERED….

End, update.

So, in a profoundly-untimely motion on Friday, the Noemites are seeking in SF USDC… to prevent remote public access to next week’s trial — on the National Guard’s / Marines’ / ICE’s invasion of the streets of LA. The Noemites argue that Zoom access will “endanger” the acting commander of the National Guard — who is their sole witness.

Being on TV is part of the job. And, of course, the Noemites cannot seal the courtroom, as these are the people’s courts. We are entitled as a matter of First Amendment law, to observe and report on these proceedings. To say they are matters of substantial public concern… is to vastly understate the gravity of this hearing next week.

And it is near impossible to see how, given that Noem’s purported “agitators” may attend live, in court… HOW a Zoom feed, muted as to speaking ability, is in ANY manner dangerous. Damn. Here’s that silly motion — and a bit of it. It will fail.

…Yesterday, the parties exchanged final witness lists.

The parties expect the Court will hear testimony from the three individuals who have given deposition testimony, which includes two Department of Defense officials and one official from the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. It is undisputed that agitators have used social media and the Internet to coordinate attacks [Ed. Note: no, they asserted their peaceful FIRST AMENDMENT rights, remotely — to oppose this lawlessness — nothing more!] against DHS ICE ERO personnel….

[The State of California] did not affirmatively seek a broadcast and so [does] not take a position on Defendants’ motion and defers to the Court’s discretion. We note that this is an exceptionally high-profile case of great interest to the public, which ordinarily weighs in favor of allowing public remote access, and that [Noemites] Defendants motion is untimely as the Court provided notice more than two weeks ago of the planned broadcast and the witnesses being called at trial are not unexpected.

Plaintiffs are not in a position to evaluate the assertion of risks faced by the witnesses because those threats are not detailed in the motion. But Plaintiffs note that because the courtroom will be open and the witnesses names and words will be reported by media, any risk could come only from their images being broadcast publicly, and the Court could address any such risk by not showing the witnesses on camera, so that they would be heard but not seen on the broadcast….

Once again, “ICE Barbie” thinks the people of the United States are here to serve HER, not the other way ’round. Nope. Not so.

And if the head of the National Guard is too embarrassed to own up to following what he knew were lawless orders Noem, Rubio, Miller and Trump issued… well, that’s the whole point, right? “Accountability. That’s for thee, not me!” — seems to be the Noemite mantra.

Onward, just the same — to next week! [And now, as synchronicity would have it, we are planning our whole family end of August Mexico excursion by Zoom, myself with my grown kids, spread across the globe… later this morning. Then an extended family BBQ later today — hot, hazy and later Summer-ey here. Whew!]

नमस्ते

In Improved Bankruptcy Settlement Terms, People With Claims Against The Sacklers May Pursue Them, Individually; Sacklers Forfeit Additional Billions.

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All this happened whilst I was largely off-grid, back in March 2025, in the high mountains — and I frankly failed to get back to it. My apologies.

But in terms of impact on the US health care delivery-, and the Americans recovering from addiction- [non-]systems, this is a very important development. [And one Tangerine 2.0 wants to completely bury in a memory hole, since the Sacklers are, and were, vast MAGA donors — both times around. Sheesh.]

But they will not get anything like the prior “hall pass“, in bankruptcy now. Thank goodness — and justice.

Here is the proof of that, allowing injured individuals and their families to continue to pursue the Sacklers, personally in the USDC in Manhattan (but not allowing any new class actions)… and the press release from March 2025, which will — at the close of the bankruptcy case — create a new public benefit company, to try to find more money for the claimants — including from the Sacklers’ still-vast coffers, and it all does end the Sacklers’ complete escape from all claims (unless individual Sacklers decide to file a chapter, and renounce all but $6,000 in their remaining net assets, personally — like any other American seeking bankruptcy law protections). Excellent.

For its part, here is how NPR described the newly amended deal. [Nota Bene: Do generously support your local NPR affiliate, and public television as well, as Trump’s rescission package has cut away funding sources — that both networks had already effectively spent — leaving many local outlets… broke, as of July 18, 2025.]

…Under the outlines of the deal, members of the Sackler family who currently own Purdue Pharma are expected to contribute roughly $6.5 billion.

According to the company, a major change from past settlement deals will mean people who wish to sue the Sacklers in civil court for alleged wrong-doing will not be forced to give up those lawsuits.

“Creditors can preserve their right to take legal action against the Sacklers if they do not opt in to the Sackler releases contained in the Plan,” Purdue Pharma said in a statement….

If finalized, this settlement will add to more than $50 billion in opioid pay-outs by corporations that profited from manufacture, distribution and retail of opioid painkillers at a time when overdoses and drug deaths were skyrocketing in the U.S….

Now you know. And to be clear, this package is still wending its way through the approval of the Manhattan bankruptcy courts.

Moreover, though it is… galling, that the family will retain close to $7 billion (after already moving close to $15 billion, pre-bankruptcy, out of the company — and into entities under the family’s sole control)… this may be the best possible settlement, for getting monies to individuals — near term (i.e., before they die)… given that Tangerine will oppose any higher numbers, by using DoJ resources, if needed. Damn. But so it goes.

नमस्ते

[U: 08.09.2025 AM] I’ll Talk About This… Over [Some Future] Weekend. All About… When OPM “Went… Rogue”.

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Updated: On second thought, we all know these DOGE/OPM Trump firings were unlawful, and told lies about the job performance of those fine workers they targeted for firing. So, I’ve decided to take this Saturday morning and update the readership on the improved (from the victims’ point of view) settlement of the deplorable Sackler family’s bankruptcy escape, related to the Oxy- crisis. That is a truly criminal drug cartel / conspiracy story. And we are long overdue to update on it. Look for that in just a few moments. End updated portion.

Let’s just leave this as a place-holder, as the amended complaint has been filed this afternoon, in USDC Judge Alsup’s SF courtroom.

So much to say — but my workday is at an end, now. Do tune in tomorrow, by late afternoon:

…[I]n the current context [sic; this] means that only the highest-performing probationers [sic — meant “probationaries”] in mission critical areas should be retained….

After actioning, please update the previous probationary employee spreadsheet you’ve sent us to include the information below.

Please resend the updated version to tracking@opm.gov with Amanda Scales and Jamie Sullivan on cc by 8:00 pm EST Monday. This tracker should include:

▲ Which probationary employees have been terminated and which you plan to keep. For those you plan to keep, provide an explanation of why.

▲ For each probationary employee, indicate if they have opted into the deferred resignation program or not. This can be done by cross-checking the latest submissions sent to you via tracking@opm.gov. Please also indicate whether you have signed a written deferred resignation agreement with them or not….

▲ Probation end date.

Please continue providing these reports daily through at least the end of next week….

What an incompetent, malignant posse of ijimits those guys are. Out.

नमस्ते

We’ve Just Learned That Commander Jim Lovell Has Passed Away. An American Hero, Of Apollo 13 Rescue Fame, At Age 97.

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“Smilin’ Jim” is now with most of his two original astronaut cohorts, the original Mercury Seven crews, and the Gemini crews.

Travel well, and travel light — out there, man. In retirement, we had occassionally chatted with him at his restaurant in Lake Forest. What a prince of a human being. He will be missed here in northern Illinois — and around the rest of this tiny blue orb. Here’s NASA on it all:

…[Here’s to celebrating the amazing life of] Jim Lovell. He passed away Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was 97 years old.

“NASA sends its condolences to the family of Capt. Jim Lovell, whose life and work inspired millions of people across the decades. Jim’s character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount. We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements.

“From a pair of pioneering Gemini missions to the successes of Apollo, Jim helped our nation forge a historic path in space that carried us forward… to the Moon, and beyond….

“As the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 8, Jim and his crewmates became the first to lift off on a Saturn V rocket and orbit the Moon, proving that the lunar landing was within our reach.

As commander of the Apollo 13 mission, his calm strength under pressure helped return the crew safely to Earth and demonstrated the quick thinking and innovation that informed future NASA missions….”

Here’s to a race… very well-run, Capt. Lovell. We thank you for all you did for our nation, over these past 72 plus years. [Plus, because he was a fine Navy F-4 Phantom fighter pilot in Vietnam, before being selected as a Gemini astronaut.] Onward.

नमस्ते