A Texas Regulatory "Sea Change" Is Going To Splatter Riot Platforms, Within One Elapsed Year: It Will Lose Its "Corporate Welfare" Subsidies -- For Electricity Generation.

At the moment, it seems Wall Street thinks a 20 year AI/compute center deal will stabilize hapless Riot.

I beg to differ. For a decade, Riot has built its "power first" strategy (for Bitcoin mining) with vast corporate handouts from the isolated Texas power grid. ERCOT allowed Riot to get paid real cash -- into the middle double digit millions per year -- from the government/ordinary residential electricity customers in jerk-water, dusty West Texas. Governor Abbott presided over sweetheart crony boards that paid Riot NOT to take electricity loads it itself was supposedly building, on hot (or cold) days.

Effectively, this simply forced residential customers to pay for Riot's electric dreams. But no more.

The wind has shifted in Texas, and the people are against vast noisy water- and electricity-sucking sucking data/compute centers.

Especially when they see their electric bill dollars are directly paying for a corporate boon-doggle like this.

So, Gov. Abbott has charged a blue ribbon (but political) panel with making study recommendation (due by New Year's 2027), to make the companies like Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, AMD and Anthropic pay the fully loaded market prices for electricity connections in Texas. So this 20 year deal. . . may well be a death trap door -- not a rescue boat. Hilarious.

But you don't have to believe me; believe Riot itself, on the topic. Consider Riot's newly revised risk factor, in its own SEC Form 10-Q filed two nights ago --

. . .Our access to power is dependent on our electrical distribution providers, grid operators, and regulators, which collectively manage whether our operations are performing in accordance with market rules, requirements, and regulations. PUCT, ERCOT, and Oncor collectively oversee the regulatory, administrative, and delivery aspects of our power supply in Texas; MISO and Big Rivers Electric Corporation oversee our power supply at our Commerce site in Kentucky. Tennessee Valley Authority oversees the delivery and regulation of the power supply at our Blue Steel site in Kentucky. Regulatory scrutiny of bitcoin mining facilities and their energy consumption has intensified. . . .

This scrutiny, in addition to increasing pressure at the federal level from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, has led, and may continue to lead, to new governmental measures regulating, restricting, or prohibiting the use of electricity by data centers and bitcoin mining operators, or increasing power costs for these types of consumers. . . .

If ERCOT determines that our data centers’ substantial power usage negatively affects grid reliability, it could issue a curtailment order, requiring us to reduce or cease our power use immediately, and our power supply in Texas could be partially or fully curtailed.

More recently, in 2025, the Texas legislature enacted Senate Bill (“SB”) 6 to support ERCOT’s grid reliability by, among other things, proposing minimum transmission rates on certain large loads and removing “phantom loads” from the interconnection queue to improve the accuracy of future load growth projections. SB 6 requires the PUCT and ERCOT to create new processes and impose new requirements for the interconnection of facilities with large electrical loads of at least 75 MW, requires security-type payments as part of the initial interconnection request, and creates a new approval requirement for co-locating generation with large loads. . . .

The PUCT Commissioners are scheduled to hold an Open Meeting on August 14, 2026 to discuss related policy issues, including ERCOT’s audit and information-collection plans. Because certain of our Texas data center projects are advancing through the ERCOT interconnection process, these actions could delay or prevent interconnection of those projects, increase our costs, reduce expected incentives, and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. SB 6 also requires the PUCT to amend its wholesale transmission cost-allocation rules by December 31, 2026, and the PUCT is considering measures that could require large loads such as our facilities to bear a greater share of transmission system upgrade costs, to pay minimum demand charges based on contracted peak demand for a period of 20 years, and to move from the current four coincident peak (“4CP”) cost-allocation methodology to a new 12CP cost-allocation methodology. If adopted, these measures could materially increase our transmission-related charges and limit our ability to manage power costs through demand-response and 4CP-avoidance strategies on which we have historically relied. SB 6 further directs ERCOT and the PUCT to establish curtailment and demand-management obligations for large loads, including protocols to curtail large loads interconnected at transmission voltage after December 31, 2025, during firm load-shed events and a reliability service under which ERCOT may procure demand reductions from large loads and deploy them on short notice during emergency grid conditions, any of which could require us to reduce or suspend operations with limited advance notice. ERCOT has also amended, and continues to evaluate, its processes for interconnecting large electrical loads. . . .

Hilarious -- this is a sub-$5 stock (RIOT), now trading at about. . . yep, $20 on the NASDAQ. [Long dated puts, anyone?] You've been warned. And amply, so. Heh.

नमस्ते

A New -- And Rare -- Andes / Hantavirus Case Appears In Spain...

It has been months since the last travel related Andes strain Hantavirus case was seen from the cruise-ship out of Argentina. This strain is the only extant one known to be capable of person-to-person transmission. [All other strains are believed to transfer solely via powdered and aersolized rodent feces.]

But as is expected with viral agents, biology ultimately often "finds a way" to replicate its successes -- at survival. Thus this travelling case in France, now recovering/isolating in Spain:

. . .A Franco-Argentine tourist isolated in Spain after testing positive for the rare Andes hantavirus may have been contagious for up to 10 days while traveling through France last month, health officials said Friday.

France's Health Ministry said the patient, who is isolated with family in Spain's northwestern Galicia region, may have been contagious between July 18 and July 28.

Officials said the patient had a very low viral load when diagnosed, indicating "very limited" potential for transmission.

Spanish health authorities said Thursday that the patient sought medical care in France for flu-like symptoms before traveling to Galicia. After French officials confirmed the positive hantavirus test, they notified the patient and Spanish authorities.

The French Health Ministry said only close contacts are considered at risk, including people living in the same household, those who shared accommodation or had prolonged close contact during transportation, and healthcare workers who treated the patient without appropriate protective equipment. . . .

Now you know -- with a fun, sunny end-of-summer "camp" day ahead with grand-nieces! Woot!

नमस्ते

Mr. Abrego Garcia Wins Partial Dismissal Of Tangerine 2.0's Appeal -- Re His Maryland Freedom...

As we've said repeatedly before, the goofy government lawyers for Tangerine cannot simply tell a USDC Judge she isn't doing what they want "fast enough" -- and appeal upstairs, speciously alleging a "constructive denial" [BTW, there is no such thing, at federal habeas law, in the US, as to the federal government actors].

I D I O T S.

So now the case returns to the capable USDC Judge Xinis -- likely to grant Mr. Abrego Garcia a permanent habeas order -- and dismiss the government outright. We shall see:

. . .O R D E R

Upon consideration of submissions relative to appellees’ motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction the portion of the government’s appeal that purports to challenge the “constructive denial” of two motions to dissolve an injunction, the court grants the motion. . . .

Yep. Onward, grinning -- even as tornadoes are touching down within five miles of here.

नमस्ते

Riot: Needing Perhaps Multiple Billions Yet -- In New Financing, All To Build A Very Low Margin, Commoditized Compute Center Footprint?!

There will be no appreciable revenue from this "marquee" AI/compute center purported "deal" for two years, and then it is likely to lose money for years -- if it ever breaks even. And it will take at least two decades to reach full fruition. What?!

Then. . . there is the fact that Anthropic hasn't even made a public offering yet -- and may suffer the same flash crash that SpaceX has, post IPO. And Texas state regulators are finally ending the corporate welfare paid to Riot, as it effectively forces all regular residential Texas electricity customers to subsidize its vast power load/needs.

Go ahead and bet new money on a company that has lost about ~$770 million in the first half of 2026, if you like -- it is a five dollar stock, fairly evaluated. But it is trading around $20.60 this mornin'.

H I L A R I O U S.

नमस्ते

What An Idiotic Clown Tangerine 2.0 Is... He Will Doubtless Get American Kids Killed.

Obviously, the likelihood that all three childhood vaccines are administered is enhanced if they can be given in one appointment. Obviously.

His executive order (to the extent that any clinician actually decides to fecklessly follow it). . . will cause excess deaths from preventible diseases in America, to a certainty. Of kids. Damn him -- here's that:

. . .President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood shots should be spaced out into separate medical visits.

The order advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different single-disease shots and administering all childhood immunizations at separate appointments whenever possible. It also directs the nation’s health department to improve research on vaccines, which are already extensively studied, and present a plan to offer separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines for children, since that is not currently an option in the United States. . . .

I strongly suspect Merck will keep on making and selling MMR stock (it will remain FDA approved as a combo) -- and let the clinicians decide. Trump cannot prevent that. Nor can he stop responsible parents from following the clear science here. Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

Marathon Digital (From Last Week) Is Likely A Solid Proxy For What Riot Platforms Will Post In Losses Tonight...

After a completely inexplicable one week unscheduled delay in loss results. . . finally, the tale will be told by tonight.

But just as its '34 Act company peer Marathon posted a hideous Q2 a few days ago, Riot will likely post the worst quarter in its hapless history, this evening.

It will likely have lost more money this quarter than last quarter -- its prior all-time worst quarter. The stock is off almost 5% on the morning -- and trading with a $19-something handle, now. [Didn't TaTech predict a. . . $50 handle, before it ever hits $10, again?! Heh.] Remind me: is $20 closer to $10. . . than it is to. . . $50?

Hilarious. See you this evening.

नमस्ते

Why It Is Going To Be Tough To Arrest This Current Bundibugyo Outbreak Of Ebola In DRC... Second Worst On Record In Africa.

Ebola is no one virus -- it is actually a whole host of similar but distict viral agents.

And this Bundibugyo outbreak was both recognized very late, and in a very difficult remote rural geography -- where endemic armed factional conflict rages. So a perfect storm of sorts. Here's STAT+ -- with the latest:

. . .Vaccines provide perhaps the clearest illustration of both the strengths and the limitations of current Ebola preparedness. The licensed rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine (Ervebo) transformed the response to outbreaks caused by EBOV remains one of the greatest achievements in infectious disease research. Because it targets the glycoprotein of EBOV, its effectiveness against Bundibugyo virus has long been uncertain. . . .

[But in the last few weeks. . .] emerging laboratory, immunologic, and animal data suggest that Ervebo may provide at least partial cross-protection against Bundibugyo virus. Although these findings remain preliminary and cannot establish clinical effectiveness, they raise important questions about whether Ervebo’s role should be reconsidered.

The new data prompted the WHO TAG-CVP to reassess the evidence on July 31. Given Ervebo’s extensive safety record, the group recommended evaluating it in a Phase 3 trial during the current outbreak without a preceding Phase 2 study. Important uncertainties remain, as much of the evidence is preliminary and Ervebo may offer greater protection against death than against symptomatic disease or transmission.. . .

Whether Ervebo ultimately proves to provide clinically meaningful protection against Bundibugyo virus is almost beside the point. The broader lesson is that these questions should have been asked and answered before a crisis -- not during one of the largest Ebola outbreaks ever recorded. Preparedness cannot depend on assumptions about cross-protection between related viruses. It requires generating the evidence needed to guide vaccine policy before the next outbreak begins, not while lives hang in the balance.

The encouraging news is that science has responded with remarkable speed. Multiple Bundibugyo-specific vaccine candidates are now advancing through development, including monovalent and multivalent approaches intended to broaden protection across Ebola virus species.

The University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India have launched the world’s first Phase 1 trial of a Bundibugyo-specific vaccine, while Moderna has begun a Phase 1 trial of an mRNA vaccine candidate. Together these efforts demonstrate how rapidly modern vaccine science can respond when sustained financing and political commitment exist. They also expose the cost of waiting for an emergency before asking whether our vaccines can confront the pathogen causing it. . . .

Now you know -- onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

Mapping Polar Heat Emissions, Across The Seasons -- Wisconsin Badger / Earth Sciences Climate Study...

The data is from NASA, but the analysis was all done by cheddar-head Earth sciences geeks -- up in Madison.

Here's the story -- and a cool animation of the findings, at the bottom:

. . .Earth’s frozen poles are releasing an enormous flow of invisible heat -- and NASA can finally measure it.

And at the top and bottom of the planet, the seasons arrive on a schedule all their own. Satellite data from a mission measuring infrared energy reveal just how differently—and how dramatically—surface temperatures swing across two full years at the poles. . . .

In this animation, surface temperatures across the Arctic and Antarctic pulse between cold (dark blue) and milder to warm (lighter blue to red). Data for the animation come from NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) satellites. The mission’s twin CubeSats began collecting science data in July 2024 and have now captured two complete seasonal cycles at each pole.

For two years, NASA’s twin PREFIRE satellites have observed seasonal temperature changes across the Arctic and Antarctic. Their instruments detect far-infrared radiation: an invisible form of energy responsible for nearly 60 percent of the heat Earth loses to space.

By revealing how energy moves through the planet’s coldest regions, PREFIRE could improve predictions of weather, climate, sea ice and ice-sheet stability.

The invisible is finally becoming visible. . . .

Now you know. Onward -- and, thanks -- you Badgers!

नमस्ते

The People Still Being Arrested & Harassed By ICE In Chicago Will Have A Hearing On Their Motions To Sanction Tangerine 2.0 Agents, This Coming Wed...

I will likely attend in person, or at least listen in on the live-stream -- other commitments permitting.

This pungent Manchurian Cantaloupe needs to be brought to heel. He agreed in Trump 1.0 that he could not do these things, now he is directly violating his own settled orders. Here's the latest -- before the capable USDC Judge Cummings at the Dirksen Building:

. . .MINUTE entry before the Honorable Jeffrey I Cummings:

Telephonic motion hearing set for 8/12/26 at 2:30 p.m. on plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration [462] and plaintiffs' 7/29/26 motion to enforce consent decree [474].

The call-in number for the hearing is (855) 244-8681 and the access code is 2311 121 8062. Members of the public and media will be able to call in to listen to the hearing.

Persons granted remote access to proceedings are reminded of the general prohibition against photographing, recording, and rebroadcasting of court proceedings. Violation of these prohibitions may result in sanctions, including removal of court issued media credentials, restricted entry to future hearings, denial of entry to future hearings, or any other sanctions deemed necessary by the Court. . . .

Yep -- now you know -- with a quiet Sunday ahead -- then baby grrls back from Costa Rica! Woot!

नमस्ते

Merck Seeks Approval To Build Two New Buildings -- At Its West Point Campus In Upper Gwynedd, Montgomery County...Price Tag? ~$2.9 Billion.

The campus houses some of the oldest facilities Merck has continuously operated, in the Eastern US. This expansion makes sense, since there are already over 10,000 people working daily for Merck on the sprawling campus -- and most live nearby. [It also houses one of the few remaining union shops Mr. Davis presides over.]

To be sure, the local talent pool is deep -- and considerable. The space is available -- and Montgomery County's schools and roads could certainly use the additional local tax revenue. So I expect it will clear the zoning review rather easily. Here's all that from the local papers (subs. req.):

. . .The pharmaceutical giant wants to add two new buildings at its sprawling Montgomery County campus, where it employs 12,000 people. . . .

Now you know -- with a dear old friend's (shh! surprise) b-day party this evening at a local brew pub. . . smile.

नमस्ते

So Much For His "Dear Leader" Ballroom / "Let Them Eat Cake" Moments...

The man is a blithering idiot octogenarian -- and an entitled trainwreck of endless nonsense. These are. . . facts.

What is most-maddening is he thinks we the taxpayers must foot the bill -- for his malevolent incompetence. No more. Here's that upper court opinion, just published:

. . .Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence. The President has no -- and claims no -- constitutionally assigned authority over that property, which is designed and maintained for the use of all Presidents, current and future, and for the American people. . . .

We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now. . . .

Over just three days in October 2025, without undertaking promised consultations or obtaining Congress’s permission, President Trump bulldozed the entire East Wing in order to construct a massive, 90,000 square-foot ballroom paid for by private funds with no congressional oversight. There is no factual dispute at this juncture -- in fact, the Defendants admit -- that the erection of this enormous ballroom will “have permanent adverse impacts on the cultural landscape” of President’s Park. . . .

Of course, Trump-appointed MAGA Judge Rao entered a largely silly (partisan) dissent. She will not matter. At all.

So this -- like so many others -- will be handed on to the Supremes. And Tangerine 2.0 will be dead in the water, there. Onward.

नमस्ते

The Next Generation Of "Martian Helicopters" Are Taking Shape -- At JPL | NASA | Goddard...

As I often remind, we will almost certainly have very scant need for boots on Mars much before 2050 -- because our largely autonomous exo-planetary robotics programs are progressing so rapidly.

Here's that next tech advancing / installment -- on the SkyFall choppers, bound for Barsoom -- around 2030:

. . .When the trio of NASA’s SkyFall helicopters takes to the Martian skies, one of their tasks will be to hunt for frozen water — a critical resource for future astronauts — using ground-penetrating radar. For that radar to work, each rotorcraft will carry a flexible, fabric-based antenna that will need to extend below the aircraft without interfering with landings, or breaking upon impact. It is a specialized design for the mission, and it recently cleared a round of testing at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Although orbiting spacecraft can map the thick Martian ice deposits tens of yards below the surface, they’re effectively blind to the top several yards of regolith, or broken rock and dust. This shallow zone is what will matter most for future astronauts, who will need to easily reach and process ice for water, oxygen, and fuel.

“The only way to detect shallow subsurface ice remotely is to fly close to the ground,” said Adrian Tang, SkyFall’s ground-penetrating radar lead instrument scientist at JPL. “By flying low and slow, a SkyFall helicopter could capture radar images that resolve the fine layering where dry soil gives way to ice, detecting its presence and mapping its extent. . . .”

To peer beneath the Martian surface, SkyFall’s ground-penetrating radar will use an ultra-wide frequency range — from 500 to 2,500 megahertz — corresponding to wavelengths of about 24 to 5 inches (60 to 12 centimeters). The longest wavelengths can penetrate several yards below the surface. The shorter wavelengths provide finer detail about the uppermost layers and surface texture.

This is where the unique antenna design comes in. A traditional antenna operating in that part of the electromagnetic spectrum would need to be 19 inches (48.3 centimeters) long and have a clear view of the ground, but the minimum clearance between Mars’ surface and the base of the helicopter’s fuselage is only about 6 inches (15.2 centimeters). The team needed an antenna that wouldn’t interfere with or be damaged by landing. . . .

So it is essentially "a sheet of cloth" formed into a fabric / antenna -- flexible and forgiving. And here's that YouTube video demonstrator:



Onward, smiling. . . .

नमस्ते

Very Young Kids Are STILL Being Held For Extremely Long Periods, Against The Flores Consent Decree -- In Border Detention By Stephen Miller's ICE.

When the flatulating octogenarian in charge is little more than a poorly-organized mobster, the presumptions of good faith and fair dealing (inside federal agencies) break down -- and, inside the walls of his federal agencies -- the minions tasked with day-today operations are running amok. That disgusting state of affairs is now the "new normal", at ICE -- and Border Patrol.

This is simply unacceptable. The law is clear -- and it is time to jail these federal scofflaws, at Chula Vista. Here's a bit of the seven pages of it:

. . .[A] mother, father, and seven-year-old boy with a severe cough, had been detained since July 8, 2026. The online ICE Locator database listed the family as being in CBP custody until at least August 5, 2026, after twenty-eight days of detention.

On July 21, 2026, I contacted counsel for Defendants to alert them and to alert the Juvenile Coordinator, through counsel, to these prolonged detentions. On August 3, 2026, Defendants’ counsel responded by email confirming that two of the three families identified by counsel were no longer in CBP custody and that the third family remained in CBP custody. . . .

Onward, resolutely just the same.

नमस्ते

The First Ever FDA-Approved mRNA Flu Vaccine (From Moderna) Will Arrive For Seniors, This Fall: Good News

This new vaccine will be both about 25% more effective than the old vaccine stocks, and will be capable of being sythesized much more rapidly. A double win! Excellent.

The vaccine builds on all the lessons learned during COVID-19 [and we all owe Dr. Fauci a debt of gratitude for the lives spared then and there. This GOP witch hunt is. . . deplorable.] But today's news is exciting, for all who actually accept the truths of bio-science in public health outreach efforts.

Here's that, from NBC:

. . .The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the U.S.’ first flu shot that uses mRNA technology: mFlusiva, from drugmaker Moderna.

The FDA granted approval for two age groups, adults 50 to 65 and adults 65 and up, on the condition that Moderna run an additional clinical trial in the older group, the company said in a release. In a late-stage trial, mFlusiva was found to be about 27% more effective than a standard flu shot.

Many scientists and public health experts have touted the idea of an mRNA-based flu vaccine, which uses the same messenger RNA platform as the Covid vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. That’s because mRNA vaccines can be manufactured much faster than traditional vaccines, allowing scientists to better match circulating influenza strains. . . .

Now you know -- with Mozart's unfinished Requiem, under the stars tonight at Pritzker. . . smile.

नमस्ते

Idiotic Old Tangerine Simply Cannot Accept That The 14th Amendment Means EXACTLY What It Says.

Okay -- it is late -- and in truth, I am going to spend very little time on this sort of unhinged nonsense, any longer. The Supremes have ruled definitively, last term -- mere weeks ago.

Stephen Miller and Donald Trump are simply malevolently. . . delusional. "Born here? Citizen here" (if you want to be, that is).

We may safely ignore his latest hallucinations / executive orders. Here is that story:

. . .President Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday aimed at limiting the number of people who are eligible for birthright citizenship and cracking down on “birth tourism,” in which women give birth in the United States to get automatic citizenship for their newborns.

The new orders came weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, rejected the president’s previous efforts to end birthright citizenship for undocumented immigrants. . . .

Onward resolutely. And out.

नमस्ते

Much More Nice Progress, On Katalyst / LINK Recovery Efforts -- But Still A Fair Distance To Traverse... With Software Updates, Coming Next Week...

This is an excellent team effort: NASA and Katalyst. But the road ahead will not be easy. The teams need to completely reconfigure the way the craft navigates, and orients itself, autonomously, in the "no up direction; no down, either" of. . . outer space.

It has been tumbling, without two of its three gyros, insofar as I understand the problem. But that multi-axis tumble has been slowed to about 1.5 degrees per second -- so it is manageable, and will maintain comms, and more importantly -- full solar battery power. But now it must right itself with all new software, before it might approach the aging Swift 'space 'scope. Here's the latest NASA authored blog entry:

. . .Teams are preparing to take the next major recovery steps for Katalyst Space’s robotic spacecraft LINK in orbit. During the last week, they’ve successfully reduced the spin of LINK, which is designed to boost NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher orbital altitude.

LINK originally was in a multi-axis spin rotating at about 9 degrees per second, which resulted in sporadic communications and impeded LINK’s progress toward Swift. Using a series of burns from one of LINK’s electric propulsion thrusters, the Katalyst team now has slowed that spin to about 1.47 degrees per second. Katalyst plans to keep LINK at that spin rate as it proceeds with next steps for the mission. This includes uploading a flight software update in the coming days with new attitude controllers designed to maintain LINK’s stability in its current configuration. These updates would allow LINK to begin maneuvering to align with Swift’s orbit. . . .

Now you know -- grinning, and keeping a good thought -- for all.

नमस्ते

Corrupt Tangerine 2.0-World, Example 2047... Who Is This Vapid Clown, Jennifer Mascott?!

Federal judges are supposed to avoid even the "appearance" of any impropriety, or conflicted interests.

Yet, Trump appointed and the GOP Senate confirmed a Third Cir. Judge -- a former hard right law professor -- and she kept running a PR firm, as a "side-gig" -- moonlighting, on the federal bench. . . until her PR firm (ultimately) went under. That is simply. . . unlawful. She ought to be removed, by impeachment -- but the MAGA/GOP lacks any functioning moral compass (so too the MAGA Wing of the Supremes, I am afraid).

This is expressly prohibited by Canons 2A and 2B of the federal judicial code of ethics: ". . .An appearance of impropriety occurs when reasonable minds, with knowledge of all the relevant circumstances disclosed by a reasonable inquiry, would conclude that the judge’s honesty, integrity, impartiality, temperament, or fitness to serve as a judge is impaired. . . . A judge must avoid all impropriety and appearance of impropriety. This prohibition applies to both professional and personal conduct. A judge must expect to be the subject of constant public scrutiny and accept freely and willingly restrictions that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary citizen. . . ."

Damn -- here is that story:

. . .A Trump-appointed federal appeals judge spent months running a Washington public affairs firm after being appointed to the bench last year, an arrangement that contributed to an exodus among the firm’s staff and clients and only ended when the firm went out of business at the end of June.

Jennifer Mascott, a former conservative law professor who sits on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, was deeply involved in daily operations at the firm, Adfero, for at least six months after she was confirmed as a judge in October 2025, according to 14 former employees and clients granted anonymity to discuss internal details of the firm’s final months. . . .

What a complete and utter. . . dumb-show that guy runs. And of course, she was a professor at the Scalia Law School -- after she clerked for Kavanaugh.



नमस्ते

It Is Probable That A Long Ago Slow-Motion Collision Created "The Heart" We Now See On Pluto -- And That Liquid Nitrogen Flowed There Quite Recently, As A Consequence...

I understand the argument -- really, I do -- but for my money, Pluto should not have demoted from planet status. Look at all this mystery and wonder, just now being revealed. We had no idea that all this slushy geology was underway, well beyond our Earth bound telescopes' power of resolution.

No, it took both the power of New Horizon's grand piano-sized close fly-by, shutters whirring, and the JWST space 'scope coming online, to fully appreciate all the diversity that is buried just under the surface of this waifish, icy world. The latest is that liquid nitogen flows like long slushy rivers, near the northern edges of the heart feature. Wow. Here's that, from NASA:

. . .A new analysis of imagery collected during NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s 2015 encounter with Pluto provides evidence that liquid nitrogen is rising to Pluto’s surface through cracks in the northern edge of the Sputnik Planitia, part of the massive heart-shaped glacier on the dwarf planet’s surface. This is the first evidence of recently flowing liquid on Pluto. . . .

“Pluto never stops surprising us,” said Alan Stern, principal investigator of New Horizons and lead study author from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “In addition to suggesting that liquids have recently expressed themselves on Pluto’s surface, this result also suggests a new kind of time-variable feature on Pluto.”

The Sputnik Planitia is a vast, frozen nitrogen glacier on Pluto, larger than the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma combined. In 2015, New Horizons’ images of the northernmost portions of this region revealed city-sized geologic convection cells on Sputnik Planitia separated by both thin dark linear and more diffuse dark features, suggesting historical liquid flows. Now the new research, published July 31 in the Planetary Science Journal, indicates that these dark linear and diffuse features may be occasionally and temporarily wetted, perhaps from time to time, by a liquid, most likely liquid nitrogen. The journal paper’s authors include both planetary science experts in Pluto and experts in terrestrial glaciology.

Surface patterns on northern Sputnik Planitia have been darkened in ways that resemble glacial features on Earth that have been wetted by rain or by the subsurface emergence of liquids to the surface. Pluto’s atmospheric and thermal conditions make liquid nitrogen rain physically impossible, suggesting that liquid nitrogen is flowing up from underneath the glacier. . . .

Now you know -- on a warm gray morning here. . . smile -- off, to sunny, hot Northern Cali in a week.

नमस्ते

Tangent: Still No New Q2 Losses Disclosure Date, For Hapless Riot Platforms?!

We will know in a few days whether Starboard Value has exited this position.

In truth, it was one of the smaller positions that the hedge fund had taken, as an activist.

But if the activist Jeff Smith still holds shares of Riot, he cannot be remotely happy that on essentially no notice the company tanked its Q2 results call.

And that it hasn’t scheduled a new date. Trust that if they are still a holder over 3%, they are pressing Mr. Jason Les — for a new date (soon he will be out of compliance with SEC disclosure rules anyway).

No sensible hedgie wants to hold — without end — while staring glumly, into a black box.

Out.

नमस्ते

Voyager 2 Goes Into A Deeper "Power-Saving" Mode -- May Last A Year Or Two Longer, Yet... Over 15 Billion Miles Out In Interstellar Space.

We mentioned this effort last, in April of this year. The whole idea is to minimize the power consumption footprint of the remaining science packages on each of the two Voyagers, now .

In that way, it is hoped that each of the twin crafts, now well over 50 years old -- will operate for another year or two -- before falling silent forever. Here's the latest, from NASA | JPL | Goddard:

. . .Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have successfully freed up power on Voyager 2, extending how long the spacecraft can continue to do science.

Nicknamed the “Big Bang,” the effort involved simultaneously turning off certain powered devices and substituting them with lower-power alternatives while ensuring the spacecraft remains warm enough to operate.

The Voyagers get their power from radioisotope thermoelectric generators, devices that convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. Due to the plutonium supply continually depleting, both probes lose about 4 watts of power each year. After almost a half-century since launch, the spacecraft power margins have grown razor thin, requiring the team to conserve energy by shutting off non-essential devices and systems.

Since 2024, the dwindling power supply has forced the mission to turn off two science instruments on each of the Voyager spacecraft (each spacecraft has 10 instruments; others had been turned off previously because they were only used for the mission’s planetary encounters). Without the Big Bang activity, the mission would have had to turn off another instrument on Voyager 2 before the end of 2026. The savings should provide power to keep its three instruments operating for at least an extra year.

The mission team plans to perform the same swap on Voyager 1, which is farther from Earth than Voyager 2, and to complete the effort in the coming months. . . .

Now you know. Onward, grinning -- resolutely.

नमस्ते