This Seems Excessive — But Okay. Whatever.

Recall that both DRC and Uganda have outbound travel measures, already in place -- for Ebola and Marburg -- respectively.

I am not sure this is really needed -- but I suppose excess caution makes some sense, with thousands dead, and more dying in DRC. [And yet, we know Ebola only speads via very close contact, despite Tangerine 2.0's legendary misunderstandings of viral vectors / transmission -- Bundibugyo / Ebola is not air-borne.]

Here is the latest, from Reuters:

. . .The Trump administration on Monday said it is blocking American citizens in the Democratic Republic of Congo from traveling to the U.S. on commercial flights, according to a White House official.

The ‌order, which is being taken under a transportation authority known as Title 49, will place U.S. citizens in Congo or those who have recently left on a “do-not-board” list until they have spent at least 21 days in a third country, the person said. . . .

Now onward, as E. Jean Carroll receives her first ~$5.6 million from Tangerine, from his libelous lies. About $84 million, more -- next.Smile.

नमस्ते

[U: Full 56 Page Opinion] The IRS Cannot Be… Bought. Not by Trump & Blanche, Anyway.

Mid-flight, I see that Tangerine 2.0 & Todd Blanche are now reaping the whirlwind, for their corrupt and thus unenforceable IRS "settlement" self-dealing. Flawless. [Updated: here is the full USDC opinion.]

And Blanche may lose his NY bar card, behind it all -- sweet:

. . .A federal judge on Monday ruled that President Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service was an improper exercise in self-dealing and barred him from claiming that the extraordinary tax protections he received were part of a legitimate settlement agreement.

In the order, the judge, Kathleen M. Williams, also referred the lawyer who brought Mr. Trump’s case against the I.R.S. to the Florida bar for potential disciplinary proceedings. Judge Williams added that she would forward her decision to the New York bar, which is already investigating the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche. . . .

Excellent! Touching down in 30 minutes or so. . . to a saner world.

नमस्ते

First Patients Dosed, In DRC Clinical Trial For A Bundibugyo Therapeutic... Fingers Crossed.

This is good news -- and here is to hoping it turns out to be both effective, and safe.

Here's the latest -- per the UK Guardian:

. . .[This] is a record pace to set up and start this kind of research, scientists said, with patients enrolled just six weeks after the outbreak being declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 17 May.

Nevertheless, in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, where the virus is raging, people are impatient.

“I hope these drug trials proceed quickly,” said Neema Haba, a mother of three and banana seller. “Financially, we are being driven to the brink by this outbreak and nothing is going right. We are struggling to provide for our children.”

As of 9 July, there had been 1,792 confirmed cases and 625 deaths caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine and no approved treatment. It is still “in the expansion phase”, according to the WHO. . . .

Hopes of turning the tide now rest with scientists searching for effective medicines.

The Partners treatment trial has opened with two drugs on its books – remdesivir, and MBP134. Patients will be randomly allocated to receive either drug, a combination of the two, or simply standard, supportive care.

Remdesivir is an antiviral made by pharma company Gilead Sciences, while MBP134 is a monoclonal antibody developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, containing two specially engineered immune proteins that recognise and neutralise the virus.

Both are given intravenously – MBP134 as a one-off infusion, and remdesivir as 10 days of intravenous therapy.

“These two drugs actually have been proven to work against the Bundibugyo virus in animal models,” said Prof Laurens Liesenborghs of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, who is working on the trial in Ituri. . . .

Now you know -- jetting out of Midway, by 11 am tomorrow. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते

2026 Lassa Fever Outbreak In Nigeria -- Still Spreading Ferociously... And At Higher Mortality Rates, Too: Killing About 1-In-4.

This is very hard news. But to be expected, in a time of disappearing American leadership, on public health prevention, globally.

The erstwhile folks at OutbreakNewsToday (once again), have the latest -- from Nigeria:

. . .According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), since the beginning of the year through the end of June, 2026, 922 confirmed Lassa fever cases have been reported in the country, up from 790 cases reported during the same period in 2025. . . .

The death toll from confirmed cases has also increased compared to last year. Cumulatively, 221 deaths (compared to 148 deaths in 2025) have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 24.0% which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2025 (18.7%).

In total for 2026, 23 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 111 Local Government Areas (LGA). . . .

Now you know -- with bbgrrl's 10^th birthday party in a couple hours -- then on a jet, in the morning -- to the high Rockies for a week -- blogging will be sparse. Smile.

नमस्ते

The LINK Mission Continues To Work Checklists, Toward A Grappling With, And Then A Boosting Of... Swift's Now Decaying Low Earth Orbit...

The "excess momentum" mentioned below was likely a sort of over-rotation / spin problem. Not uncommon, after such a launch. We're glad the team got it resolved -- and now will use autonomous software to keep the appropriate (Sun facing) attitude for the solar panels. [Latest prior backgrounder here.]

In any event, here's the latest, from the associated NASA blog:

. . .Commissioning is well underway for Katalyst’s robotic servicing spacecraft LINK, which is designed to boost the orbit of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. . . .

[The team] stabilized the spacecraft after an initial period of excess momentum and enabled autonomous momentum management. Katalyst is now checking out LINK’s subsystems, including its electric propulsion system, which involves firing the spacecraft’s three xenon-fueled thrusters. . . .

The commissioning process is anticipated to take a few weeks, with flexibility built in to allow the team to pause, assess data, and adjust as needed. After the commissioning phase, LINK will begin its journey to meet and rendezvous with Swift. . . .

Now you know -- close up cabaret magic again, tonight -- downtown. Smile. . . after hearing Tchaikovsky's Fifth, live last night in the park -- with fireworks, after.

नमस्ते

Harrowing Models Suggest The Actual Ebola Figures In Ituri Province, DRC Are Double- To Quadruple-... The Confirmed Number Of Cases -- And Deaths.

As we'd said over eight weeks ago, the numbers are certainly much worse than the tested, official case counts.

Here's the latest -- but especially in Ituri, the rates of new cases -- with no traced contact to any other -- suggests this will be a very long-tail outbreak. Yikes:

. . .Four out of every five new Ebola ​cases in parts of Democratic Republic of Congo have no known link to existing patients, a ‌senior World Health Organization official said, warning that the true scale of the outbreak could be two to four times larger than official data suggest.

The figures underscore the challenges facing health workers as they battle to contain the outbreak in the country's northeast, which has so far [by confirmed, tested cases] infected 1,792 people and killed 625, according to government data released on Thursday. . . .

WHO estimates based on modelling and test positivity rates suggest the outbreak, which was declared in mid-May, may be between two and four times larger than the number ​of confirmed cases, he said.

About 90% of all reported cases remain concentrated in Ituri province, particularly in the ​health zones of Bunia, Rwampara, Mongbwalu and Nyakunde, where transmission remains intense. . . .

And as we previously said. . . this is a Musk/Trumpian legacy, too. They gutted USAID, when it was most needed.

नमस्ते

At the 11^th hour, Tangerine 2.0 forces filed an again largely non-responsive answer, in the Second Circuit.

I won't quote it -- but simply note that it makes multiple misstatements as to the record, ignores the government's own nearly two years of delay now -- and then offers legal arguments that have already been rejected in both Nashville and Maryland. Damn.

It will fail.

And -- most of all -- we must mention that overnight in Houston, yet another likely innocent (non-deportable) man lies dead -- shot down by what appears to be overly-aggressive ICE/DHS agent lawlessness. [Witnesses report that at least one of the ICE agents involved exited his vehicle and immediately started shooting.] Damn.

The indictments ought to come from state prosecutors, but this is MAGA Greg Abbott's Texas. So, we will have to wait -- and see.

Separately, I am off to the Rockies for all of next week, so blogging is forecast to be light to non-existent. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते

New Horizons Is Back Online, Some 6 Billion Miles Off, And Now Into The Deep Kuiper Belt...

You may recall that we've covered this mission since 2015. It is truly an ongoing wonder -- but its signature feat, was the sharpest ever color images -- of tiny Pluto -- revealing a heart-shaped formation, back then -- covering almost a third of the face of that icy orbiter.

Here's the latest on all that, from the Johns-Hopkins APL | NASA teams:

. . .On June 23, flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, confirmed New Horizons, acting on stored commands uplinked to its main computer last July, had safely awakened from a 321‑day hibernation period that began Aug. 7. With the spacecraft now approximately 5.9 billion miles (9.5 billion kilometers) from Earth, the radio signals carrying that confirmation took about 8 hours and 52 minutes to reach the APL Mission Operations Center via NASA's Deep Space Network station near Madrid, Spain. . . .

The mission team typically places New Horizons in resource‑saving hibernation mode during long cruise periods. While the spacecraft is hibernating, operators do not send commands or retrieve data, but the spacecraft continues gathering and storing data around the clock from its heliospheric plasma sensors, Solar Wind at Pluto and the Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation, as well as its space dust detector, the Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter. . . .

As New Horizons resumes active operations, Bowman noted, the team will begin downlinking spacecraft health and safety data, followed by data from the three scientific instruments.

In about three weeks, the spacecraft’s onboard Alice ultraviolet spectrograph will look at the hydrogen gas distribution in the outer heliosphere, while the Solar Wind at Pluto, the Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation, and the Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter instruments continue their measurements, and the ground team conducts a series of spacecraft and instrument checkouts. . . .

Smiling into a warm sunny mid-summer's Friday,now. . . .

नमस्ते

We're Overdue -- For An Update, On Amazon [& Mr. Bezos'] Abuse Of The US Workers' Rights To Organize -- Under The NLRA...

We had frankly (albeit inadvertently) let this narrative arc fall off the radar-screen, in the prior four months. That was our bad. [Here is one of about of my 30 prior posts, on Amazon labor tactics, over the last eight or so years.]

But once again, it seems that Mr. Bezos'stock-in-trade is to skirt the law, at best -- and abuse the rights of his labor forces, to organize collectively -- at worst. Here's the latest, from the NLRB.Edge blog:

. . .The Board [of the NLRB] has affirmed an administrative law judge’s findings that Amazon committed a series of violations of the NLRA during the Amazon Labor Union’s 2021 organizing campaign at the JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island, while dismissing one allegation involving the discharge of an employee at a nearby delivery station.

The Board upheld findings that contracted security guards acted as Amazon’s agents when they told an employee he needed permission to distribute union literature, confiscated the literature, and photographed his badge to report him to human resources. In a separate incident about a week later, another security guard created the impression that employees’ union activities were under surveillance by pointing a phone at organizers and workers during a union event. The Board also affirmed that Amazon violated the law in June 2021 when a manager and a human resources employee separately told employees they could not hand out union literature on their own time in nonwork areas and confiscated the literature, and when another human resources employee did the same later that day. . . .

Now you know -- with close-up cabaret magic shows -- like the 1920s (post-war) in the Loop, on tap, for tomorrow night. Grin. . . .

नमस्ते

Tangent Pt. II: An Interesting (Expert’s) Perspective, On Mr. Nolan’s Casting Decision(s)…

This is now the second time we've mentioned this particular -- largely imaginary -- but MAGA agitprop propelled "controversy". Folks, most serious scholars of ancient / classic Greek literature will immediately point out that the Helen of Troy in these tales is certainly. . . mostly mythical, not in any sense a historical / flesh and blood woman.

So -- it seems both silly, and racist -- to complain here about skin color.

That continues to be my view, but I commend to the readership this opinion piece -- from a bona fide scholar -- on the subject of Greek lit & mythology. This essay appears in the coming morning's NYT -- and should be read closely, word for word. . . but the below resonated deeply, for me [when thinking of Mr. Nolan's decision(s), here]:

. . .[T]he woman whom we associate with great beauty was, at least for the Greeks, all talk. Both a skilled orator and the object of skillful oratory, the “real” Helen of Troy, you could argue, was a figure associated above all with profound debates about the nature of reality and the power of words, the seductiveness of falsehood and the fragility of truth.

In that sense, at least, the controversy about the new “Odyssey” movie, like so many of the arguments being conducted today, connects us to the Greeks’ Helen in a far more authentic way than the choice of this or that actress could. . . .

Indeed. I will certainly favor the movie -- by actually purchasing a ticket -- even if I already know Matt Damon chews up every scene he's in (in the way the official trailer makes plain).

So, as irony would have it, perhaps it is the aging whyte guy. . . who's been poorly cast. Heh. Imagine that!

नमस्ते

ESA's Euclid Spies Oldest Quasars In The Known Universe: New YouTube Video...

The universe as we know it was only about six per cent of its present age.

A mere baby -- with very chaotic quasars generating unimaginably vast light blasts, which helped form the later generations of stars and galaxies. . . and yes, planetary systems -- like our own. Here's the story -- and video, of Euclid's latest ground-breaking learnings:

. . .Quasars represent a brief phase in a galaxy’s life during which large amounts of material spiral into the central supermassive black hole, releasing enormous amounts of energy. In this phase, the galaxy’s nucleus shines more brightly than anything else in the Universe, often outshining the rest of its host galaxy by hundreds to thousands of times.

We’ve been hunting for the Universe’s very first quasars for decades. These objects reveal what was happening during the earliest days of the cosmos, including how the first supermassive black holes and galaxies took shape. However, quasars from this time are difficult to find. They’re rare, as few galaxies had yet had time to grow big enough, and their primordial light is both faint and easy to confuse with that from stars lying closer to us.

Euclid, launched in 2023, is digging deeper into this mystifying part of ancient cosmic history – with exciting results. The telescope has now discovered an unprecedented number of 31 new quasars in the early Universe, pushing back to a time when the cosmos was just about 6% of its current age. . . .

13 billion light years away. . . that's quite a separation -- in both space, and time. Smile.

नमस्ते

Wow! JP Morgan Sees Lilly As A $1,400 NYSE Stock, And Soon, Too…

Sure -- the GLP-1 boom is in high dungeon, but a nearly 20% upside from here, in about a year?

That's a pretty bold prediction.

But so it goes -- with the market increasingly looking for high cash flow, and steady business prospects -- in defensive industries like human health care / drugs / weight loss delivery mechanisms (clearly, much of the US 25 to 65 adult population is borderline overweight, or actually overweight). Tangerine 2.0 chaos has run its course -- the market wants. . . predictability.

In any event, here's the latest, via The Street:

. . .On Tuesday, one of JPMorgan’s most closely watched healthcare stock analysts, Chris Schott, who frequently covers Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Eli Lilly, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), gave investors something to pay attention to.

He set a new price target for Lilly that’s well above that of other Wall Street analysts. That says a lot about how far the obesity drug boom still has to run. For anyone holding the stock or thinking about it before the August earnings, Schott's call is worth a closer look.

JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott lifted his price target on Eli Lilly to $1,400 from $1,300, keeping an Overweight rating on the shares, Yahoo Finance reported. . . .

Now you know. Onward to live magic shows -- at the vintage Chi-theater -- this weekend. . . smile.

नमस्ते

Again, Abrego Has The Better Argument: In Maryland Federal Court, He May Depose DHS And ICE Agents, Now... Why Exactly Was He Grabbed?!

We all know where this one is headed. We have told you repeatedly: Mr. Abrego Garcia will win damages from Tangerine 2.0, and his feckless agencies' heads. And he will choose where he will live, as a free man, with his family -- next.

He will soon be a millionaire, due to Trumpian malfeasance. But it will come from taxpayer coffers. Charming. Here is a bit of the latest clearly correct -- and powerful -- argument:

. . .In opposing Petitioner Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s request to conduct limited discovery, the Government continues to pursue arguments that this Court has rejected time and again. To accept the Government’s arguments, one must disregard nearly all of the Court’s prior rulings here and in Abrego Garcia v. Noem, No. 25-cv-00951 (“Abrego Garcia I”). Although doing so allows the Government to feign ignorance of its prior conduct, it does not rewrite the record or Abrego Garcia’s showing of good cause that warrants limited discovery here. The Court should grant Abrego Garcia’s motion.

As the Court recognized at the May 12 hearing, three claims are ripe for resolution: Count One (that the Government’s disregard of Abrego Garcia’s designation of Costa Rica violates 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(2)), Count Three (that the Government’s efforts to remove Abrego Garcia elsewhere violates due process), and Count Four (that the Government’s efforts to remove Abrego Garcia elsewhere violates § 1231(b)(3) and 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16). ECF No. 176 at 8:8–9:4. . . .

[T]he Government [argues again] that Abrego Garcia’s claims are jurisdictionally barred by U.S.C. § 1252(a)(5), (b)(9) and (g). The Government first raised these arguments back in April 2025. This Court, and the Fourth Circuit, have repeatedly rejected them because he is not challenging the Attorney General’s exercise of lawful discretion to commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders. See ECF No. 110 at 15–17; Abrego Garcia I, ECF No. 31 at 7–16; Abrego Garcia I, ECF No. 238 at 12–14; Abrego Garcia v. Noem, 2025 WL 1021113, at *2–3 (4th Cir. Apr. 7, 2025) (Thacker, J., concurring). The Government has persisted in advancing this position, including at ECF Nos. 28, 72, 115, 142, 159, 160, 170, 184. Here, again, Abrego Garcia respectfully requests that the Court deem his prior responses, including at ECF Nos. 32, 88, 118, 144, incorporated here by reference. . . .

The Government also argues that habeas corpus is not the proper vehicle for Counts One, Three, and Four. See ECF 181 (“Opp.”) 7–8, 11–12. That is wrong. These claims challenge unlawful non-discretionary actions by the Government—such as its disregard of § 1231 and due process -- in its pursuit of Abrego Garcia’s immigration confinement and removal. Such claims sound in habeas because they necessarily imply the invalidity of the Government’s efforts to place Abrego Garcia in immigration detention and remove him to Liberia or other third countries. See Trump v. J.G.G., 604 U.S. 670, 671–73 (2025) (holding that challenges to removal under the Alien Enemies Act must be brought in habeas because they necessarily imply the invalidity of confinement and removal under that Act); see also id. at 674 (Kavanaugh, J., concurring) (“[G]oing back to the English Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, if not earlier, habeas corpus has been the proper vehicle for detainees to bring claims seeking to bar their transfers.”).

Abrego Garcia may therefore take discovery on a showing of “good cause” -- i.e., “a specific allegation that shows reason to believe that [he] may be able to demonstrate that he is entitled to relief.” Quesinberry v. Taylor, 162 F.3d 273, 279 (4th Cir. 1998); see Bracy v. Gramley, 520 U.S. 899, 904 (1997); Juniper v. Zook, 876 F.3d 551, 572 n.9 (4th Cir. 2017); Habeas Rule 6(a). . . .

Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

A Potentially Multi-Billion Dollar Lanham Act Federal Suit, In New Jersey -- And It Would Seem US Merck Has The Upper Hand Here.

Well. . . this one is finally wending its way to a trial date, after nearly a decade and a half.

It will be a multi-billion verdict, if it reaches that point -- which is why, for over a decade, I've predicted that there will be a confidential settlement, on the eve of trial. [We did predict that German Merck would be required to turn over this financial data, back in April 2026.]

Here's the latest: US Merck will indeed obtain updated financial data, from German Merck -- as a way to estimate what these damages might be, at that future trial.

. . .For the following reasons, the Court finds that Plaintiff [US Merck] is entitled to the discovery it seeks.

First, Plaintiff seeks only updated financial information of the same scope and form as Defendant [German Merck] previously produced. Updating the financial information at this point is appropriate to ensure that the damages theories are fully explored in the event of trial. Thomas & Betts v. Richards Mfg. Co., No. 01-4677, 2010 WL 2400151, at *4 (D.N.J. June 10, 2010) (finding that the “[p]laintiff correctly assert[ed] that no showing of cause is necessary to compel a party to update information already deemed discoverable”). Plaintiff seeks disgorgement as a potential remedy in this matter. Indeed, that was the basis for the Defendant’s production of the four spreadsheets covering financial information to 2016 and 2017. The requested information is plainly relevant so that Plaintiff may have a fair opportunity to prove Defendant’s sales, and to respond to any showing by Defendant as to its costs and deductions, the updated information. Auto Konnect, LLC v. BMW of N. Am., LLC, No. 18-14019, 2019 WL 12338328, at *3 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 24, 2019) (stating, without deciding the issue of whether New Jersey law recognizes disgorgement as a theory of recovery under the plaintiff’s claims, that discovery regarding the defendant’s profits must be turned over); AdvanSix Inc., 2023 WL 179963, at *2 (permitting parties to seek discovery on issues that “may be in the case”).

Second, Defendant’s argument that Plaintiff’s “request would require reopening discovery into facts and expert opinions relevant to both liability and damages since 2017” is unpersuasive. D.E. 336, at 2. Courts in this district have granted similar requests for updated financial information without reopening discovery. See Thomas & Betts, 2010 WL 2400151, at *4-6 (granting request for updated financial information but denying two other requests because they were essentially requests to reopen discovery). Additionally, Defendant does not explain how the burden of production outweighs the probative value of an updated damages calculation. And given that the updated information is data that is gleaned in the ordinary course of business, to be produced in the same format as the prior production, the Court does not independently identify any undue burden on Defendant.

Finally, the Court respectfully disagrees with Defendant that Plaintiff must first satisfy the good-cause standard. The good cause standard is drawn from Rule 16(b)(4), and applies to modifying a schedule. Plaintiff is not seeking to modify a schedule or reopen discovery, at least in the sense that the additional discovery is extensive or requires a considerable period of time to complete, thereby affecting subsequent deadlines. Plaintiff instead merely seeks updated financial information in an abbreviated format that is similar to the prior production. As such, Rule 26(e)(1)(b) governs Plaintiff’s request, and contains no such good-cause requirement. . . .

IT IS ON THIS 9TH DAY OF JULY 2026, ORDERED THAT: Defendant [German Merck] shall produce to [US Merck] Plaintiffs updated financial data in this matter. . . .

Now you know -- onward, on a steamy overcast Thursday -- but this case should settle, as we've long opined. And in fact, there are additional mediation dates on the calendar, to that specific end. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते

TANGENT: Hilarious! On June 30, 2026, Goofy "Riot Bull, To The Sky!" TaTech, Over At SA, Posted Riot Would Hit $50, Before $10 (Again).

Welp. Riot is now down about 18% -- at $21 and change, since he belched that pearl of market wisdom nine days ago.

He and I have traded comparisons, of long dated, out of money put strategies (vs. his "buy and hold forever" ones) for more than five years now, on the SA boards. He claims to have bought at under $3, when the crypto world was falling apart, and the Gulf burned in February 2021. R-i-i-i-i-ght.

I have -- four separate times -- made out like a bandit, by buying long dated but out of money puts, on this intrepid name. In bulk.

I am ready to do so, again.

This was never a $29 stock -- and unless Riot announces a $600 million (or better) all new contract for AI / compute in a few weeks, this is about a $15 stock. It will burn nearly a billion in cash this year, with only one AI partner / client to show for it.

And Bitcoin itself is trading at about half the level it was, in October 2025.

See ya', in the funny papers, old TaTech -- my bet is it hits $15 before it ever sees $50 again.

Hilarious.

नमस्ते

A Nice Result, For Federal Court Transparency -- And A Free Press. Kudos -- To Matthew Russell Lee.

Just exactly three years ago, Mr. Russell Lee's InnerCityPress won an unsealing in the SBF felony prosecution -- citing free press law here in the US. He's been on a win streak ever since. Today, he reports that he has prevailed upon a USDC Judge to create a new "catch-all" docket file, just to disclose the requests -- and results -- in otherwise sealed cases.

This is excellent, as researchers (like your correspondent) will not have to bounce around searching every USDC Judge in Manhattan's dockets, individually. Now, 26-cv-4094 will contain all unsealing requests. Excellent!

Here's all of that, from Mr. Matthew Russell Lee at InnerCityPress:

. . .Judge Kuntz did not ignore the letter. He did not deny it in a sealed order.

He did something better -- and, in Inner City Press's experience across a dozen districts, close to unique: he opened a new, public miscellaneous case, captioned In re Inner City Press [26-cv-4094], docketed Inner City Press's letter as Document 1, and put Assistant United States Attorneys on the case to respond. Consider the elegance of it. The underlying case is sealed; even an order about it, entered on its docket, would be invisible.

Rather than let the access request disappear into the same black hole it challenges, Judge Kuntz created a public vehicle in which the question of secrecy will itself be litigated publicly, with the government required to appear and be counted. That is Pellegrino's principle made procedure: whatever ultimately remains sealed, the public gets to watch the deciding. Judge Kuntz, appointed in 2011, on senior status since 2022, presumably could have done what some of his colleagues around the country have done with Inner City Press's requests — nothing, or worse. Instead the docket now shows a case named for the press asking the question.

Inner City Press will report on the government's response and the Court's ruling. . . .

As many here know -- from time to time, we too fight in dusty West Texas, and Nashville, and New Jersey and Southern Illinois and Miami federal courts, to unseal dockets/filings. This one case number won't capture those -- it is specific to Manhattan. But still, a very good start. Thanks, man.

नमस्ते

Roman 'Scope Now Vertical; Launching As Early As August 30, 2026: From Kennedy.

We are quickly approaching the historic launch window, for the first NASA space 'scope named after a (paler) "Hidden Figure" (of sorts): a early-era brilliant NASA scientist -- who simply happened to be. . . female.

Here's the latest from the team at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center:

. . .NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has completed important prelaunch milestones as it prepares to launch nine months ahead of schedule. . . .

Engineers completed additional cleaning to remove any trace contaminants from the facility’s airlock before crews unboxed and raised Roman vertically in the high bay.

Named for NASA’s first chief astronomer and “mother of the Hubble Space Telescope,” the Roman Space Telescope will offer a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble’s, resulting in deep, sweeping explorations of the cosmos.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. . . .

Now you know. Smiling into the mid-summer sunshine.

नमस्ते

Just As We Said: Discovery, On Statute Of Limitations Moves Forward, FIRST -- In Evanston Reparations Defense.

This is plainly correct, as a matter of federal civil procedural law.

The able Chicago USDC Judge Kness has ruled that the Fitton shills must promptly submit to discovery, about what they knew -- and when. This discovery will precede general questions about whether they ever lived in Evanston, or owned property here.

Here's the latest -- just released to the public docket, this afternoon:

. . .MINUTE entry before the Honorable John F. Kness:

Plaintiffs' [Fitton shills'] motion [53] to stay briefing on Defendant's motion to bifurcate discovery until the intervention issue is resolved is denied.

To be sure, intervention by the United States might have some effect on the discovery schedule in this case, but that possibility does not warrant staying briefing on Defendant's motion to bifurcate. Any effect of a favorable intervention ruling, including whether supplemental briefing or modification of any discovery schedule is appropriate, can be addressed if and when the United States becomes a party to the case.

On the Court's initiative, the due date for Plaintiffs' response to Defendant's motion is extended to July 17, 2026. Defendant's reply, if any, must be filed on or before July 31, 2026.

The August 6, 2026 hearing is reset to 8/25/2026 at 10:00 A.M. . . .

Indeed. Sanity prevails in Chicago's federal courts -- once again.

नमस्ते

MedWatch Reports That Bavarian Nordic Will Create New CEO Position, Of Separate Biz Unit, To Sell Only "Emergency" Vaccines, Like Mpox/Smallpox...

I generally do not pay for subscriptions to EU based med-outlets, so I cannot read the full story (this is a sub- of a Danish media conglomerate). But the needs for large R&D budgets, capital for new plants, and the pressures around pricings -- are very different, when a company signs up to provide emergency vaccines, on a "contacts, and contacts of contacts" contract -- as opposed to a general, population-wide prophylactic vaccine (like one for influenza, or shingles). These latter vaccines are already well-capitalized and in many cases have stable annual recurring revenue streams in longer-term governmental contracts.

In an emergency setting however [think of Africa -- and Ebola, Marburg, Lassa or Mpox, here], the per dose payouts tend to be lower, but an off-setting premium may be paid -- for essentially immediate delivery, of say 100,000 to 700,000 jabs. All within weeks. [The EU Health Commission offices or the WHO or Doctors Without Borders may also just flat-out contribute funds -- to get the vax to the spots needed.]

And so, without having read a bit of the story [to date, B/N has no posting on its own website, about the split -- I looked], I will hazard a guess that this is a pre-cursor to transitioning the "emergency vax" arm / biz unit. . . to a not-primarily-for-profit structure.

The newly named head of the emergency vax unit was previously much more an HR / "teams coach", as opposed to a bottom line driven financial type. And while the new biz unit may show a net profit from time to time, that may not be its goal. I will further bet that it will have only a very tiny R&D budget, because this sort of government contracting is awarded only to already approved, on market vaccines. And even then, the vax itself may be sourced from lower cost Indian pharma concerns, by sub-contract. [We have seen that, in the last two years for Mpox deliveries into Africa.]

So to be clear, this entire entry is essentially conjecture -- by me. Smile. But I think it reasonable. If your business really depends on any of the above analysis, I urge you to get a copy of the MedWatch story, and read it closely. Until it is on the Wayback Machine, I'm not likely to read it over. Here's the summary that can be seen for free:

. . .Bavarian Nordic splits up commercial division -- appoints global head of emergency vaccines.

It was just over a month ago that the Danish vaccine company announced it had signed a contract with an unnamed government for the supply of its smallpox and mpox vaccine -- known as MVA-BN -- worth more than DKK 700 million. . . .

Hitesh Sahni will serve as global head of the new independent business unit. . . .

In this way (should the company go all the way through with it), the nearly-non-existent margins on "emergency" vaccine sales will not drag down the overall R&D driven "futures" vaccines revenue / profits, on a reported basis -- under EU accounting rules. Smile.

And the US men have exited the world cup -- proving again that Tangerine 2.0 poisons every real athletic / sporting event he puts his tumb on. [The only game the now world champ NY Knicks lost, in their whole playoff run. . . was the one he attended, at MSG. He made fans wait for hours in the heat until he was ensconced inside the venue.]

And as to soccer, he seems to like cheating more than he hates birthright citizenship. The one he put his thumb on the scale "for". . . was, over 20 years ago, what he would call a "birth tourist" delivery -- out of London. Damn. Onward, just the same.

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Tangerine 2.0 Lawyers Just Appealed The Minneapolis Federal Mag. J. Order To Comply With Discovery, On Jurisdictional Issues...

Many here will recall that the federal trial level courts have ordered MarkWayne Mullin to explain himself, relative to all the violations (including shooting fatalities) late last year, and into this early Spring by ICE/DHS agents, in and around Minneapolis. [Here is my June 23 prior backgrounder on this exact topic.]

Rather than comply with that clear order (text reset, again in blue below) -- the Tangerine 2.0 lawyers today have appealed, essentially saying the actions of ICE/DHS are beyond review by the federal courts. Poppycock. I link that nonsense -- for a complete record. . . but will not quote it.

. . .The parties are ordered to meet and confer before July 6, 2026 to develop a plan for limited discovery before the Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 174) is resolved. . . .

Early Discovery requests must be tailored to issues that might inform the parties’ positions in the Motion to Dismiss, and information with a high risk of dissipation over time. . . .

The Early Discovery plan should identify, as to each request, a reasonable time scope and a narrowly targeted range of custodians from whom such discovery is sought. . . .

Failure by either party to negotiate Early Discovery in good faith will be construed as a waiver of arguments as to such discovery. . . .

[Here is the full June 23 order, from which the above text was lifted.]

Almost to the last one of them, these Trumpian lawyers think the law is only to be applied to the little people. They think they are above it. Beyond it. That hallucination is coming to and end. Right quick. (Quick, at least in terms of legal proceedings. Heh.)

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