[U] Measles Are Once Again A Scourge In The US. Thanks, RFK Jr -- And Tangerine 2.0.

I have now updated last year's graphic -- but the news is actually worse, in this second summer, of Tangerine 2.0.

Who are these people? Perhaps hundreds of avoidable/excess deaths will occur in US children -- due to their idiocy. Here's the latest, from the Gray Lady:

. . .More measles cases have been reported in the United States in the last two years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined. . . .

The United States has now recorded more cases of measles in 2026 than in any other year since the virus was declared eliminated in 2000, a grim sign that the country may be headed toward a new era in which the disease regularly sickens thousands every year.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that there have been 2,318 confirmed cases of measles so far this year. The case count toppled the record set last year, when measles infected more than 2,200 Americans and killed two unvaccinated children. More measles cases have been reported in the United States in the last two years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined.

Reversing course on measles would require a nationwide push to improve vaccination rates, a prospect that experts said seemed unlikely under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He has halted funding for vaccine hesitancy research, downplayed the risks of measles and spearheaded a hunt for evidence that vaccines are unsafe. . . .

What a malignant, bass-ackwards fool. And he's the supposed-voice of American public health policies?! Damn.

नमस्ते

SpaceX Update: Starship 13 Did Make It Off The Pad; But Lower Stage Suffered A "Hard Splashdown" -- As Not All Engines Re-Lit, On Re-Entry... More Work Ahead, For Elon.

It now looks as though that first stage -- which is designed to land softly, and thus be entirely re-usable after re-fueling. . . is damaged beyond repair, by a very hard, high velocity impact into the Gulf of Mexico waters. . . .

And so, with SpaceX stock trading around $115, or ~15% below its [silly] IPO price of $135 -- and about 46% below its post IPO high of $212. . . we next await the first quarterly results at the SEC EDGAR window on the night of August 4, 2026. But you may safely bet that the company has lost money -- tons of it. So the stock will decline -- from here. That is my confident prediction.

Here's the latest -- overnight, from CNBC:

. . .SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket Friday evening from its company town and launch facility in Starbase, Texas, in a 13^th test flight and the first since the company’s record IPO last month.

The rocket’s Super Heavy booster detached from the Starship spacecraft about two minutes into the flight, and made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf.

In a statement following the flight, SpaceX said the landing was not perfect as the booster, “attempted to relight its engines for the landing burn,” but only a subset successfully ignited before the “hard splashdown. . . .”

Starship [is] the largest rocket ever built or flown, to be fully reusable and to lift more cargo for less cost into orbit. Starship is considered crucial for the company’s goal to vastly expand its Starlink satellite network, among other missions.

About 18 minutes into Friday’s test flight, SpaceX successfully deployed 20 of its new Starlink V3 satellites into orbit, a first chance for the company to see how they performed in flight. The satellites were intended to burn up after about 20 minutes. . . .

Onward, to an evening of. . . live Scottish bagpipes! Heh!

नमस्ते

Much More -- On The Chilling FBI/DoJ Approach, To The Reporting On The Flying Bribery Palace... From EW. Do read it all.

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Welp. The ironies here. . . never cease. I'll let EW tell the story, without additional fanfare.

Here's the latest -- from Ireland -- very well parsed, by EW -- do go read it all:

. . .Among the three stories NYT has published on Trump’s Flying Bribery Palace since DOJ dropped subpoenas targeting five journalists and their call records is one that lays out some of the ways DOJ deviated from normal leak investigation procedures before getting the subpoenas.

It elaborates on a point I made here: that Deputy US Attorney Sean Buckley, the guy who claims to be in charge of the entire leak investigation, described it as targeting a “potential leak,” not as something that had been confirmed via a criminal referral. . . .

As the story notes, both Todd Blanche and Jay Clayton testified in their confirmation hearings that nothing untoward went down with these subpoenas; Buckley’s representation to the court directly debunks Clayton’s testimony.

But Buckley just bought both men time, probably enough time for at least Clayton to get confirmed without further disclosures of DOJ’s abusive investigative methods, before Senate Republicans install the men permanently.

After DOJ withdrew the subpoenas, Judge Arun Subramanian memorialized those withdrawals, but also ordered DOJ to provide him — by Monday — with the backup to DOJ’s failures to follow normal process in obtaining third party subpoenas after the journalists had already been subpoenaed. . . . [That will never come.]

Now you know -- onward to a friend's Scottish bagpipes celebration, in a grove -- this early evening. Film at 11. Heh.

नमस्ते

Small Updates Dept.: In Global Health Council v. Trump (Case No. 25-cv-402, USDC DC Dist.), The Able USDC Judge Has Grown Tired Of Tangerine 2.0's Foot Dragging...

This is another of those wrongful DOGE / Trump "freeze / termination" of Congressionally mandated funding cases -- from last year.

The able USDC Judge Amir Ali is going to default the feds out -- for repeatedly trying to kick the can down the alley, always at the last minute (without any plausible explanation).

Clearly Team Tangerine 2.0 knows a loss is coming -- and right quick, now.

Here is the entire order, in running text:

. . .MINUTE ORDER.

[Trump] Defendants' [197] motion to modify the summary judgment briefing schedule is denied.

On June 12, 2026, the court set the parties' summary judgment deadline as July 13, 2026, with responses due July 23, 2026, and replies due July 28, 2026.

The court later adopted Defendants' proposal to extend the parties' summary judgment deadline to July 16, 2026, and then extended it a second time to allow Defendants more time to produce the administrative record, setting the deadline for the parties' summary judgment motions as July 27, 2026, for responses as August 3, 2026, and for leave to file any replies as August 7, 2026.

Given the court has already twice extended briefing and adopted briefing schedules proposed by Defendants, that the court finds Defendants have failed to show any unforeseeable cause for further extension, and the potential time sensitivity of resolution of summary judgment, the court denies Defendants' third extension request.

Signed by Judge Amir H. Ali on 7/23/2026. . . .

Now you know. Onard, resolutely -- will likely see/support Lupita Nyong'o in "The Odyssey" tonight. Smile.

नमस्ते

14 Symptom-Free US Citizens Were Held At Ft. Drum, NY -- For Trying To Enter US By Land, From Canada -- After Visiting DRC: Claim Is... Ebola Risk. Sheesh.

Most of all, here -- I want to highlight how utterly unserious Tangerine 2.0 and RFK, Jr. are -- about epidemic abatement bio-science. For a few weeks now, Trump has imposed a 21 day waiting period on AIR travelers, entering the US after leaving DRC. But over-land entry remains completely lawful. At least, according to his published reports, from minions at the US State Dept.

So, apparently about 14 US citizens arrived from DRC into Canada, by air (lawfully) -- and then (lawfully) rented cars, and drove to a border station just inside northern Vermont (lawfully -- and as it happens, I was inside this cute facility last summer, while returning to South Hero Island, from a night in Montreal -- it is full of New England's charms) -- and were held overnight -- then diverted, under threat of arrest, to NY's Ft. Drum army base for up to 21 days of isolation.

This, despite the fact that none of them showed any worrisome symptoms (some were never near Ituri province, moreover) -- and the fact remains that driving in from Canada or Mexico is perfectly lawful, if one is a US citizen. Tangerine's maddeningly-irrational chaos is. . . debilitating. Each of these 14 people ought to sue the federal government, for failing to cut square corners, when dealing with healthy returning travelers. Here's what is known -- to this point:

. . . .According to published reports, U.S. health officials quarantined 14 Americans at Fort Drum after returning from a country where an Ebola outbreak is underway.

Reuters reports that the American citizens flew from the Democratic Republic of Congo into Canada and tried to enter the U.S. through points of entry in New York and Vermont.

According to the article, the travelers had no symptoms consistent with Ebola -- and were deemed to not be at risk of of transmitting the disease.

Reuters points out there is no U.S. order preventing citizens from returning to the U.S. via land, although a “do-not-board” order issued this month requires U.S. citizens in Congo to quarantine for at least 21 days before they can return via a commercial flight. . . .

Reuters reports that a Pentagon official said Fort Drum accepted the families “to provide a temporary, isolated assessment facility and life ⁠support[?!],” and that they received medical evaluations from the CDC.

The article quoted a Fort Drum spokesperson as saying, “There is a unique, deeply personal significance when we are called to serve on the home front,” and that the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, stationed at the fort, is “prepared to step in whenever called upon by the Department of War. . . .”

R-i-i-i-i-ight [lipstick on a pig reply]. This. is. sheer. idiocy. Air restrictions are meaningless without land-travel-based ones -- and it is my estimation that neither one, nor both -- will prevent an ebola outbreak in the USA. Damnation.

नमस्ते

Merck Will Grant Royalty Free Licenses -- To Its Monthly HIV Pill Candidate, In Various Still Emerging Economies, Globally. Excellent!

From the go, alimatravir will be available as an "authorized generic" (mostly to be manufactured in India -- by Cipla, and by Aspen) at a fraction of the US and EU list prices in certain geographies dotting most of the still emerging economy / globe.

[It seems this will not in any way materially impact the very high margin once a week combo pills, soon to come from Merck and Gilead -- in the EU, US, Canada and Japan -- and so on. That perhaps $100,000 per year regimen is safe from all this. Essentially no one in that income bracket will fly to sub-Saharan Africa, and then try to sneak a one month supply in. Not when insurers will cover the pricier and longer acting (once a week) version.]

And so, Condor predicts. . . this may well become the new era model, for launching high burden disease therapies -- around the globe. Here's the latest, this morning, from Reuters reporting:

. . .Merck said on Friday it signed seven voluntary licensing agreements with generic drug manufacturers to make and sell lower-cost versions of its ‌experimental once-monthly oral HIV pill in 129 low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The drug, alimatravir, is currently in late-stage development. Merck said it is investing early in its product manufacturing capacity as trials continue. . . .

Merck said the agreements are with three sub-Saharan Africa manufacturers -- Aspen Pharmacare, Quality Chemical Industries and UCL -- and four ⁠Indian companies, which are Aurobindo, Cipla, Emcure and Viatris. The royalty-free agreements with these companies cover both the public and private sectors and will enable supply of generic alimatravir in these 129 countries that account for a substantial majority of new HIV diagnoses globally, the drugmaker said.

"This is the first time that sub-Saharan African manufacturers have been included in licenses from the very beginning." said Gregg Szabo, head of Merck's global vaccines and infectious diseases unit. Merck is still enrolling patients to test alimatravir, which is expected ‌to ⁠provide one month of protection from HIV-1 starting within one hour after dosing. . . .

Excellent news for cutting-edge therapeutic access -- where and when it is most needed. Onward, smiling after a great night out, last night.

नमस्ते

Likely The Last Word -- From Abrego Garcia's Lawyers -- On Voluntarily Heading To Costa Rica (Until 2028)...

This cannot be waved away, as incompetence and inattention, alone.

Mr. Lyons knows his boss is Mr. Mullin. But Lyons and Miller. . . don't like the Secretary's ruling. So they instruct the AUSAs / DoJ lawyers to ignore the Secretary's orders. Crazy. Here's that, in context:

. . .The Government concedes that Costa Rica remains willing to accept Abrego Garcia and even that, if the Government forcibly removes him to Liberia, he can “make his way to Costa R[i]ca.” Opp. 45–46.

The Government nevertheless asserts that removing Abrego Garcia directly to Costa Rica would be “prejudicial to the United States” and that the Lyons Memorandum -- issued by Todd Lyons, who lacked authority to make that determination -- constitutes a “formal, final determination” that ends judicial inquiry. Opp. 28–30. Yet the Government’s opposition entirely ignores that its own Secretary of Homeland Security testified before Congress that, if Abrego Garcia is willing to go to Costa Rica, “we’ll be happy to send him.” ECF No. 180 at 2.

The Government filed its opposition three weeks after that testimony, but never even acknowledges it, much less attempts to reconcile it with the Lyons Memorandum. The Government cannot ask this Court to treat the Lyons Memorandum as dispositive while ignoring the contrary public testimony of the official in whom Congress actually vested the relevant statutory authority.

Secretary Mullin’s testimony likewise reinforces the conclusion that the Government’s continued insistence on Liberia is punitive rather than directed toward the legitimate purpose of effectuating removal. . . .

What an upside down world this is: minor paper-pushers in Trumpworld saying their authority exceeds that of his Homeland Security Secretary. Which explains why the far right rags say Mullin may be on his way to being. . . cashiered. Insane.

नमस्ते

New And Valuable Data, On The Solar System's Most Extreme "Fire And Ice" Moon -- Way Out, At Io -- Courtesy Juno's Extended Mission Fly-Bys...

This all is due to the fact that the Biden administration authorized spending at NASA on an extended mission, for Juno. The speedy, twisty, copper colored craft was performing flawlessly, and so most of the added expense was just keeping great scientists on-board, here on Earth to direct operations, and monitor progress -- remotely. Very. . . remotely (at 400 million to 600 million miles out there -- into the night skies).

“Io provides a unique window into learning how tidal heating works throughout the cosmos, a fundamental process that provides energy and heat to worlds that are far from their parent star,” according to Scott Bolton, the study's coauthor and Juno’s principal investigator at Southwest Research Institute -- in San Antonio. Here's the latest, from NASA/JPL:

. . .NASA’s Juno mission has provided the first measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter’s moon Io, revealing significant heating within the shallow subsurface of the most volcanically active world in the solar system. Collected during two close flybys, the data also shows that most of Io’s surface is remarkably smooth and composed of material of very low density.

Published Wednesday in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, these findings break new observational ground for both fiery and icy worlds beyond our planet.

Io’s extreme volcanism is powered by tidal heating. The moon is constantly stretched and squeezed by Jupiter’s immense gravity as it travels its slightly elliptical orbit, generating internal heat output many times greater than Earth’s. Until now, virtually everything known about that heat came from infrared observations, which sense only the temperature of the top surface. The latest findings are derived from data collected by the spacecraft’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR) instrument. . . .

Juno’s Microwave Radiometer was designed by Bolton to peer beneath Jupiter’s cloud tops to investigate the dynamics and composition of the gas giant’s deep atmosphere. The MWR’s six microwave antennas serve as a single instrument, simultaneously detecting microwaves at a wide range of wavelengths, from about half an inch to 20 inches (1.3 to 51 centimeters). During the mission’s extended phase, the MWR instrument has provided the opportunity to observe three of the planet’s Galilean moons: Ganymede, Europa, and Io. . . .

“The instrument measured Io’s thermal emission at depths ranging from a few inches down to tens of feet. Everywhere we looked, we found the temperature rising by more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit just several feet into the surface — a gradient far steeper than solar heating alone can explain,” said Shannon Brown, the paper’s lead author at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. . . .

While Io is not likely a good candidate for sub-surface ocean life, given these extremes -- certainly elsewhere in the Universe, where a smaller but temperate moon is endlessly warmed / heated by the "smushing" of a large planet's gravity -- even if very far from its host star, the moonlet could be a decent candidate for sub-surface water oceans -- and thus. . . life. Grinning widely, now -- as life is likely happening in billions upon billions of settings, throughout the cosmos. . . .

नमस्ते

Tangent: Oracle Laid Off 21,000 Workers Last Year; Dropped To Near Junk Status -- Now Faces A ~$7 Billion "Bond Posting" Bill -- In Port Washington, Wisconsin...

From time to time, we may offer updates on Mr. Ellison's company here -- just as we do for Mr. Bezos' and Mr. Musk's.

It is hard to see where Mr. Ellison thinks he can find about $40 billion in new financing -- to meet Oracle's commitments to OpenAI, in building and energizing vast data centers, for that company. So the stock has fallen by about 50% in the last year or so.

Here's more than a little bit of why I think that will be so.

[To be clear, I do not foresee any bankruptcy (or business cessations) for Oracle, but I do see it trimming its ambitious plans in the next two years -- causing further stock price erosion in the US.]

. . .Oracle is involved in a planned nearly one-gigawatt data center in Port Washington, Wisconsin, that is expected to help the company fulfill its [~$100 billion] OpenAI contract.

But the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has declined to loosen financial safeguards designed to prevent residential electricity customers from bearing the costs if a massive data center fails or closes, according to the Financial Times.

Under We Energies' "very large customer" tariff, data center operators with an S&P credit rating below A- must provide collateral covering the power plants and transmission infrastructure constructed to serve them.

Oracle was rated BBB, two notches below the threshold, when the requirements were considered. S&P subsequently downgraded the company to BBB-, leaving it one notch above junk status. . . .

Onward into the warm sunshine -- on a mountain bike. Smile.

नमस्ते

Arizona Has Seen Its First "International Travel" Related Case Of Mpox Clade 1b... Do Think About The Vax...

This is what the US has signed up for, ever since Donald Trump ended USAID in Africa, over a year ago. That outreach provided immense amounts of relatively low cost preventative public health for people at risk. And, regardless of whether they get the public health they need. . . some of them will inevitably get on outbound flights to the US -- and yes, Arizona.

That is the purely biological fact of the matter. And so, here we are -- with tonight's report, from Phoenix:

. . .Arizona health officials announced Wednesday that they are tracking the state’s first travel-associated case of a unique mpox strain.

The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) said it was notified this month of a state resident who contracted Clade I mpox while traveling outside the country.

ADHS and other local public health officials are now monitoring and following up with people who may have been exposed. The department added that there is no evidence of local transmission at this time related to this case. . . .

The department said Arizona has seen an increase in reported mpox cases this summer. As of July 21, the state had 34 reported cases -- both strains included -- this year. . . .

Please -- if you have sex with men, or if you are a paid sex worker -- do strongly consider getting the Bavarian Nordic vax jab. Do.

And all of this was almost certainly. . . avoidable. Damn.

नमस्ते

A Rocky Exoplanet, Larger Than Earth, 49 Light Years Away, Tidally Locked -- But With Liquid Water, And A Helium Rich Atmosphere... In The Habitable Zone.

Where there is one. . . the universe-bound canons of physical laws say. . . there are many more. Billions upon billions more -- now that we know there are two, for certain (Earth, and LHS 1140b). The Universe is just too vast, for that not to be true.

We won't get wild-eyed, but the conditions for our familiar forms of carbon based life are present out there, 49 light years, orbiting rapidly -- on what would be a 25 day local solar year, there.

Tantalizing -- and NASA revealed it whilst I was off-grid, last week. So here is the NYT's "catch up":

“. . .When there’s one, there’s more in exoplanets,” said Sara Seager, an astrophysicist at M.I.T. who was not involved in the study. “Hopefully this is the start of something new.”

An atmosphere is vital for habitability because it helps a planet hold on to water, regulates the climate and protects the surface from space radiation. Scientists have found atmospheres on giant gas planets but have been uncertain whether rocky worlds, which are smaller and more difficult to detect, could retain their atmospheres, too.

“This is one clear, resounding yes,” said Dr. Cherubim, who spent years building a theoretical model of what the atmosphere around a rocky planet might look like. Under certain conditions, he found, lighter elements like helium would more readily escape the atmosphere. He identified LHS 1140b as a planet that could be actively losing helium to space.

LHS 1140b orbits around a red dwarf, the most common type of star in our galaxy. Because red dwarfs are smaller and cooler than other types of stars, it is easier to detect rocky planets around them. But red dwarfs are also energetic, spewing violent flares of radiation that can strip away the atmospheres of nearby planets. . . .

Now you know. Smiling into a cool clear sunset -- we may no longer desperately miss the now lost Arecibo 'scope, afterall.



नमस्ते

The Able USDC Judge Cummings Is [Still] Doin' The Right Thing (In A 2018 Era Class Action Settlement Case) -- "Good Trouble" Edition In Chicago.

The Tangerine 2.0 ICE agents and their lawyers are refusing to provide complete documentation, on all the people in the Chicagoland area being held, on allegations that they lack paperwork, to be here.

This 2018 class action suit in Chicago was settled by agreement, by Trump 1.0, and he agreed he would not try to detain or deport (on immigration related charges) anyone in the class.

But he has repeatedly done just the opposite -- and dozens if not hundreds have been summarily released by the able USDC Judge Cummings -- while wryly noting that he is simply complying with Trump's own prior agreements.

The latest spat involves getting detailed lists of who all is being held, so that the plaintiffs' lawyers may verify that ICE/DHS is not still holding people who are entitled to their freedom. This, Tangerine 2.0 forces have resisted for months now. But the motion to enforce is now upon us, thus (we cannot link the underlying filings as many contain identifying details of people Trump might target anew, were those details. . . public):

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

[Tangerine 2.0] Defendants' response to plaintiffs' motion to enforce consent decree, [468], shall be filed on or before 7/28/26 and plaintiffs' reply shall be filed on or before 8/3/26. . . .

Onward, resolutely -- to a warm, but cloud-covered bike ride. . . . smile.

नमस्ते

The All-Oral Combo Of Gilead & Merck Pills Is Showing Nice HIV Efficacy In Once A Week Dosings, As Well...

We had previously mentioned the encouraging twice a week dosings, back in June.

Additional clinical trials are now testing once-a-week dosings -- and those are also quite promising. Here's Reuters, on it all:

. . .The combination of Merck's islatravir and Gilead's lenacapavir was tested as a single-tablet regimen in adults whose HIV was already controlled with daily antiretroviral therapy. . . .

In one trial, none of the patients who switched to the weekly pill had detectable viral levels at 48 weeks, compared with 0.3% of those who remained on Gilead's daily Biktarvy [alone]. . . .

In a second trial, 0.3% of patients taking the weekly pill had detectable HIV levels or higher at 48 weeks, compared with 1.3% of those who remained on standard ‌daily ⁠HIV regimens. . . .

The death sentence days of the 1980s are long-gone -- and this is now a very manageable diagnosis, with 40 or 50 years of life ahead. Thank bio-science for that.

[And (since I praised old "Saint Ronnie" just yesterday, on US/Canada trade policy approaches) a fairer historian would ALSO point out that AIDS research / treatments were delayed -- in the 1980s -- to the eternal shame of the same preznit Ronald Reagan, who forcefully delayed even any governmental acknowledgement of the AIDS epidemic, and did not allocate any research funding for the disease (at NIH) for nearly seven years, after the scourge was well-documented by ethical US and EU scientists.]

Onward, just the same -- grinning into the sunshine.

नमस्ते

EW Has The "Blabbermouth In Chief" Dead To Rights, This Morning... Flawless!

Without any more ado, I offer you the writings from the Emerald Isle. . . of EmptyWheel.

Trust every word she writes -- and her graphics are spot-on. Here's a bit -- but do go read it all:

. . .An unnamed journalist with the traveling White House press pool asked Trump on Sunday why he’s using his Flying Bribery Palace if it lacks antimissile defenses, to which the blabbermouth-in-chief responded that it would soon be sent back to the shop to be “maxed out.”

A reporter traveling with the small group of reporters in the presidential motorcade pointed to the Qatari jet’s fuselage and said: “Mr. President, this plane does not have antimissile defense systems on it. Why are you flying it?”

Mr. Trump replied, “Well, it has — it has a lot, and you know it has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re going to send it to have it be maxed out. So they’re going to be sending it, and they’ll have it be maxed out.

“It’ll take about a month,” he said.

The first NYT report of that exchange, published the same day, was bylined by Maggie Haberman. Then yesterday, Tyler Pager — one of the journalists targeted by a subpoena that the FBI didn’t manage to serve on him — did a follow-up, recording both Karoline Leavitt’s explanation that it will receive “additional enhancements,” and a White House tweet recording that Trump said the “plane will be taken out of service to be ‘maxed out’,” introduced with the words, “say less,” as if someone hopes the President will stop confirming that his Flying Bribery Place is unsafe. . . .

This would be. . . hilarious -- if it was not so fundamentally. . . sad, for America for the next two years.

नमस्ते

This Morning, Evanston's Counsel Powerfully Explains Why US Atty Boutros Is... All Wet. Grin.

This is excellent. Spare. Elegant.

It avoids all the name-calling and simply bounces the MAGA US Atty Boutros -- on the well-settled, black letter federal law. Do read it all (as a 17 page PDF), but here is a bit:

. . .There can be no dispute that the Government has been on notice of this matter for over two years. First, as Evanston’s Program is one of the first of its kind, Plaintiffs’ lawsuit received substantial local and national media coverage. See, e.g., Jonathan Bullington and Alex Hulvalchick, Conservative group files lawsuit over Evanston reparations program, CHICAGO TRIBUNE (May 31, 2024) (available at https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/05/24/conservativegroup-files-lawsuit-over-evanston-reparations-program/); Andy Rose, Evanston’s groundbreaking reparations program challenged by lawsuit from a conservative activist group, CNN (June 5, 2024) (available at https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/05/us/evanston-reparationslawsuit-reaj).

Second, and proving the Government’s actual knowledge, on June 25, 2024, two Department of Justice attorneys, Jason Bailey and Lauren Lovett (the “Government Attorneys”), emailed Evanston, informing the City that the Government had been “monitoring” this case and requesting a meeting to discuss the case further. See Email from Jason Bailey to Alexandra Ruggie, June 25, 2024, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 1. The Government Attorneys met with Evanston on July 3, 2024. See Meeting Invite, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 2. Following this meeting, Evanston did not receive any further communication from the Government regarding the case until 2026, nearly two years later. . . .

[I]n its Complaint in Intervention attached as an exhibit to its intervention motion, the Government concedes that the Program’s application period closed on November 5, 2021 and no applications have been accepted since that date (nearly four years ago). ECF No. 48-2 (the “Government Complaint”) ¶¶ 18, 33.

That is, of course, the opposite of what Plaintiffs told this Court. Second, the Government also acknowledged that the Program required applicants to use Program funds for housing-related purposes within Evanston city limits. Gov. Compl. ¶ 19, which is also contrary to the Plaintiffs’ allegations to this Court. . . .

The Government’s delay in moving to intervene was unreasonable. Indeed, the Government, as a prospective intervenor, must intervene “as soon as it knows or has reason to know that its interests might be adversely affected by the outcome of the litigation.” Cook Cnty., Illinois, 37 F.4th at 1341 (citing Heartwood, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Serv., Inc., 316 F.3d 694, 701 (7th Cir. 2003)). . . .

There you have it. Now we wait for the discovery which proves the Fitton shills waited too long, and had no property interests in Evanston during the relevent period. Grin.

नमस्ते

Thanks To Anon., We Learn That Again Trump Has Paid Cronies Billions -- To Utterly Fail, In A Contract With The Federal Government.

If these floaters ultimately are NOT outfitted with razor wire. . . maybe that is a small improvement.

Everyone here knows the back story (we've followed it, for over three long years). Do read there, if you don't. This is all. . . an "idiots' only" show:

. . .On Friday, a CBP spokesperson told Border Report that “these were not buoys that were already deployed and anchored in the river.”

However, photos and videos show many of the cylindrical buoys were already attached in a string as they came downriver, and that’s what caused the most pileups under the World Trade Bridge, as well as several other international bridges in South Texas.

“After several sections accumulated near the World Trade Bridge, traffic operations were temporarily suspended out of an abundance of caution, but the operations have since reopened. There are no reported injuries or damage to the bridge. Contractors are working to recover remaining buoys,” the CBP spokesperson said. . . .

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, says the federal government, which initiated the buoys by arguing they were necessary to stop illegal immigration, needs to take responsibility for what happened.

“CBP immediately faulted the contractor but at the end of the day they got hired; they got paid literally billions of dollars, not millions, billions of dollars to do this. So even though there was a contractor, it’s still the federal responsibility,” Cuellar told Border Report on Monday. . . .

Tangerine 2.0's incompetence is only eclipsed by his. . . malevolence. Crazy -- with a hat tip, to Anon.!

नमस्ते

A Look Back -- At How Quarantines Prevented A Wider Outbreak Of The [Potentially] Aerosolized Hantavirus This Past Spring...

Yes -- nearly 30 people, none of whom ultimately developed into active, spreading cases of the virus, were in isolation for a total of 42 days. That is a significant impinging -- upon their constitutional / civil liberties.

But let us not forget that, at the point of quarantine. . . seven had alrady died from that small ship. It seemed possible -- probable even -- that this strain of the hantavirus was spreading at distances of something around four feet, when someone coughed into your own "airspace".

Even so, the NYT has quite rightly published the inside stories of those held for 42 days.

I support both truths here. And I support arresting epidemics. . . aggressively. Here's the counter-narrative:

. . .It was May 17, six days after United States health officials had evacuated 18 Americans from the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak that had killed three people, and taken them to the special facility in Omaha, Neb., for what they had said would be a quick 72-hour evaluation before the passengers could go home to quarantine.

https://tesla2reviewed.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/life-alt-us-france-hondius-hantavirus-26.png None of them had tested positive for the virus but now, an official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. David Fitter, was telling them on a video call that they would not be permitted to leave for at least two more weeks.

These were people who had paid thousands of dollars for a cruise through uninhabited regions, in pursuit of exotic birds and animals. They chafed against the loss of fresh air, nature and, most of all, their freedom.

“I’m asking you, as a scientist and a human,” a passenger with a red-headed woodpecker as his Zoom icon said to Dr. Fitter, on a copy of the video call viewed by The New York Times. “Do you think that this is really a sensible decision to keep me here in this room that’s making me sicker day by day, being here when I could be home isolating in a perfectly reasonable situation?”. . .

Now you know -- both sides have merit here -- but the good of the many outweighed the good of the few in this setting. That's my estimation. . . all as the Canadian wildfire air has mostly cleared here. Thank you, Lake Michigan winds!

नमस्ते

Tangerine's Supposed-Canadian Tariffs Are... PREPOSTEROUSLY Ineffectual; Stupid. And Largely Only Injure US Businesses -- And Cash-Strapped US Consumers.

So. . . it hardly seems worth a new post, but since Tangerine 2.0 tried this same stupid move in October of 2025, we will largely re-run our October 2025 post -- but note that he claims to be imposing a 50% tariff -- not 10% this time.

Yes -- "Saint Ronnie" made clear, back in 1987 (see YouTube video below), that tariffs mostly hurt the nation that imposes said tariff. Trump is a delusional, malign sociopath -- bound and determined to injure US blue collar families. Damn -- as the NYT opines, these will likely die in the courts, but. . . end update.

[Oct. 2025] Even though the Ontario Premier / honcho (and conservative -- somewhat in the style of Trump), one Mr. Doug Ford -- has agreed to suspend the running of the TRUTHFUL Reagan TV ad -- in order to ease tensions and improve Canada's trade negotiation position. . .

Tangerine 2.0 announced a new 10% tariff on specified Canadian goods. As ever, we will have to wait and see if he actually tries to enforce such a tariff -- because approximately 80% of all the tariffs he has announced have never gone into effect. His brand is simply. . . trade chaos.

Here is the latest -- out of Detroit:

. . .President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he plans to hike tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an extra 50% 10% because of an anti-tariff television ad aired by the province of Ontario.

The ad used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs, angering Trump who said he would end trade talks with Canada. Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford said he would pull the ad after the weekend, and it ran Friday night during the first game of the World Series. . . .

Trump is a sad. . . small clown, on a very big stage. There really is no other way to see this. As a reminder, heres the truthful ad:



Once again, Trump is trying to suppress free expression -- solely because it expresses a truth he doesn't like. Buckle up, buttercup. Damn.

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Thesis: A Presidential Pronouncement Is Not His "Private Asset" -- To Be Sold. It Is A DUTY Of The Person Sitting At 1600 Penn. It Must Be Accessible To All, Simultaneously -- If It Will Move A Market.

Look -- I get it. The stock symbol DJT is off about 75% from its all-time high. The useful idiot and former MAGA Congressman Devin Nunes has long ago been ousted as CEO, and still the stock is falling.

Long-suffering investors are now likely looking for a way out -- any way out -- at something near breakeven. And so, in palpable desperation, they are convincing his "failsons" to try to sell "front running" access to the statements that 1600 Penn makes that will move markets.

Potentially lucrative? Sure. Lawful?! Very likely. . . not.

This sort of profiteering off of ones' own role in setting policy -- while not disclosing ones' conflicted interests. . . is exactly why the framers forebade it. In any event, I supsect it will never get off the ground -- fully. Federal judges will enjoin it. Bank on that. Here's the UK Guardian on it all, thus far:

. . .“He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” said Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law and an expert in government conflict of interest rules. “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself. . . .”

Stock in TMTG has plunged more than 70% since the president took office last year, erasing $6bn (£4.4bn) in shareholder wealth.

Those losses, along with billions more of investor losses tied to new Trump family crypto businesses, have drawn scrutiny after Trump’s annual disclosure of his financial holdings shows he took in more than $1bn in revenue last year in the same companies and offerings.

Trump launched TMTG in 2021 after Meta’s Facebook and X banned him for apparently encouraging his supporters to participate in the 6 January attack on the US Capitol. He went on to launch Truth Social in February 2022 and two years later floated the business – trading under the ticker symbol “DJT” – Trump’s initials – at an initial valuation of $8bn.

Trump indirectly owns about 53% of TMTG through shares he transferred to a trust in December 2024, a month before he took office, giving him a paper fortune of about $1.41bn based on TMTG’s current $2.67bn market capitalisation.

The US president earned $2.2bn in total in his first year back in office, according to a mandatory disclosure with the US Office of Government Ethics. . . .

What a vast waste of skin he (and his sons) are. Of course, he could remain silent, until he had actually completed a thing. But we all know he cannot keep his mouth shut (or tell the truth when it is flapping).

That said, I did quite relish when the Spanish (Champions!) soccer players pushed him to the side, so that they could celebrate WITHOUT him -- and when the majority of Meadowlands fans. . . booed him. Delicious -- but embarrassing -- in front of the world (again). Wow.

नमस्ते

In A Lead USAID Funding Freeze Challenge Case, In DC -- The Pace Is Accelerating Now, Before USDC Judge Amir Ali. Tangerine 2.0 Will... Lose.

This has been a slow roll. But now, perhaps for not much longer. The DC appeals have been resolved against Tangerine 2.0, and Musk -- as his DOGE minion.

So it is on to trial, now -- where Trump/Musk will lose. Here's the latest order, from while I was away in the mountains:

. . .MINUTE ORDER.

The court is in receipt of Plaintiffs' [193] motion to compel ex parte production of documents for in camera review and to compel production of unredacted documents. The motion indicates that Defendants consent to in camera review of the documents at issue but the parties disagree as to the timeline for Defendants to file a brief defending redactions in the relevant documents, given pending summary judgment briefing.

The court agrees in camera review is appropriate. Defendants shall file the relevant documents, under seal for in camera review, and their brief defending the contested redactions by July 21, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.

Signed by Judge Amir H. Ali on 7/18/2026. . . .

Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते