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

Moderna Is Rising This Morning -- Has Dosed First Clinical Trial Patient, In Newest Bundibugyo/Ebola Vaccine Effort... In Canada (n=80)

We have long been a fan of this well-run, mRNA-science focused biotech.

And as of this morning, it has a vaccine candidate in Phase 1/2 clincial trials, in Canada -- for Bundibugyo. So the stock is rising -- about 3%, on the morning. Sweet. Here's the latest:

. . .Moderna has begun a Phase 1 clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine set to target the Bundibugyo strain, which is currently circulating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the pharmaceutical company announced Tuesday.

The first participants were vaccinated in Canada with the candidate, mRNA-1469. The vaccine will be using the same mRNA platform that Moderna used to develop its vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic. . . .

Now you know. Onward, grinning -- despite a smallish infestation -- of chuckleheads -- this morning.

नमस्ते

That Crazy Riot Platforms Company Just Called Off Its Q2 '26 GAAP Loss Results Call -- Due Tomorrow @ 8:30 AM. WTAH?!

No large cap public company. . . ever. . . does this.

Unless the CEO was killed in a plane crash, this afternoon -- the show must go on. That is why companies have CFOs and CIOs.

There is exactly zero chance that this will be a material upside. Something material and adverse has ocurred here at the last minute.

Buckle up -- for this to fall like a rock in the morning, on the NASDAQ.

No sensible company cancels their quarterly results (loss) call on the night before a webcast and says “we will tell you later — when we’re gonna tell you what it is all about.”

I N S A N E.

Just an honest question here: has Jason Les. . . been fired?

Did the only AI commit/contract scale back, or walk away — from its commitment?

Look for Riot to fall 20% or more — tomorrow morning.

नमस्ते

A Fun Time Lapse Video -- From NASA -- [For Some Distant Day, Around 2050]: On Building A Human Habitat On Mars...

Many here know that I am firmly of the opinion that NASA / JPL has progressed its capabilities with largely autonomous lander packages. . . that we as a planet have scant need to put humans on Barsoom -- except for the dubious "wow!" factor of it all. The radiation risks in transit, and on return, are. . . overwhelming -- in a word.

And our next gen [nearly 100% robotic] 'choppers and rovers can do it all at about one-fiftieth of the cost (financial and human).

All that said, there will come a day -- when we solve the radiation shielding problem -- when we might find a human Mars excursion to be a sensible (perhaps even exhilarating) risk to take -- like around the year 2050. The below is in anticipation of that far off day. We may even "three-dee print our hab" -- up there. Cool! See below:

. . .Construction is complete on a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot habitat that will simulate the challenges of a mission to Mars at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The habitat will be home to four intrepid crew members for a one-year Crew Health and Performance Analog, or CHAPEA, mission. . . .

नमस्ते

Forbes: DRC Has Reported Fewer Than HALF Of Its Current Bundibugyo Ebola Cases. Yikes.

Yes, that means we only have the vaguest of ideas -- of how bad this outbreak really is -- or will become.

What we know for certain is that it is already the second deadliest on record, in Africa.

Here's Forbes, with the deeply disconcerting news, just now:

. . .On January 25, 2026 a fifty-year-old woman on the outskirts of Mongbwalu, a gold-mining town in Ituri province in eastern Congo, died after vomiting blood. Her mother died six days later. Her husband fell ill and recovered. None of it was recorded as Ebola. Congo would not declare an outbreak for another four months.

The declaration came on May 15. Since then the Democratic Republic of the Congo has recorded 3,802 confirmed cases and 1,707 deaths. Twenty more across the border in Uganda bring the total to 3,822, which makes this the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record.

The virus is Bundibugyo, named for the Ugandan district where it first appeared in 2007. Bundibugyo is one of the rarer Ebola species with no licensed vaccine and no approved treatment. . . .

In mid-July the head of WHO’s emergencies program, Chikwe Ihekweazu, told reporters that “80% of new cases are outside our contact lists and so are coming to us from unknown chains of transmission.” The figure is a clue to the outbreak’s true size. It is also a slippery one. . . .

Onward, resolutely -- just the same.

Please join me, and donate if you are able:

Doctors Without Borders USA

P.O. Box 5030
Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030

There is still so much (personally) to look forward to, with joy -- in these coming weeks. . . smile.

नमस्ते

"Same Old; Same Old..." Now 25 States Have Sued Tangerine 2.0, Alleging His "New" Tariffs Are A Mere Pre-Text For The Old Ones (Invalidated). Smile.

Y A W N. These states clearly have the better of the argument.

We will mention it from time to time -- as Trump loses at each level -- but we won't spend an undue amount of attention on a guy who cannot get the actual law through his thick skull. [Or through Eastman's and Navarro's.] Here's a bit, this morning:

. . .Trump, who argues that high tariffs will revive American manufacturing, last year overturned decades of U.S. policy that favored lower tariffs and ever-freer trade. Invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, he imposed double-digit tariffs on imports from almost every country, saying America’s longstanding trade deficit amounted to a national emergency.

But the Supreme Court ruled that IEEPA did not authorize tariffs. The decision forced the administration to send refunds to importers who’d paid the tariffs. Eager to make up the lost revenue, Trump turned to temporary 10% worldwide tariffs. But they expired at midnight July 24. . . .

During Trump ’s first term, he cited Section 301 to impose tariffs on Chinese imports, which survived legal challenges. . . .

“Presidents have used it for decades, and Congress built it with real guardrails: investigation, consultation, a public record,” Appleton said. “The government’s defense won’t be ‘I had no power to do this.’ It will be, ‘I stayed inside the lines Congress drew.’ That is a real fight, not a formality, and it is the one that will decide this case. . . .”

Now you know -- what a clown show. Onward, resolutely, just the same.

नमस्ते

The California Supreme Court Finds "No Duty To Innovate" -- As Against Any Supposed-Gilead AIDS / R&D Slow-Walk...

As ever, we will open with the opinion (119 pages of a PDF) itself. It is a sensible one. While there may in the future be certain edge cases -- where a wider duty might be found, this is not that case, in my estimation.

AIDS was (back then) a highly lethal diagnosis -- and Gilead's TDF was providing many years of progression free survival in the early 2000s. True, the side effects were often daunting -- but it all meant a very good shot at a longer life. AIDS activists -- not wrongly -- sought to force Gilead to market a more gentle (on the patient) formulation, as soon as a glimmer of it became known in the research literature. Gilead did not immediately do so. Thus, this suit followed.

The court has held that the duty of care does not extend to a duty to immediately (without regard to economics) "innovate" -- for new drugs. It was enough that the drug was effective at prolonging life, and that governments were willing to reimburse patients for taking it, held the courts -- top to bottom.

That principle has been re-affirmed today. Here's the latest on it all, from the SF Chronicle's reporting:

. . .Rejecting claims by 24,000 AIDS patients, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday that pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences acted legally by marketing a drug for years that was effective but had potentially harmful side effects, while withholding another product that was equally effective but less harmful.

“A manufacturer cannot be held liable for injuries caused by a nondefective product,” Justice Joshua Groban said in a 6-1 decision overturning a lower-court ruling that had allowed the patients to sue the Foster City-based company.

The drug, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, or TDF, was one of the first effective medications against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Gilead began developing it in 1991 and obtained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to market it in 2001. . . .

Requiring a company to determine whether a less-harmful product is available and, if so, halt its sales of an equally effective, government-approved medication “would place extraordinary burdens on drug manufacturers,” said Groban. . . .

[From the opinion itself, then:] Even if we were to assume arguendo that manufacturers may owe a general duty of reasonable care apart from their duty to market products free from defects, we held in Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108 (Rowland) that foreseeability and policy considerations may justify an exception to section 1714’s default duty in appropriate circumstances. Such circumstances exist here.

Where, as here, the allegedly safer drug has not yet undergone large-scale clinical testing in humans or received approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), any harm resulting from a drug manufacturer’s delay in commercializing that drug would arise, if at all, only through a chain of uncertain scientific outcomes and discretionary decisions by actors beyond the manufacturer’s control. . . .

Now you know -- out into the warm sunshine for a bike trek -- and, in about ten days, another Northern California half-iron trip! Then. . . ten days after that. . . on, to France for a month. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते

Courtesy Of InnerCityPress, We Note That Two Young Kids Have Been Held For Six Months(!) By Tangerine 2.0's Immigration Authorities W/O Due Process; Now Habeas Filed In SDNY...

Again -- it requires intentional wanton cruelty to incarcerate a nine-year old indefinitely, without so much as a probable cause hearing. But this is how Tangerine 2.0 has decided to treat our fellow young humans. Deplorable.

These kids should be in school during the days, and free to play in the parks until dark, out east in the evening. Not so, in Trump's ugly and lawless America. Here's Matthew Russell Lee, on it all:

. . .Two children, 13 and 9, have been detained for six months without apparent progress toward their release by the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

In a habeas corpus petition replete with redactions, their next friend Lauren Louda has sued for their release in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where Inner City Press found the petition.

Their mother, in Rhode Island, had rented a larger apartment for their release, after a home study report "due to a household member's property and prior actions, both previously unknown" to the mother.

But they remain in "transitional foster care at Abbott House, an ORR subcontractor."

The case has been assigned to Judge Arun Subramanian. He has ordered that they not be moved out of SDNY, EDNY or New Jersey absent the Court's prior approval. Response is due on August 7.

It is Fouda v. Salazar, 1:26-cv-6559. . . .

Dammit -- this is. . . utterly incongruous with the lady in the harbor's light. Onward.

नमस्ते

This Rumor Seems Pretty Implausible... They Compete Head To Head In Oncology -- So Vast Divestitures Would Be Required. Timing Seems... Off, Too.

As purported M&A market rumors go, this one in particular seems to strain the far edge. . . of credulity.

But as is more than occasionally the case -- it only takes one wild eyed pundit to start a "silly-news cycle" -- for at least 24 to 48 hours. This seems to be the case here.

The most salient reason to doubt it could actually transpire would be the manifold antitrust objections in the UK, US, EU and Japan. These companies are head-to-head competitors in oncology and cardiovascular medicines -- and on a vast scale. Sure -- there are other, even larger, competitors -- but sorting out the thicket of overlapping jurisdictional objections might take three or four years, all by itself. [Really -- can anyone imagine responsible regulators in the UK, and EU and Japan. . . agreeing on much of anything -- with Tangerine 2.0's DoJ / Antitrust / FTC divisions? Me either.]

So, were a deal to occur, the combined company would scarcely resemble the two constituent parts (but for BMS, that may be the attraction, to be fair). In sum, AZ really has no need for this wildly large a deal -- of any sort -- unless there is much Pascal Soriot has been lying to the world about (highly unlikely).

So -- color us. . . decidedly skeptical, here.

In any event, here is just some of the "at best, a rumor" now being reported in the financial press, around the globe this Monday AM:

. . .While details of the talks remain scarce and sources told the FT that a deal may never materialize, analysts questioned why AstraZeneca -- whose market value has surged under CEO Pascal Soriot on the back of a strong drug pipeline -- would pursue such a transaction.

AstraZeneca’s London-listed shares were last seen trading 4.7% lower, weighing on the U.K.’s blue-chip index FTSE 100, which was largely flat.

Shares of Bristol Myers rose 6% in U.S. premarket trading.

Coming into Monday trading, AstraZeneca had a market cap of $264 billion. That number has risen steadily over the past decade and since CEO Pascal Soriot took the reins in 2012 as the company has developed a solid pipeline of new drugs. It is targeting $80 billion in sales by 2030, up from $58.7 billion last year.

Bristol Myers’ market cap is roughly $133 billion, and the company is facing loss of exclusivity for multiple drugs. It’s expected to see declining growth from next year as patents expire and top-selling drugs like its blood thinner Eliquis and cancer medicine Opdivo will start to face generic competition.

Analysts were puzzled by both the news itself, as well as the timing of it.

“Given the strength of AZ’s growth and innovation profile, we are a bit perplexed,” Jefferies analysts wrote Monday morning. “Of course financial accretion can look good and maybe more cash generation would allow for more R&D. But if there is one company that doesn’t need financial engineering, it’s AZ. . . .”

There you have it -- Soriot simply has no need to do this deal. Onward, smiling into the sunshine -- this beat is rarely cloaked in dull moments, to be certain! Yup.

नमस्ते

Some Marginally Good News: A Small Portion Of The Former USAID Funds Are FINALLY Being Sent On, To Africa...

It is infuriating that Musk was ever allowed to run amok. But that is what happens when he buys Tangerine 2.0, lock, stock and barrel.

Only now, eighteen months later, do the less idiotic members of Tangerine's cabinet begin to accept that this gutting of multinational health and humanitarian aid. . . also endangers our national security. Just as we've pointed out, right from the get-go. Slowly, the Rubio hive-mind is accepting that reality.

To be clear, this is only a small fraction of what is needed, and what was lost. But it is. . . a start. Here's the latest, from the NYT:

“. . .What may be happening here is that reality is sinking in for decision makers,” said Mark A. Green, who served as administrator of U.S.A.I.D. during President Trump’s first term and who is president of ONE, an advocacy organization for foreign assistance. “The good news is that Secretary Rubio clearly realizes that global health is what we do, and we’re really good at it. That’s why you’re starting to see more money moving.” He added, “I think there’s a realization that global health security is also American national security, too. . . .”

Eighteen months ago, the freezing of assistance was perceived internationally as a significant U.S. retreat from multilateralism. It created immediate financial crises for many aid institutions, leaving gaping holes in budgets such as that of the World Food Program (WFP), which provides emergency food aid in war and disaster zones. . . .

[Even so,] organizations working to support health programs in low-income countries are watching the closeout budget with alarm. Vincent Lin, associate director of health policy and advocacy at Partners In Health, said the fear was that the budget office was running down the clock, so that the funding allocations would expire at the end of the fiscal year in September.

Mr. Lin noted that while the budget office has not provided Congress with a breakdown of those closeout costs, many of the canceled U.S.A.I.D. awards were already closed. He said it would be hard to understand how the remaining costs could register in the billions of dollars.

“We can prevent a tremendous amount of suffering from TB, malaria, malnutrition and deaths of mothers and babies in childbirth by using these funds as Congress intended,” he said. . . .

With each renewed step -- each new step in the right direction. . . in this way, slowly, sanity might make a comeback. [Even so, it seems the close-out funds are being used by Tangernine 2.0. . . as back-door bribe opportunities. Dammit.]

नमस्ते

[U] The City's Lawyers Have Done An Excellent Job, Overnight, Here...

The City of Evanston has filed its reply to the Fitton-driven nonsense. These crisis actors are simply too late -- five years too late -- in complaining.

The able USDC Judge Kness will soon so rule. Here is the latest, a powerful argument, from my city's counsel -- and a bit of it:

. . .Bifurcation of discovery is the means by which this Court can best fulfill its constitutional avoidance obligation. As discussed above, the timeliness of Plaintiffs’ injury of being “able and ready” to apply to the Program but being deterred from doing so is a separate inquiry from whether Plaintiffs actually could have truthfully applied to the Program. Bifurcating discovery is the mechanism by which this Court can avoid deciding Plaintiffs’ case on a constitutional issue and instead terminate Plaintiffs’ case through the straightforward issue of timeliness. Plaintiffs’ rejoinder that constitutional avoidance “says nothing about how a court should sequence discovery” (see ECF No. 59 at 9), misses the point: courts routinely consider the avoidance principle in exercising their case-management discretion. See Ameritech Corp. v. McCann, 403 F.3d 908, 911 (7th Cir. 2005) (noting that “federal courts are supposed to explore all nonconstitutional grounds of decision first, to ensure against unnecessary constitutional adjudication” and then reexamining a lower court decision “in the right order” by analyzing non-constitutional grounds for adjudication prior to addressing the constitutional issues). The Seventh Circuit has long recognized the “well established rule” that constitutional questions should not be reached where a case may be resolved on other grounds. See Stern v. U.S. Gypsum, Inc., 547 F.2d 1329, 1342 (7th Cir. 1977).

Nor is Evanston’s statute of limitations defense a constitutional question in disguise: an affirmative defense based on the accrual and expiration of a limitations period is a paradigmatic non-constitutional ground for resolving a case. See, e.g., Davis v. Borgen, 349 F.3d 1027, 1029 (7th Cir. 2003) (noting that a district court should not issue a certificate of appealability on a constitutional question where the underlying case was essentially resolved by a nonconstitutional issue like the claim being untimely). . . .

The motion to intervene filed by the United States (“the Government”) after Evanston moved to bifurcate discovery does not change the priority of bifurcating discovery as to the Plaintiffs. See ECF No. 48. As addressed in its opposition to the intervention motion and response to Plaintiffs’ motion to stay briefing on the Motion, Evanston contends that the Government’s motion is untimely and bifurcation is appropriate as to Plaintiffs’ claims regardless, so intervention is no basis to deny the Motion. See ECF No. 56 at 4; ECF No. 60 at 4–9. Both plaintiffs and intervenors must bring their claims in a timely manner. See Flower Cab Co. v. Petitte, 1987 WL 14715, at *4–6 (N.D. Ill. July 21, 1987). . . .

UPDATED: Monday, August 3, 2026 -- Mr. Boutros, the
Trumpian AUSA -- has claimed this evening that he (as the USA) can intervene, even when he's missed the statute of limitations. The law is clear: he is completely wrong on it. So I won't quote it -- but just link it for a complete record. End updated portion.

Now you know. Onward, grinning. Yep. That's (eventually) game. . . over.

नमस्ते

Tangerine's State Dept. [Marco Rubio] Is Withholding Family Planning Supplies From Famine Stricken Ituri Province In Congo... Deplorable.

The dollar amounts involved are very small. So they can only be seen as. . . punishments, against humans having. . . disfavored sexual congress.

And the ones this "policy" of feckless cruelty truly hurts most. . . are the children born into a world of poverty and disease -- one that they did not choose -- and for which their parents are almost completely unprepared. Many will die in child-birth. . . and many more will suffer from life-long debilitating mal-nutrition. All of it avoidable, for a small cost.

But this is Marco Rubio's new priority: kill as many African children as he can -- in the name of his Catholic "right to lifers". Dammit.

Overall, indeed -- the family planning funds are but a small portion of the USAID former-budget. A budget approved by Congress (repeatedly), and ordered spent (again), two terms ago. No Congressional Act has changed any of the applicable law. Trump is just. . . ignoring it (and he is losing in the federal courts on this attempt -- but at a glacial pace). What a putz. Here's the latest, from Semafor:

. . .A bipartisan pair of senators is urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to unlock family planning funding and supplies for women caught in the Ebola outbreak sweeping the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s east, warning that the Trump administration’s freeze on such aid is deepening a maternal health crisis.

In a letter shared first with Semafor, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, asked Rubio to use $608 million in international family planning funds from the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill and release $1.7 million worth of already-purchased contraceptive products which, the senators said, would otherwise be destroyed.

They also pressed for a “humanitarian exemption” allowing US support for the UN Population Fund, or UNFPA, so it can resume sexual and reproductive health programming in the affected region. President Donald Trump withdrew from the organization earlier this year.

“Providing sexual and reproductive health support to women is not a parallel track alongside the Ebola response: It is the Ebola response for the 642,000 women of reproductive age -- including an estimated 37,820 pregnant women -- in the affected areas,” the senators wrote. . . .

What is wrong with these people?! They would lustily choose cruelty, solely for cruelty's sake. Onward, resolutely just the same.

नमस्ते

NASA Updates Tonight, On Swift’s “Boost” Possibilities…

Well, this is at least some progress -- even if Katalyst itself has not updated its own website -- NASA has.

Any path forward would still seem to face pretty long odds, in my estimation. This is the full text, from tonight:

. . .Teams at Katalyst Space are making progress slowing the spin of their LINK spacecraft, which is designed to boost the orbit of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. A series of thruster burns this week reduced the rate of spin from approximately 9 degrees per second to less than 4 degrees per second. Katalyst is continuing with this approach to restabilize the spacecraft in the coming days.

Teams also further evaluated LINK’s functionality and determined there are still potential paths forward for a boost. NASA is working closely with Katalyst to consider revised, innovative approaches. The agency will continue to provide updates about stabilization of LINK and next steps for the mission. LINK is now expected to approach Swift around the end of August. . . .

We will keep a good thought -- and keep the readership posted. Grin.

नमस्ते

So -- A Georgia Dad, Who Gave His Mentally-Disturbed 14 Year Old An AR-15 -- [After A Finding Of Dangerousness] Has Been Sentenced To 15 Years, After Son Became a School Shooter. Justice.

Our national insanity about guns. . . must end.

It is a public health epidemic of the first order. And wildly irresponsible, criminal parents. . . are not helping the matter. Yes, he deserves the 15 years in prison. Several children are injured and four are dead -- due to his fecklessness. Here's the latest, out of Georgia; and a bit:

. . .A man who gifted his 14-year-old son an assault rifle that he then used to unleash a mass shooting at a Georgia high school was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison.

A jury in March convicted the man, Colin Gray, on multiple charges, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, over the Christmas gift his son used in the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School. . . .

Gray gave the weapon to his son, Colt Gray, even when a few months earlier law enforcement had come to the Gray home because the teenager had threatened to shoot up an elementary school, according to prosecutors.

“The weight of your crimes is tethered and tied to the acts of someone else, your son,” Primm said. “Two scenarios: you fail the same way in both. You fail to get Colt counseling. You fail to remove the guns from the house.”

The younger Gray, now 16, was sentenced to life without parole for the shooting, which left two students and two teachers dead. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, seven of them by gunfire. . . .

We must rein this in. Dammit.

नमस्ते

The Private Katalyst Space Tech Team Last Updated Its Orbital Spacecraft's Status On July 15... Hmm.

Of course, as we noted here two days ago -- NASA itself, since it is responsible for the Swift space 'scope -- updated its status, on July 28, 2026.

To be fair, the news was fairly ominous -- and doubtful, for the prospects of "boosting" the aging Swift -- up, to a higher, safer orbit.

Yet, the commercial venture tasked with grappling the 'scope -- and then powering it up to a higher altitude. . . has fallen silent, for 15 long days.

The company's last word was that "all was well" -- on July 15. [And, yes -- I do understand "for profit" market dynamics. . . but in truth, it pains me to have to write this -- about a Colorado front range company.]

So -- we continue to wait. We wait to hear from NASA, if it still independently thinks the craft will be safe to try an approach toward Swift -- and then to grapple it -- and then, to try to boost it. . . with its Xenon-fired engines.

The waiting. . . is often. . . the hardest part.

But Katalyst leadership would behoove themselves to be candid, magnanimous, forthright and timely -- and at least cop to what NASA has already shared with the planet.

We are all on the same team here, people -- and we all well know. . . space is. . . a mug. It. is. HARD. But let's at least own up to the facts (as now known).

Onward.

नमस्ते

Congo Approaches Famine-Like Conditions, In Resettlement Camps -- Due To Ebola's Ongoing Waves, In Ituri Province.

Collectively, we all know how to end this outbreak.

But now, with USAID off-grid -- we lack the resources, where and when they are needed -- to do so. Dammit. Here's the latest, from boots on the ground reporting:

. . .The U.N. is sounding the alarm about a growing hunger crisis in eastern Congo that is exacerbated by the Ebola outbreak. In the DRC, the ongoing Ebola outbreak has recorded over 3,300 confirmed cases, including more than 1,400 deaths. According to the U.N.’s senior Ebola coordinator, 50 people died of Ebola just in the last 24 hours. This is the acting director of the World Food Programme.

Carl Skau said “Some 10 million people — I mean, 10 million people, that’s the population of Sweden, the country I come from — are acutely food insecure in the eastern DRC. And 3 million of those are in IPC-4 — as you know, emergency level of food insecurity. That is one step away from famine. That means they go to bed every night hungry. They wake up hungry every morning. . . .”

This is truly going to be near the worst Ebola outbreak, in recorded history -- because we in the US have decided to turn our collective backs on our fellow humans. Damnation.

To be clear, during the one outbreak during the Biden Administration (with USAID) -- the dying stopped at four humans. FOUR. We are over 1,400, in a few months. Ponder that -- onward.

नमस्ते

October 13, 2026 Is "Final Hearing" Before USDC Judge Alia Moses, In Dusty West Texas -- On Razor Wire Barriers, On Rio Grande...

To be certain, those maimed and killed on the Rio Grande. . . will receive damages from Texas, for this lawlessness.

It may take another decade -- but it will come. [The related federal court mediation continues on a parallel path to this -- as well.] Here's the latest, out of Del Rio:

. . .Pursuant to the Court’s direction at the Status Conference in this case on July 14, 2026, Plaintiff State of Texas submits the following notice:

Plaintiff intends to offer into evidence at the final hearing of this case, currently set for October 13, 2026, some or all of the evidence and testimony previously presented to the Court at the hearings in this case on November 7, 2023; November 27, 2023; and March 4 and 5, 2024, and in addition may present testimony by the following witnesses:

1. Michael W. Banks

2. (as adverse witness) Defendant Anthony “Scott” Good, Acting Chief Patrol Agent, Del Rio Sector of U. S. Border Patrol.

3. Col. Brian Fletcher. . . .

Now you know. What a vast and ongoing waste -- of Texans' taxpayer funds. The MAGA gubernator down there does not control federal waterways -- even if Tangerine 2.0 is doing ZERO, to end the depraved and torturous lawlessness, on those waterways. Abbott cannot hop into the supposed breach to continue his cruel lawlessness. He just. . . can't.

नमस्ते