A Hong Kong Doctorate, 黎嘉英, Has Been Allowed To Fly To Tiangong, On Shenzhou 23, Overnight: Softening Science Relations -- In Mainland China?

Lai Ka-ying, 黎嘉英, is the first Hong Kong native to be allowed to fly a space mission for Xi's China. She will be aboard the Chinese space station Tiangong by the afternoon today, US time.

This flight also brings some human stem cells, a live and dividing line -- to the Chinese space station -- for the study of zero-g and radiation effects, on such things as human embryoes -- to inform some hundreds of years distant mission -- to transport dividing zygotes in space (to ultimately colonize an exo-planet, presumably).

Here is NPR, on all the latest:

. . .China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year.

The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The much-anticipated launch comes as China prepares for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030.

The astronauts on the mission are Zhu Yangzhu, the commander, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, also identified by Chinese authorities as Li Jiaying using the Mandarin transliteration of her name. . . .

Now you know -- with two hefty slabs of Genghis Khan's Mongolian Ribs^® ahead on the grill -- along with three slabs of regular western BBQ ribs, brats, chicken and cheeseburgers -- I predict a meat poisoning, later this afternoon. . . but a root beer float to finish all the excesses off with, to be certain. [Still, some shaved brussel sprout salad, and quinoa salad to offer some greenage.] Family fun ahead on the deck -- should be 80 degrees by 4 pm. Woot!

There will be no news of ebola deaths reaching 220, nor gunfire at treatment centers, to break up arsonists' attacks. No, not today. No hantavirus or mpox. Nope. Onward. Today is for barbeque -- and then some ice skating with grand-nieces, at the rink about a quarter-mile up the street, to cool off. . . Out.

नमस्ते

Second Update Of Sunday: Ebola Totals Now -- 204 Are Dead -- 867 Are Believed Ill With The Virus...

That's up from 177 dead, and 750 ill -- as of Friday.

This is plainly out of control, in Ituri Province, DRC. The two burnt treatment centers were the focus of my last post -- this updates the epidemic figures, as of this morning. Here's NPR, on it:

. . .According to Congolese government figures released on Saturday, health workers have registered 867 suspected cases of Ebola and 204 deaths.

The Congolese government first declared an outbreak on May 15. Since then, confirmed and suspected cases have popped up across an area of Congo larger than the state of Florida.

Neighboring Uganda has also registered five confirmed Ebola cases.

On Friday, the World Health Organization raised its risk level for the disease at a national level to "very high". . . .

In better news -- at this Memorial Sunday noon-time -- I'm now off for a bike ride, to go see the babygrrls' "ice - capades" last Spring practice -- before the recital next Sunday. Woot!

After that, I then fly back to the Rockies a week from Monday, and on to Eugene, for more Olympic triathalon racing that Friday through Sunday night. Excellent!

नमस्ते

Now A SECOND Ebola Treatment Center In Ituri Province, DRC Has Been Set Ablaze: Tragic Misinformation At Work.

This time, it was in the small town of Mongbwalu -- last time, on Wednesday night, it was in Rwampara. But locals (driven by misinformation from pulpits, mostly) are attacking and burning Doctors Without Borders' Ebola treatment / isolation tent facilities -- having been convinced that the virus is a hoax, and that "divine healing" is all the afflicted need. Damn.

All the while, USAID is nowhere to be found. This is already the third worst Ebola outbreak in recorded history -- and may ultimately reach over 1,000 deaths -- before it is all over. Here's the latest, from CBS.com:

. . .Angry residents of a town at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo attacked and burned a tent that was part of a health center where people are being treated for the virus, the staff there said Saturday. It was the second such attack in the region in a week.

No one was hurt in the attack, according to initial reports but as patients ran out to escape the fire, 18 people with suspected Ebola infections left the facility and are now unaccounted for, a local hospital director said.

The angry residents had arrived at the clinic in the town of Mongbwalu on Friday night and set fire to a tent set up for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases by the Doctors Without Borders humanitarian group, Dr. Richard Lokudi, director of the Mongbwalu hospital, told The Associated Press. . . .

In the mean time, a US citizen / medical doctor who is gravely ill with Ebola (he apparently operated on a patient later found to be suffering from Ebola, as a part of his missionary / medical work) has been refused the right to return to the States, to a CDC approved treatment center / isolation unit. . . by the Trump [Mal-]administration.

Thankfully, the Germans agreed to take him in. And so, he has to be flown to Germany, where he is receiving excellent care in Berlin. What is wrong with the goons manipulating Trump's irrational fears? We built these US treatment / containment centers for just this sort of an outbreak, in 2016. Damn.

नमस्ते

There's Been Another Awful Coal Mine Flash-Over / Explosion, In Northern China -- In Tongzhou's Liushenyu Mine. 84 Miners Are Confirmed Dead.

As many here know, these largely-avoidable tragedies recall my own youth -- and are especially poignant -- for me, personally. Awful. I feel it, viscerally, for the families.

My opinion? After 137 dead in three years, Xi needs to crack down on these lax mining conglomerates. Here's the Beeb -- on it all [with my editorial comments, in brackets]:

. . .At least 82 people have been killed and two are missing after a coal mine blast in northern China, according to state media.

Rescue officials revised down the death toll in an update late on Saturday, having earlier said at least 90 people had died.

The gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi province is the worst mining disaster in China since 2009.

There were 247 workers reportedly on duty when the blast happened at 19:29 local time (11:29 GMT) on Friday, with more than 100 people said to be saved and hundreds of rescuers sent to the site.

Some of the management team at the mine have reportedly been detained. The cause of the gas explosion has not yet been revealed, but state media reported that the levels of carbon monoxide -- a highly toxic, odourless gas -- in the mine were found to have "exceeded limits". [Ed. Note: carbon monoxide is not an explosive gas, in any sense. It is one end result / by-product, from the explosion / flash burning of unacceptably high levels of unvented coal-dust. So, this is a red herring. These miners were killed by an explosion of very fine coal dust (the result of unsafe mining practices; Tongzhou having upped production quotas), almost certainly.]

China's Ministry of Emergency Management has sent 345 personnel from six rescue teams to help with the operation. [It is true that dangerous carbon monoxide levels would rapidly build up in / sink into the lower levels, after a large blast -- especially if electric ventilation fans had been destroyed in the original blast, mine wide.]

State media said the rescue operation had encountered difficulties as water has built up near the explosion site [Ed. Note: which would be consistent with the electrical being cut off; water pumps stop running -- and the mine. . . rapidly floods], preventing access to certain areas, while blueprints provided by the mine did not match the actual conditions [Ed. Note: this would mean that there was far more underground mining, likely with less pillar support, and slower ventilation -- than even China regulators allow. This may well be the proximate cause of the flash-over]. . . .

Now you know. So. . . disheartening. This is all. . . avoidable.

नमस्ते

There Are No More Criminal Proceedings Which Might Assert... Anything, Against Mr. Abrego Garcia. Justice... Has [Finally] Come.

Just as we've predicted for months on end -- we've now finally arrived at. . . justice, in Music City. Well done, USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw! He is a free man.

And now, very shortly in Maryland, the able USDC Judge Xinis is likely to rule that ICE/DHS possesses no right to deport him, in any event. Not without an all new set of proceedings -- and its specious claim to be able to remove him to Liberia, or the Sudan. . . is going to fall apart.

There is no procedural hook, upon which to hang it. And his own suit against the government agencies -- for their attempt to punish him for having the temerity to assert his Constitutional rights. . . just got a BIG boost, from the Nashville dismissal. Excellent. Here's that well-reasoned, careful. . . and precise opinion, just entered:

. . .[T]he Court must consider the full evidentiary record to determine if the Government has carried its burden of rebutting the presumption of vindictiveness.

In short, the timing of Agent VanWie’s decision to reopen the closed HSI investigation of the November 2022 traffic stop and [Now Acting US AG Todd] Blanche’s now unrebutted public statements tying the reopened investigation to Abrego’s successful lawsuit taints the investigation with a vindictive motive. That vindictive taint continued with Singh’s close substantive oversight of McGuire’s and his prosecution team’s work leading to the indictment. Finally, after the indictment was presented, the Executive Branch found a way to return Abrego to the United States to comply with the District of Maryland’s order to facilitate his return. While the Court finds insufficient evidence of actual vindictiveness, the Court concludes that the Government has failed to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness. The evidence it labels as newly discovered was available to be obtained with due diligence long before April 2025.

Even more, it does not explain the Government’s change in position to remove Abrego and not prosecute him to then prosecute and not remove him. McGuire’s subjective explanations also do not cure the retaliatory taint that set the investigation and resulting indictment in motion.

Because the presumption of vindictiveness remains unrebutted, the indictment must be dismissed. . . .

The Government chose to pursue that evidence only after Abrego’s successful lawsuit and the ongoing requirement to report daily to Judge Xinis on efforts to return Abrego to the United States. This supports the inference that the Government would not have reopened the investigation or secured testimony from Hernandez-Reyes but for Abrego’s successful lawsuit. Bragan, 249 F.3d at 481 (citing Adams, 870 F.2d at 1145); see also Carey, 816 F. Supp. 3d at 141–42. . . .

The evidence before this Court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power. . . .

Since he is now a free man, he may choose -- on his own -- without fear, to move his family to Costa Rica -- until Tangerine 2.0's time is at an end. And he may return with his US Citizen wife, without any trouble then -- in early 2029. I think that might be where he lands. In any event, this is an important victory. . . for justice, without fear or favor in the US. A long time coming, but the right result. And yes, just to avoid more vindictive BS, I might counsel a voluntary move. . . to the island nation, temporarily.

Onward, grinning.

नमस्ते

Very Ominous News, Out Of Rwampara, DRC -- And, Ebola '26 Has Now Afflicted Over 750 People; More Than 177 Are Dead, Already.

And. . . because this provincial area lies in a remote, largely hilly and forested civil war/conflict zone -- still highly influenced by very poorly informed / fundamentalist "christian" religious leaders running mega-churches. . . highly unscientific rumors are often accepted as fact.

Thus, some remote pastors are telling their faithful on Sundays that the outbreak is a hoax, and divine protection is all they need (for a price, of course). So much so, that some young people burned a treatment center down, when they were refused in a request to take a friend's body for burial. The young person had died of Ebola, and unsafe burials are a prime way that the virus is spread.

Here is the latest, very disturbing news, from AP reports:

. . .The World Health Organization chief said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading rapidly and now poses a “very high” risk there, as a lack of medical resources and anger among the population hamper the response in a vulnerable and conflict-ridden region.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of global spread remains low, but that the U.N. health agency was revising upward its assessment of the risk within Congo from its previous categorization of “high. . . .”

Frontline medical staff have struggled with a lack of resources and, in some cases, pushback due to what has been characterized as misinformation or situations where medical policy has clashed with local customs such as burial rites. . . .

On Thursday, an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara was set on fire by youths who were angered when they were blocked from retrieving the body of a friend who apparently had died of Ebola, according to witnesses and police.

Bodies of Ebola victims can be highly contagious, and medical authorities are trying to control burials whenever possible.

Julienne Lusenge, president of Women’s Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development, a local aid group, said the population’s anger is mostly due to misinformation.

“We have lived through years and years of conflict and hardship so rumors spread easily,” she said.

She said some churches have told their large congregations that the outbreak is fake and that divine protection makes medical care unnecessary. . . .

Yikes. This could easily begin to approach the 2012-14 outbreak -- when over 12,400 ultimately died and over 25,000 were ill. Truly. . . tragic.

नमस्ते

The "Direct Corollary Effects" -- Of Allowing Trumpian Lies To Fester -- In Circles Where Education... Is Undervalued: Knox County, TN Edition.

First -- the good news: I am 100% certain the ACLU will be able to win -- if/when it files a case against this small-minded attempt at the repression of US history.

The ACLU will win all the way through the United States Supreme Court, and have this local Tennessee law invalidated, as both impermissably vague -- and as contrary to nearly 100 years of clear Supreme Court precedent.

These cases say the work as a whole must be considered, even before taking only the least restrictive means of addressing a compelling state interest. See, Island Trees, et al., 457 U.S. 853 -- decided 1982. None of that has happened in Knoxville, Tennessee. Obviously.

And, moreover, all of this would be unthinkable, prior to the "time of Tangerine" -- looking back, given Supreme Court black letter law -- of at least 60 years' standing:

. . .Roots: The Saga of an American Family, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alex Haley that helped shape public understanding of slavery and inspired generations of Americans to trace their ancestry, has been banned from library shelves in Knox County Schools under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act. . . .

"Roots" was among the first widely read works of fiction to offer a detailed account of the Middle Passage, the horrific transatlantic journey to America endured by enslaved Africans between the 16th and 19th centuries. . . .

Roots had recently been elevated to the district’s review committee for consideration over a passage in the novel’s 84th chapter, which it determined was not “age appropriate” under Tennessee law. “Broader themes or historical significance of a work as a whole is not a consideration under the law,” Harrington added. [Then this Tennessee law plainly violates the Supreme Court's cases on the First Amendment; Chapter 84 narrates the forcible rape and beating of an enslaved woman -- by a white domestic terrorist / plantation owner.]

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that the KCS book-banning committee had previously reviewed an excerpt from Roots and did not recommend banning it. KCS did not answer questions. . . on what new concerns had been raised.

The decision means the material can still be taught in classes; it just cannot be available on library shelves. . . .

This is why no preznit should be allowed to endlessly lie -- about the uglier aspects of our shared US history. Before long, the acolytes of such a demagogue will seek to erase that uglier history entirely, from written records.

That is exactly what hard right / faux-Xtian Tennessee legislators are vainly attempting here. Damnation. It will not stand, in any event.

नमस्ते

Friday Early AM Tangent: About $25 Billion In Bitcoin Derivatives Expire Next Friday — Likely Drags BTC Down To Around $75,000.

Nothing about life in even the near future is mathematically certain (especially going into a long holiday weekend) -- but absent some other monumental shift in the existing macro-catalysts, the ratio of puts-to-calls at various strike prices, both in- and out- of the money, would suggest that the spot price for Bitcoin will fall about $2,000 to $3,000 -- by next Friday, early morning US time.

Here’s that story -- and a bit of it:

. . .The put/call ratio of 0.86 reflects a modestly bullish market, though with max pain sitting $2,000 below the current price, a gravitational pull toward $75,000 remains a real risk heading into May 29 settlement. . . .

Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, told CoinDesk “The bigger problem, is macro: investors are de-risking as long-term yields rise, oil and inflation risks remain in focus, and there is currently no compelling reason for new capital to enter the market. . . .”

Hilarious.

And all of this coincides with Mark Cuban admitting he has sold off almost all of his Bitcoin stack (mostly, in the lower ranges of this downturn), now that the supposed “Bitcoin as a hedge against traditional finance excesses” narrative. . . has been proven to be a lie. Just as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have said -- for more than a decade.

Look out below, in seven days. Or sooner.

नमस्ते

It Seems RFK, Jr. Just Figured Out That A US Passport Or Green Card... Does NOT Imbue A "Magical Pixie Dust" / Bundibugyo Ebola Vaccination.

Well. . . there is some sanity, slowly returning, to MAGA leadership at the CDC. As we mentioned this morning, until earlier today, if you were carrying a US Passport, but had been to South Sudan, DRC or Uganda in the past three weeks -- you could come right home.

But now -- after mine of this morning pointing out the jingoistic lunacy in that policy set -- the federal government will now require ALL air arrivals to the US from those countries (in the last 21 days) to be "enhanced checked / screened" through Dulles, before ANY onward travel.

In any event, here's the latest -- from the NYT reporting:

. . .Earlier this week, the C.D.C. invoked an emergency public health rule to block entry into the United States by travelers who had been in the three African nations in the past 21 days. That restriction did not apply to American citizens or U.S. service members.

The restrictions came after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak a global health emergency last weekend. The outbreak is suspected to have caused more than 130 deaths and nearly 600 infections, according to the W.H.O. The agency’s head said on Wednesday that there was little risk of the outbreak developing into a pandemic, even as the number of suspected cases and deaths continued to climb. . . .

At least that makes. . . some logical sense. Onward -- fingers crossed.

नमस्ते

What To Make Of The Coming SpaceX ~$2 Trillion IPO? Will Goldman Really... Lead?!

Okay. It is time to look (well past the hype, and nonsense) -- and decide, whether Elon Musk can make anything sensible, financially -- for the investing public, not just himself(!) -- out of what is slated to become the largest IPO in history.

The SEC Rule 424(b) red herring is here. Mr. Musk will hold 85% voting control over the company and be its CEO, chairman and chief technology officer, post the IPO. In this preliminary SEC prospectus, we see -- minus the shineola -- that. . .

SpaceX lost over $4.9 billion in 2025 and $4.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, during which the company acquired xAI, the owner of the digital artificial intelligence assistant Grok. [Yikes.]

Starlink is the most profitable segment in the SpaceX fold, with net income from operations of $4.4 billion in 2025 [and adjusted EBITDA of nearly $7.2 billion, including an add-back of ~$2.4 billion in depreciation and amortization].

In the first quarter of 2026, Starlink generated an operating profit of nearly $1.2 billion and similarly adjusted EBITDA of over $2 billion.

Nice. But the satellites must be completely replaced every three to five years -- so the cap ex burden is. . . staggering. And much of the networks is now approaching the end of its useful life. He needs lots more launches, and deployments -- without explosive failures -- just to keep the treadmill rolling, here.

And, ominously, he's dropping the per customer revenue from $86 per month, to about $66 per month outside the USA. [The rest of world won't pay what these stupid Americans will, it seems.] No, in the US, his market will remain wealthy people who live in remote / mountainous areas of the west, mostly. . . where traditional wi-fi / cell towers are. . . still scarce.

Sorry -- that is a market far too narrow (and increasingly shrinking -- as cell towers and cable lines reach deeper and deeper into the mountain west, year after year), to support the vast and continual cap ex burden, me thinks.

In 2025, the worst performing segment -- his AI boondoggle -- posted an operating loss of nearly $6.4 billion. In the first quarter of 2026, those numbers improved to a $936 million operating loss, but the AI segment too is a very heavy capital spender, with significant research and development expenses. AI spent $12.7 billion of capital ex, in 2025 and over $7.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026. This is not sustainable -- when added to the aggregate cap ex figures for Starlink, and space-launch operations.

So. . . while this might make him personally the world's first trillion-aire -- I think he is (once again) -- as he did in Twitter / X-itter -- taking on massive obligations, and telling us to just "trust him".

[X-itter (according to some pretty good intel) is still hemorrhaging money, now four years later, BTW. But it is private, so there are no complaining public shareholders -- or really much, in the way of vetted, audited financial metrics about his X-itter forray.]

All while he looks to / works his Trump-World connections for SpaceX, to try to win lots of NASA / federal government funding -- which he hopes will have an endless on ramp for the forever money-losing, cash flow burning SpaceX launch segment / now a lumbering colossus.

Me?

I'll. . . pass.

Hard pass, in fact.

This is -- when all the smoke and mirrors are moved to the side -- simply Musk, laying a vast amount of his personal fortune's risk profile. . . off -- on a gullible public investor populace.

Enrich him, by funding his money-losers, if you like. But you do so at your considerable peril.

You cannot afford a perhaps $100 billion negative liquidity event.

Most of all, not year after year. But that is what he is facing.

If you all don't come to his rescue, that is.

H I L A R I O U S.

Out.

नमस्ते

Two Minor Items -- Both Bizarre Public Health Angle Stories... France, And Arkansas Editions.

Of this first nonsense, I hesitate to highlight mentally deranged idiots -- except to note that when they make credible threats of mass violence. . . they should be, and will be. . . jailed. That's this Arkansas man, who from his mom's basement, while playing multi-player online video games, threatened to shoot up the local Wal-Mart, if the US CDC were to decide, in the future, to impose any "lockdown" -- over the cruise ship / Hantavirus event in the Atlantic. [No such thing has even been discussed, in Trump-World, BTW. There are 17 US residents isolating in Omaha for two more weeks. That is all.]

The more serious / disconcerting public health/Ebola story comes to us, from Paris -- Air France had to divert from Detroit to Montreal, overnight -- since French authorities had allowed a Congolese passenger to board the flight in error. This week, Tangerine 2.0 restricted people who've been in Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the past 21 days -- saying all such passengers must fly in to Dulles, for enhanced screenings, if they wish to enter the US.

. . .“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” the CBP spokesperson said in a statement.

Montreal Trudeau International Airport directed request for comment to Air France, which confirmed that Flight 378 was diverted “at the request of U.S. authorities” after it departed Paris on Wednesday, landing in Montreal shortly after 5 p.m. ET.

“There was no medical emergency on board, and like all airlines, Air France is required to comply with the entry requirements of the countries it serves,” an Air France spokesperson said in a statement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that the U.S. will restrict entry for people without U.S. passports who were in Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the last three weeks. The restriction is in effect for the next 30 days. . . .

This is a fairly minor thing, but I was not aware that owning a US Passport gave magical vaccinations / endless immunity dosages. . . to never get Ebola. My point, with the bolded bit above. . . is again, Tangerine 2.0 is playing on racist / xenophobic stereotypes: Any US Citizen can -- and might -- be carrying the Ebola virus after being in Uganda or DRC, in the last three weeks.

To exempt them from screening -- while forcing all others to enter through Dulles. . . makes zero public health / epidemiological abatement sense. Onward, just the same. These are truly. . . bizarre times. Just more of Trump's asinine "sh!t-hole countries" rhetoric. Out.

नमस्ते

Well -- This Is The Best "Indictment" I've Yet Seen -- Of Trump's Corrupt "Weaponization / Lawfare" Slush-Fund! Jim Comey Edition.

Many here will recall that Trump has insisted twice -- and baselessly so -- that Jim Comey be indicted by US DoJ MAGA acolytes serving under the tangerine dotard.

Apparently, overnight, Mr. Comey has sardonically raised his hand -- and said he will apply for $2 million to $5 million, from the slush-fund -- since both of these indictments were dismissed within weeks, as clearly baseless political stunts.

[Actually, though -- his next words were that "this must be an Onion piece -- it cannot be serious. . . ."] I love the satire -- and delicious irony. Mr. Comey is quite right, this Trumpian language is a tailored suit of clothes, to what has befallen him -- albeit from Trump's minions. He's entitled to a payout, and Acting US AG Todd Blanche has said both Democrats and Republicans are eligible, donchaknow:

. . .The so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will be administered by four commissioners appointed by Trump’s attorney general and one appointed “in consultation” with congressional leadership -- Trump, who can fire the commissioners, will have ultimate control.

It will have the authority to issue formal apologies for alleged mistreatment of conservative political actors by previous administrations. . . . When Trump leaves office, any remaining money will not be available for his successor to use similarly, but will instead be distributed back to the federal government. . . .

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American,” said the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, which is probably news to all those who have been subjected to politically motivated prosecutions by the justice department since Trump returned to power. . . .

[T]here is no requirement that the fund’s work be made public, and required reports to the attorney general on its conduct are to be confidential. In addition to the creation of this massive slush fund, the agreement also requires that the IRS drop all audits of Trump and his family. . . .

Geez. I'm actually feeling. . . a lil' left out. No one ever bothers to indict me. Dammit. In any event, go get 'em Jim Comey! Grin. . . .

नमस्ते

First Federal Suit Filed, In DC, To Enjoin Trump’s $1.8 Billion Slush Fund Attempt.

Overnight, at another property, an alias named Rigby McGuire and I were discussing how quickly federal suits might be filed -- against what is likely the most brazen act of corruption, by any president in the history of our nation. This purported but illicit $1.8 billion slush fund is certainly that.

And. . . we will need to wait no longer. The first of what will be many suits to enjoin this lawlessness has been docketed; this one on behalf of police officers injured at the Capitol — when the J6 insurrectionists and a rioting mob of thousands beat them with sticks and stanchions, and pummeled them with fists. Over and over, again -- shouting "kill that cop with his own gun!" (in one case).

You literally could not make up a more corrupt set of sociopathic jamokes, here. In any event, here's the full 29 page complaint at law, from today's filing in the federal courthouse in DC -- and a bit:

. . .[The Slush] Fund endangers the lives and safety of Plaintiffs Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges — officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021 — in two ways. First, by its very existence, the Fund encourages those who enacted violence in the President’s name to continue to do so. Dunn and Hodges already face credible threats of death and violence on regular basis; the Fund substantially increases the danger.

Second, if allowed to begin making payments, the Fund will directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters who threatened Plaintiffs’ lives that day, and continue to do so. . . .

To prevent the public financing of paramilitary organizations in the United States, and to protect Plaintiffs from further violence, the fund must be dissolved. Dunn and Hodges bring this case to obtain that relief. . . .

In January of this year, President Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Jr., and the Trump Organization sued the IRS for $10 billion in alleged damages arising from the 2017 and 2020 leaks of their tax returns. Compl., Trump v. IRS, No. 1:26-cv-20609 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 29, 2026), ECF No. 1. . . .

That lawsuit was frivolous. Because Trump, as the sitting President, was both the plaintiff and in direct control of all defendants, Trump v. IRS lacked adversity, meaning there was no Article III case or controversy, and no subject matter jurisdiction. Trump all but conceded the lack of adversity earlier this year, he described the case as requiring him to “work out a settlement with myself. . . .”

Yep. That’s gonna leave. . . a mark -- and as I guessed before, this (whatever it ends up being -- if from a Trump organization coffer) -- it will never be from our taxpayer money -- being sent out, to those violent reprobates. Trust that.

Out.

नमस्ते

As We Approach Middle Age -- Most Of Us Are About As Healthy As We Truly WANT To Be -- If We Are Disciplined Enough... To ACT.

There will certainly be genetic factors, or random accidents in the street -- over which we exert essentially no influence.

But I certainly agree -- that well-more than half of how one's later life turns out. . . turns on which choices we make now -- and keep making, well into our 80s. Here's The UK Guardian's study this morning, to back that notion up:

. . .Individuals bear at least 80% of the responsibility for their ill health in old age, according to a report aimed at challenging the belief that physical decline is. . . inevitable. . . .

The report, launched at the Smart Ageing Summit in Oxford last week, argues that individuals have far greater control over their longevity than is commonly understood. The authors call on the government to take legislative action on alcohol comparable to restrictions on smoking.

Living Longer, Better -- the Oxford Longevity Project’s first Age-less report -- was co-authored by an interdisciplinary panel of UK-based experts in medicine, physiology, ageing and education policy. It was sponsored by Oxford Healthspan. . . .

[From the report itself, then:] As they approach the age of 70, many people find themselves thinking about their own hopes for longevity: how they might best prepare to live in reasonably good health until they reach 90, or even for several years beyond that milestone. . . . This Report is for them – and also for their advisers, GPs, and other health-care professionals, and their advisers and trainers, for those who offer guidance to the public on best practice in the quest for enduring good health, for the media, and for the government. . . . [A]bove all, we hope it might change behaviour, and improve the lives of older people in the U.K., and indeed worldwide. . . .

Sure -- the correlation won't be 1-to-1, in any individual case. But the broader object lesson is sound. Onward, smiling.

नमस्ते

The Able USDC Judge Tigar Re-Affirms -- In East Bay V -- That More Of Trump's 2025 Black Sharpie Orders... Are "Arbitrary And Capricious"

This was actually published about two week ago, but I've been off dousing other bonfires. . . smile. It is welcome vindication of what regular readers here well know: Tangerine 2.0 has no clue about the limits to his powers, via the US Constitution. Most of all, Congress must act -- to do the things he pretends to do, by Black Sharpie scribbles -- as to immigration policies. [One of dozens of my prior backgrounders, from across the last seven years, here.]

[And significantly, this Northen California class litigation now has the implied backing (of the last term rulings at the Supremes). . . on why faith based doctors' groups in Texas do not have standing to impose nationwide bans on the abortion pill by mail-order. Conversley, the organizations resisting lawless attempts to curtail lawful immigration pathways. . . do have standing to challenge the Black Sharpie scribbles.]

Do go read it all -- but here's a bit of it -- it is clearly correctly decided:

. . .Plaintiffs are legal services organizations challenging a rule imposing a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility for individuals who do not utilize certain “lawful pathways.” Two events relevant to this case occurred while it was on appeal to the Ninth Circuit. First, the Supreme Court decided Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, 602 U.S. 367 (2024), which addressed organizational standing. Second, the Trump Administration took a series of executive actions foreclosing certain “lawful pathways” and otherwise restricting asylum. The Ninth Circuit remanded the case for this Court to reconsider its prior order granting summary judgment to Plaintiffs, in light of both intervening changes. Before the Court is the parties’ supplemental briefing addressing these issues.

The Court’s prior summary judgment order is hereby modified to reflect (1) that Alliance does not undermine Plaintiffs’ Article III standing and (2) that the termination of lawful pathways underscores the rule’s unlawfulness, as set forth below. The Court therefore reaffirms its prior order. . . .

Now you know -- onward, grinning.

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And Tonight, Tennessee Will Execute A Man In A Death Eligible Case, Where The State FORCED Him To Trial WITHOUT COUNSEL.

This is. . . deplorable.

Moments ago, the Supremes (the five of them, anyway) refused to hear / look at Mr. Carruther's emergency petition.

Later tonight, Tennessee will execute a man it never bothered to do DNA testing on, despite collecting DNA of the supposed killer, at the crime scene -- and then relied on jailhouse informants. Some years later, his co-death eligible defendant won a new trial -- and was released from jail, entirely -- in 2015.

Finally, this man was forced to represent himself by the local Tennessee prosecutor and judge, in a death eligible case -- in direct violation of Gideon v. Wainwright. Damn. This is. . . shameful. Out.

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The Fifth Cir. Is Clearly Wrong Here -- But As To The Del Rio Texas Razor Wire Injury Cases, It Won't Matter (Much).

I will only offer a shortish squib from the "opinion" on this, since (again!) the Fifth Circuit plays politics, rather than simply applying the well settled federal preemption law. It still applies nationwide, on the nation's navigable waterways. So. . .

Whatever.

As I said last month, the actual bodily-injury cases are now headed to a forced mediation -- down in Del Rio. Texas -- and MAGA Gov. Abbott's GOP mono-rule doesn't want to compensate the people -- and families of the deceased -- that MAGA Gov. Abbott's concertina wire barriers. . . maimed and drowned. Welp. That will no longer stand.

See the mediation orders. So this injunction, against conduct long ago completed -- as vacated by the goofy Fifth -- means almost nothing.

But you could tell from the first paragraph that it was mostly a political manifesto (riddled with half-truths, and outright lies) -- not so much any reasoned legal opinion. It darkly references (by the euphemism "surge"). . . as well as "an invasion", directly.

The Supremes have repeatedly held that there is no "invasion" at all on the Southern borders. Damn. Nonsense, that:

. . .This case concerns whether the State of Texas, exercising its historic, sovereign police powers, can legislatively protect its citizens from a surge of illegal aliens in response to an unprecedented border crisis and a declared invasion. [Hah!] The district court judge and a divided panel held that it cannot. Because the Plaintiffs that are challenging the new statute lack standing, we vacate the preliminary injunction without addressing the merits of the pre-emption claim. . . .

What a load of crap. [Another broad hint that this is BS. . . is offered by the page count. The Fifth panel took over 150 pages. . . to make no ruling at all.] None that wold matter to any real world outcome, that is.

So. . . Onward, resolutely -- just the same.

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Well -- I Agree With The CDC's Assessment: This Andes-Virus H. Presents A High Enough Risk, To Enforce 21 Day Quarantine Orders... Still, IRONIC.

First things -- first: this is the right public health approach. And if she is in fact the study abroad university educator I think she is, she well knows this is a risk of "Semesters at Sea" programs. And she should be mindful of her fellow. . . humans (to say nothing of her students).

That said, it is deliciously ironic -- that after Tangerine's campaign was based in some large measure on saying the COVID-19 lockdown was a violation of people's civil rights. . . that now, he is in the position of having his acting CDC Director issue federal administrative arrest orders -- should Ms. Perryman forcibly try to leave the Univ. of Nebraska quarantine facility in Omaha, before her 21 days have elapsed. That's. . . fascinating.

In any event, here's that story -- and a bit:

. . .Angela Perryman, an American passenger exposed to the deadly hantavirus on a cruise ship this month, expected a short stay at a special quarantine facility in Nebraska after her arrival last week.

On Monday, after making plans to depart, she received a federal order requiring her to stay for at least two more weeks. Health officials said they would contact law enforcement if she tried to leave.

“They are requiring us to remain in a locked facility and threatening us,” said Ms. Perryman, 47, “and denying us the right to home quarantine.”

Federal health officials did not respond to requests for comment. But the order Ms. Perryman shared with The New York Times says officials believe she would “constitute a probable source of infection to other people” if she left the facility to travel to another state. . . .

W I L D.

These are simply wild. . . times. Onward to bike rides, and after school / dinner / park picnics. Out.

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CIDRAP Offers Some Very Sobering "Undiagnosed" Mpox Clade 1b Data... Yikes.

And again, we ought to look directly at the cuts to federal public health programs, engineered by DOGE / Musk / Tangerine 2.0 -- when assessing blame for excess infections, debilitating life long conditions, and even. . . deaths.

I am sick and tired. . . "of being sick and tired. . ." of these deeply dangerous morons. In any event, here is the latest:

. . .Asymptomatic mpox infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) may be far more common than previously recognized and could be playing a role in ongoing transmission, according to a study published last week in Nature Communications. Researchers estimate that actual infections may outnumber diagnosed cases by 33 to one. . . .

For the study, researchers led by teams at the University of California (UC) at Berkeley and Kaiser Permanente Southern California tested for mpox in MSM in Los Angeles during routine sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening from May to November 2024. Then they monitored the same group of MSM for clinically diagnosed mpox.

Among nearly 8,000 eligible participants, only 15 laboratory-confirmed mpox cases were identified through standard clinical testing. But when the team tested for mpox DNA in 1,190 specimens collected from the routine STI tests, they found infections in. . . men who never presented with mpox symptoms or received an mpox diagnosis. . . .

Ominously, the authors estimate that undiagnosed infections account for between 33-40 percent of all transmitted cases, and, under more realistic modelling assumptions, potentially much more. Damnation.

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The Speed Of The Latest Bundibugyo / Ebola Spread... Is Deeply Disconcerting, In DRC and Uganda Now: Over 130 Dead; Over 530 Are Ill.

Again -- USAID's early detection and arrest capabilities would have made all the difference here. Thus, these excess deaths are directly attributable to Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Damn.

To be certain, the wildly-difficult work here -- of getting the "evil djin back in the bottle" is all the more daunting because it is not clear that any of the existing vaccine stock will be effective, against the rather rare -- but presently circulating -- Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. In about five elapsed days, the fatalities have. . . TRIPLED. Here's the morning's tough news -- and a bit:

. . .At least 131 people are believed to have died and 531 suspected to have been infected, according to the Congolese Health Ministry. An American missionary was among those who tested positive for the deadly disease.

Global health experts are worried about the capacity of this outbreak to cause widespread illness and death in central Africa — not least because this rare strain of Ebola, the Bundibugyo virus, has no approved vaccine or treatment and a shortage of available tests.

The outbreak was also undetected for weeks, adding to the complexities in containing it. It has ripped through a region riven by civil war and conflict, while health officials said funding shortages were further hampering their ability to fight Ebola. . . .

Several metric tonnes of protective gear and sanitary supplies arrived in Buni, Ituri's capital city yesterday, from Doctors Without Borders. But that will only be a tiny child's finger -- in the now-bursting dyke.

So, let history record that it was MAGA fecklessness -- and racism -- that were the twin causes of this, the excess deaths now being recorded.

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