Kudos To Dr. Celine Gounder - Neutering Sham GOP Assault On Fauci

 

                  Dr. Celine Gounder - robust defense of Dr. Anthony Fauci

                       Dr. Fauci holding his own against barrage of GOP attacks

"These sham hearings were the consolation prize for not having a sham trial.  Remember President Joe Biden had already pardoned Fauci before leaving office. Not because he had committed any crimes but because Biden knew he'd be subjected to these bad faith attacks and weaponization of the system.

 If Fauci had not been pardoned this administration and its resolutely corrupt Department of Justice would have cooked up something against him. Just like it did Trump's former FBI director, Jame Comey.  And remember Trump's FBI reached out to a Trump friendly former mobster, Sammy 'the Bull,' Gravano - the guy who confessed to nineteen murders - to try to build a case against Comey."  - Chris Hayes - on ALL In last night.

The real Covid scandal was the way in which Trump handled the crisis, which was a disaster and increased the number of deaths significantly. The origins are interesting, but once Covid started to spread, the top priority should have been to contain it, not pass blame. Now, 6 years later, the Republicans are trying to pass blame again will concurrently destroying our public health infrastructure.- WaPo comment

They asked if Fauci was wearing a tie and whether there was a folder on the table, the answers to both being plainly visible, then they removed his attorney, likely violating a right to counsel. That left absolutely no doubt that their goal was to entrap Fauci. Answering any question after invoking The 5th revokes the invoke and opens the witness to abusive charges of contempt. Hawley, Rand, and the others are performative mules, nothing more. .- WaPo comment

Hahaha ...[Trump] 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 440 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥-𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴' 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 10, 2022

No doubt Trump invoked the 5th Amendment many more times that we don't know about. If anyone should be "held in contempt" it's Trump. Oh wait he already is held in contempt by most of the world, and most Americans. .- WaPo comment

Sometimes, maybe not often in this country of chaos, one steady voice using facts and reason can stem the torrent of lies and political attacks. So kudos to Dr. Celine Gounder for appearing yesterday  on  CBS Mornings to defend Dr. Anthony Fauci amid rabid Reep Senate attacks led by rabid Sen.Rand Paul. 

What brought the Fauci-obsessed Paul to the apoplectic state he displayed yesterday? Well, evidently - according to him -  "scrutinizing the release" of Dr. Fauci’s  private diary - then claiming falsely Fauci been trying to hide the “fact” of secret NIH funding to the Wuhan lab in China.  This was for “gain of purpose” vaccine research – which he claimed led to the Covid virus escape from that lab.

All of which is recycled horse shit.

As Dr. Gounder patiently explained to the CBS hosts yesterday morning, the gain of purpose vaccine procedure is well known to try to anticipate the next mutations of a virus, say like influenza. That is done to be able to have ready a more effective vaccine should a hitherto unknown form emerge.

 As for Dr. Fauci’s diary she informed the hosts she’s read the whole of it (500 pages, not 1,000) and noted the total NIH funding for the Chinese lab over 6 years came to barely $600,000 – or $100, 000 a year. A minimal amount. She also pointed out, again in a calm and steady voice, that the bulk of Dr.Fauci's notes concerned his background efforts to deal with the virus (such as masking) but also the volume of threats to himself and his family.

Why didn't the only remaining living, breathing Senator from Kentucky mention that - or ask about it? Or even condemn the threats on Dr. Fauci's life?  Well, because those moves would diminish his grandstanding act to appease the traitor occupying the White House.

To her credit, Dr. Gounder further argued that ongoing political attacks have left U.S. public health "devastated" and criticized the Reep-dominated hearings as partisan witch-hunts rather than constructive reviews. Gounder—an infectious disease specialist, epidemiologist, and CBS News medical contributor—spoke out alongside a letter signed by over 150 medical professionals supporting Dr. Fauci against ongoing harassment. Grounder further made clear that unlike the bipartisan 9/11 Commission which sought genuine lessons and actual information, these congressional probes  (mainly led by Reeps) aim to vilify scientists.

As evidence of the effects of the vilification and ongoing misinformation campaign (mainly by the Trump cabal) she pointed to the multifold damage done by defunding vaccines and sowing even more misinformation, including efforts trying to tie the MMR vaccine) - vaccine to autism. As per a WSJ piece yesterday ('Trump Turns Up Heat On RFK Jr. To Cut Back On Childhood Vaccines, p. A1): 

 "Trump asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. why he wasn't doing more to probe the alleged connection between vaccines and autism. Kennedy was take aback.....

Chief among the president's desires: Do more to reduce the number of shots that federal guidelines recommend for children."

In other words, the demented lying turd wants the current Measles outbreak to spread even further and with more dire medical consequences like brain swelling, blindness.  Why else push to reduce the federal guidelines for the number of shots? But recall, this is the same fungal felon who 6 years ago advocated injecting bleach to remove the virus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9kWsUwTcj8

This sort of crap and deliberate assaults on science and Dr. Fauci -  with the attendant misinformation - is one reason, as Gounder noted, for the current spread of Measles. As well as failures across the board to monitor foodborne diseases – such as with the current cyclospora outbreak. (After decimating the FDA office charged with monitoring spread of such illnesses as E. coli, salmonella, campylobacter etc.)

 Of course, Rand and the Reeps continually harangued Dr. Fauci about his 5th amendment invocations. But WHY? Dr. Fauci, as was his Constitutional right - repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate hearing Wednesday - because he was perceptive enough to see these dolts were trying to lay a trap for potential prosecution.  The only way to avoid the trap was to take the 5th - yes, 110 times - but people forget Trump took the 5th 440 times in one case against E. Jean Carroll. 

Basically, the tired shtick of the Reeptards was to press Fauci for three hours on on whether he was sufficiently truthful in past testimony about the coronavirus pandemic. He made it clear then, over hundreds of hours, his mandate was purely to inform the basis for recommendations for optimal public policy.  It was up to state and local officials to carry it out if they felt the information was justified. Many, including former NY governor Cuomo did, as well as former NYC Mayor De Blasio. 

But from years past, Dr. Fauci knew the Reeptards like Rand Paul were trying to set a trap for him and then use whatever response he gave against him.  In any case, as Dr. Celine Gounder noted, Dr. Fauci had answered hours of questions 6 years earlier when the Reeps questioned him about his Covid 19 safety recommendations. (Dr. Gounder also noting in her interview it was STATE and Local officials who enacted them, not Dr. Fauci.)

 Paul, a longtime adversary of Fauci, concluded the nearly three-hour hearing by saying the committee is planning a vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress.  Of course this is pathetic, performative yammering horse manure.

 You cannot file a contempt of congress against a citizen who is invoking his constitutional right!  You may be frustrated, you may not like it, but you are obliged to suck it up. As Fauci proclaimed to  the assembled rabid Reepo rats driving the bogus hearing::

“Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions,” 

 Rancid Rand acknowledged to GOP colleagues that there were legal questions about whether Fauci could be held in contempt — citing President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardon of Fauci last year. But the imp contended that Fauci should have just answered questions on Wednesday, even if it meant admitting to a past lie or other wrongdoing.

No, fucktard, he should not have answered any of your already answered (from 6 years earlier) questions. Especially given he knew you were trying to lay a trap for his prosecution.  This is given you quislings, traitors, cowards and Trump pecker suckers have no spines to stand on your own. 

Hell's bells, why aren't you going after Donnie Dotard for trying to poison people by suggesting the injection of 'disinfectants'  in 2020? Huh?  Well, because a gaggle of cowards and quislings can't hold their senile master to account.

Fauci’s lawyer, David Schertler, correctly noted that Paul was fixated on Fauci after their clashes at the height of the pandemic — referring to a 2021 incident in which the two men traded accusations of lying — and that the senator’s sole purpose for the hearing was to punish Fauci and see him in prison.

“The accusations that Chairman Paul continues to propagate are false and disgraceful, and we will examine all options to hold him accountable,”

 True to their misinformation Zeitgeist, Trump and his criminal White House have embraced the already torpedoed lab leak bunkum, creating a website that calls a lab leak the “true” origin of the pandemic, without sharing any definitive proof.

The true fact is there isn't a scintilla of believable evidence for it. See e.g.

Was coronavirus bioengineered in a lab? Tulane scientist debunks this conspiracy theory

It’s abundantly clear to even the most profound ignoramus that the Reeptards are desperate to relitigate many of the oldest (and already settled) controversies about the Covid response: the safety of mRNA vaccines, the lab leak theory, the lockdowns. Oh, and Dr. Fauci’s alleged role in them, which as I noted was to inform public policy NOT carry it out.  

They’d be better served asking why Trump deliberately suggested poisoning millions with his bleach injection. Or do they treat that as ‘Trump just being Trump’?  Or just a joke?

But no, they lack the balls as well as spines.  Especially Josh Hawley who got off on asking Dr. Fauci what color tie he was wearing to try to mock his taking the 5th.  This was the same Hawley who ran frantically to escape the Trump mob of traitors and insurrectionists as they breached the Capitol back on Jan. 6, 2021.

 They’d rather use the bogus hearings to disparage Fauci personally, to try to paint a picture of him as having pursued fame and money at Americans’ expense, and mocking him for taking the Fifth Amendment.  These same delirious maggots would now likely be pushing up mud had it not been for Fauci's rigorous defense of masking as well as vaccines after Covid struck. 

And huge kudos to CBS Medical correspondent Dr. Celine Gounder for ripping an asteroid -size hole in the GOP's phony Covid narrative - while neutering their attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci.

As more news of the McCarthy-style Senate sham hearing seeps into Americans' awareness, they will surely wonder why these numbnuts and losers ceded more power to Trump in his Iran War in a vote last week.  As well as wasting precious Senate time - performing like trained monkeys - to appease their orange Fuhrer. 

That as opposed to helping them with ever rising prices in groceries and gas. My bet is that these performative pretenders will pay big time in November, losing BOTH Senate and House.  You can make book on it.

See Also:

• Latest Research Should Put A Final Nail In The 'Coffin of Covid Lab Leak Theory...

And:

Covid-19 | Media

Great Work, Useful Idiots of the Media: Most Americans Buy the Unsubstantiated "Lab Leak" Theory

by Amanda Marcotte | July 10, 2021 - 7:37am | permalink

— from Salon

And:

Jon Stewart's 'Lab Leak' Rant On Colbert Confirms He's No Covid Expert (brane-space.blogspot.com)

And:

New Research On Laotian Bats Pokes Final Holes Into Covid Lab Origins Codswallop

And:

2026 Elections | Republicans

Top Election Predictor Confirms It: Republicans Are in a Rough Spot

by Matthew Rozsa | July 27, 2026 - 5:17am | permalink

— from Alternet

President Donald Trump is going to be the main issue in the 2026 midterms, but experts disagree as to whether the impending electoral disaster will be experienced by the Republicans or the Democrats. Now an election expert is shedding light on the situation.

“It’s a competitive situation in both the Senate and the House,” DDHQ’s chief elections analyst Geoffrey Skelley told The Hill's Julia Mueller on Sunday. He later added that “the big question is: will the Iranian conflict … will people being concerned about that ratcheting up, is that going to create reverberations in things like the generic ballot that signal ‘OK, Democrats’ advantage is growing again’?”

» article continues...

Key Aspects of Single Particle Dynamics In Space Plasma

 "Single particle dynamics"  is perhaps the most important introductory aspect of plasma theory, especially for space plasmas (e.g. Earth's magnetosphere, heliosphere etc.). Specifically, it is the domain wherein we enter plasma “orbit theory” and consider a charged particle (say of charge q) in a uniform and constant magnetic field (B). The behavior of such charges, in both magnetic and electric fields, is crucial for understanding plasma behavior as a whole.

The governing equation of motion with F the Lorentz force,  is:

m (dv/dt) = q(v X B) = F

The motion here is such that v will always be perpendicular to the force acting on the particle so v ⊥ F, implying circular motion. Thus:

dv/dt = q/ m [v X B]

Meanwhile, (v⊥ ) ² / r  = q/ m [v⊥ B]

The quantity r  above is none other than the gyro-radius. Solving for it one finds:

r  = m/ q [v⊥ / B] = v_⊥ / (qB/m) =  v_⊥ /   Ω

for which one can have either the electron, or ion gyro-frequency (Ω). The ion gyrofrequency will be:

Ω _i  = qB/ m _i

 And the electron gyrofrequency is:

Ω _e  = qB/ m _e

 These equations help to explain the physical basis for the origin of a preponderance of radio waves (i.e. gyro-magnetic emission) such as from the Sun, and other cosmic objects (e.g. quasars, pulsars). 

 Note that the velocity v has two components, parallel and perpendicular:   

v =     v_||   + v_⊥

where the first term denotes the velocity along B which stays constant so that d(v_|| )/ dt = 0.

 Further, we have:

v_⊥²/ r  = q/ m [v_⊥ · B]

(setting the centripetal force = to the magnetic force producing it)

From the preceding we obtain the gyro frequencies.

While on this topic it is useful to also consider the "gyration velocity" which  is simply the magnitude:

v⊥ = 2 m _m  B/ m

where m _m is the magnetic moment.

Thus, the proton gyrates at this rate provided m _m is a constant of the motion: viz.   m _m  = m(v⊥)²/ 2B  = const .

The gyro-period is: T = 2 p  / Ω   

Bear in mind the gyration energy:

E  = m _m  B = m/2 (E/B) ²,

Note that the position of a particle at any time t can always be specified for a given coordinate system, if one knows the Larmor radius r  and the gyrofrequency, Ω:

Thus: r(t)= r (cos Ω t x^ - sin Ω t y^)

Which equation can be referenced to the diagram below:

The basics presented above ignore the fact that no general solution exists to the equations of motion for a charged particle moving under the influence of the Lorentz force in a dipole B-field. What happens is that an approximation is needed, called “the guiding center (GC) approximation”. This assumes the  magnetic field changes are small over a gyroperiod, and gyroradius.

If a charged particle is moving through a converging magnetic field, i.e. a magnetic 'bottle such as shown below:

Then it gyrates in increasingly tighter circles, but the speed of its circular motion increases.  The kinetic energy involved in this circular motion also increases but the total kinetic energy remains constant, so the kinetic energy of this circular motion comes at the expense of the particle's forward motion along field lines. The farther the charged particle moves toward one end of a magnetic bottle, the slower it goes in that direction.

Based on this simplification, the electron or ion moves along B-field referenced to a guiding center, such that:

(a ) x – x_o = - i v⊥ exp (i Ω t)/ W = r sin (Ω t)

and

(b) y – y_o = ± v⊥ exp (i Ω t)/ W = r  cos (Ω t)

The key point is that the guiding center (x_o, y_o) is fixed. while r is the "Larmor radius" (or gyroradius).

In the GC approximation, particle motion displays three components: 

1) gyration about a field line (given by the gyrofrequency, or cyclotron frequency); 

2) reflection between two mirror points (embodied by the “bounce period”) and

 3) a gradual longitudinal drift, denoted by the (E x B) drift. 

Suggested Problems:

1)Given the situation shown below for a particle in plasma:

And: v _o = v _xo x^ + v _yo y^ (for initial velocity)

Solve the equation of motion: F = q(E + v X B)

2) (a)If the perpendicular velocity component ( v⊥) is 10⁵  m/s for an electron in a plasma, find its Larmor radius, gyration energy and its gyro-period.

(b) Find the guiding center positions for the electron referenced in (a) if t = T/2.

Why Are So Many Physics & Astronomy Undergrads Stressed Out? A New Survey From Physics Today Sheds Light

 

Physics and astronomy undergrads check out posters at last year's Denver congress.

Physics undergrad completes survey at 2025 Denver meet

Why are soon -to- be graduated astronomy and physics students depressed and uncertain of their futures - or even whether they should go into their chosen fields?  The answers have gradually emerged since what scholars call "the pandemic years" - when even university lectures were reduced to Zooms - and many undergrads ended up paying as much tuition for long distance classes as for regular ones.

Two recent (2025)  Physics T oday  news stories:

Physics, astronomy graduate admissions in the US expected to shrink amid funding uncertainty  and

 Funding uncertainties muddle graduate admissions .

shed some much needed light on the reasons and especially primary sources of uncertainty. It turns out these areas of angst can be reduced to three main sources:

1)  The relentless intrusion of AI and automation into research domains, jeopardizing future employment,

2) Professional-academic employment opportunities cratered by Trump regime's massive funding cuts, i.e. to NASA, physics and astronomy department.

3) On account of serious stress experienced, and academic demands, a compound feeling of "impostor's syndrome" and unease about physics (and astronomy) as viable career paths.

To evaluate the degree and extent of concerns the Society of Physics Students (SPS) and Sigma Pi Sigma, organizations of the American Institute of Physics (AIP, publisher of Physics Today), conducted a survey last year at the Physics and Astronomy Congress at the University of Denver. This has typically been the largest conference for undergraduate physics and astronomy students. Echoing the surveys that had been conducted at the 2016, 2019, and 2022 congresses, the 2025 survey asked undergraduates to identify the two most important issues currently facing students.

The latest survey was completed by 483 students. The first question asked students to identify the two most important issues facing them, their physics and astronomy clubs, and their colleagues. Students couldn’t select more than two.

These turned out to be:  (a)the rapid integration of AI and automation into the academic sphere - which we already saw an example of in math when an Open AI model solved the 80-year old Erdos problem, e.g.

Open AI Model Solves 80-Year Old Erdos Problem - And Mathematicians Freak Out

And: (b) Upending of the physics and astronomy labor markets , mainly by the widespread shredding of research support funding. (See links at bottom)

Less noted in earlier meetings, but now a top topic for angst are the academic stresses even at undergrad level which have led some to even consider whether pursuing further advanced degrees is worth it. And this in itself breeding a nascent "impostor syndrome". (The belief one's achievements are exaggerated or 'fake' - in any case one's success is not as real as perceived.)   Indeed, many have questioned whether their education has prioritized grades over understanding, applicability and joy.

As for stress, by 2022, students identified burnout as a critical systemic hurdle.  For example, one student said, “Students are expected to do internships, REUs [Research Experiences for Undergraduates programs], research, conferences, presentations, et cetera, et cetera, to even have a shot at graduate school or a career".  This has been compounded as a consequence of many departments pursuit of unrealistic norms combined with inadequate support and a constant pressure to compete in an increasingly constrained (e.g. by federal funding) system.

Add to that the fact that students are increasingly stressed by the overarching uncertainty of science’s future and the severe competition for a withering number of academic placements, and one can begin to grasp the level of mental health issues faced by physics and astronomy Ph.D. students, as well as undergrads. For an analysis of the mental health issues faced by physics and astronomy PhD students, see the April 2026 Physics Today article “Building graduate programs that support mental well-being ,” by Patrick Banner, Kellen O’Brien, and Chandra Turpen.

One student noted in the 2025 survey, for example, “the feeling that there aren’t enough jobs and that most will be unemployed or forced to work outside the field.” 

The fear of having to work outside one's field is clearly justified, given - as many students reported -  there is insufficient preparation for pursuing career paths outside of academia. Though most recipients of physical sciences bachelor’s degrees end up in the private sector, students said that they felt unprepared to translate their skills to industry, that they lack career pathway exposure, and that they see graduate school as both the only option and increasingly unattainable.

Such uneasiness about physics and astronomy as viable career paths, combined with unstable funding in the Trump era, not to mention technological disruptions - risks a significant brain drain as students may pivot away from research toward more stable or lucrative majors and roles.

Students overwhelmingly identified unstable funding as a root cause of concern about internships, graduate admissions, and long-term careers, with 31% of respondents selecting research funding among their top two concerns. Many students also stated that they perceive physics as an elite, shrinking field where opportunity depends more on timing or funding than on merit.  Which in many cases is absolutely true. After all, widespread reductions in funding for graduate students and basic science have led to shrinking research opportunities, department closings, and a decreasing number of graduate seats. 

 One student wrote, “I think that as of today many physics students are worried about finding viable careers. It seems that every job that a physics major applies to requires a PhD or postdoc, leaving many of us who desire to enter industry feeling like backup options to engineering or data science majors.” 

Not surprisingly, many respondents also reported that anti-intellectualism is directly threatening the future of science.  Well, how can they not be stressed by this when they see it played out nearly every day in this country: from the denials of vaccine efficacy, to the attacks on climate science, and Trump even closing down a critical climate research institute here in Colorado, i.e.

Dismantling Of Premier Climate Research Facility Here in Colorado Will Have Repercussions Worldwide

See Also:

Savage DOGE Cuts Hit Astronomy- Space Science Research & They May Well Be Beyond The Point of Recovery

And:

Alas, The U.S. Brain Drain Is Real & Thanks To Dotard Is Becoming The World's Gain

And:

The Real Reasons The Trumpists Are Targeting Scientific Journals

And:

Anti-Intellectualism In The U.S. - A Real Concern Or Hyped Worry?

And:

AAS Press Release expressing concerns about the proposed budget: https://aas.org/press/aas-statement-nasa-cuts

And:

Academic Freedom

Higher Ed Can’t Be Neutral in an Age of Brutality. It Must Choose Democracy

by Henry Giroux | July 27, 2026 - 4:36am | permalink

— from Truthout

Across the United States, and increasingly in other democracies under siege, higher education faces a coordinated assault unlike anything witnessed in generations. State governments are prohibiting the teaching of histories that confront slavery, colonialism, Indigenous dispossession, structural racism, and widening inequality.

Books are disappearing from classrooms and libraries. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are being dismantled. Faculty are encountering political intimidation, ideological surveillance, and threats to their employment. Students who have protested Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza have been suspended, arrested, disciplined, and treated less as citizens exercising democratic rights than as enemies of public order. Universities themselves are facing threats of financial retaliation if they refuse to conform to the demands of increasingly authoritarian governments.

» article continues...

 

Solving First Order Differential Equations By Eliminating The Dependent Variable (Part 2, Solving for x)

 The method of solving for x is also called the 'method of eliminating the independent variable', which I examine in this post.

 Given a first order differential equation which can be readily solved for x, it can be written in the form: 

(1) x=  f(y, p)  

Then the total derivative of this equation with respect to y is: 

(2) dx/dy = 1/p = ¶ f/ ¶ y   +  ¶ f/ ¶ p (dp/ dy)  

Which is an equation involving only y and p. 

If we can solve this differential equation to obtain:

(3)  F(y, p, c) = 0  

Then equations (1) - (3) form the general parametric solution of the original equation. Once again, the procedure is to eliminate p and obtain the general solution.

Example: 

Solve: p ² + 2 y - 2x

Solve for x:  x =    ½ (2 y + p ²) 

Differentiate:  dx/ dy = 1/p = 1 + p (dp/dy)

Simplify to:

( p ²/ p - 1 ) dp + dy = 0

Or:

(p +  1  +  1/ p - 1) dp  + dy = 0

Solve by finding a general solution:

½ p ² + p +  ln (p - 1) + y = c   

Replace dx/ dy with 1/p in original eqn.

Separate variables to find y in terms of p.

 1/ p   - p =  p (dp/dy)

(1 - p) / p = p (dp/dy)

dy =    (p ² /1 -  p ) dp

dx =  (1/p)  dy

Subst. into original DE (dx/ dy = 1/p) to get:

dx =  (1/p)  (p ² dp/ 1 -  p )

->    

dx =  p dp/ (1 - p)

We now integrate:

To get:

x = c - p -  ln (1 - p)

Which is the general solution for x.

Suggested Problem:

Solve for x by finding a general solution:

 py ² -   x   =   0

'Regime Change' - Perhaps The Best Political Expose in 20 years (A Review)

"We have been subject to the sociopath for a year and a half — 18 months of the most loathsome, least competent, and most corrupt person ever to be president of the United States.

We’ve watched him take a meat-axe to every major institution of our democracy, draw the nation into a never-ending war, establish a murderous domestic police state, reject renewable energy in favor of the dirtiest possible fossil fuels, make billions off his presidency, and cause most Americans to become poorer and less economically secure."-  Robert Reich, Permalink post

 The new book, 'Regime Change' - by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan - is arguably the best political expose I've read since James Douglass's JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died And Why It Matters'.   Douglass’ words in his Introduction are like a gut punch:

“Our collective denial of the obvious, in the setting up of Oswald and his transparent silencing by Ruby, made possible the Dallas cover-up. The success of the cover-up was the indispensable foundation for the murders of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy by the same forces at work in our government – and ourselves:

Hope for change in the world was targeted and killed four times over. The cover-up of all four murders, each leading into the next, was based – first of all –on denial. Not the government’s but our own- and the unspeakable was not far away.”

But Haberman and Swan deliver a series of gut punches all the way through. While Douglass focuses on how one of the most beloved Presidents was taken out by a cabal of intel operatives (along with three other leading lights of the 60s), Regime Change exposes how this convicted felon and his own cabal took control of our government in the actual electoral process (in 2024). Including how Trump's 4 year hiatus from power (Biden winning in 2020) was actually a fertile gestation period.

 Affording the traitor the time needed to work out how to bend the government to his own ego and will. Thereby literally bringing it to its knees in 17 months.

As the authors point out in their Introduction, had Trump managed to eke out a victory over Biden he'd have "begun his second term in a sorry state" - what with the Covid pandemic still raging, "warping the economy and destroying global trade".

Instead, the loss - which the sore loser continues to bitch about - actually gave him the time to figure out how to tweak the laws and  master the intricacies of using the federal government for his own purposes. As well as being assisted in this effort by enlisting the Project 2025 thug Russell Vought and the anti- immigration fascist Stephen Miller. Who later helped to lay the groundwork to take over the DOJ to exact massive retribution on all political enemies on retaking power. 

And unlike Trump's first term, when he had a cabinet that could at least keep his worst instincts in check, he'd now have only his own hand-picked loyalists and sycophants to do his bidding. He'd also now have the power to inflict untold damage on the techies' companies if they didn't toe his line. Add to that a Supreme Court that essentially conferred unlimited power via their 2024 immunity ruling, and a gutless Reep congress- and one had an imperial president. 

The wreckage to the federal government and workers began even before Trump's inauguration as we learn (p. 30), Miller's highest priority was to have Trump sign as many executive orders as possible to "overwhelm the opposition by sheer force and volume".  To that end he had "created a giant Excel spreadsheet tracking more than one hundred executive orders."

In addition, in opposition to all standard norms:

"Miller had refused to send the draft executive orders to the Office of Legal Counsel to review". Instead, Miller's team assembled a trusted group of MAGA-friendly lawyers which they referred to as 'the fake OLC' to replace the real Office of Legal Counsel."

With this feral move the door was open to blow past every other norm and standard in kneecapping the legitimate federal government so it could be replaced by one answering only to Trump. The decades' long fantasy of the "unitary executive" now come to life - thanks to a complicit Supreme Court, a spineless congress and 77 million dumbshit voters who fell for his lies.

The carnage these clueless voters enabled was then presented some pages later (pp. 50-51) as we learn the MAGA Trump team "saw USAID as a hotbed of liberal ideology. Decimating this critical agency then became a way - in their minds - of "attacking the woke left".  Especially after Trump's then bosom Buddy Musk described it as "evil and criminal".

"The orders handed down by Rubio would then to filter to USAID offices around the world."

The repercussions of this stupidity have been made clear in the wake of the latest Ebola outbreak, which is now "the second largest on record" according to a TIME report (July 27, p. 40). That report also laying the blame for the spread on the withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the demolition of USAID, i.e.

"The  U.S. was no longer a member of WHO which monitors pathogens and coordinates responses to emergency threats.  The withdrawal led to 3,000 job cuts at the WHO including disease surveillance and response."

"The decision to defund USAID in 2025 abruptly shuttered its programs  and broke many of those chains of communication. Ebola then moved for weeks, and possibly months, before the first patient was reported."

This was bad enough, but then we later learn in Regime Change (pp. 96-97) how the ICE rampage got started.

"Right away, the agency developed a fearsome persona - armed, masked and menacing - and began to post daily arrest members."

We also learn that Stephen Miller, the proto-Nazi behind this facade, "applied immense pressure on the agency to keep up the pace of mass deportation to hit 3,000 per day."

There was little doubt in the authors' minds this savage, indiscriminate program led directly to the ICE invasions of American blue cities, ending with the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January, 

Latest ICE Killing - Of VA Nurse Alex Pretti - WILL Be A Tipping Point: Expect Major Backlash To Continue Across U.S. & Govt Shutdown

Nor has it halted, with two more ICE killings in the last two weeks in Houston and Maine, the latter committed by a deranged vet who had no business being in any law & order capacity.

By Part II, 'Retribution' (p. 125) and Part III, 'The Enemy Within' (p. 270) we learn of the multitude of ways Trump planned to exact revenge on all political enemies - real or imagined. This would be facilitated by his having captured the DOJ, installing it with lackeys (like Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche), to do his bidding.  As a result, indictments flowed out for Letitia James, John Bolton, James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan.  As well: "Grand juries in Florida would begin considering evidence against a slew of Obama-era officials in connection with the Russia investigation."

The whole ploy was not necessarily to succeed, as Haberman and Swan note, but to put as much stress on the indicted as possible. Forcing each to lawyer up and pay for legal counsel out the wazoo. 

By Part IV ('Plunder',  p. 314) we learn of the multitude of ways Trump planned to ravage assorted targets - foreign and domestic- for gain.  The authors note - in terms of alleged small boats trafficking drugs -  Trump "wanted to take the Duterte approach, just kill them."

Thus, "if the U.S. military were to start using Reaper drones and Hellfire missiles to blow up drug boats , that would send a message to would be smugglers."

No consideration at all, that Trump had already pardoned  former Honduran president Orlando Hernandez, a genuine narco king who was sentenced to 45 years for transporting 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S.  

Trump's Pardon Of Honduran Narco- Kingpin Proves His Attacks On Fishing Boats Have Squat To Do With Stopping Drugs

But this is how Trump rolled: pardon the criminals and terrorists (like all the insurrectionists in the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks) but go after and kill the innocent. Like the dozens of innocent fishermen in small boats, earmarked for extra-judicial slaughter in Reaper drone and Hellfire missile strikes.  As the Regime Change authors note (p. 323):

"The boat-bombing campaign in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific would be tailor made for videos on social media... raising immediate questions, on what legal authority had he blown up the boats?"

That included one incident in which two boat occupants who had survived the initial strike and begged for help, were blown up by another drone.  A clear case of violation of the Geneva convention. All of this was based on the bunkum of the 'Donroe Doctrine'.

And the kicker (p. 375):

"Of the thirty-five strikes in the boat-bombing campaign that began in September, twenty -one came as the year ended.  The rapid intensification of this opaque operation suggested the bombings themselves were not the endgame.   Trump had already begun to openly discuss oil he described as "stolen" from the United States, declaring he intended to get it back."

Basically, p, 324, "the Trump administration refused to release its detailed rationale for the strikes and said little beyond the assertion these were 'drug traffickers'."

Again, eliciting the question: Why then pardon the top drug trafficker of them all, Orlando Hernandez? Well, obviously because a mega criminal loves another mega criminal, just as Trump fancied Duterte's manner of disposing of ordinary drug smugglers.

And there followed his seizure of the oil tanker the Skipper, off the coast of Venezuela, leading to a blockade then finally invasion of Venezuela to take out President Nicolas Maduro and effectively, do a regime change to grab its oil. By p. 366 of Plunder, we learn the extent to which Trump has defiled national buildings, memorials by pasting his name on them for the purpose of grift and domination:

"By the norms of history, naming rights for monuments belonged to subsequent generations, and these honors were conferred by Congress, commissions or public acclaim. It was the American way. But Donald Trump had long since demonstrated he could adore himself far more and in greater detail than anyone else might."  

And thence, this narcissistic pig would go on a rampage document by the authors. What triggered it?

"He had watched in rage as his name was removed from buildings in New York City in protest during his first presidency after its calamitous end."

From that rage, the traitor slime was driven to attach his name to the Kennedy Center,  renamed the United States Institute of Peace, the 'Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, and ordered a 'golden fleet of Trump class warships'  - the last particularly ironic given he'd dodged the draft five times with the bonespurs ruse.

He then had his glaring rat dog face hung from the Justice Dept. headquarters and the words "Make America Safe Again" along with the DOJ seal. Oh, and lest we forget, he pushed his "Trump Gold Card" then getting his feral face on our money, 

Why Is A Traitor's Image Being Put On A Commemorative 24 Karat Gold Coin? Many Reasons - None Justified

Not to be stopped, he then went for demanding an "Independence Arch" that would stand across from Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Lincoln Memorial.  According to the authors (p. 369): 

 "He wanted this to be the biggest arch in the world and began showing visitors to the Oval Office his various models which he called the 'Arc de Trump'"

How did this lunatic felon traitor get so emboldened?

"Trump saw himself as a transformational figure in history, one who was already remaking the world in his image, something few leaders had ever done definitively."

Transformational indeed! Especially given Trump realized early that a successful 2024 presidential campaign could help him escape a long prison sentence. After all, as the authors noted in their Introduction, people were already "de-sensitized" to Trump's antics and so many indictments br0ught against him. So it was just a matter of this tyrant:

"repurposing his legal peril as a powerful political asset"

All that was needed was a transcending event to eliminate that peril entirely and recast him as a special human worthy of leadership- and even worship (to his MAGA cult). That arrived with the attempted assassination in July, 2024 in Butler PA.  As the authors noted he had enough perception and political savvy to see how he could marshal it for political power - by retaining and circulating the image:  blood coming down his ear, fist raised and screaming: "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

It became an instantly powerful campaign image and meme that would literally propel him into the White House. Helped by spouting the bunkum it was a "divine intervention".  As opposed to a lucky twist of his orange neck at the right second. Alas the Dems had no answer to that.  Other than an ever weaker Biden, who Trump demolished in their only debate.

By the authors' Epilogue  (p. 407)we behold just how much Trump's exercise of power - thanks to a corrupt, enabling Supreme Court and supine Congress - had gone to his head.  How so?  This kook was now (p.411), putting himself historically "in the company of Alexander the Great, the Caesars, Tamerlane, Attila the Hun and William the Conqueror."

Incredible.  I mean this felon - barely two steps from Rikers Island in June, 2024 -  now comparing himself to history's greats? Well judge for yourself in this paragraph (p. 411):

"Trump gestured for (Natalie) Harp to bring us copies of a two page document. He began reading from it, reciting the names of history's most powerful figures,  explaining how each fell short of his power as U.S. president."

And there in a nutshell we behold an imperial president absolutely drunk on his own power. Which is now betrayed in every conceivable way as he tells Americans to basically eat dirt while he plays with the stock market scarfing up millions, and adds to his crypto billions.  

Of course, there are always bound to be soreheads, losers and trolls that will find 'Regime Change' overblown, over-hyped and under sourced.  Such is the case with one WSJ reviewer named Tunku Varadarajan, mayhap making nice with Rupert to try to keep his job based on his pathetic review effort: 'The Not-So-Imperial Presidency'. (June 27-28, p. C9)

One has to really wonder what stash of shrooms Tunku ingested before writing this babble:  

"The book largely relies on sources who spoke exclusively on 'deep background', journalism jargon for the pinky swear promise of eternal anonymity"

Seeming to forget that this was exactly the mode of reporting used by Woodward and Bernstein when they exposed all the Nixon shenanigans to do with 'CREEP' (the Committee for the Re-election of the President) and extending into the Watergate break in and who was behind it and why.  And more than ample to bring Nixon's presidency crashing down - the subject of the book, 'All The President's Men'. But we must forgive Tunku because he wasn't around back then and likely never researched American journalism history in the 1970s.

More claptrap from Tunku's poisoned WSJ pen:

"At the core of the authors' narrative is their insistence that Mr. Trump is romping through his second presidency unchallenged."

Well, look Sparky, as the authors noted no one was doing squat to halt his deployment of National Guard as well as ICE goons to the streets of blue cities. And up to now,  slaying two other hard working immigrants (on the path to green cards) who were "accidentally" killed by ICE (wrong targets, so we're informed) with no one brought up on any charges. 

Further, not one iota of correction has descended on the orange toad in the wake of hundreds he's had killed in boats in the Caribbean and Pacific- by Reaper drones and Hellfire missiles. I mean, he's acted like judge, jury and executioner while enjoying the video game-like aspects of his slaughter.

And we won't even go into the latest brazen move - again with no congressional checks-  launching a destructive war on Iran based on his own ego needs to rival Alexander the Great and Attila the Hun. Oh, and based on his having a 'cakewalk' in Venezuela which he believed he could duplicate with Iran.

So pardon me while I howl with laughter re-reading Tunku's last sentence:

"The authors portrayal of a president unchecked omits the extent to which he has, in fact, been checked in his second term including by the Senate."

Righto.  Except on just checking the latest news (WSJ, NYT) the Senate refused to go along with the House in halting Trump's war with Iran. Choosing instead to "cede congressional powers to Trump."

Oh yeah, anyone gonna stop him with issuing more tariffs - now targeting over 80 countries,

Trump Administration to Impose New Tariffs of Around 10% on Over 80 Nations - The New York Times

 sending costs and inflation higher into the stratosphere? How about stopping the ICE invasions or even holding those renegades who've already killed citizens accountable? And now we've learned, the drunk- with -power orange traitor has dispatched B-1 bombers for potentially hitting Iran nuclear power sites with 'bunker busters' - but also potential tactical nuclear strikes. 

 One source quote in a weekend WSJ piece saying- and this is verbatim: "Even if Trump were to use a small nuclear weapon to attack one of Iran's underground nuclear facilities, that would be a merely symbolic blow against the regime.:"

Seriously? We're now talking possible nuclear strikes in sections of the mainstream press?  Anyone on Earth stopping this 5-time draft dodger punk at all?

Methinks Tunku needs to come out of dreamland or whatever parallel universe he inhabits.

------

Note: An edited version of this review also appears on Amazon.

See Also:

Donald Trump

The Fourth Assault on American Democracy Has Already Begun. This Fall Decides Whether It Ends.

by Thom Hartmann | July 25, 2026 - 4:26am | permalink

— from The Hartmann Report

“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there’s a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”
—William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice 1939-1975

Trump, his billionaire buddies, and his Republican lickspittles appear to be setting up a possible massive fraud with regard to this fall’s election. It could signal the end of American democracy.

We democracy-loving Americans have fought oligarchy 3 times on these shores, roughly every 80 years. Each time, we defeated the morbidly rich and established or re-established popular democracy and a government that put working class people ahead of the oligarchs.

» article continues..