“A federal judge on Monday blocked the US government from making sweeping changes to childhood immunisations, in a blow to Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s agenda. Since taking office a year ago, Kennedy has sought to change and loosen vaccine regulations, including slashing the number of recommended shots for children from 17 to 11. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other large medical groups had sued, saying Kennedy’s changes violated federal law. Judge Brian Murphy also suspended Kennedy’s appointments to an advisory vaccine panel, many of whom were vaccine-sceptics. Kennedy was a longtime antivaccine activist before joining President Donald Trump’s administration. The ruling means a scheduled Wednesday meeting for the vaccine panel, called the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) will be postponed, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).” [editor’s note: Ince again the Pharma minions gather to block sanity – SAT] (03/17/26)
“SpaceX crossed the threshold of having more than 10,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit simultaneously for the first time. The milestone comes less than seven years after launching its first batch of satellites in May 2019. Coincidently, the Monday night launch also coincided with the 100th anniversary of Robert Goddard’s launch of the first liquid-propelled rocket, which was fueled by gasoline. A century later, SpaceX’s Monday night launch of a Falcon 9 rocket was the 615th flight of this kerosene-fueled rocket. Liftoff of the mission that put SpaceX over the 10,000-satellite threshold, dubbed Starlink Group 17-24, happened at 10:19:09 p.m. PDT (1:19:09 a.m. EDT / 0619:09 UTC on Tuesday, Mar. 17).” (03/17/26)
“The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is making a nearly $22 million bet in Illinois that its money, if not its policy views, can still hold sway in Democratic politics. In three of the four Illinois House races it’s targeting, AIPAC appears to be using shell PACs to largely conceal where that money is coming from rather than spend from its main super PAC vehicle, United Democracy Project. Like in other recent contests, their ads focus on anything but Israel. … Tuesday’s primary will be the first test of AIPAC’s political muscle in the 2026 primary season after amassing nearly $100 million in its warchest, even as polls show more and more Democrats have negative views of Israel — and of the group itself.” (03/17/26)
“A mother who published a children’s book about grief after the sudden death of her husband has been found guilty of his murder. A jury found that Kouri Richins, from Utah, killed her husband in March 2022 by poisoning him with a fentanyl-laced drink. The jury deliberated on the case for about three hours before reaching its verdict on Monday. During the trial, the court heard how Richins, 35, had racked up millions of dollars in debt, taken out life insurance policies on her husband and was having an extramarital affair. Prosecutors called more than 40 witnesses, including the woman who said she sold the drugs used to kill Eric Richins.” (03/17/26)
“Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised benchmark policy rates for a second straight time, pushing them to their highest since April 2025 at 4.1%, amid sticky inflation. The 25 basis points hike was in line with expectations from analysts polled by Reuters, and comes as Australia’s inflation stays above the central bank’s upper limit of 3%, with the war in the Middle East risking a further rise in prices. … Inflation in the country was at 3.6% for the quarter ended December. On monthly basis, inflation was at 3.8% in January, marginally surpassing expectations of 3.7%.” (03/17/26)
“An appeal containing fake case citations that misrepresent the law can be dismissed as frivolous, a U.S. federal appeals court panel said in a decision sanctioning two attorneys who submitted filings that bore hallmarks of artificial intelligence ‘hallucinations.’ The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in its order on Friday that attorneys Van Irion and Russ Egli ‘sullied the reputation of our bar, which now must litigate under the cloud of their conduct.’ The court said it found more than two dozen fake citations and misrepresentations of fact in the appeal, which involved an incident at a fireworks show hosted by the city of Athens, Tennessee. … The two attorneys must reimburse Athens for its legal work on the appeal, and also must individually pay $15,000 each to the appeals court as a punitive sanction, according to the order.” (03/16/26)
“The US Coast Guard and local first responders worked together to rescue a snowmobile operator who became stranded on ice near Mackinac Island, Michigan. An aerial rescue was first attempted but blizzard conditions prevented local or Coast Guard helicopter teams from taking flight. Timelapse video shows the Coast Guard instead cautiously manoeuvring a vessel to the edge of the ice and safely deploying a rescue team. The snowmobiler was experiencing mild hypothermia at the time of the rescue, but was reported to be in stable condition. Officials said the operator had previously been advised by the fire department not to go out due to conditions described as ‘worse than a whiteout.'” (03/17/26)
“At least 23 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in suspected suicide bombings Monday night that targeted Maiduguri city in northeastern Nigeria, police said Tuesday. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the conflict-battered city in recent history. Residents and emergency services earlier told The Associated Press that three explosions were reported in crowded places in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, including in a major market and at the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.” (03/17/26)
“Large parts of Cuba were without power on Tuesday after its third blackout in four months underscored the island’s deepening energy and economic crises and rising political tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump. Electricity was slowly being restored to hospitals and some of the island’s 11 million residents, but officials warned that its crumbling power network could fail again. Cuba’s aging grid has drastically eroded in recent years, leading to daily outages and an increase in significant blackouts. The government blames its woes on a U.S. energy blockade after Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. Trump was asked during a meeting Tuesday in the Oval Office with the prime minister of Ireland about the U.S. seeking regime change in Cuba but deferred to his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.” (03/17/26)
“Paul R. Ehrlich, an eminent ecologist and population scientist whose best-selling book, ‘The Population Bomb,’ was celebrated as a prescient warning of a coming age of food shortages and famine … died on Friday in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 93. … In 1980, Julian Simon, an economist at the University of Maryland, challenged Dr. Ehrlich and two of his colleagues with what Stewart Brand, a founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, called ‘one of the great revelatory bets.’ Convinced that the growing population would make natural resources ever more scarce and thus drive up costs, Dr. Ehrlich accepted Mr. Simon’s challenge, betting that the prices of five key metals would rise in the 1980s. Mr. Simon believed that innovation would drive prices down. In 1990, Dr. Ehrlich and his colleagues conceded defeat and sent Mr. Simon a check for $576.07 — an amount that represented the decline in the metals’ prices after accounting for inflation.” (03/16/26)
