Impersonation – Politics Plus

Yesterday, I guess we can be thankful that all the hair on fire about the housing bill and the USPS didn’t spread to forests or buildings. The Apricot Autocrat did not, as far as I have seen, did not say he would veto the housing bill; just that he would not sign it. I’m pretty sure that if he just doesn’t sign it (and provided Congress remains in session), it will automatically become law in ten days. Of course, Monkey Wrench Mikey knows that too and will have no prolem adjourning Congress just long enough. WRT mail in voting (and my state is one which has it for everyone), I was seriously thinking about, as soon as the primaries are over (which would be next Wednesday here), changing my registration to Republican. And then changed it back in November, after voting a straight Dem ticket. If every Democrat did that, it would be like “We are all Spartacus.” Or like MSgt Roddie Edmonds at Stalag IX-A “We are all Jews.” It has a history of working. The enemy may know what you are doing, but has no way of getting the desired information out of it. But then it occurred to me – as it should have sooner, since virtually everything I buy is ordered and shipped, that there are multiple – probably dozens, of small common carriers out there besides (and cheaper than) UPS and FedEx which could be used if and when USPS goes rogue. (And speaking of USPS, Benjamin Franklin is buried in Philadelphia – has anyone heard of any earthquakes there yet?

Like Robert Reich, I’m also seeing an increase in spam and phishing. Fortunately, so far, they are not coming in his name – a name I think we all trust. I will filter carefully anything I out into the blog. But I am not going to be around forever. Y’all who outlive me will need to know this.

A hundred and one is a lot of former judges. Joyce Vance explains what is normal about this and what is – not so much.

This from The Conversation is not hot news, but a step by step explanation of the process used by SCROTUS to decide cases. It might be one to bookmark for future reference – or not – depending on your choice.

Yesterday, Andy Borowitz “reported” that Zelenskyy offered to broker peace between Trump**(*) and Musk. Axios reported that Abrego Garcia is coming back but will be charged with smuggling undocumenteds in to the US.

I did watch this video with Joyce Vance and Dahlia Lithwick, which is about 35 minutes. The CC is mostly pretty good, though some specialized terms are amusingly rendered (like “Seacott”), and there is a transcript. I think there are some insights in it which may not have occurred to us.

This is from The Lever News – one of many sites I somehow got subscribed to (probably through signing a petition) and have not yet unsubscribed. This is the first thing from them I have seen which I thought was worthy of sharing, and which no one else has yet published that I have seen. I’ll be very interested in what our medical professionals have to say about it. I will say I would imagine this side effect is one of the very last things one would think of, considering what the medication is prescribed for, and even if it happened in the study group, may not have been reported for that reason. I was recently prescribed Alendronate sodium for osteoporossis myself (it comes in various strengths, depending in part on whether it is administered daily or weekly – mine is weekly) and I joked that I didn’t expect it to come with an encyclopedia. But it did come with a piece of paper about 3 feet long and 18 inches wide, printed on both sides in very small print, with thorough instructions, thorough information on possible side effects, even some graphs and charts which I found very impressive. I’d be surprised if the FDA is habitually careless – at least under a sane administration. But unlikely things do happen sometimes.

Politics Plus

Open Thread June 26 2026

Open Thread June 7 2025