The federal government is preparing to ration COVID vaccines because Congress isn't providing needed funding. #Covid #vaccine
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/13/white-house-vaccines-covid-funding-impasse-00032319

Jen Psaki: Threats to family were ‘most personally difficult’ part of press secretary job.

Psaki resigned and is being replaced, today, by her principal deputy, Karine Jean-Pierre.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/12/psaki-press-secretary-job-00032045

John McCain described Rand Paul as "working for Vladimir Putin." Apparently, Sen. Paul still does.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/rand-paul-blocks-quick-passage-of-ukraine-aid-bill-11652386167

"Pro-life" Texas governor seeks to starve undocumented immigrant babies.

Feeding the dumpster fires.

Federal appeals court allows Texas law preventing social media sites, with more than 50 million users, from "censoring" content from users based on their viewpoint. The law is structured in such a way as to make it extremely difficult for companies to defend themselves.

My view is that it will make social media moderation more difficult and enable the trolls and other antisocial groups to be even more disruptive than they already are.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/court-revives-texas-social-media-law-against-banning-users-views-2022-05-11/

Depression-era American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde, who were killed by police in a 1934 ambush, made an odd onscreen appearance at Russia's Victory Day celebration.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2022/05/10/bonnie-and-clyde-photo-shown-at-russia-wwii-event/amp/

Bronx woman falsely arrested for planted gun in retaliation for filming NYPD cops: suit

Yeah, it's as bad as it sounds.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-bronx-gun-possession-wrongful-nypd-arrest-lawsuit-20220509-tjch6zgwpze3veefjmvoznsg44-story.html

We all saw this coming.

Elon Musk says he would reverse Twitter ban on Donald Trump.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/05/10/musk-talk-twitter/

Well, I guess the Philippines can stop looking for all the money the Marcos family looted from the country the last time they were in power.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/world/asia/philippines-election-protests.amp.html

Long Covid will be a growing problem, even for the vaccinated and those with no acute Covid symptoms.
https://fortune.com/2022/05/08/surviving-pandemic-half-the-battle-long-covid-growing-public-health-crisis-could-affect-a-billion-in-just-a-few-years/

No chance of it becoming law, so long as the Democrats control Congress, but Marco Rubio is introducing legislation to punish corporations for paying travel costs for employees seeking an abortion or gender-affirming care for their children.

Look for more attempts to prevent interstate travel for medical care.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-05/rubio-targets-citi-amazon-with-bill-on-abortion-travel-benefits

Banning all abortions remains very unpopular. Will widespread state abortion bans help Democrats stem projected Republican gains in the 2022 elections?

I hope predictions are wrong, but it's looking like 2022 will be a wake-up call for Democrats. The pending Supreme Court abortion decision may help change that, but so far it's not looking good.

https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/are-democrats-headed-for-a-shellacking-in-the-midterm-election/

Next up: abortion travel bans as states try to stop women from traveling to obtain an abortion in a state where abortion is still legal.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/abortion-travel-bans-emerge-as-next-frontier-after-roes-end

Oligarchs love European data protection laws because it protects them from journalistic scrutiny.

(I'm posting a piece from The Evonomist to test their social media paywall. Let me know if you're blocked and I'll refrain from posting from them in the future.)

TheEconomist https://www.economist.com/1843/2022/05/04/why-oligarchs-love-european-data-protection-laws

Covid isn't over, yet. After months of decline, Covid deaths appear to be rising, again.

Tesla has a major manufacturing plant in China and sells over half their cars in that country.

It'll be interesting to see how Elon Musk's Twitter responds to Chinese government demands for special treatment of Chinese state media, disrupters and bots. (And Chinese government talk of "free speech" is pretty rich.)

An interesting (and scary) insight into where Alito is drawing sone of his legal precedent from - an English jurist who executed two women for witchcraft and wrote a treatise supporting marital rape.

Why I'm not a fan of Noam Chomsky, part 4,367.

https://miamistandard.news/2022/05/02/noam-chomsky-trump-the-one-western-statesman-of-stature-pushing-peace-in-ukraine/

Yes, America has an oligarch problem.

How a billionaires boys’ club came to dominate the public square.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/01/billionaires-politics/