Today’s Column Isn’t.

“What a drag it is getting old” – Lyric from the Rolling Stones "Mother Little Helper"

I had a cataract removed from and a new lens inserted in my left eye yesterday, and things are a bit blurry this morning. If things run the same course as my right eye’s healing, this sensation will be short-lived. But I’ll take a break today.

I do have a couple of items typed up over the weekend.

VACATION(s)--I intend to take some time off this summer. It’s hard for me to do because writing is as much a habit as my morning cuppa joe. So far, the days off I have planned are July 4-7 and August 1-12.

When I return from the August break, I’ll begin focusing on my Fall 2024 Voting Guide, meaning that many of my posts will be focused on candidates and ballot measures. On the week that mail-in voting starts, I’ll publish a condensed version, complete with links back to more detailed coverage.

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Tuesday’s Other News to Think About

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Conservative-Backed Group Is Creating A List Of Federal Workers It Suspects Could Resist Trump Plans via HuffPost.cm

• The concept of compiling and publicizing a list of government employees shows the lengths Trump’s allies are willing to go to ensure nothing or no one will block his plans in a potential second term. Jones’ Project Sovereignty 2025 comes as Heritage’s Project 2025 lays the groundwork, with policies, proposals and personnel ready for a possible new White House.

• The effort, focused on top career government officials who aren’t appointees within the political structure, has stunned democracy experts and shocked the civil service community in what they compare with the red scare of McCarthyism.

• Jacqueline Simon, policy director at the American Federation of Government Employees, said the language being used — the Heritage Foundation’s announcement praised the group for ferreting out “anti-American bad actors” — is “shocking.”

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She had a miscarriage, and says a California CVS wouldn’t give her a prescribed abortion pill via CalMatters

• For most miscarriages and early pregnancy loss, Sridhar said the three management options are surgical intervention, medication and waiting to see if the body successfully empties the uterus by itself. Determining the course of treatment should be a joint decision between the patient and doctor, and all three options have been shown to be safe, Sridhar said.

• But at the CVS pharmacy at 4829 Clairemont Drive, the first employee told Costales there was no prescription for her on file, the National Women’s Law Center letter alleges. The second employee told her “I don’t know if we can fill this,” according to the letter. And after asking to speak with the pharmacist for an explanation, Costales alleges in the letter that the pharmacist said “It doesn’t matter if I have it, I am not comfortable dispensing it to you” and walked away.

• The experience was humiliating, Costales said, adding that the shame and anger have lasted for months.

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RFK Jr. Group Turned Away by Supreme Court in Vaccine Cases via Bloomberg

• The US Supreme Court turned away two vaccine-related appeals from Children’s Health Defense, the group founded by immunization skeptic and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

• The justices left intact a federal appeals court decision that said the group and five parents lacked legal standing to challenge the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency approval of Covid-19 vaccines for children.

• The high court also turned away contentions, pressed by Children’s Health Defense and 13 students, that Rutgers University violated the Constitution by making vaccination against Covid a condition of attending classes in the fall of 2021.