The Pill: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the abortion drug mifepristone may remain available while the lawsuit seeking to eliminate it wends its way through lower courts.

  A federal judge in Texas had ruled to remove the drug from the market entirely and an appeals court amended that, leaving severe restrictions.

  The Supreme Court order was one paragraph and unsigned. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr., both clearly anti-abortion jurists, dissented.

  The worry about mifepristone is that making it illegal would limit abortion even in the states where it is legal. Drugs are used in roughly half of all abortions.

  Also, revoking FDA approval of a drug after 23 years would open the door to second guessing the approval of any and all medications, some critics of the Texas decision say. President Biden said the Texas ruling “would have undermined FDA’s medical judgment and put women’s health at risk.”

  The case now goes back to the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals and will likely eventually bounce back up to the Supreme Court.

The War Room: President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine signed two laws to reinforce his country’s national identity, banning Russian place names and making knowledge of Ukrainian language and history a requirement for citizenship.

  Ukraine has a long history of Russian domination, which is part of the reason that Vladimir Putin invaded. He believes Ukraine belongs to Russia. The laws Zelensky signed are designed to draw the line of history and say, “This is ours.”

  One law Zelensky signed prohibits place names that “perpetuate, promote or symbolize the occupying state or its notable, memorable, historical and cultural places, cities, dates, events,” and “its figures who carried out military aggression against Ukraine.”

Thrown for a Loss: Three NFL players have been suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games last season, while two other players, including the 12th overall draft pick in 2022, received six-game suspensions for betting on non-NFL games at a league facility.

  Detroit Lions wide receiver Quintez Cephus, Lions safety C.J. Moore and Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney will sit out the  entire 2023 season and will need to petition for reinstatement afterward.

 Lions wide receivers Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams each received a six-game suspension. The league says no games were “compromised’ for the betting.

Lightning in a Can: Fans of Bud Light beer are still outraged over Bud’s partnership with transgender blogger Dylan Mulvaney, who rose to notoriety chronicling her transition from male to female. The beer maker sent the activist custom-made cans featuring her face, which she revealed in an Instagram post. She later posted a video of herself drinking one of the beers in a bathtub.

  Since then, conservative commentators have condemned the company and Anheuser-Busch facilitieshave received anonymous threats. Musician Kid Rock posted a video of himself machine-gunning a case of Bud Light.

  Now, the news breaks that Alissa Heinerscheid, vice president of marketing for Bud Light only since June, has been pushed out without explanation. 

  This all begs the question. If Kid Rock is so tough, why does he drink Bud Light?

The Obit Page: Australian entertainer Barry Humphries, who was known for his comic character Dame Edna Everage, has died aged 89.

 Dame Edna hit the scene in Britain in the 1970s and booked  her own television talk show, the Dame Edna Everage Experience, in the late 1980s. Edna had violet hair and wild glasses. Humphries created her in the 1950s as a parody of suburban housewives, based on his own mother.

The Spin Rack: Right wing radio host Larry Elder says he’ running for the Republican nomination for president. — TennesseeRepublican state Rep. Scotty Campbell, who voted to expel those two members who staged an anti-gun protest on the floor,  has resigned after being accused of harassment by an intern. Campbell told a reporter he’d “had consensual, adult conversations with two adults off property.” — Twitter has removed all labels for a number of media accounts it had disparagingly branded “government-funded” in the case of NPR and “state-affiliated” for outlets such as Russia’s RT and Sputnik, as well as China’s Xinhua. NPR quit the platform because of the unflattering label. — Belgian customs authorities have destroyed 2,352 cans of the Miller Highlife  beer, which brands itself as the  “the Champagne of Beers,” because it does not come from the Champagne district of France. 

Below the Fold: An emaciated five-foot alligator pulled from a pond in New York’s Prospect Park has died, despite efforts to save it. Veterinarians had removed a bathtub stopper from the creature’s intestines,  but it had anemia as well as intestinal and skin infections, and a chronic ulcer from the swallowed bath stopper.

  Alligators in New York are more than myth … pet owners frequently release them when they get too big. One of them was once seen crossing the street in the Wall Street financial district.  

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