In national politics this week:

• Convicted felon Donald Trump returns to the scene of one of his crimes, with Congressional Republicans falling all over themselves to kiss his ass.
• Hunter Biden’s 3-count felony conviction means he needs just 31 more to become the Republican presidential nominee.
• Inflation continues to go down, more jobs are created, incomes are up – but Biden continues to get low polling numbers on the economy
• More free trips for Clarence Thomas are revealed even as Senate Republicans block an ethics code for the Supreme Court. 
• Senate Democrats also force Republicans to go on the record regarding the right to contraception, and protecting IVF … while Senate Republicans say they’ll block all action in retaliation for Trump’s 34-count conviction
• Accused felon Matt DePerno is running for the Michigan Supreme Court, even though he may lose his law license or go to prison for election machine tampering. Democrats are publicly horrified and privately laughing gleefully
• The legislature moves against artificial intelligence being used to create sexually provocative photographs of unwilling people.
• A state house committee approves legislation revamping Michigan’s economic incentives for new business investments. 
• Good news for Michigan’s budget: Michigan overtakes California as top cannabis market by sales volume (also good news for Taco Bell!). Last year the state collected more than 260-million-dollars in weed tax.
• Supreme Court preserves access to widely used abortion medication mifepristone | AP News
• Trump’s Campaign Is Funneling Cash Back to His Businesses: Daily Beast
• Michigan Court of Appeals rejects Kumar’s attempt to get back on the congressional ballot • Michigan Advance
• Michael Rulli wins special election for Ohio House seat; GOP vote down 19 points from 2020 – AP News
• FBI: Crime down sharply under Biden administration – Judd Legum/Popular Information

Also this week: Walt Sorg’s chat with state Representative Penelope Tsernoglou over her bills protecting us humanoids from some very real abuses of A.I.

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