Optimistic Justice Warrior

@rozoruminations

Mobility & LongCOVID Disabled Attorney Michelle Rozovics (IL&UK) now Litigating While Housebound. Occasionally insightful, hopefully humorous commentary on Law, Equal Access to Justice & Cake Whoredom. Profiled in ABAJournal Members Who Inspire, Nov 2024.

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Bluesky

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Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· 20d

The "I Can't Believe It's Only Wednesday" Dinner. #foodsky

Bowl full of SmartPop White Cheddar Popcorn, single serve container of hummus, 3 baby carrots (already ate 3 more), and 3 Baby Bel cheeses.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· 22d

How very Queen Elizabeth I of kitty.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· 26d

I read one Dean Koontz book. My aunt recommended est 1998 because I liked mysteries. Intensity scared the shit out of me. I never could read another Koontz book. That attests to his talent. If you like tension horror, you should read every Dean Koontz. If you are a big fraidy cat like me, DON'T!

Vintage cover of Dean Koontz "Intensity" book, showing close up spider webbing on a neon yellow background, cut through by a bright white blinding light.

"Chills the reader to the core and establishes Koontz as a master." -- Associated Press

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· 29d

Me two months before my 3rd birthday. My first library hour. New Library Card is in my hand. Check out that pure joy.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jul 11

It's been a lonnngggg week. Urban Pie Frozen pizza to soothe my tormented soul and body. White sauce, burratta & mozzarella cheese, roasted garlic. $6.99 on sale in Northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jul 10

Wait - who is terminating the filibuster? Him if his SAVE FASCISM ACT gets passed? Or Dumocrats (no b) if it doesn't pass? It's confusing. By the way, I fully support all Dumbocats. That's the kind of Disney mash-up us Trump Haters can get behind.

"The Dumbocats"
Mash-up of Disney's The Aristocats and Dumbo

The Dumbocats, being intelligent animals, fully support all anti-Trump, well, everything.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jul 7

Generally, the Keto diet for epileptic purposes (not diet purposes) is recommended for those who are medication-resistant. I couldn't fit that into my original post, but that was the reason I mentioned I was well-controlled by medication. I actually could benefit from Keto for diet reasons. But...

Text: I'm a carbie girl, in a carbie world

Picture: barbie doll, reclining within a slice of pepperoni pizza, on top of the crust and underneath the cheese and pepperoni, with her arms positioned beneath her head and her hair flowing freely. It gives the impression she is in a heavenly spa environment, living her best life, receiving the best pizza treatment ever.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jul 3

Drone images of The Great American State Fair show we've been transported to a 1955 Ghost Town. Black Bart tried to hide in Miss Marnie's Whorehouse after robbing a stagecoach of gold, only to fall off the balcony while in a shootout with Sheriff Trueblue, greeted by cheers of boisterous spectators

Donald Trump posted this drone image of the National Mall, taken from the perspective of above and looking downward. The imagery reveals that the so-called buildings on the fairgrounds are merely wooden panels painted on one side to resemble the facade of a Classical style building. The bare reverse side of the panels is readily visible from the photo, making the whole thing look like a set on a stage, or an Old West fake gunfight Ghost Town, of the sort made popular in the latter half of the 20th century.

Close up of section of image of the buildings at The Great American State Fair posted by Donald Trump. The panoramic image taken from above and looking at the ground, likely photographed with a drone, shows the buildings are only wooden facades, some with tent coverings.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jul 3

The Great American State Fair 》is neither Great 》nor celebratory of American values 》nor fairly representative of our 50 States. Although Grifted & Money Laundered by Freedom 250, TGASF is neither Free nor celebrating Freedom. I admit it might have reached 250 attendees this past week, though.

Panoramic view of the National Mall during Trump's Ironically named Great American State Fair.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jun 14

In "The Moment I Knew", a person tells how they first knew their long-term love was going to be their Long-Term Love. Today's #pride column has universal lessons for all of us, whether LGBTQIA+, straight, old, young, in or out of a relationship, mental health. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

The moment I knew: When he saw my unkempt hovel, he was so nonjudgmental
from The Guardian 13 June 2026

I hadn’t had a house guest in years and my apartment was a bachelor pad in all the worst ways. I was so embarrassed about it I booked us a hotel, but the room was so bad he insisted we go back to mine. There he got his first glimpse of who I was behind my performer’s facade – dirty dishes, hideous bed linen and all. He was so fine with the state of my house I could hardly believe it. This is a person who will not drink champagne unless everyone’s glasses match, yet my unkempt hovel didn’t receive so much as a side eye.

That is something I adore about Richard. Despite his own exacting standards, he is so nonjudgmental. I am a famously cynical guy. I see the worst in everything, especially myself. But Richard doesn’t; he challenges my negativity without ever making me feel bad about it.

When I get salty about some perceived slight, he asks me gently if it’s really something worth spending my energy on.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jun 10

A weird piece of US History: On 22 Feb 1837, to commemorate the birth of George Washington, President Jackson invited the public to enjoy a 1,400lb block of cheese at the White House. 10k people rushed into the WH with knives, devoured the super stinky cheddar in 2hrs, leaving grease everywhere.

Article credit byline:
Evan Moffitt
Senior Digital Editor

In the first century AD, the poet Juvenal complained that his fellow Romans had traded their democratic rights for “bread and circuses”. It’s time to add beef to the menu. On Sunday more than 4,000 spectators and half a dozen meatheads will gather in a makeshift coliseum on the White House lawn for an ultimate fighting championship (UFC) bout to honour Don Caesar’s 80th birthday. The only thing Trump loves more than raw combat is the hungry roar of his fans.

Much has been made of the brutal symbolism of the brawl, which will nominally commemorate the 250th anniversary of US independence. As Rory Smith wrote in The Observer last Sunday, wrestling blurs reality in ways that have “informed Trump’s assault on politics”. But in a historical sense, it’s a very American affair. The 45th president is taking a page out of the book of his favourite predecessor, the grandfather of American populism, Andrew Jackson.

On 22 February 1837, to commemorate the birth of George Washington, President Jackson opened the doors of the White House and invited the public to enjoy a 1,400lb block of cheese. The giant cheddar wheel was a gift from Thomas S Meacham, a small-town dairy farmer with grand ambitions, and had been stinking up the vestibule for two years. The odour was allegedly so strong it caused “dandies and lackadaisical ladies” to faint on Pennsylvania Avenue. At the appointed hour, an estimated 10,000 people, armed with knives, rushed into the building and devoured the cheddar in two hours. According to some accounts, windows were smashed, furniture was broken and the carpet became slippery with cheese.

Jackson didn’t stick around long, but he was already on his way out. He left his vice president and successor Martin Van Buren to greet the crowds – and to clean up the mess. The whole ground floor of the mansion had to be refurbished before the Van Burens moved in that spring. (Jackson left the economy similarly in disarray.) Still, some observers thought “the big cheese” was a success, proof that Jackson was “the people’s president”. Plus, it dominated the headlines. “Nothing else was talked about at Washington that day,” Benjamin Perley Poore later recalled. “Even the scandal about the wife of the president’s secretary of war was forgotten in the tumultuous jubilation of that great occasion.”

That particular scandal involved an extramarital affair, but Trump has a few scandals of his own he must wish could be swept under the rug. Epstein, Iran, crypto, voter suppression… his administration is a stinking smorgasbord. UFC might divert some public attention, though the news cycle moves somewhat faster than it did in 1837.

There are plenty of other comparisons with Jackson that Trump would probably welcome. It’s not without reason that Maga’s big cheese keeps a portrait of his predecessor beside his desk in the Oval Office. Both men made a fortune by speculating in real estate. Trump’s fight with the Federal Reserve over interest rates recalls Jackson’s war with the National Bank. In 1832, the supreme court ruled that historical treaties entitled the Cherokee to their ancestral homelands; Jackson defied the order and forced 60,000 people on a death march to western reservations, known as the “Trail of Tears”. Similarly, Trump has called for the impeachment of judges who have ruled against his deportation orders – and in some cases ICE has deported them anyway. Like Jackson, Trump uses populist rhetoric to justify unchecked executive power.

Trump’s love of Jackson may be one reason he shot down a proposal to replace the image of the slave-owning president on the $20 bill with a portrait of the abolitionist Harriet Tubman. She would have been the first woman and first person of colour represented on US currency. Instead, Trump hopes to get himself on a new $250 bill as early as this summer (he is a person the colour of red leicester). Federal law prohibits any living person from being depicted on banknotes, but the president is hoping, like Jackson, that the rules don’t apply to him.

Of course, there are differences between Jackson, a war hero, and the man who sought a medical deferment from the Vietnam draft due to bone spurs. Unlike the cheese party in 1837, not everyone will be allowed into UFC 250. VIP packages reportedly run to $1.5m. Most fans will have to enjoy the carnage on television, where it will be broadcast live by CBS, thanks to the network’s new Trump-friendly owner, David Ellison. For the lucky few to snag seats, there will be a free concessions stand. It has not yet been announced if Trump steaks will be served – or if there will be cheese.
[end of article]
Illustration by The Granger Collection/Alamy

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jun 3

The time frame changed when Atmus Filtration dismissed its case because it no longer wanted to be the poster child for Tariffs. In came Euro-Notions v CBP as lead. DOJ also appealed VOS Selections v. Trump 25cv00066 since their CIT case arose from their claim as one of the cases that won in SCOTUS.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jun 3

tariff instrument. Any future president, Republican or Democratic, facing the same ruling. This is why Trump has since re-imposed tariffs under different legal authorities (Section 301, Section 232, Section 122), which are also being challenged in court. The legal battlefield has shifted, but the pattern is clear: every tariff imposed under questionable authority creates refund liability.

Third — and this is the most immediate macro implication — the refund wave hits corporate balance sheets at the same time as the Iran war exit dynamics we've been covering today. Companies that paid IEEPA tariffs are about to receive lump-sum refunds with interest starting April 20. For large importers — Walmart, Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, every major retailer — the refunds are material. For mid-size importers, they could be existential. For small importers who can navigate the CAPE process, they could be the difference between solvency and closure.

The timing matters. The refunds arrive during an already complex macro moment: breakeven inflation collapsing from 5.45% to 3.45% in three weeks (covered earlier today), oil at $60 after the Hormuz blockade resolution, the Iran war ceasefire architecture coming together, and Q1 earnings season starting. Adding $127 billion in unexpected cash refunds to importer balance sheets during this window creates a secondary liquidity wave that hasn't been priced into earnings forecasts yet.

What to watch over the next 10 days.

The Supreme Court ruling plus CAPE plus the Iran war exit dynamics plus the 40-Senate-vote Israel arms shift plus the War Powers Resolution pressure plus the CFTC investigation into oil trading plus the Joe Kent NCTC resignation — all of these are manifestations of institutional pushback against executive overreach happening in parallel across judicial, legislative, intelligence, and regulatory domains. The system is correcting itself. Slowly, imperfectly, but visibly.

$127 billion is what it costs the Treasury when the Supreme Court decides the executive overreached. Multiply that across every tariff, sanction, and emergency economic measure being imposed under questionable authority, and the compound cost over time is enormous.

The lesson is older than the Republic: every dollar the executive collects outside legal authority eventually has to be refunded, with interest.

April 20 is the day the government starts writing the checks.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Jun 3

There was a great post on Twitter in early April by Armaan Sidhu discussing the micro and macro implications of the IEEPA ruling, beginning with Learning Resources v Trump SCOTUS ruling in February, explaining how Atmus Filtration v USCBP (lead case prior to Euro-Notions) set up refunds & why impt.

The US government is about to refund $127 billion in tariffs starting Monday, April 20.

Over 330,000 importers across 53 million shipments are eligible for money back — with interest.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on February 20 that Trump's tariffs under the 1977 IEEPA were unconstitutional. Two months later, Customs and Border Protection is about to turn on the refund spigot.

This is what happens when the executive branch collects $166 billion it didn't have the legal authority to collect.

Here's the mechanical story nobody's walking through.

The Supreme Court decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 — the statute Trump relied on to impose sweeping global tariffs in 2025 — does not grant the President authority to impose tariffs of indefinite scope. The ruling was categorical on the merits but silent on refund mechanics. That silence created the vacuum that the Court of International Trade filled through Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States, ordering CBP to refund approximately $165 billion in unlawfully collected duties.

CBP then had a problem. Processing refunds under existing procedures would have required 4.4 million working hours — roughly 533,000 eight-hour days or 184,000 days of 24/7 processing. The agency told the court it physically could not do it through existing systems. The court granted a 45-day extension to build a new refund platform.

The platform is called CAPE — Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. Four integrated components: a claim portal where importers submit refund requests via CSV upload, a mass processing engine that automatically removes IEEPA HTS codes from validated entries and recalculates duties as if they'd never been imposed, a liquidation/validation layer, and a refund disbursement mechanism that consolidates refunds by liquidation date and importer of record. One consolidated electronic payment per importer, with interest when applicable, rather than entry-by-entry refunds.

The 82% registration rate matters.

As of April 9, 56,497 importers had completed ACH registration to receive electronic refunds — covering 82% of eligible entries and totaling $127 billion. The remaining 18% of entries haven't registered yet, which explains the gap between the Supreme Court's $166B total and the $127B figure being processed. The unregistered portion isn't lost — it's just not yet claimed. Importers have to come forward. There is no automatic refund.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 31

One of my favorite books I first saw as a movie. During a visit home from college, I stayed up late, flipping over-the-air channels on our 13in TV, keeping volume low to not wake my sleeping Mom. I didn't know the name of the enchanting B&W movie until the credits. Bought the book the next day.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 27

Once, when I cut off all my hair during the pandemic, I created my own Tumbleweed.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 26

I learned a new word while reading Bloomberg today: bourse. Bourse literally means Stock Exchange. "The AI boom has sent the stock market soaring in Taiwan, which makes the bulk of the world’s most advanced chips. The island’s bourse is now the fifth-biggest in the world, slipping past India..."

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 25

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 24

The pic of me getting my first Chicago Public Library card at 2y10mo old. The beginning of a beautiful relationship for this Night Owl reader. At age 9, my Mom thought NYT Best Sellers would make me slow down my rate of Book Corpsification. I had long-ago finished Young Adults & Teen Titles.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 20

Found a new-to-me Greek restaurant 0.8 miles from my house. Soooo excited. Spicy Feta Falafel Hummus Greek sausage Dolmas Lemon basil rice And pittttttaaaaaaa

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 8

It depends on what you need and buy. I am single. I always buy the big Fage yogurt and Daisy cottage cheese. Plus blackberries and raspberries and a package of unsalted deluxe nuts. Boom - 2 Weeks of breakfast. Their croissants & pastries are great. And then there's these Lunchables for adults.

Honey Smoked Fish Co Smoked Salmon stackers, with spreadable herb cheese and rice crackers, pack of 4 for $14.74 at Costco.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 8

Lacey's Cute Butt says Hi.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 5

Obvi it depends on so many variables, but my favorites are Dior Lip Balm (changes color based on your chemistry: microfine crystals to exfoliate lips) or Sephora cheap knock off. I also like exfoliating face wipes but only when you don't have to wash them off after (lazy). TomFord perfum sampler.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 4

Lacey Of The Cute Butt got a summer shavedown today. Generally, I prefer a modified Cocker Cut (shaved face, butt & undercarriage, short back, mid-long body skirt) but my baby heats up FAST! She's still gorgeous, even though she looks like a different dog! #DogsofBluesky #SeniorDogs #SpecialNeeds

Sleek and Chic Lacey launches her summer social calendar by giving Herr Sock Monkey the cold shoulder.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· May 3

My current Specially Abled Cocker Spaniel is Lacey, a 13yo Addison's Disease Diva. When her cortisol levels are screwy she won't eat & has extreme fatigue. She gets steroid injections monthly. 1x vet gave her wrong med. Missed steroid made B12 levels drop so low she almost had heart attack & died.

Optimistic Justice Warrior@rozoruminations· Apr 29

On the plus side, Pete Hegseth has gone Grey, Bald, and Wrinkly within just over 1 year. Before much longer, he'll be sharing Combover Tips With Donny!