Asteroid Astrology: National

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Happy Birthday, SCOTUS!

The Supreme Court of the United States (AKA SCOTUS) just had a birthday!  Established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Court turned 235 on March 4, 2024 (and she doesn’t look a day over 200!).  The Court’s motto is “Equal Justice Under the Law,” but for much of its chequered history it may as well have been, “Often Wrong, But Never in Doubt.”  We don’t have to go as far back as the 1857 “Dred Scott” decision (which found that the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent) to find a real head-scratcher.  More recent examples include “Heller” in 2008, which confirmed the Second Amendment gun rights free-for-all; “Citizens United” in 2010, which granted corporations the same free speech rights as individuals regarding political spending; or the 2022 ruling in “Dobbs” which eliminated nationwide reproductive health rights (though to be fair, it was also SCOTUS that confirmed those rights, in 1973’s “Roe v Wade”).

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Redefining Childhood: Alabama Supreme Court Rules Frozen IVF Embryos Are Children

In a shocking/not shocking ruling on February 16, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court has stated that frozen embryos intended for possible in vitro fertilization use are, legally, children, and their destruction can be prosecuted under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.  The 8-1 decision by the exclusively Republican nine-member Court allows couples whose frozen embryos were inadvertently removed from storage and allowed to deteriorate to sue a Mobile, Alabama fertility clinic for the wrongful death of their “children.”

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Trump Trial #1: Date Set

The Trump legal team’s final gambit to derail the Stormy Daniels hush money case failed on Thursday, 15 February 2024, when Judge Juan Merchan rejected a motion to dismiss, reaffirming the trial date already set for 25 March.  The case involves election interference, in the paying of hush money to Stephanie Clifford, AKA porn star Stormy Daniels, and to Playboy model Karen McDougal, to cover up sexual liaisons with Trump, just before the November 2016 presidential election.  Trump, via his lawyer Michael Cohen, allegedly used campaign funds to buy Daniels’ silence, while American Media fronted the cash for McDougal.  Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was the first to bring criminal charges against the former president, nearly a year ago, and will now be the first (but certainly not the last) to attempt to bring Trump to justice.

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The New York 3 Special Election: Another One Bites the Dust

On Tuesday, 13 February 2024, New York’s Third Congressional District held a special election to fill the seat vacated by serial fabulist George Santos, ousted from the US House of Representatives last December.  The election in the swing district was viewed by many as a bellwether, an omen of things to come in the general election come November.  Though polling showed a tight race, Democrat Tom Suozzi trounced Republican Mazi Pilip, 54%-46%.  The victory shifts yet another House seat from R to D, giving GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson just a two-vote majority.

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Asteroid Sleuth: The Case of the Decapitated Dad

On January 30, 2024, Justin Mohn, 23, killed and beheaded his father, Michael, 68, at the home they shared in Levittown, PA.  He posted a video of him holding the head, wrapped in a plastic bag, on his YouTube channel, calling his father a traitor because he was a federal employee.  In a 14-minute tirade, Mohn spouted rightwing conspiracy theories and antigovernment slogans, brandishing the head for part of the time, later seen in the background sitting in a cooking pot.  Mohn then took his father’s car and fled the scene, arrested later that evening approximately 100 miles away, after his mother returned home, discovered the body, and phoned 911 at about 7 PM EST. 

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Carroll of the Bills: Trump’s Defamation Price Tag

Some people never learn.  Despite being found liable for sexual assault and defamation last year, in a civil action brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who sued him for slanderous statements attempting to rebut her claims of rape, Donald Trump continued to defame Carroll, post-verdict.  And Carroll continued to sue him.  And Trump continues to defame her.  Will she sue again?

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