National Archives - Page 16 of 48 - Alex's Asteroid Astrology

May 20th, 2022 at 08:16am by Alex Miller

The Buffalo Mass Shooting

The latest in a string of seemingly endless mass shooting hate crimes unfolded in Buffalo, New York on Saturday, 14 May 2022, when 18-year-old suspect Payton Gendron unleashed a hail of bullets from his modified AR-15 weapon at a Tops Friendly Market, killing 10 and wounding three others. Nine of the dead were black and specifically targeted for their race by Gendron, who is white and had released his White Supremacist manifesto online days before the shooting, then live-streamed the initial stages of the massacre from a camera mounted on his helmet. Clad in body armor, Gendron drove 200 miles from his home near Binghamton to exterminate individuals he feared were “replacing” whites as America’s majority, and had made the trip at least twice earlier to select additional targets, which included a nearby black church and an elementary school.

May 15th, 2022 at 08:33am by Alex Miller

The Pennsylvania Senate Race: Key to Democratic Control?

On Tuesday, May 17^th, 2022, the Keystone State of Pennsylvania holds its Primary Election, fraught with import for ultimate control of the US Senate. GOP incumbent Pat Toomey is retiring, and with his seat up for grabs, there’s a good chance for a Democratic pick-up, which could reinforce their Senate majority. Far ahead of the pack for the Democrats is current PA Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, polling at over 50%, with current US Representative Conor Lamb trailing with just 14%, and two other “also ran” asterisk candidates. Most of the drama in the race has been on the Republican side, with three main contenders attempting to out-Trump the others in appealing to the all-important MAGA crowd. Trump himself has endorsed celebrity candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, the controversial heart surgeon-turned TV doctor, in a move “Rolling Stone” magazine aptly hailed as “Fraud Endorses Quack.”

May 2nd, 2022 at 08:46am by Alex Miller

Of Mice and Mean: DeSantis vs Disney

On April 22, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a mean-spirited, retaliatory Bill meant to punish Disney World for its outspoken opposition to his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans discussion of same-sex and transgender orientation in primary public schools in the Sunshine State, signed by the governor the month before. The new legislation revokes the Disney World theme park’s special status as a self-governing enclave within Florida, allowing it to function as a municipal or county government, providing its own electrical grid, security, emergency, medical, fire and rescue services, in exchange for special tax status in the state. DeSantis pushed for the law after Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek publicly denounced the anti-gay legislation, and announced a reassessment of Disney’s political contribution policy.

April 8th, 2022 at 08:15am by Alex Miller

AAA Profile: Ketanji Brown Jackson

The United States Supreme Court just got a little more diversified, with the history-making confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as its newest Associate Justice, the first black woman to sit on the bench. Jackson was confirmed by the full Senate on Thursday, April 7, with a bipartisan vote of 53-47, and will replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer when the new session convenes in October. A native of Washington DC, Jackson was raised in Florida, is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School (where she edited the “Harvard Law Review”), and previously clerked for the Justice she is replacing.

March 26th, 2022 at 09:30am by Alex Miller

Virginia Reels: The Ginni Thomas Text Controversy

On March 24, 2022, Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa reported on text messages sent in November 2020 from Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to Mark Meadows, former President Trump’s then Chief of Staff, exhorting him to do anything necessary to overturn the results of the 2020 election and keep Donald Trump in office. Sent days to weeks after the loss, Thomas deluged Meadows with false information, conspiracy theories, and strategies for reversing the apparent defeat.

February 24th, 2022 at 08:15am by Alex Miller

AAA Profile: Rosa Parks

On December 1, 1955, an African American seamstress named Rosa Parks boarded a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and stepped into history. At the time, buses were segregated, with “Whites Only” sections up front that were created by movable signs. If the white section filled up, drivers adjusted the markers and asked already seated black patrons to move further to the back. Parks, who according to custom paid her fee up front, then exited the bus and re-entered through the rear door, had initially sat in the black section, but when the driver expanded the white area and requested she vacate her seat, she refused.