It isn’t always possible to chronicle every news item that comes across the digital transom in real time, and sometimes the stories, while intriguing, just don’t merit a full article. But that doesn’t mean they’re without merit, as I hope this grab bag of bypassed stories proves. From science to trivia, honors to passings, there’s something for every taste in this catchall article.
Hold onto your cosmic hats! We’re gonna do a down-and-dirty overview of three stories that made the news in recent days – the terrorist attack in Moscow on March 22nd that left more than 130 dead; the diminution of Donald Trump’s civil fraud bond on the 25th; and the catastrophic bridge collapse in Baltimore on the 26th. Each deserves a deeper dive, buy hey! I’m only human.
The 96th annual Academy Awards kicked off an hour earlier than usual this year, at 4 PM PDT in Los Angeles, California, with asteroid Oskar 750, for the nickname of the gold statuette given to winners, at 11 Sagittarius widely squared the Sun at 20 Pisces (which, aptly, conjoined Neptune, ruling film, at 27 Pisces). Oskar is also more closely trine the 14 Leo Ascendant of the event, its public face and the name commonly used to refer to the ceremony. Asteroid Academia 829 (for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which sponsors the awards) at 27 Aquarius conjoins Venus at 28 Aquarius, outing the Awards as the popularity contest they truly are.
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”).
On 18 February 2024, three prisoners escaped from a holding cell at the South St. George Police Station on Grenada, hijacked the yacht of an American couple docked nearby, took them captive, and sailed the vessel to the island of St. Vincent, where the yacht, a catamaran, was found on the 21st, and the prisoners recaptured. The boat showed signs of violence, including what appeared to be bloodstains, but of Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry, its owners, there was no sign. Presumably the couple were somehow disposed of at sea by their attackers, and little hope of their recovery has been offered.
On Friday, 16 February 2024, the long-awaited judgment in the Trump civil business fraud trial was handed down. Judge Arthur Engoron slammed the Trump Organization with $354 million in fines, also personally fining Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump $4 million each. Also due, interest on the funds, currently at some $100 million, which continues to accrue until the penalty is paid, for a whopping total of some $450 million. Included in the judgment, Judge Engoron barred Trump Sr “from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of three years,” further banning his sons for two years.
