Tag archive: Quaoar

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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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Election 2022: Several Senate Scenarios

While Uranus exactly conjunct the Moon for the Lunar Eclipse on Election Day warns us to expect the unexpected, loss of control of the US House of Representatives does seem likely.  Redistricting alone, in the wake of the 2020 census, should grant the Republicans ten more seats, more than enough to change the balance of power in the lower chamber and wrest the Speaker’s gavel from Nancy Pelosi, even if all current Dem incumbents not caught up in that redistricting shift keep their seats.

So it’s in the Senate where the real drama will unfold.  Currently split 50/50, Democrats maintain control (assuming they are all acting together, not always the case with consensus refuseniks like Manchin and Sinema in their ranks) due to VP Kamala Harris’ ability to break any ties in the administration’s favor.  Earlier this year, the likelihood of Dems holding their fragile majority, perhaps even picking up a seat or two, seemed fairly high.  But recent polling suggests Republicans are closing the gap, threatening Dem incumbents in some states, perhaps failing to pick up seats from retiring GOP senators in others.  I’ve chosen three contests to profile, the winners of which will likely determine who ultimately controls the US Senate:  Pennsylvania, Ohio and Georgia.

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Roe Overturned

It didn’t quite make it to fifty, but for almost half a century legal abortion has been the law of the land here in the US.  No more.

On June 24, 2022, the gavel fell on Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision guaranteeing reproductive rights, overturned 5-4 by the current US Supreme Court.  The test case which led to Roe’s reversal was Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which sought to prevent a Mississippi state law virtually eliminating abortion after 15 weeks from conception.  That law was upheld 6-3, but Chief Justice John Roberts joined the progressive minority on the Court when Roe itself became the target of his conservative colleagues.

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AAA Profile: Marjorie Taylor Greene

Not since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019 has a freshman congressperson made such a stunning impact in the House of Representatives as Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), quickly emerging as an avatar for the extremist fringe of her Party.  Greene latched onto the Trumpist base with all the furor of a Sarah-Palin-inspired “pit bull in lipstick”, hawking every conspiracy theory to come within range while endorsing the lynching of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and the assassination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  Not surprisingly, Donald Trump strongly supported her candidacy, calling her “a future Republican star.”  Since his departure from the Oval Office, he and Greene have exchanged phone calls frequently, with the newly minted Representative planning a visit to Mar-a-Lago soon, to kiss the ring:  “Great news is, he supports me 100%, and I’ve always supported him,” tweeted Greene.

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