Arizona Judge Reinstates Strict Abortion Ban From 1864
Arizona's Attorney General successfully argued that the near-total ban from the 19th century should take precedence over the still restrictive 15 week ban.
A judge on Friday ruled that a near-total abortion ban, written before Arizona became a state, must be enforced, throwing abortion access into question, one day before the start of a 15-week ban that passed the Arizona Legislature this year. As reported by the New York Times, the stricter ban, which can be traced to 1864, was blocked by a court injunction in 1973 shortly after the Supreme Court, in Roe v. Wade, determined that there was a constitutional right to abortion. On Friday, Judge Kellie Johnson of Pima County Superior Court lifted that injunction, noting that Roe had been overruled in June and that Planned Parenthood’s request for the court to “harmonize the laws” in Arizona was “flawed.” The 1864 law, first established by the state’s territorial legislature, mandates a two-to five-year prison sentence for anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion. In 1901, the law was updated and codified. “No archaic law should dictate our reproductive freedom,” Brittany Fonteno, the president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said in a statement after the judge’s ruling…
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/23/us/arizona-abortion-ban
'Bring beer' and vote! Michael Moore predicts midterm victory for Democrats
Documentary filmmaker and progressive activist Michael Moore could hardly be more excited about the upcoming midterms, which he predicts will be a landslide victory for the Democrats. But there’s a key caveat: “Everybody needs to show up,” Moore said Friday on Real Time with Bill Maher. “You need to bring five to ten people with you on election day. Bring beer, make it a fun thing, have a party afterwards, whatever.” Maher joked that for the first time, the midterm elections are “sexy” because the United States is essentially on “the brink of disaster,” which is, weirdly, a “bright spot” because it’s likely to turn out voters. Moore was booed on Maher’s program six years ago when he predicted Donald Trump would win the presidency. “I think I had a pretty good sense of what was gonna happen. I think the opposite is gonna happen this time,” Moore said. “I think that there is going to be such a landslide against the traitors, especially the 147 Republicans who, just hours after the insurrection, voted to not certify the elected president of the United States, Joe Biden.” Moore’s prediction lines up with recent polls indicating the MAGA movement, combined with the “forced birth” ruling from the Supreme Court, overturning Roe v Wade, has cost Republicans significant support across the country. MAGA-Republican candidates have also turned off voters at large by making the very survival of democracy the number one concern on voters’ minds…
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-moore-democratic-landslide
Trump loyalist touts QAnon greeting in his 'King Donald' children's book
Devoted Donald Trump ally Kash Patel is pushing his children’s book about “King Donald” by featuring an autograph — and a handwritten QAnon salutation. This is the same book, “The Plot Against the King,” that Trump has said he wants in “every school in America.” As reported by Huffington Post and elsewhere, Patel, who was Acting Secretary of Defense under Donald Trump, included a “special message” in 10 of his books “for some lucky patriots.” The “special message,” enthusiastically underlined several times, is: “WWG1WGA!” — which is QAnon-speak for “Where we go one, we go all.” The message is behind the stiff-armed salute with index finger pointing skyward that has sparked controversy at Trump rallies because it’s chillingly reminiscent of the “Heil Hitler” salute. Trump is increasingly espousing the conspiracy plots of QAnon and recently reposted an image of himself on his own social network, sporting a “Q” lapel pin and touting “WWG1WGA.” Where they all go is yet to be determined…
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kash-patel-trump-qanon-kids-book-plot-against-king
Trump floats “nutso claim” FBI agents were actually after Hillary’s emails during Mar-A-Lago document search
In a “truly stunning” new claim about why federal agents raided his Florida home, Donald Trump floated the idea that they might have been looking for Hillary Clinton’s emails. As reported by the Daily Beast and elsewhere, Trump was speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday night, when he mentioned his wild theory alongside the unhinged claim that he was able to declassify documents just by “thinking about it.” When Hannity asked Trump if he had possession of any of Hillary Clinton’s emails, Trump offered this signature word salad in response: “No, they may be saying… They may have thought that it was in there. And a lot of people said the only thing that would give the kind of severity that they showed by actually coming in and raiding with many, many people is the Hillary Clinton deal, the Russia, Russia, Russia stuff, or… I mean there are a number of things. The spying on Trump’s campaign”…
Trump rape accuser plans suit under new NY 'survivors' law
A writer who accused former President Donald Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room intends to file another lawsuit against him under a new New York law letting sexual assault victims sue over attacks that happened decades ago. As reported by the Washington Post, E. Jean Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, wrote in a 2019 book that Trump raped her during a chance encounter at a Bergdorf Goodman store in the mid-1990s. Trump denied it and questioned Carroll’s credibility and motivations. Because the alleged attack happened so long ago, Carroll would ordinarily have missed legal deadlines to sue Trump. So she initially sued him instead for defamation, saying he smeared her reputation while denying the rape allegation. Last spring, New York lawmakers passed the Adult Survivor's Act, which provides a one-year “look back” that enables adult survivors of sexual attacks to bring civil claims when they otherwise would be barred. Carroll notified a federal judge of her intent to sue in an August letter entered in the public record this past Tuesday…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/trump-rape-accuser-plans-suit-under-new-ny-survivors-law
‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ Tonga blast could warm the earth, temporarily
When an undersea volcano erupted in Tonga in January, its watery blast was huge and unusual — and scientists are still trying to understand its impacts. As reported by NBC News, the volcano, known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, shot “millions of tons of water vapor high up into the atmosphere,” according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. Big eruptions usually cool the planet, because most volcanoes send up large amounts of sulfur, which blocks the sun’s rays. The Tongan blast was different: The eruption started under the ocean, so it shot up a plume with much more water than usual. And “since water vapor acts as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, the eruption will probably raise global temperatures instead of lowering them.” It’s unclear just how much global warming could be in store because of this particular volcanic eruption, but any warming is estimated to be “temporary” (we hope)…
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tonga-volcano-eruption-warm-earth-rcna49084
Inside Mexico’s mountain “magic mushroom paradise”
Tired of Disneyland? Mexico exempts the use and sale of certain sacred plants and fungi, like peyote and psilocybin mushrooms, when used in Indigenous practices, so mushrooms are de facto legal there. There are no cops, and the economy has adapted accordingly. San Jose del Pacifico, located just a few hours in between the tourist hubs of Oaxaca City and famed beaches like Zipolite and Puerto Escondido, has become a magic mushroom town, with the local government estimating that 50 percent of the town’s inhabitants work in tourism, and somewhere from 15,000-20,000 tourists visit annually. As reported by VICE, tourists either go into the surrounding nature or stay in their accommodations to trip on mushrooms. Some congregate on the upper edge of town, where a recently constructed mirador provides breathtaking views of the region, while others venture into the forest beyond to connect with nature, meditate, and explore. The town has become a global epicenter of mushroom tourism…
https://www.vice.com/en/article/akejag/mexico-san-jose-del-pacifico-magic-mushrooms?
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