In the Tarot the Sun card is symbolic for new beginnings. I would like to believe that we are transitioning from the dark night of the soul to a new start. There has been quite a bit of positive news indicating that the country, while still at the brink of the rabbit hole, has not fallen in. The list below highlights some of the events that I found encouraging.
July 18, 2022
Secret Service Missing Texts from the insurrection
It seems like the Secret Service found those “deleted” text messages from January 5th and 6th of 2021. Initially they claimed that the data had been deleted. The text messages have been “recovered” and handed over to the January 6th Committee. The Agency claimed that the messages had been deleted as part of a system upgrade to new phones. The messages “disappeared” the day after the DHS Investigator General requested them for review. The agency was specifically asked to save those messages from those two crucial days.
July 21, 2022
Codifying the Right to Family Planning and Marriage Equality
Congress (the House) is attempting to codify marriage equality and protect the right to contraception. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is calling for an end to the filibuster rule so that the codification of abortion rights, marriage equality and family planning can be accomplished.
July 25, 2022
The U.S. Chips Act
This bill is meant to protect America’s standing as the leaders in technology and to bring chip manufacturing back to the U.S. after having been outsourced for many years to China. Bernie Sanders called out the bill as corporate welfare—a $76 billion give away with too few strings attached to the computer chip industry. We are told that the market should be allowed to determine winners and losers, but when it comes to big companies, taxpayer dollars are often used to intervene in the market. The industry’s gamble on offshoring jobs and production to Asia has not panned out. They did not consult the taxpayers when they made this decision. The public is not responsible, but it is being asked to pay twice—once through lost employment and now again through tax dollars. I understand the hope that this aid will help America regain its competitive edge. Since the public is being asked to invest, they should receive a dividend from their investment. No more trickle down.
July 28, 2022
Is the U.S. in Recession?
It is debatable whether the U.S. is in recession. It is true that we have had two quarters in a row of slow growth which is the usual indicator, but the job market is still strong, and inflation is high. It is calling into question if we need to admit that the pandemic has changed the game for making the usual economic assumptions. Experts don’t seem to definitively know what is going on. This can be an opportunity to look at our economy with fresh eyes and make new theories.
Dr. Christian vom Lehn, associate professor of economics at Brigham Young University, said the rule of thumb (two successive quarters of slow growth) is useful to economists, but the measure doesn’t capture every variable in the economy, such as unemployment rates, supply chain inventories and impacts of global events like wars or pandemics.
August 2, 2022
Protecting Reproductive Rights in Kansas
Reproductive Rights are protected in the Red State of Kansas by the people. Kansas voters protected the right of women to decide how they want to manage their pregnancies by a vote of 59% in agreement to 41% who disagreed in the ballot initiative.
https://www.newsweek.com/abortion-kansas-referendum-midterms-biden-supreme-court-1730538
August 4, 2022
Justice for Breonna Taylor
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced new charges for the officers that stormed Breonna Taylor’s apartment with a “no-knock” warrant and killed her. He said the officers were being charged with civil rights offenses, unlawful conspiracy, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62427546
Monday, August 8, 2022
The FBI Searched Mar-a-Lago for Missing White House Documents
The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a search warrant, executed by the FBI, to retrieve documents removed from the White House in the last days of the Trump Administration. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) had been attempting to negotiate a return of the records with the legal representatives of former President Trump but were unable to secure a return of all of the records .
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/08/12/mar-a-lago-search-timeline (audio)
August 9, 2022
A Historic Bridge Will Not be Dismantled for the sake of Jeff Bezo’s Mega Yacht
Do you remember the story in February about dismantling a historic bridge in the Netherland’s, City of Rotterdam so that Jeff Bezo’s newly built mega yacht could sail out of the building yard? The mayor of the town announced that after much push back from the residents that the Koningshavenbrug Bridge will not be dismantled as requested by Jeff Bezos, even if he pays for it. The bridge has historic significance because it was destroyed by Germany during WWII and rebuilt after the war with the intention to never dismantle the bridge again.
The Bezos mega yacht was quietly towed (August 9, 2022) to another port from which it could sail with its masts raised. It would not disturb the people of Rotterdam and their historic bridge.
Bezos Mega Yacht Does the Float of Shame After City Refuses to Dismantle Historic Bridge (msn.com)
August 16, 2022
Signing of the Inflation Reduction Act
The House and Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act and President Biden signed it on August 17th. While the bill has been reduced in scope, in principle, it is addressing the high-cost cost of pharmaceuticals, at least for those on Medicare, over the next 10 years. It also addresses reducing emission standards in the U.S. Three widely cited models respectively estimate that the bill will bring U.S. planet-warming emissions 31 to 44 percent, 37 to 41 percent and 42 percent lower than they were in 2005 by 2030. The bill also tackles tax fairness, requiring a 15% minimum tax be paid by large corporations and a 1% tax on stock buy backs.