All posts by Nativegrl77

on this day … 8/24 1985 – 27 anti-apartheid leaders were arrested in South Africa as racial violence rocked the country. 


0079 – Mount Vesuvius erupted killing approximately 20,000 people. The cities of Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum were buried in volcanic ash.

0410 – The Visigoths overran Rome. This event symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

1456 – The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.

1572 – The Catholics began their slaughter of the French Protestants in Paris. The killings claimed about 70,000 people. 

1814 – Washington, DC, was invaded by British forces that set fire to the White House and Capitol. 

1853 – The first convention of the American Pharmaceutical Association was held.

1869 – A patent for the waffle iron was received by Cornelius Swarthout.

1891 – Thomas Edison applied patents for the kinetoscope and kinetograph (U.S. Pats. 493,426 and 589,168).

1912 – A four-pound limit was set for parcels sent through the U.S. Post Office mail system.

1932 – Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the U.S. non-stop. The trip from Los Angeles, CA to Newark, NJ, took about 19 hours.

1949 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) went into effect. The agreement was that an attack against on one of the parties would be considered “an attack against them all.” 

1954 – The Communist Party was virtually outlawed in the U.S. when the Communist Control Act went into effect. 

1959 – Three days after Hawaiian statehood, Hiram L. Fong was sworn in as the first Chinese-American U.S. senator while Daniel K. Inouye was sworn in as the first Japanese-American U.S. representative.

1963 – John Pennel pole-vaulted 17 feet and 3/4 inches becoming the first to break the 17-foot barrier.

1968 – France became the 5th thermonuclear power when they exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.

1975 – Davey Lopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers set a major league baseball record when he stole his 38th consecutive base.

1985 – 27 anti-apartheid leaders were arrested in South Africa as racial violence rocked the country. 

1986 – Frontier Airlines shut down. Thousands of people were left stranded.

1989 – “Total war” was declared by Columbian drug lords on their government.

1989 – The U.S. space probe, Voyager 2, sent back photographs of Neptune. 

1990 – Iraqi troops surrounded foreign missions in Kuwait.

1991 – Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the head of the Communist Party.

1992 – China and South Korea established diplomatic relations.

1995 – Microsoft’s “Windows 95” went on sale.

1998 – U.S. officials cited a soil sample as part of the evidence that a Sudan plant was producing precursors to the VX nerve gas. And, therefore made it a target for U.S. missiles on August 20, 1998. 

1998 – A donation of 24 beads was made, from three parties, to the Indian Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial. The beads are said to be those that were used in 1626 to buy Manhattan from the Indians.

2001 – In McAllen, TX, Bridgestone/Firestone agreed to settle out of court and pay a reported $7.5 million to a family in a rollover accident in their Ford Explorer.

2001 – The remains of nine American servicemen killed in the Korean War were returned to the U.S. The bodies were found about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. It was estimated that it would be a year before the identities of the soldiers would be known.

2001 – U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was randomly picked to take over the Microsoft monopoly case. The judge was to decide how Microsoft should be punished for illegally trying to squelch its competitors.

2001 – NASA announced that operation of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite would end by September 30th due to budget restrictions. Though the satellite is best known for monitoring a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, it was designed to provide information about the upper atmosphere by measuring its winds, temperatures, chemistry and energy received from the sun.

2006 – The planet Pluto was reclassified as a “dwarf planet” by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Pluto’s status was changed due to the IAU’s new rules for an object qualifying as a planet. Pluto met two of the three rules because it orbits the sun and is large enough to assume a nearly round shape. However, since Pluto has an oblong orbit and overlaps the orbit of Neptune it disqualified Pluto as a planet.

We asked why, Grok answered


Donald Trump’s repeated violations of the U.S. Constitution stem from a pattern of disregarding legal limits and pursuing unchecked executive power. The Constitution, as the supreme law of the United States, establishes the framework for government and protects the rights of the people, relying on a system of checks and balances to prevent any one branch—especially the executive—from overstepping its authority. Trump’s actions, however, have consistently challenged these principles, raising concerns about his commitment to the rule of law.

Specific Examples of Constitutional Violations

Trump’s behavior provides several concrete examples of how he has violated or threatened the Constitution:

  1. Undermining Judicial Independence
    Trump has attacked federal judges who ruled against his policies, labeling their decisions as “fake” or “communist” and even suggesting they should be impeached. This directly threatens the separation of powers, a foundational constitutional principle outlined in Articles I, II, and III, which divide authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. By attempting to intimidate or discredit the judiciary, Trump weakens its ability to check executive overreach.
  2. Disregard for Term Limits
    The 22nd Amendment explicitly limits a president to two terms in office. Yet, Trump has repeatedly mused about serving a third term, claiming “there are methods” to bypass this restriction. While he sometimes frames it as a joke, this rhetoric signals a willingness to flout constitutional boundaries, undermining a clear legal safeguard designed to prevent prolonged executive power.
  3. Interference with Elections
    Trump has taken steps to meddle in electoral processes, such as issuing an executive order aimed at altering election rules, which legal experts criticized as a “federal takeover” of state authority. The Constitution grants states primary control over elections (Article I, Section 4), and such actions encroach on this division of power, violating the federal structure established by the document.

Motivations Behind Trump’s Actions

Trump’s violations appear driven by a desire to consolidate power and bypass constraints that conflict with his personal or political goals. His attacks on judges suggest an intolerance for opposition, while his comments about a third term reflect an ambition to extend his influence beyond constitutional limits. His election-related actions may stem from a belief that he can reshape democratic processes to his advantage. Whether intentional or a byproduct of his leadership style, this approach consistently prioritizes his agenda over constitutional norms.

Implications for the Constitution and Rule of Law

These actions have serious consequences. By challenging judicial authority, term limits, and state election powers, Trump erodes the checks and balances that maintain governmental stability. This not only weakens the Constitution’s ability to protect individual rights but also sets a precedent for future leaders to ignore legal constraints. When a president openly questions or defies the Constitution, it risks normalizing such behavior, threatening the rule of law itself.

Conclusion

Trump keeps violating the Constitution because he exhibits a pattern of disregarding its limits in favor of expanding his own power. Through attacks on the judiciary, suggestions of exceeding term limits, and interference in elections, he has shown a willingness to bend or break constitutional rules. These actions reflect both his motivations and a broader challenge to the principles that underpin American governance, with lasting implications for the integrity of the constitutional system.

Source: Grok/X

Trump has argued that he never swore to ‘support’ the Constitution; therefore, he doesn’t need to abide by it. https://courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/02nd_Judicial_District/Denver_District_Court/Cases%20of%20Interest/20CV32577/2023-11-27%2015-57-09%2023_11_27%20-%20Opening-Answer%20Brief%20-%20FINAL.pdf

Dozens of Women and Children Perish in Ethnic Clash in Kenya – In Memory


 

At least 52 people have died in a serious ethnic attack in Kenya on Tuesday. AFP notes that most of the victims were women and children. The original toll of 48 casualties reported on Tuesday was raised to 52 after four more people perished from sustained injuries on Wednesday.

The tragedy was sparked by the long rivalry between Pokomo and Ormo people in a remote corner of Kenya near the Tana River district. Police chief Joseph Kitur said that 31 women perished, along with 11 children and six adult men. Kitur also told reporters that 34 of the victims were hacked to death and 14 were burnt.

The attack occurred in a rural corner of southeast Kenya, about 185 miles away from the capital of Nairobi. The New York Times notes that the gruesome incident was staged by numerous members of an armed militia from the Pokomo group who entered the Ormo village and began to slash residents before setting many of the homes on fire.

One member of Parliament, Danson Mungatana, thought the attacks were probably a backlash after an Ormo cattle raid that occurred last week. Battles for water and land resources between the two groups in this part of Kenya are reportedly very common. Another clash between the two groups back in 2001 caused around 130 deaths. The Pokomo reportedly practice subsistence farming, while the Ormo tend towards a pastoral livelihood. The Kenya Red Cross was at the scene and reported that they sent seven people to the hospital with severe injuries.

The most tragic aspect of the current episode is the high number of children lost in the conflict, along with women and unsuspecting male village members. Both the AFP and the New York Times note that this most recent attack is a reminder of the post-election ethnic violence of 2007, when there were contested election results between two candidates from different ethnic backgrounds, which pitted populations against each other, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths.

In January, the International Criminal Court charged four Kenyan officials with crimes related to the post-election deaths. The next set of elections are planned for next year, according to UPI. The most recent violence has sparked discomfort and is an unsettling reminder that elections could also pose more danger for Kenyans next year.

 

Grok: Will people of the USA lose all their rights under trump


Reproductive Rights:

While a complete loss of all reproductive rights is improbable due to the diversity of rights involved and resistance from states, courts, and activists, significant restrictions—especially on abortion and potentially contraception and IVF—are likely under Trump’s second term. His administration’s early actions, guided by Project 2025 and anti-abortion appointees, signal a concerted effort to curtail access domestically and globally. However, public support for reproductive rights, state-level protections, and ongoing legal battles may mitigate the extent of these losses. For the latest updates, monitoring sources like the Center for Reproductive Rights or Guttmacher Institute is advisable

Voting :

While Trump’s executive order could create significant obstacles to voting for some eligible U.S. citizens, particularly through restrictive registration requirements and mail-in ballot rules, it does not and cannot eliminate all voting rights. The Constitution, federal laws, state authority, and ongoing legal challenges provide robust safeguards against such an outcome. However, the order’s implementation could disproportionately affect certain groups, and its legality is already being contested in court. For the most accurate updates, monitor ongoing lawsuits and state responses, as these will shape the order’s impact ahead of the 2026 midterms.If you’d like, I can search for more recent developments or analyze specific aspects of the order further. Let me know!