Show Notes
“Texas on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep in place a law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion and urged the justices that if they quickly take up a legal challenge brought by President Joe Biden's administration they should overturn the landmark ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide.”
The Justice Department on Monday suggested that the justices could bypass the lower courts already considering the matter and hear arguments in the case themselves. Paxton's filing said that if the justices do that, they should overturn Supreme Court precedents including Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that recognized a woman's right under the U.S. Constitution to terminate a pregnancy.
"Properly understood, the Constitution does not protect a right to elective abortion," Paxton's filing said, adding that the state law furthers "Texas's interest in protecting unborn life, which exists from the outset of pregnancy."
The Texas measure, one of a series of restrictive Republican-backed abortion laws passed at the state level in recent years, bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, a point when many women do not yet realize they are pregnant. It makes an exception for a documented medical emergency but not for cases of rape or incest.
The Supreme Court already is set to consider a major abortion case on Dec. 1 in a dispute centering on Mississippi's law banning abortions starting at 15 weeks of pregnancy. In that case, Mississippi has asked the justices to overturn Roe v. Wade. A ruling is due by the end of June 2022.
“Thousands of workers remain on strike across the United States demanding higher pay and better conditions despite Hollywood make-up artists and camera operators reaching a deal over the weekend to avoid a walkout, and the tight jobs market has only emboldened them.”
100 Stranded Ships, 10-Week Delays And 8 Million Unmade Cars: A Look At America’s Supply Chain Woes - Forbes
E-commerce sales are off the charts, rising 24.2% to $438 billion in the first half of the year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They are expected to hit a record $933 billion this year, says eMarketer, up from $792 billion in 2020 and $602 billion in 2019. That has left retailers scrambling to meet the demand. Credit for the shopping spree? Government stimulus checks and a steep decline on other expenditures, like travel and entertainment.
In October, it cost more than $17,000 to get a container loaded on a ship and ferried from Asia to the West Coast, up from $3,800 a year ago and $1,300 in 2019, according to Freightos, a supply chain technology company. It’s even more expensive to get to the East Coast, with rates topping $20,000.
There were 100 ships sitting off the coast of Los Angeles in October waiting to dock. In normal times, that number is zero. In an effort to sidestep the congestion, ships are being routed to other ports, with the number of containers being unloaded in places like Savannah, New York and Vancouver up double digits, according to IHS Markit Port Performance Program.
Inflation is at a 13-year high, rising 5.4% in September, according to the Labor Department. That means it’s getting more expensive to put gas in your car (prices are up 42%), shop at the grocery store (meat is up 13%) and buy new appliances (washing machines are up 19%). In eleven of the last twelve months, prices have shot up higher than the previous month.
Roe v. Wade, Union Strikes, and Supply Chain Woes = Care for Your People