Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows

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The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO.

The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – that largely maintained the right. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.” “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

Deliberations on controversial cases have in the past been fluid. Justices can and sometimes do change their votes as draft opinions circulate and major decisions can be subject to multiple drafts and vote-trading, sometimes until just days before a decision is unveiled. The court’s holding will not be final until it is published, likely in the next two months.

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Growing crisis of housing affordability

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When the government released March inflation data, it showed that prices increased by 8.5% from a year ago,the fastest pace since December 1981. Gas (+48.8%),food (+8.8%) and used cars (+35.3%) showed eye-popping advances, but another line item is also worrisome: shelter, which increased by 5% annually.

That may not seem so bad when compared to those other categories, but shelter accounted for nearly two-thirds of the monthly increase in the Core CPI, which removes the volatile food and energy figures.

The U.S. has a burgeoning housing affordability crisis, and it’s likely to persist longer than high prices in grocery stores and at gas pumps.

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Generation X Milestones: Growing up in the 80’s

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1976
Apr 1 – Apple Computer founded in Los Altos, California, U.S.

1979
Mar 16 – The China Syndrome, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas
Mar 28 – 3 Mile Island accident
Jul 12 – Disco Demolition Night, Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

1980
Feb 22 – The Miracle on Ice, Lake Placid Olympic Center,New York
Apr 27 – Ted Turner announces the creation of CNN, the first 24-hour cable news network.
Apr 28 – The U.S. makes attempt to rescue American hostages held in Iran since Nov 1979.
May 01 – Rubiks Cube released
May 18 – In Washington State, Mt. St. Helens erupts, killing more than 50 people.
May 21 – “The Empire Strikes Back,” premieres in movie theaters.
May 22 – The Pac-Man video game is released in Japan, followed by its U.S. release in October.
Jun 1 – CNN launches
Nov 21 – A record 350 million people worldwide watch “Dallas” to find out who shot J.R. Ewing.
Nov 04 – Ronald Reagan wins the presidential campaign
Oct 30 – Sherman Oaks Mega Mall Opens, Los Angeles
Dec 8 – Singer John Lennon is assassinated in front of his New York City apartment.

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Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech

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This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

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1st Round – 2022 NFL Draft

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Here are the pick-by-pick results for every draft pick in Round 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft as well as full analysis and grades for every pick. Here are the best available players heading into Round 2. Jacksonville Jaguars: Travon Walker, DE, GeorgiaDetroit Lions: Aidan Hutchinson, Edge, MichiganHouston Texans: Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSUNew York … Read more

DeSantis Ends Disney’s Special Status in Reedy Creek

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In the span of 72 hours, the Florida legislature introduced, passed and signed a bill stripping Disney’s hometown, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, of its status as a special tax district.

The bill goes into effect in June 2023 and ends Disney’s self-governing status, which allows the company to manage all municipal matters in the 25,000-acre district surrounding the Walt Disney World Resort, such as sewage, transportation, zoning and security.

It’s widely believed that Gov. Ron DeSantis made the move in retaliation for Disney’s opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which passed in March. Disney had initially been quiet about the bill, aimed at curbing sex education in lower elementary grades, but proclaimed its opposition after employees staged a walk-out once the bill had already passed.

While the move to end Disney’s special status has political implications that reverberate far beyond Florida, it also leaves some very practical questions unanswered. For one, with Disney’s status dissolved, its property, duties and debt all transfer to the two counties in which it is located, Orange and Osceola counties, without adding any additional tax revenue — potentially leaving the residents of those counties with an overwhelming tax bomb.

Reedy Creek is an independent special tax district, which means it must pay taxes to the county government in addition to paying itself to run the town. Between 2015 and 2020, Disney paid an average of $45 million in property taxes to Orange and Osceola counties, and in 2021, it paid itself $105 million for local services, according to Scott Randolph, tax collector in Orange County. Once Reedy Creek is dissolved, the $105 million doesn’t transfer, but the counties will be responsible for all municipal services.

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$1-million milestone: Orange County, CA median home price hits seven figures

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The median home price in Orange County reached $1 million last month, becoming the first Southern California county to ever hit that pricey mark and underscoring just how expensive the region has become.

The threshold was crossed when the Orange County median sales price for new and existing houses, condos and townhomes rose from $985,000 in February to $1,020,000 in March, according to data released this week by researcher DQNews. It constitutes a 22% jump in median price from a year prior.

Million-dollar homes spread rapidly throughout Southern California during the pandemic, becoming commonplace in communities once thought to be relatively affordable like Highland Park and West Adams in Los Angeles County. The median price in Los Angeles County rose to $840,000 in March, up 12% from a year earlier.

The Orange County milestone marks a momentous rise in wealth, at least on paper, for local homeowners. But it comes as a regionwide lack of affordable housing has pushed people into homelessness and caused others to leave the state in search of shelter they can afford.

According to a recent survey from the Public Policy Institute of California, 64% of California adults view housing affordability as a big problem, with more than half of adults saying they are concerned they won’t have enough money to pay their rent or mortgage.

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