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DeMille looked up, already prepared for the Wednesday production meeting. The Salts and the lovely Melissa were grouped in various states of eager participation and a certain somnolence. \u201cIt is December,\u201d he said gravely. People looked at one another with uncertainty. Some tried a smile. Others did not.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the Supreme Court is going to determine when human life begins this morning. They are going to broadcast their deliberations for our convenience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rocket looked alert, which is one of the means he succeeded in his former trade as a mach+ pilot, since he could get to the blackboard first when the fight was over. \u201cThis is about a heartbeat or something?\u201d<\/p>\n
DeMille nodded. \u201cThere are people out there in the cold who are convinced that a heartbeat- or something that looks a bit like a heartbeat- is the point where a bunch of loosely assembled cells can be categorized as a human being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loma shook his head. \u201cAren\u2019t we now in some religious territory? Some people say that life begins at conception. Doesn\u2019t that opinion have a validity that is spiritual and not under the jurisdiction of the court?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, yes. That is one of the issues. But it is more complex. The legal question is whether the state can direct the behavior of adult women on what they can do, or not do, with their bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFair enough. Seems like as good a question as the government is telling everyone what to do with their bodies on that Covid thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is part of the ambiguity of crisis governing. There are at least three courts that have a penumbra about that. The specific question this morning is whether a particular state can determine if a medical observation actually determines when a bundle of growing cells has rights separate from the woman who is carrying it. The Roe versus Wade decision was based in part on a penumbra of privacy, since it doesn\u2019t reflect anything specific in the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Splash put down the steaming mug of coffee and looked over at Melissa. \u201cWhat do women think, lovely lady?\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa shook her head slowly. \u201cThis is complex, and it based on belief and individual rights. If you guys actually dealt with the issue, end-to-end as a personal matter you might have some insight you lack by virtue of experience. And emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loma nodded. \u201cI have grandkids and my granddaughter was delivered almost two months early. She seems happy. So, the whole live-birth thing seems a little outdated. I don\u2019t think it is anybody\u2019s business except the mother, her partner and a physician.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa was the only one of us with direct experience in the matter, and we decided to leave it up to her. She did it adroitly, as usual, and immediately changed the subject. \u201cSo, in keeping with that emotional issue, we have the continuing trouble over Taiwan and the Ukrainian issues. But then yesterday Iran announced they had the right to develop atomic weapons and fully intend to do so. You know the Israelis have some direct personal knowledge about how those sorts of issues work out. They already acquired the historical records of the Persian nuclear program and killed the top scientist on that project a couple months ago. They have demonstrated the ability and determination to take action if their very existence is threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that part of the Wednesday Weather Report has its own momentum?\u201d<\/p>\n
DeMille almost smiled. \u201cThe U.S. Government\u2019s budget authority under the Continuing Resolution they passed a month or so ago expires on Friday. That is another thing that has it\u2019s own momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Splash snorted. \u201cAnd we are all drawing checks on it. My Navy pension got paid this week, but my social security doesn\u2019t get here until mid-month. That is a bit of a real issue. I have a tab over at Belmont Farms that I need to cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeMille closed the cover on his notepad and looked around the circle. \u201cThat is only five major issues to be resolved, with a big one that has to be done by Friday. Maybe they can work late up there on The Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was general laughter with a slightly ironic flavor. Splash got up, turned to face the group and made a gesture that could have been a benediction of sorts. \u201cThe holidays are upon us. Let\u2019s be charitable and respectful. And deal with the budget today. We can do the matter of the beginning of life and the possibility of the use of weapons of mass destruction in the Holy Land when we have some time next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loma and Rocket stood up to join him. \u201cIf we still have heartbeats, we are right with you, Dude. The distillery will probably be open, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
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DeMille looked up, already prepared for the Wednesday production meeting. The Salts and the lovely Melissa were grouped in various states of eager participation and a certain somnolence. \u201cIt is December,\u201d he said gravely. People looked at one another with uncertainty. Some tried a smile. Others did not. \u201cSo, the Supreme Court is going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22645,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22643\/revisions\/22645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}