Tag: Laws

South China Sea: Marcos inks laws on PH Maritime Zones, Archipelagic Sea Lanes + Responses of China and the United States

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
YouTube

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday signed laws declaring the maritime zones under Philippine jurisdiction and designating sea lanes in the country for foreign vessels and aircraft.

Marcos inks laws on PH Maritime Zones, Archipelagic Sea Lanes

Related:

South China Sea: Philippines’ legal moves reveal its expansionist goals

U.S. State Department On the Philippines Maritime Zones Act

Arnaud Bertrand’s Twitter thread (ThreadReader)

Regarding the South China Sea Arbitration:

The South China Sea Arbitration did not rule on sovereignty, and China does not recognize it because the Arbitral Tribunal lacked jurisdiction. “The Arbitral Tribunal violated the principle of state consent, exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of the law. This is a grave violation of UNCLOS and general international law, Wang said.” The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities.  The Permanent Court of Arbitration is not an agency of the United Nations. The PCA rents space in the same building as the UN’s International Court of Justice.  A Congressional Research Service report, dated August 2023, stated that the U.S. has not declared its position regarding sovereignty over any of the geographical elements that comprise the South China Sea.  

HuffPost: I’m Ending My Life Today. Here’s What I Want You To Know Before I Go.

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

By Mary Elizabeth Holliday

I am ending my life at a clinic in Switzerland today. This piece was written three weeks ago. I’ve been trapped for decades in a body that doesn’t function the way other bodies do and I am ready to finally be free.

I’m Ending My Life Today. Here’s What I Want You To Know Before I Go. (archived)

I have multiple chemical sensitivities and fibromyalgia, too, but I’ve never considered “assisted-suicide”. My MCS isn’t as bad as hers was, though. It just seems selfish to me, but that may be because I was brought up in a strict religious household. The biggest problem, here, is that there’s no profit in finding cures.

ACLU Wisconsin files records requests for banned books across school districts

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

ACLU Wisconsin files records requests for banned books across school districts

Menomonee Falls School District banned 33 titles. The same day the ACLU made its open records requests, Elkhorn Area School District received a request from a parent challenging 444 books, prompting the temporary removal and review of those titles.

Related:

ACLU of Wisconsin Files Open Record Requests with Six School Districts That Recently Banned Books

The letter to the school districts accompanying the requests notes that removing books from school libraries threatens the First Amendment rights of students and their families. The Supreme Court held over 40 years ago that “local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.”

…

The largely forgotten book ban case that went up to the Supreme Court

Pressley Bill Would Classify Discriminatory Book Bans as Civil Rights Violations

Countries Eye Weight Tax To Counter Public Safety Threat Of Extremely Heavy, Large EVs

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Countries Eye Weight Tax To Counter Public Safety Threat Of Extremely Heavy, Large EVs

The electric Ford Lightning, for example, is a whopping 6,500 pounds. The Hummer EV is even heavier, clocking in at 9,000 pounds. Its battery alone weighs more than a Honda Civic. Experts have pointed out the significant safety ramifications of this transition for a while, but it’s still not clear that we’ve prepared the regulatory and policy landscape for such a transition.