Republicans take the House! A mix blessing?

Although the 2022 US mid-term election has been officially over since November 8th, as of this moment ballots are still being counted. This because in states such as Arizona nd California, a significant number of people have sent their ballots in by mail. In situations where the margins are very close, it is essential all the ballots are meticulously counted.

Credit to Associated Press

The end result is that Democrats retain control of the US senate. They also made significant gains in governorships, state executive offices and state legislatures. However, Republicans have have the number to get control of the US House of Representatives.

Although current Speak of the House, Nancy Pelosi also had a very slim margin to work with, she was at least able to get a lot done. The Republicans though have about 30 members (the Freedom caucus) that will have significant control over what happens in the months to come.

I predict there will be a lot of chaos. Kevin McCarcthy who is expected to be the next Speaker, won't have much power. He will in affect have the title, but not be able to exercise any control.

Who will prevail in the US 2022 mid-term elections?

November 6, 2022 will the last day that voters in the US will be able to cast their votes. Conventional wisdom states that the party opposite of that of the president are poised to make significant gains. Under current models offered by many pollsters.

Republicans are set to win back the majority in the House of Representatives. In the US senate, at this point it seems that is more of a toss up. Although there are some models that give a slight edge to the Republicans.

The pundits ofen like to cite polls. The problem with polls is that they are really only meant to give a snapshot of the political environment. Over the years, the polls have been proven wrong.

For the Democrats I would say they should expect the worse and hope for the best. As for Republicans, they run the risk of being too cocky. At this point, no one can say with absolute certainty what will happen. At this time I will give the slight edge to the Republcians.

Queen Elizabeth II (1926/04/21–2022/09/08)

On September 8, 2022 the world learned about the passing of the longest serving British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96. As of this moment, much of the world is still taking the news at their own pace. She was apparently the longest serving British monarch, with a reign of 70 years.

When reflecting upon the passing for important figures, it is important that for history's sake that we provide an objective perspective. Let us not forget that at one time, the British once had many colonies all over the world. And no doubt most if not all of the people who were subjected to their rule probably had disdain for them.

In the aftermath of WWII, many of the colonial powers started to grant independence to the people who were subjugated. The conflicts in the middle east and other parts of the world today, arguably can be traced back to the British. After all, while they granted independence, they also arbitrarily set up borders that did not make sense.

The British monarchy, thus is ultimately a symbol of what the British empire once was. There are many people who are endeared to royalty. I am of course not one of those people. In many parts of the world, where there are still monarchies, if one were to look into the history thereof, there are is a common thread. Many of them lay claim to being royalty through religious beliefs.

The truth is, the monarchy all over the world is an outdated institution. Thus, I see the late queen of the UK as just another human. Birth is not always a certainty, but death is. Eventually we will all die, that is just a fact. Nonetheless, whatever lays in-store for her soul in the afterlife, I wish her well.

After 3 years, Vim 9.0 is released.

"After many years of gradual improvement Vim now takes a big step with a major release. Besides many small additions the spotlight is on a new incarnation of the Vim script language: Vim9 script."

"The previous release was version 8.2 in December 2019. Since the latest source code is always available on GitHub, many have already picked up later patch versions (there are more than 5000 of them!). Therefore the changes have already been tried out by many users. On top of that bugs have been fixed, security issues have been addressed, and many tests have been added. Code coverage has been dramatically increased. This version is more reliable than any before." (link)

Earlier today, I was about to update+patch to the latest version of Vim 8.2 series. To my surprise, I discovered that version 9.0 was released. As expected, much of the improvements are under the hood, but also full support for Vim Script 9 is now official.

For anyone that just happened to stumble upon this blog by mistake, and are looking for where to download and get more information, go here: vim.org

Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Now what?

"The Supreme Court on Friday stripped away the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion that had stood for nearly a half-century. The decision by the court’s conservative majority overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling and is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states." (Associated Press)

Ever-since Marbury v Madison (the US Supreme Court case asserting the prerogative of judicial review), few rulings stand out. For example, this was the Plessy v Ferguson case, also Brown v Board of Education, Roe v Wade, and now Dobbs v Jackson. 

The decision to overturn Roe v Wade and Casey v Planned Parenthood came as no surprise as a draft opinion was leaked months ago. Thus, the implication now is that in some states abortion is now officially illegal. At this time its too early to know if this will be the thing that galvanizes the progressive base to head to the polls this fall in significant numbers.

Time will tell just now detrimental the ramifications of this ruling will have.