CIMA Law Group Blog

NASA’s Artemis 1 Moon Mission

The famous Apollo missions brought astronauts to the moon. Artemis, the sister of Apollo, seeks to once again visit the lunar surface.

Artemis 1, the first mission of the series, seeks to fly around the moon – without actually landing on it. It will be an uncrewed journey to prepare the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft for future, manned missions later in the 2020s.

A return to space has caused a frenzy among Americans. Ticket sales for the launch of Artemis 1 on August 29th reportedly crashed the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s website. Two out of the three package deals sold out in under 3 hours, and it is expected that roughly 100,000 people will be on the beach to witness this historic event.

Artemis 2, a manned flight with a similar path to Artemis 1, is scheduled for 2024. Soon after, humans will walk on the moon again with Artemis 3 in 2025.

This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA Law Group specializes in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.

The United States Set to Plant Over 1 Billion Trees

Over the next ten years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to plant more than one billion trees to help restore millions of acres of burned and damaged forests throughout the American West. Additionally, President Biden announced that over the next few years, the Forest Service will raise its efforts from the 60,000 acres it replanted last year to roughly 400,000 acres annually.

The federal government is concentrating on restoring trees on public lands because forests, among other things, filter and store water, trap carbon, supply food and timber to Indigenous people, and generate more than $11 billion in economic activity through outdoor recreation. Areas that have been burned by wildfires are more vulnerable to other potentially disastrous issues including mudslides, flooding, and landslides when left bare.

According to the Forest Service, wildfires are the primary cause of forest degradation and account for 80% of replanting as of 2021. This year, flames have already consumed 5.6 million acres in the United States, which is more than twice as much as the same period in 2021 and more than three times as much as the same period in 2020.

This is a CIMA Law Group blog entry. CIMA Law Group is located in Arizona and specializes in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations. If you live in Arizona and need legal assistance CIMA Law Group can help.

Psychological Egoism

The philosophy theory known as Psychological Egoism is mainly attributed to Thomas Hobbes and Jeremy Bentham. Though it is often discussed, it hasn’t been explicitly held by many prominent thinkers in philosophical history. This theory suggests that humans are always driven by self-interest and selfishness, even while doing seemingly altruistic acts. It asserts not that individuals do not desire to act in pure selflessness but rather that they are incapable of doing so.

Although no explanation has been given to why we are incapable of acting purely altruistically, simple but strong arguments are given to validate the accuracy of this theory. When individuals choose to help others, they do it for the personal gains that they hope to gain, either directly or indirectly, by doing so. These gains do not necessarily refer to grand rewards but to the pure internal satisfaction of doing a good deed. In other words, while some may blatantly help their neighbor for the social recognition that comes with their actions, other may only do it because of their moral impulse of doing what is right. Certainly not all consciously think about the satisfaction that will come by doing a good deed, however such mechanism of thought is so ingrained in some individuals’ minds that they instantly extend a helping hand when needed.

This theory surely has not been proven to be accurate because of the difficulty and limited ability to put it to the test. One cannot make assessments based on the thoughts and motivating factors of others without their justification or lack of honest recognition of their motives getting in the way. I believe that if we are sincere enough with ourselves we may recognize the truthfulness of this theory. Yet, admitting the accuracy of this theory does not imply that humans are evil or vile.

An Unfinished Chess Game

On February 14th, 2018, Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Cruz now faces either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilting to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.

This past Thursday, jurors, now in the sentencing phase of the trial, visited the scene of the massacre. Here is how CNN describes it:

Outside of room 1215, there is the dried blood of three students who were killed.

In room 1214, there are bullet marks next to opened laptops.

In room 1216, Alaina Petty’s blue folder remains on her desk.

In room 1230, there is a heart-shaped box of Valentine’s Day chocolates that never had the chance to get passed out.

In room 1232 are calculators next to notebooks with unfinished algebraic problems.

In room 1249, an unfinished chess game.

Following the visit, the victims’ families were given the opportunity to testify in court. The wife of athletic director Chris Hixon, who died trying to disarm the gunman, no longer feels at home in the house she and Chris built together. 17-year-old Helena Ramsay, remembered as a beautiful and graceful young woman, was killed on her father’s birthday. Peter Wang was killed just before Chinese New Year, making the family’s most treasured holiday now a death anniversary. The father of Max Schachter knows he will never be truly happy again. The mother of Meadow Pollack says she would have to rip out her shattered heart to explain the impact her daughter’s death has had. The family of Tom Hoyer now all too easily fits into a world set up for even numbers without their fifth member. Jaime Guttenberg’s father can’t recall whether he told Jaime just how much he loved her before rushing her off to school that day.

There was hardly a dry eye in the courtroom and Cruz’s attorneys contributed. Keith Swisher, a professor of legal ethics at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law, says it’s rare for attorneys to cry in the courtroom— especially “based on something the other side has said.” These same attorneys now must fight for Cruz’s life, arguing that he was plagued by mental illness and a difficult childhood and does not deserve to be executed.

Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan

China has said it is canceling or suspending dialogue with the United States on a range of issues from climate change to military relations and anti drug efforts in retaliation for a visit this week to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China’s retaliation efforts didn’t stop there, in addition to suspending communication, China on Thursday fired missiles over Taiwan.

The Chinese government has made their resentment of Taiwan well known. They see the small island as a breakaway province, where the Taiwanese people want a separate nation. The tensions between China and Taiwan have been high since the start of the fight for the Taiwan Strait in 1954.

The United States and China’s relationship is rocky to say the least, and a top United States political figure visiting China’s enemy is bound to cause further tension between the two biggest economies in the world. China’s response to Pelosi’s visit was to flex their military might by practicing live fire drills in six locations near Taiwan within hours of Pelosi’s arrival.

Now the question seems to be, what’s next for U.S.- China relations? The White House reacted to China’s actions by summoning China’s ambassador late Thursday to tell him that the military actions were of “concern to Taiwan, to us and to our partners around the world,” said spokesman John Kirby. If compromise is not found soon between the two most powerful nations, the power struggle could be catastrophic.

This post is a part of the CIMA Law Group blog. If you are in the Phoenix area looking for aid in criminal defense, personal injury, or immigration, contact CIMA Law Group today to get your worries squared away.

How Wine is Hurting the Environment (and Our Pockets)

Hard to believe, I know- how could wine ever do any wrong?

Alas, in the state of our global trade and climate crises, the glass bottles in which wine is most often stored in have become extremely problematic. There are many reasons as to why producers have found such troubles in obtaining bottles, and the cost it requires to do such. First, with the global pandemic came the inevitable supply-chain problems, as well as the 25% tariffs on glass bottles coming from China since 2018.

More recently, as production of glass wine bottles for the majority of Europe come from Ukraine, it has ultimately been completely halted by the ongoing war with Russia. Relatively, the overall supply of glass wine bottles has diminished immensely.

Global strategist, Stephen Rannekleiv, wrote “The cost of glass bottles in the U.S. has risen by as much as 20%, according to some brand owners, although most operators have seen much more modest price increases,” as released in April of this year by Market Watch. “However, we would not be surprised to see some glass suppliers implement additional price increases as the year progresses. Nor would we be surprised if the extent to which their input costs are increasing turns out to be structural rather than transitory.”

Although the increase in production price and the decrease in supply is a relevant problem in the wine industry, producers are more than capable of adapting to these troubles short-term. However, the more prevalent and long-term problem that glass wine bottles present is the climate crisis, and carbon footprint that their production inhibits.

The solution? Well, for one of them, many who enjoy quality wine may need to get past their preconceived notions about boxed wine and its claim to fame being the cheap beverage of choice for many college students. If credible wine producers begin to put their products into this bag-in-box option, it will be significantly better for the environments sake as they consume much less energy to manufacture and ship.

A Kidnapping Escape Leads to a New Discovery

A 12-year-old girl in Alabama, manages to escape from her kidnapper, Jose Paulino Pascual-Reyes, this leading the police to a discovery of two decomposed bodies.

The little girl was restrained to bed posts for around a week. She was able to escape by chewing off her restraints which led to her breaking her braces. While she was kidnapped, she was given alcohol in order to keep her “in a drugged state.”

Although, she was never reported missing, police got a call from a driver who saw the 12-year-old girl walking along the road by herself.

Pascual-Reyes was arrested on suspicion for first-degree kidnapping. While police were searching his home, they came across two bodies that were decomposed. Along with the bodies, police stated, other people were living in the home. However, they did not state if those people were being charged in connection with the crimes that occurred in the home.

Pascual-Reyes is facing multiple charges and it is expected that he be charged with more when more information is discovered by the forensic team regarding the two decomposed bodies. However, the 12-year-old girl is now safe and is doing well.

Tour de France Femmes Revival

Marianne Martin claimed victory in the first ever Tour de France Féminin in 1984, giving hope to the future of women’s cycling. More significant than the fact that it was more than 80 years behind the men’s 21-stage race, which had been running since 1903, was the mere fact that it was taking place at all. Only five years later was the Tour de France Féminin cancelled. Its collapse was attributed to a lack of funding, but it was only a symptom of the wider cultural rejection of and disbelief in women’s cycling.

Now 33 years later, the Tour de France Femmes was held again. Annemiek van Vleuten, a Dutch cyclist, took first place and the coveted yellow jersey in the Tour de France Femmes. Despite having a stomach sickness at the beginning of the Tour and dealing with no less than five bike adjustments on the final stage, she managed to win on Sunday.

The revival of the Tour de Femmes was a success. The eight stages averaged 2.25 million viewers across France 2 and France 3 channels, while 20 million people watched the full race. 75 million hours of live coverage were transmitted into seven European nations outside of the host country, demonstrating the Tour de France’s ability to draw spectators to cycle racing. The achievements of Eurosport riders Van Vleuten and Marianne Vos were watched by 14 million people, including a whopping 45 percent of the Netherlands TV audience.

A Guinness-Drinking Pony is the New Mayor of Cockington Village

Patrick the Pony was just elected the mayor of a small English town.

Patrick didn’t always have these hefty responsibilities. The pony started his career as a therapy animal. He earned his reputation and his beloved town status through his regular interactions with the villagers, including at a favorite pub of his. He has reportedly helped members of his village with anxiety, raised funds for Ukraine and defibrillators, and regularly attends large town events. Sadly, although the title is real, the position is unofficial – he cannot way in on any policy decisions.

Surprisingly, Patrick is not the only animal to hold a public office. In the United States, it is far from uncommon to see an animal as mayor. The people of Talkeetna, Alaska elected Stubbs the cat to the position of mayor, and Bosco the dog ruled Sunol, California. Eastsound, Washington elected April the cow as mayor, who retired after one year to pass the title on to a Portuguese water dog.

In 2020, a total of 9 dogs had served as mayor in the United States, most likely with absurdly high approval ratings.

Could Naming Heat Waves Save Lives?

Temperatures across the world have been rising faster than scientists, modern technology, weather specialists, and civilians can keep up with. Most recently in the UK, as referred to by CNN as “the Great British Bake Off that no one wanted”, a new analysis concluded that the heat was most likely a result of human-caused climate change. Although this rising issue is nothing new, the current heat waves are becoming more frequent and longer with little evidence of reversal.

The same issue is just as relevant in the United States. States across the nation are in a current ‘state of emergency’ and under extreme heat warnings- such as Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas, and more. This week alone, 4 have been found dead in Oregon and it has been preliminarily found to be linked to heat-induced hypothermia. A city in Oregon reached temperatures of 111 degrees, which beat the previous record from 2009. Additionally, more and more cities are beginning to experience personal losses of their populations.

On June 25th, a 24-year-old delivery driver collapsed in his truck as rising temperatures in Los Angeles County became unbearable. As the presence of dangerously high and potentially fatal temperatures Los Angeles, along with other cities, are considering naming these heatwaves- in hopes that it will raise enough public awareness, similar to that of a storm or hurricane. Additionally, these cities hope that by naming these heatwaves, it will urge officials to initiate measures of mitigating the impact of extreme heat.

The amount of Americans dying each year from heat-related illnesses continues to increase. According to the CDC, about 600 Americans die of these illnesses every year- while there are warning of the ‘true figure’ being even higher. While being conscious of what this intensity of heat is capable of doing to the human body is certainly an important aspect in the solution, the real solution will lie in initiative for a change in the way human-caused climate change continues to increase.