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Landmark Non-Monogamy Case Big Score for Polyamory Community

When Erez Benari, a 48-year-old engineer from Redmond, Washington was sued by his former spouse over being polyamorous, things seemed dire. The lawsuit, spanning almost 1400 pages, accused Benari of exposing his child to polyamory and asked the court to restrict his time with his child and have his visitation be supervised. However, in a landmark decision, King County Judge Jason Holloway ruled in favour of Benari, thereby cementing the civil rights of polyamorous people in the state, with potentially far-reaching impacts to the entire polyamory movement and community.
“I knew my ex-wife was vehemently against polyamory, but I never thought it would come to this,” said Benari in an interview. The lawsuit filed is based on a clause entered by his former spouse into their divorce decree which reads “If the relationship is non-monogamous, the father and his partner shall not divulge that fact or discuss it with the child. The father will not include the child in a social gathering where such information may be divulged accidentally or discussed.”, which Benari’s former spouse claimed he broke. “It was clear to me right away that the clause is a violation of the 1st amendment,” said Benari, “and even though I was against it, a family law attorney advised me it is unenforceable, so I didn’t put up much of a fight, “he added. About a year after the divorce was finalized and ratified by the Seattle family court, Mrs Benari filed a lawsuit through her attorney Juliana U. Wong, a junior attorney at Bellevue law firm Inslee Best Doezie & Ryder. The lawsuit claimed Benari “exposed” his child to polyamory, though the case was unspecific whether any actual harm was done from that. As a result, the judge who initially reviewed the case refused to convict Benari or award damages to Mrs Benari.
Approximately a year later, Mr Benari filed to change custody over the child following reports of arising conflict with Mrs Benari’s new boyfriend and his child. Benari was unable to win custody, but Mrs Benari retaliated by re-filing her own case, accusing him once again with contempt of court. This time, the case was supported by an affidavit from the child’s therapist, Dominique Walmsley, who claimed exposure to polyamory was confusing to the child. When presented to the court, the presiding commissioner rejected the evidence vehemently, citing that it was hearsay evidence, as it was prepared by the plaintiff explicitly for the purpose of the hearing. The commissioner also pointed out to Mrs Benari and her attorney that basing their entire case on hearsay is highly frowned upon by the court ruled that Mr Benari did not violate the parenting plan and cleared him of all wrongdoing.
“Naturally, I’m glad to be over this harassment, “admits Benari, “but even more so, I’m glad that the court clearly illustrated to both Mrs Benari and to anyone else who considers attacking polyamory that in the 21st century, you can’t expect a court to try to control love. Just like you can’t be fired for being Gay or Trans in this day and age, no one should be kept away from their children because of who they go home to,” said Benari.
Polyamory, which is a type of open relationship, has been growing in popularity all over the world over the past few years. Historically, most human civilizations have practised some sort of non-monogamy, but the advent of Christianity led to the adoption and spread of monogamy, with most of the western world coming to think of it as the only way. However, around the 1960s, the United States experienced a resurgence of non-monogamy, visible in the form of the values of free-love practised by the hippie movement of that era. The idea spread, alongside various forms of non-monogamy that vary in their level of ethics and openness. Part of this value system was symmetric non-monogamy, meaning that women were free to engage in multiple relationships, as opposed to more traditional non-monogamy, where only men were permitted to have multiple partners.
While the term Polyamory itself was coined all the way back in the 70s, Polyamory has only really gained strong popularity in the last 5 years, as it has started to receive more and more media attention. In addition to news coverage of the topic, non-monogamous relationships received screen-time in movies and TV shows, including some very high-profile programs such as House of Cards, which featured non-monogamy sub-plots and storylines in its 4th season, broadcast in March 2016.
Due to the massive media coverage, more and more individuals started exploring polyamory, and it is currently estimated that at least 5% of Americans practise it regularly, and at least 15% have been in a polyamorous relationship at some point in their lives. These numbers are also estimated to be even higher in certain areas, such as Oregon and Washington in the Pacific Northwest, as well as some parts of California and New York. However, as experienced by Benari, not everyone is as open and accepting, and many individuals have had to deal with legal challenges related to divorce, child custody and property ownership in such scenarios.
Another realm that has caused challenges to many is that of employment benefits. Most companies don’t recognize polyamorous relationships as legitimate, and so benefits that normally extend to an employee’s domestic partner (whether married or not) are often withheld from a 3rd or more partners, regardless of their marital or domestic status. But the climate is changing, as the growing prevalence of polyamory is wide-reaching. In the state of Massachusetts, several cities have enacted legislation in support of non-monogamous partnerships over the last two years, and there are several other cities that are in the midst of planning similar steps. Even some states have taken certain steps, such as the state of California, where a court recently permitted a polyamorous family of three to have all listed as legal parents of a child born to the family. Legal experts estimate that western civilization is likely only a few years away from full adoption of polyamory into law on a federal level, thus permitting legal union of 3 or more individuals in a similar fashion to marriage. According to said experts, the Internal Revenue Service, despite its monolithic and archaic image, is actually often at the forefront of progress, legally speaking. As it pertains to polyamory, legal polyamorous unions could lead to an increase in tax collection and revenue, thus giving the IRS a good reason to support such changes in legislation. While polyamorous families already conduct unofficial union ceremonies commonly, those are not legally binding, but this could change quite soon. Times will tell!
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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.
According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.
Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.
Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.
Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.
To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.
Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.
On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.
Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.
TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.
When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.
And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.
Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.
A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.
Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.
But today, it feels more like reality.
Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.
SOURCE | CNN
News
2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Washington — Trump Media, The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.
The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.
The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.
The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case
Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.
Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.
Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.
The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case
That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.
The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.
SOURCE | AP
News
The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.
The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.
Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.
This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.
In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.
The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.
This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.
The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.
In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.
According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.
Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.
The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.
For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.
Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.
As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.
As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.
The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.
SOURCE: AP
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