A Wild Ride

According to Sandra Knispel, Putin has made historically doubtful claims about the unity of Russia and Ukraine, most notably his assertion in his defense of invading Ukraine as being due to their history of being "one people," which he asserted in his July 2021 essay on Russians and Ukrainians alleged historical unity (Knispel 1). Putin argues that Ukraine is an integral part of Russia as it has never been a nation or a state (Knispel 1). He further argues that both countries share a common history and heritage, that of Kievan Rus (862-1242), which combined parts of modern-day Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine into a loose medieval political federation (Knispel 1). However, as argued by Prof. Matthew Lenoe, Putin's claims may only be convincing in that the Slavic people shared a common heritage, and that is where the claim ends (Knispel 1). Prof. Lenoe notes the inability to trace a continuous line from this loose federation to the Russian or Ukrainian states (Knispel 1). He a...

  The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1973. ALEC's mission is to promote free-market, limited-government policies at the state level by bringing together state legislators and corporate representatives to draft model legislation. The idea for ALEC was developed by a group of conservative activists who were concerned about the increasing influence of the federal government on state and local affairs. They believed that by developing model legislation at the state level, they could promote conservative policies and counteract what they saw as the liberal agenda of the federal government. In its early years, ALEC focused primarily on economic and fiscal issues, promoting policies such as tax cuts, deregulation, and privatization. However, in the 1990s, the organization began to expand its focus to include social issues such as criminal justice, education, and healthcare. ALEC's model legislation has had a significant imp...

I don't know about you, but somedays it feels like there are just not enough hours in a day. Okay, maybe there are if I could just go back and take out that 4 hour nap I took today. But who am I kidding, I apparently needed it. As a mother of 5 I am sometimes on sensory overload. I put a lot of things on my plate. Homeschooling, house cleaner, activity planner, potty trainer, meal planner, giver of chores, finance tracker, pay the bills, grocery lists, clothing and shoe tracker, vacation planner, make sure the kids don't burn down the house, did you eat your vegetables and fruit, why are there 10 apples with 1 bite taken out of them laying around the house and my ultimate favorite why is there poop on the wall?...I am overstimulated and broke. I have so much laundry that I am pretty sure there are people who live in my home I have not met yet.  I love my kids to pieces and my husband. But sometimes there just aren't enough hours in a day to fulfill all that is on our plates...

 President Joseph R. Biden has officially stated on the record that he would be nominating the first Black Woman to the Supreme Court. In a recent video posted January 27, 2022 on his Facebook page Joe Biden, he also stated that the person that he nominates will have extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity. This is one campaign promise that President Biden intends to keep.  We will be saying farewell to Justice Stephen Breyer's after 28 years on the Supreme Court as he retires from his four decades of service to our nation.  As this is becoming hot news, I was sent a meme that states: The first black woman nominated for the federal bench - Janice Rogers Brown...In 2003 Joe Biden filibustered and voted against nomination, TWICE . See Below.  Now one thing I am completely against is biased memes, or half truths, or blatant lies. This meme is factual, but let's add some context before we get our panties in a twist.  In 2003, George W. Bus...

 One of the things I have realized is that parenting is not for the weak. Today I was told I was the worst mommy several times by my 4 year old boy. I was also told I was the best mommy. But everyday is like negotiating with a terrorist. I should get paid for the amount of negotiating I have to do. And I am not talking bribes here, but negotiating a truce or explaining the facts of life (it is a negotiation just to get this far). Currently my husband and I are working on fixing up our home. We were able to add on two additional rooms to separate out two four year old boys. Every time I turned around there was either a whole in the wall or poop on the wall or hot chocolate on the wall. There is even poop on the ceiling. The boys are brothers, but they are 3 months apart as we adopted the older of the two boys. Last year I tore out all of the carpet in my living room and recently just finished ripping out the carpet in the bedrooms and replacing them with sticky tiles and planks. Wha...

Voting rights in the USA have expanded exponentially from the time the Constitution was instated. But, it was absolutely vital to maintain the vision of a free country. There is nothing free about a country that leaves out minority groups or those that don't own land. It does not match the ideals that we have all mostly grown up with. So, why are we seeing an explosion over voting rights in the 21st century? Well let's go back.  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a historic civil rights law that was put in place to ensure that the right to vote is not denied on account of race or color. 1965. Wow. That is only 57 years ago. It is also only 98 years after citizenship was gained by all native-born Americans.  1867 The Civil Rights Act of 1866 grants citizenship, but not the right to vote, to all native-born Americans.  1869 The Fifteenth Amendment is passed by Congress, giving African American men the right to vote.  1896 Following Reconstruction, Louisiana passes "grand...

 Donald Trump was in the news headlines again recently calling for the biggest protest this country has ever seen. It seems to me that former president Trump is scared and calling upon his biggest supporters to not take anything that may come out against him as reality. There is nothing more scary that a politician who is worshipped like a God trying his very best to dismantle all of our systems that make the United States what it is. Between his taxes investigation and the January 6th insurrection it seems that Mr. Trump is scared of what may come out about him that he is trying to prepare by undermining the process by calling it illegal instead of giving the ongoing investigations a chance to prove what many of us feel we already know, which is that most likely Mr. Trump is scared and guilty. I know that I personally would like to know what this prior president has been up to. No president is above the law. And no powers of the executive office should protect this man from the ut...