Current Events

As residents in Chesapeake, Virginia get ready for Halloween, as is the city council. March of this year was when the city council decided to restrict trick or treating for youth over the age of 14. Laura M.  Holson from the New York Times writes, " The city passed a new  ordinance   that raised the trick-or-treating age to 14, saying anyone who was older than that could be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined $250."  This became an issue in  Chesapeake because in 1970 " a group of mischief makers threw exploding fireworks into Halloween bags." Due to minor injuries the council at the time restricted anyone older than 12 from trick or treating, and anyone caught " could be fined as much as $100, arrested and sent to jail for six months." Article

Senators Lindsey Graham (R) and Chris Van Hollen (D) introduced a sanctions bill yesterday to punish Turkey for their attacks on the Kurds. For the record, the Kurds are " one of America’s best partners in the region" which helped fight against ISIS. These attacks are occurring due to President Trump's decision to remove 50 troops from northern Syria. In addition, section 1 of the bipartisan bill includes sanctions on Turkeys leadership including the president, Vice President, Minister of National Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Treasury and Finance, Minister of Trade, and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. Section 2 of the bill is on military transactions with turkey. The bill states, " Sanctions against any foreign person who sells or provides financial, material, or technological support or knowingly does a transaction with the Turkish military." Section 3 is on Turkey's energy sector. The bill states, "Sancti...

The 20th century was a time where 9 in 10 Americans believed in God and were part of an organized religion. When the 90's came about that statistic changed. People that didn't identify with an organized religion (nones) started to come out of the dark. Dereck Thompson, the author of the article, mentions how Americans were becoming less interested in religion because of the GOP. Thompson points to the 70's where the religious right gained traction. The religious right was becoming concerned with the rise of secularism due to "the sexual revolution, the  Roe v. Wade  decision" and "the nationalization of no-fault divorce laws." This was where christians started to really get involved in politics. This is where the GOP and the religious right became one. This brought forth Ronald Reagan, Bush Sr, and other election victories. This ended up making liberal democrats extremely uncomfortable, Thompson writes, " it disgusted libe...

2020 Democratic presidential candidates poked at education during the last debate. Julian Castro basically says that schools are segregated because neighborhoods are segregated. Bernie Sanders pointed out that the United Sates has " one of the world’s highest child poverty rates." Andrew Yang says what most of us think. He says, “Let me be clear. I am pro-good school." California Senator, Kamila Harris, mentions how race is a factor in a child's educational career. She states,   “If a black child has a black teacher before the end of third grade, they’re 13 percent more likely to go to college. If that child has had two black teachers before the end of third grade, they’re 32 percent more likely to go to college.” Former vice p resident, Joe Biden, brings up how slavery has affected the education system. He says, “A kid coming from a very poor school, a very poor background, will hear 4 million words fewer spoken by the time they get there.”  The author of the articl...

We as people have different tastes for a work environment. So do kids.  Jessica Koehler  provides her kids as an example. Her oldest son as a kid wasn't like most kids.  She enrolled him in a play-based preschool and turns that  preferred to read than to go out and play. She as a parent was criticized for here kid reading than playing outside. So she decided to enroll him in an academically-oriented preschool which " accommodated his advanced academic skills." Turns out that he  preferred this environment than the play-based one. Her younger son had trouble remaining focused and had trouble expressing his anxiety. Just like his older brother he was enrolled in an academic-based preschool which turned out to be a mistake. '" We tried kindergarten in our local public school, and his inattention and impulsivity, combined with difficulty expressing his anxiety, led to him internalizing that he was the “bad ...

In a time when politics can become quite toxic, its nice to have some fun. Comedy is the best remedy for most things. Unlike todays late night hosts, Dave Chapelle had one of the funniest specials in a while. Most late night comedians only make fun of President Trump. Chapelle, on the other hand, made fun of everyone. Joking about abortion to joking about the opioid crisis. This comedy special was just another comedy special to most people, but since were living in 2019, critics were not happy. Rotten Tomatoes so far has given the special a 33% approval rating, while the audience gave a 99% approval rating. Hannah Gadsby, another comedian, also has a comedy special on Netflix. Rotten Tomatoes giving her an approval rating of 100%, while the audience approval rating is at 40%. This just shows how disconnected the media is from what most people believe and like. Political correctness seems to be behind Chappelle's poor tomatometer score and a Gadsby's perfect score. https://w...