September is Suicide Prevention month. The month is almost over, but suicide prevention- and metal health awareness in general- are things I care deeply about. I’ve been very open about my mental health struggles for the most part. I’ve talked about my teenaged suicide attempts. I’ve talked about supporting friends and family members with metal health conditions. I’ve talked about… Read more »
Today is the day we celebrate the passing of the 19th Amendment – giving women the right to vote. I shared this back in 2017 and I found that it’s just as relevant- possibly even more so- now as it was 8 years ago. And I still can’t write anything this good. https://medium.com/@dinachka82/about-your-poem-1f26a7585a6f#.1wi98zzh6 We can do better. We need to… Read more »
It seems that my adopted home state of Iowa is developing a reputation for people saying and doing dumb things. I don’t think we have quite reached “Florida man” status yet, but we are well on our way to becoming the Florida of the north. And unfortunately, another new entry was just logged into our permanent record. On May 30th… Read more »
One of the biggest news stories of that past week was the selection of the new head of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Leo XIV. aka the former Cardinal Robert Prevost. Leo XIV is the first American pope. This was long thought would never happen, so this is a big deal. Born and raised in Chicago, he’s spent most of… Read more »
Donald Trump has been President for just over 100 days at the time I’m writing this. If you listen to him it’s been a roaring success- egg prices are down 87%, dozens of nations are begging for trade deals with the US, we’ve shipped thousands of violent criminals out, and we are cutting wasteful government spending. But if you live… Read more »
Yes of course the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is on while I’m writing this. But as much as I love the Big Dance, that’s not what I’m pontificating on today. Earlier this week US Senator Check Grassley, who has been in the Senate since 1981 and is approximately 279 years old, had a town hall in my town this past… Read more »
As I’m sure you heard, there was a movement on social media to boycott spending on February 28th. Ideas like this aren’t new- every time the price of gas goes up someone suggests it because it’s supposed to lower gas prices. It never works, and this one didn’t work either. And here’s why. #1 Lack of participation. It’s likely that… Read more »
Unfortunately, this year this observance is more important than ever. Today is World Day of Social Justice. Basic human rights are under attack for the LGBT+ community. Racism is rampant. Misogyny is almost fashionable in certain circles. Poverty and homelessness are everywhere. As a species we need to do better. And in spite of everything going on in the… Read more »
By the time you are reading this Donald Trump will be the President of the United States again. I’ve made my opinion on Trump pretty clear over the years and no, it has not changed in recent weeks. He’s already walked back several key campaign promises that likely won him the election- most notably that he would lower grocery prices. … Read more »
This year today is more important than ever- it’s National Religious Freedom day. Now before the right loses their shit over this being some kind of “woke” holiday, learn the history. This day was established in 1786 in Virginia and is based on the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom written by none other Thomas Jefferson. It’s one of many… Read more »