My grandpa quit smoking in 2002, after smoking cigarettes since he was 13 years old back in the early 60s. A time when doctors were the spokespeople helping tobacco companies sell their products.

My road to having two healthy, feisty daughters came with a few unexpected turns.

While most of the attention this week was on the Impeachment hearings, where State Department officials revealed the criminal network disguised as a presidential administration, Congress actually did cast a few votes this week.

Are you a kid that is gonna be turning or is already 18 years old? Do you young adults want 1,000 dollars to do anything you want! Well, Democratic Candidate/Entrepreneur Andrew Yang does. He wants you to become rich with the advocated policy “Universal Basic Income”. The Universal Basic Income policy wasn’t his idea in the first place. Explained in “Democratic Candidate Andrew Yang Wants To Make You $12,000 Richer” by Mike Prevatt, Universal Basic Income is a policy where everyone in a society gets a certain amount of money to do whatever you want to meet your basic needs,'' he explained, "And my plan—The Freedom Dividend—would put $1,000 a month into the hands of every American adult starting at age 18." As he is currently a democratic candidate, if he pulls through to becoming the nominated president, how would the Universal Basic Income policy thrive.

Each state is divided into different counties because one state is geographically too large to be controlled entirely by just one government leader. To have better and more localized service delivered to the community, county executives act as heads of each subdivision in the state.

Sutherland Springs, Texas is about forty minutes away from my house. For most of my life, I hadn’t even heard of it. It’s not a very large town. However, after November 5th, 2017, when 26-year old Devin Kelley shot and killed 26 people at Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, the town gained publicity. This event became the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history (Ahmed). For me, this tragedy was different. It wasn’t in some far off state like New York. I had some friends who knew people in Sutherland Springs. Never before had I been so close to an event so devastating. It’s because that church, could’ve been my church that the issue of gun violence has became the utmost importance to me. Thus, the question must be examined, what is the relationship between gun laws and gun violence?

The US House of Representatives recently voted to approve a hike in the national minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next several years. For at least one freshman lawmaker, however, that increase is insufficient.

Let’s start out with the obvious vote of the week: Rep. Green’s attempt to impeach President Trump, which was tabled on a vote of 332 to 95. While a short term loss, there were some key votes in favor. Critically, the members of the House Judiciary Committee voted 16 to 8 against tabling. Whether this was because they wanted the issue in their committee or they genuinely felt Trump merited impeachment, it indicates there is a consensus on Judiciary that impeachment hearings are warranted. Key “No” votes include Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Vice Chair Marcia Scanlon.

This is an update on what congress did on Friday, July 12, which was primarily work on the National Defense Authorization Act.

Big week for Representative Steil as his first bill passed the House of Representatives. It was HR 3050, the Expanding Investment in Small Businesses Act. The purpose of the bill is to require the Securities and Exchange Commission to carry out a study of the 10 per centum threshold limitation applicable to the definition of a diversified company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. (RC 432, July 9)

The government should not be involved in anything that doesn’t involve protecting individual rights. For instance, if a music festival such as AfroFuture Fest wishes to overcharge whites or “non-POCs” or “non people of color,” the state should recognize their right to discriminate. Now, with that being said, whites, people of color, and anyone else with a rational brain in their skull should repudiate the festival and deny monetary support for the organization. The clearly racist act even brought out white supremacists which made this a clusterf–– of irrationalism. AfroFuture’s stupidity in trying to charge white people more than other races should be protected by the government. If they want to be idiotic and boost the price for people lacking a certain concentration of melanin, that’s their business. They should be free to be as bigoted as ever without any worry of force being imposed against them. The group extended that price break to “Black and Brown people.” But what about red, yellow, and yes, white people? Shouldn’t the color green be the ruling hue in this whole mess? Artist Tiny Jag, a person of color, denounced AfroFuture for their dim-witted actions. She took to Twitter to voice her disdain for the vicious ideas that AfroFuture has espoused. The young artist clearly said that she will not be playing the event and that their actions, “don’t reflect the views of the Tiny Jag Team.”

I got to vote at 18, I remember that I took this very seriously. I couldn’t drive yet because of my family, but I decided to vote. I felt powerful, and I think I voted for Clinton that year again, despite all of his crazy scandals. The 26th Amendment is all about the right of 18 year olds to vote in any election. The United States is bound to not be able to deny the right to vote. The 26th Amendment is the last of its kind in a series of amendments enacted in more than one century. This amendment is designed as protection for voting rights.