Whether you are a mom that has decided to work outside the home or inside the home, you are still considered a working mom. Many people think that if you are a stay at home mom you do not work, but I don’t agree with them. Staying at home to take care of children is a very difficult job and requires a lot of work no matter when anybody says.

A few weeks ago, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen criticized Ann Romney, wife of Mitt Romney a presidential candidate, of never working “a day in her life.” This comment stirred up a lot of controversial comments and discussions I’m sure.

On Monday night, Ann Romney spoke at a GOP dinner in Connecticut. During her speech, she defended her role as a stay at home mother. She talked about how not everybody chooses the same path in life but that we should value everyone’s choice whether they choose to work inside or outside of the home.

She also talked about how her husband would constantly tell her that her job was going to “bring forever happiness” and that his job was temporary. She describes her stay at home role as follows: “[I] know what it’s like to get up early in the morning and to get them off to school and I know what it’s like to get up in the middle of the night when they’re sick, and I know what it’s like to struggle and to have those concerns that all mothers have.

If you are like me, you get your taxes done as soon as the W2’s come in the mail. I don’t see any sense in waiting to get them done. I see it either as an opportunity to get my refund sooner, or as a way to just get the payment over with. Either way, I like getting it done early so I don’t have to stress about it at the last minute.

In you are like my brother-in-law, you waited until the last hour of the last appropriate day to file your taxes. Waiting until tax day is not an uncommon practice for many Americans. Some are even have to file an extension or just send in their paperwork a few days late.

Usually, waiting until the last day to file your taxes means that you wait to file them until April 15. That day comes every year and it is the same day every year. If you waited until the last minute this year though, you actually waited until April 18th. Why was tax day so late this year? You can thank Abraham Lincoln I guess.

The Reason

On April 16, 1862, Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in Washington, DC. This day was made an official holiday in 2005 and the IRS is required by federal law to observe official DC holidays. With Tax day being on a Sunday this year, it would have normally been pushed to Monday the 16TH. But, because Monday April 16th was Emancipation day, the deadline was pushed to the 17th therefore giving you a few more days to file your taxes.

Chances are that people who file early, will still fine early. And most people, who usually file late, will still file late though. Old habits of total procrastination die hard.

Do you remember the time spent learning about where humans came from? In my classroom, we talked about both creationism and evolution. Some teachers did a better job of hiding their personal beliefs than others did. And no matter what the children in my class believed, we were expected to learn about both side of the creation debate.

In Tennessee, there is a potential law that would protect such teaching in public schools. The new law being proposed in Tennessee would “encourage teachers to teach scientific strengths and weaknesses of controversial subjects including evolution, the origin of life, global warming, and human cloning.

What the Opposing Say

• “They are avoiding the real problems in education by dealing with some of these emotional hot-button issues”. In other words, public education is not perfect and rather than dealing with real issues such as test scores and other things like that, we are deciding to focus on “hot-button” issues.

• “Tennessee is doing the unbelievable.” They are attempting to insert religious beliefs back into schools and their teachings of science.

• There is no scientific controversy behind these theories – within the scientific community, they are widely agreed upon.

What the Supporters Say

• The bill does not say that teachers can teach that one philosophy is more correct than the other. It says that as long as they stay with objective facts, the can say whatever they want.

• “Teachers must be allowed to discuss ‘weaknesses’ in scientific theories… calling their validity into question.”

Time will only tell whether or not the governor of Tennessee will sign this bill into law. What do you think? This might be a great topic for your next date… or not.

In the years of prohibition, home brewing was made illegal. These laws were in place until 1978 when some stated decided to legalize home brewing.

Even though it is legal to brew from home, most state laws only allow you and your family to consume your brew. It is not legal to distribute beer to anyone outside your home.

New Legislation

Wisconsin state legislature passed a law last week that will allow home brewers to share their homemade brews with other adults. They are still not allowed to sell their concoctions though. Wisconsin Gov Scott walker plans on signing this bill into law.

Home Brewing Facts

The number of people brewing beer at home has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years. Last year alone there were 411 beer tasting competitions. That’s up quite a bit from the 1990’s when there were less than 100 competitions.

It took some states years to legalize home brewing laws. It took until the year 2009 and 2012 for Utah and Oklahoma to legalize it. Mississippi and Alabama are the only states that home brewing is still illegal.

Arizona, Illinois, Hawaii, and Idaho do permit home brewers to share their brews with other adults outside their homes.

Individual states have their own sets of laws that supersede federal legislation. Most states have somewhat ambiguous laws about home brewing and distributing. If this is a hobby you want to start, be sure to check what your state laws are so you don’t get fined.

How would your school years, and knowledge about sex been different if you hadn’t been forced to sit through those classes. Or what if the information you received had been different. Well, our youth may soon find out.

Currently our sex education in schools consists of biology, STD’s, and contraception. Parents have to sign a permission slip in order for their children to participate. They do have an option, and statistics say that most parents opt for their children participate.

On Tuesday, March 6, 2012 a bill passed through Utah’s legislation that will change the information presented in these classes. The bill will still allow biology to be taught in schools. However, any discussion about sexual intercourse, homosexuality, contraception, or sexual activity outside of marriage will be banned. Schools will be mandated to teach an abstinence curriculum or nothing at all.

Arguments FOR

• There has been an alarming increase of STI’s since schools began teaching children about sex and contraception. The presentation of sex’s clinical biology usually leads to “a sexual counseling discussion” which some senators disapprove of.

• We should not be sending our children to learn about sex at school. Parents should be the ones to teach their children about sex and its consequences.

Arguments AGAINST

• By depriving children of sex education curriculum, they will not receive information that could reduce pregnancy and STI’s, which could change their lives permanently. Children are exposed to sexual content on TV and on the internet that can be inaccurate and incomplete. By participating in sex education, these myths can be cleared up.

• Not all children have parents that are willing or ready to have “the sex talk” with their children. The only information on sex these children will get will be from their peers who may not have the same morals.

• Government should not be defining morality for all children. Parent’s choice to have their children educated is taken away.

So far nearly all of the states have a law that gives those convincted of a DUI additional penalties if there are children in the car. The only states that have yet to adopt this policy are: Alaska, Connecticut, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Vermont.

In every other state, those convicted of DUI who are known to have children as passengers in the vehicle with them could receive additional penalties such as: child abuse charges.

The states, however, differ on what constitutes a child and the severity of charges. In New York you can receive a felony charge for getting a DUI while any passenger with you in the car is under the age of 16. However in Wisconsin, the very same act is only considered a misdemeanor.

The activist group MADD is now fighting to get harsher sentencing for those who participate in such activity siting the fact that the largest number of child deaths between the ages of 3 and 14 are caused by vehicle accidents and in 2009 14% of those were due to alcohol-impaired accidents.

MADD believes that drunk drivers are not only putting the children in danger by their inability to drive carefully, but also their inability to recognize and use child restraints such as seat belts to ensure the children’s safety should an event such as this occur.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is now pushing to get the law changed. This advocacy group believes that there should be no second chances when children are involved and if you get caught in a second act of DUI with a child as a passenger in the vehicle you should receive a felony.

Some are fighting this idea, sighting the fact that this would stop many people convicted of DUI from obtaining jobs. MADD however stands by the idea and will continue to push for harsher punishments, especially when children are involved.

Supportive lawmakers stand behind protesters in an effort to retake the White House in this coming fall election.

The “March For Life” is not new to the National Mall. It has taken place every year since the 1974 decision legalizing abortion. It is one of the largest, consistent protests in Washington each year. However, this year’s rainy conditions kept numbers lower than usual.

House Speaker John Boehner is one of the lawmakers that joined the protesters, reminding them that he is one of 12 children of which he is very grateful, which he points out “must not have been easy on his mother.” He continues by saying he is “glad we’re all here.”

Boehner was only one of a couple dozen speakers who address the crowd on Monday. Participants cheered the congress members on as they talked on the topic of abortion.

Signs in the crowd of protesters included support of Presidential candidates Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, favorites among conservative Christians, as well as “I Voted Pro-Life First”, “De-Fund Planned Parenthood” and “Face It… Abortion Kills a Person.”

Protesters come from all across the United States to make their position known.

President Obama made a statement Sunday that reaffirms his decision to support a woman’s right to choose, saying that the government should not intervene on private family matters, especially in cases in which having the baby my “harm the mother’s health or reproductive freedom.”

Many protesters think that Abortion might be a bigger deal in choosing the next commander in chief if a bill concerning abortion was close to reaching the Supreme Court.

What do you think? Would you be voting differently if you knew that your choice might help determine the future supreme court justices and the decision to uphold Roe Vs. Wade?

Proponents of regulation are simply asking for the airwaves of national broadcasters to stay clean between 6am and 10pm, saying that this way parents can know for sure which channels will be safe for the whole family to enjoy.

Supporters also point out that these networks often own cable stations or movie production studios in which they are allowed to produce and air whatever kind of content they want.

Statistics show that 9 out of 10 households in America subscribe to either cable or satellite programming and those against regulation point out that with the simple touch of a button children are exposed to that kind of language and programming anyway.

They also say that not much would really change because national broadcasting channels are already sensitive to consumers who don’t want that kind of programming.

It has also been suggested that with the media now available through movies and internet content, children have plenty of other ways to access to this kind of content and regulating it on national broadcasting networks alone will not make a significant difference.

FCC Under Fire

The FCC is currently under fire in this case because of the lack of its ability to hold up its own regulations. In 1978 a New York radio station was fined after a 12 minute long George Carlin monologue which contained strings of expletives. The monologue was aired in the middle of the afternoon.

For years however, the FCC did not go after one time usage of curse words. This changed in 2002 and 2003 when during the Billboard Music awards in with both Cher and Nicole Ritchie dropped the F-bomb. Fines were not issued, but the FCC did state that these shows had violated their policy.

It will be interesting to see where this case ends up. Keep an eye on the news for more about television broadcast regulation.

These are followed by subsections that include: The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity. This includes how long the child has lived with each parent, and who has lived in the respective homes. Are there constantly significant others or friends moving in and out of the residence? Is it safe, clean and comfortable for the child?

Permanence of residence. This takes into account how often the parent is around, how often the child will be uprooted with moves, etc.

Also taken into account is the moral fitness of the involved parties. Does either party have a criminal record or a wild and active party life on the weekends?

According to Marie E. Matyjaszek the next category is the one that receives the most laughs but is often one of the most important. The mental, physical and emotional health of the parties involved. She says “of course everyone thinks their ex is crazy” but there are often times serious mental and emotional issues that are not seriously addressed.

This unfortunately is also where candy stuffed parents and kids will be taken into account. Of course, a little bit of candy, junk food and even fast food is fine. But if you are stuffing your child with pizza, McDonalds and Snickers on a daily basis, this may seriously impair your chances of winning the custody battle. Physical health of the child and parent or guardian bears just as much weight in the courts as does mental health and stability.

So, before you take little Tommy and Jane out for pizza, fast food and ice cream, or let them dig their hands deep into the cookie jar this weekend, you may want to rethink what you are doing to yourself and your children by letting them have whatever they want.

Famous attorneys Danielle and Andrew Mayoras wrote the book :”Trial and Heir:Famous Fortune Fights!” as a way to examine and document high profile celebrity cases that have caused quite a riot in family legacies and as a way to help the average everyday Jack and Jill deal with hard decisions regarding their futures.

The Mayorases have already appeared on a number of shows including The Rachel Ray Show, Forbes, ABC’s Live Well Network, NBC Chicago, WGN-TV, and Fox 2 Detroit. The Mayorases hope that by doing this special they can alert people to the importance of estate planning and help viewers prepare for their future, no matter their economic circumstance.

Of course, doing a special of this nature is treading on uncomfortable ground for many people. This is not something that the majority of Americans like to think about. The Mayorases hope that by approaching this subject in this lighthearted, catchy manner they will be able to inform, educate and interest people in getting into the nitty gritty of their estate planning.

The special features a never before seen interview with Ray Charles Jr. who talks about the pain and grief his father’s estate has caused his family. In addition to Ray Charles Jr., the Mayorases will discuss the stories of Sonny Bono, Marlon Brando, Princess Diana, Michael Jackson and James Brown just to name a few.

Viewers can look for this show to air on their local PBS station sometime during the month of December and if they choose to pledge to their local PBS station they can receive the DVD, book and other special features available locally.