3 Reminders for When Being a Stay-at-Home Mom Feels Insignificant

Where were you in January 1986?  Can you think back in time that far?  I was ten years old and halfway through the school year and I had become ill during the last few days of January.  Laying on my black couch and wrapped up in my Bobbs-Merrill, yellow, Raggedy Ann and Andy blanket along with my stuffed cat, I was battling a severe cold and watching what I could find on the television.(Photo Courtesy: Catherine Back fan page via facebook.com)No, I didn't live with Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach), but that TV is the exact model we had in my childhood home along Dorey Street.Rather, I believe that I was watching The Price is Right and either a news alert or a notice, perhaps the local WTAJ-TV 10 station cut over to the Space Shuttle Challenger preparing to launch into space.  Anticipating the launch, I can remember simply being mesmerized by this large, four-piece vehicle.  Honestly, I doubt that I can recall every moment but I faintly recall the countdown as the cameras would cut from the shuttle to the crowd, perhaps even a separate inset had the timer as the seconds ticked.In replays, I have seen the ignitor sparks spewing under the rocket engines, yet my ten year old memory cannot seem to recall that moment.  Nonetheless, ignition happened, and I do recall that as it ascended feet away from the launch platform, the shuttle apparatus did not just go straight up but moved slightly off center.  In replays, I still see all of the shuttles never launched directly straight up but a slight diagonal shift.  Perhaps this was the angle of the main shuttle engines to ensure it cleared away from the tower, but this was a memory that did stick out as I watched this man-made marvel.  Then, the fateful words that were standard protocol, "go for throttle up."  Then, the confirmation from the shuttle crew and within what appeared to be two seconds, that fateful explosion.(Photo Courtesy: Jason Gross @ Retrocon 2023)Jason and I recounted this in Memory Jogger episode 13 (Game Shows) where he was at school, watching on our lone school television.  If I remember, it was not a 19 inch but maybe a 22 inch television on top of a three shelf cart with a VCR on the middle shelf.  We used this often for Spanish class with Mrs. McLamb and the end of year movies...again, mentioned in Memory Jogger episode 7 (School Stories).  Inevitably, Jason recalled that parents were notified to come pick up their children as this could be a traumatic event for the students.  I, however, was at home and simply dumbfounded at what transpired.  Then, it sank in as the news reporter uttered the words that the Challenger had exploded.Well, with that event etched in my mind, what do you recall about January 1986?  Other major events occurred such as the following:January 1:  Becoming independent from the nearby island Curacao, Aruba is its own.January 7:  Economic sanctions are imposed on Libya (wonder if this was the backdrop of Airwolf) by President Ronald Reagan.January 11:  The first African American Lieutenant Governor, Douglas Wilder, is sworn in.January 20:  Martin Luther King, Jr is honored with his own federal holiday.January 23:  Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Ray Charles, and Sam Cooke are the first musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.January 24:  Best Film winner Out of America, Best Performance winners Whoopi Goldberg for her roll in The Color Purple, alongside Jon Voight in Runaway Train occurred at the 43rd Golden Globes.January 26:  European skating champion Hein Vergeer is named.January 27:  Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, and Tina Turner win awards in the Pop/Rock category at the 13th annual American Music AwardsJanuary 28:  Space Shuttle Challenger explodes after 73 seconds from lift off killing all seven astronauts.January 31:  The first female recipient of an artificial heart is implanted into Mary Lund of Minneapolis, MN(Events courtesy: https://www.historic-newspapers.com/blogs/article/1986-timeline?srsltid=AfmBOopuxknzNHBrUqV7xJDvHa3RQfp0BjRssKbgnTz4sTB4WYcsIM-J#January)

Casey Anthony, the notorious acquitted defendant in her daughter’s death, brazenly demanded accountability from the Trump administration over migrant child deaths while she herself escaped conviction for her own toddler’s murder. The Ultimate Hypocrisy Exposed Casey Anthony’s audacious demand that the Trump administration face consequences for migrant child deaths represents breathtaking hypocrisy from someone who escaped justice in her own child’s death. Despite being acquitted in 2011 of murdering 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, she remained widely viewed as morally culpable by the American public. Her attempt to position herself as a child welfare advocate exposes the shameless opportunism of Trump critics willing to exploit any tragedy for political gain. Casey Anthony has resurfaced over the weekend announcing she is going to be a legal advocate for the LGBTQ community against Trump. Anthony was found not guilty to the shock of seemingly everyone for the murder of her 2 year old daughter Caylee. Do you think she should be back… pic.twitter.com/rS6rU5ZrlT — Bubba The Love Sponge®️ (@TheBubbaArmy) March 4, 2025 The woman who partied for a month while her daughter lay dead now lectures others about accountability. Anthony’s calculated political statement demonstrates how leftist activists will elevate any voice, no matter how morally compromised, to attack conservative leadership. This represents everything wrong with modern political discourse, where the messenger’s credibility matters less than the anti-Trump message. Revisiting the Casey Anthony Scandal The Casey Anthony case shocked America when Caylee Anthony disappeared on June 16, 2008, only to be reported missing a month later on July 15. During those crucial weeks, Casey was documented partying and socializing while her toddler’s whereabouts remained unknown. When Cindy Anthony finally called 911, she told dispatchers Casey’s car “smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.” Casey immediately began lying to police, fabricating stories about a nanny named “Zenaida Gonzalez” kidnapping Caylee and falsely claiming employment at Universal Studios. Cadaver dogs detected decomposition odors in Casey’s car and Anthony’s backyard, while forensic tests suggested a decomposing body had been stored in the vehicle’s trunk. Caylee’s skeletal remains were discovered on December 11, 2008, in the woods near the family home. Media Spectacle and Public Outrage The prosecution’s theory painted Casey as a cold-blooded killer who chloroformed Caylee, applied duct tape to her nose and mouth, stored the body in her car trunk, and dumped it nearby. Despite overwhelming circumstantial evidence and public outrage, the jury acquitted Casey of murder and manslaughter charges on July 5, 2011, convicting her only of providing false information to law enforcement. The case became a national media sensation and a social media phenomenon, with public opinion shaped by online discourse rather than courtroom evidence alone. Scholars described it as a “social media trial” that created a lasting narrative of Casey as a “monstrous mother” regardless of legal outcomes. This pre-existing moral framework explains why her later political statements are viewed through the lens of her notorious past. Political Opportunism and Border Security Anthony’s criticism of the Trump administration regarding migrant child deaths in federal custody represents classic leftist deflection from real border security issues. While tragic deaths occurred during the processing of illegal border crossers, these incidents resulted from the overwhelming surge of migrants encouraged by Democrat policies and activist rhetoric. The Trump administration worked tirelessly to secure the border and protect American families from the chaos created by open-border advocates. By elevating Casey Anthony’s voice in this debate, anti-Trump media outlets revealed their desperation to find any critic, regardless of moral standing. This strategy backfires by highlighting the bankruptcy of arguments against vigorous border enforcement when supporters must rely on figures like Anthony. Real accountability would focus on stopping the human trafficking and dangerous border crossings that put children at risk in the first place. Sources: Casey Anthony Murder Trial Timeline Facts – Biography.com The Casey Anthony Case: A Timeline – Oxygen Casey Anthony Case Archive – 6ABC

For the first time in a decade, Donna Kelce does not have a son playing in the NFL playoffs. Jason Kelce retired from the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024. Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t make postseason play for the first time since 2014. Mama Kelce may not have a son on the field, but that doesn’t mean she’s not still involved with football. As a mom of two Super Bowl champions, she’s spent lots of time watching football and making treats for those watching with her. This year, she teamed up with the Pillsbury Dough Boy for Pillsbury’s annual Bake-Off Contest. The Dough Boy and Donna recently revealed the top four contestants in the Sweet vs. Savory showdown. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pillsbury (@pillsbury) Donna Kelce Knows Her Way Around a Kitchen Donna Kelce shared her excitement about the Pillsbury Bake-Off in a news release. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the stands and on the sidelines, so I know that game day food has to keep up with the excitement,” Donna Kelce said. “You need something easy, crowd-pleasing, and packed with flavor so you can get right back to the action, and that’s why I’m such a fan of Pillsbury. I usually reach for something sweet, but this year’s Bake-Off recipes made it nearly impossible to pick a favorite. Whether you’re Team Sweet or Team Savory, the final contenders are built to score big on game day.” The two sweet finalists are Kickoff Kettle Corn Bars and Big Win Cookie Bark. For the top two savory recipes, we have Blitz It Beef Bites and Tailgate Pimento Swirls. “The Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest has always celebrated the creativity of home bakers who turn everyday moments into something special,” Michelle Odland, VP, Business Unit Director for Pillsbury at General Mills said. “Our final contenders really ran with this year’s theme and brought that game day spirit, transforming classic Pillsbury biscuits, crescents and cookies into recipes that deserve a spot at any MVP-worthy spread. We can’t wait to see who comes out on top!” Pillsbury will announce the winner on January 29. This story’s featured image is by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Glamour.

If government is supposed to be a bureaucracy that operates on behalf of the citizens, one couldn’t hope to find a better example than a yearly tradition at the state treasury of Iowa known as the “Great Iowa Treasure Hunt.” That makes it sound like there’s a big state tax refund buried in a field […] The post ‘Great Iowa Treasure Hunt’ Reunites Rightful Owners with Lost Assets, Returns $33 Million Last Year appeared first on Good News Network.

Something crucial happened with President Donald Trump’s recent actions in Venezuela. In fact, taken together with his earlier moves abroad, they mark the substantive death of what might be called the “Iraq syndrome“—a paralyzing mindset that has distorted American foreign policy for more than two decades. The Iraq syndrome emerged after the failure of the Iraq War and the long, costly occupation that followed. In the American mind, it became shorthand for a broader fear: that any U.S. use of force overseas would inevitably spiral into a quagmire. But this was not the first time such a syndrome had taken hold. To understand Iraq syndrome, one has to go back to Vietnam. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, America’s foreign-policy establishment fell into disarray. A new conventional wisdom took hold among elites: The war had not been lost because of bad strategy or domestic unrest but because it never should have been fought at all. From this conclusion flowed a much larger claim—that the United States needed to fundamentally rethink its role in the world. This worldview, later known as the “Vietnam syndrome,” argued that America should abandon assertive foreign policy in favor of restraint or outright withdrawal, lest it stumble into further disasters. Underlying this posture was a thinly veiled anti-Americanism: the belief that the United States was not a force for good but a malign presence on the world stage. As former Princeton professor Richard Falk put it at the time, “I love the Vietnam syndrome because it was the proper redemptive path for American foreign policy to take after the Vietnam defeat.” In other words, America was guilty—and the appropriate response was retreat. That retreat carried real costs. A world without strong American leadership proved far worse than its critics anticipated. America’s self-imposed paralysis helped usher in the Cambodian genocide, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran. By the mid-1980s, Ronald Reagan decided it was time to move past Vietnam syndrome. In 1983, the United States intervened in Grenada, deposing a Marxist government in a swift operation that cost few American lives and restored democracy to the island. Shortly thereafter, then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger articulated six criteria for military intervention: a vital interest at stake, a commitment to victory, clear political and military goals, continuous strategic reassessment, sustained public support, and the exhaustion of nonmilitary options. Together, the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations applied these principles in Panama and during Operation Desert Storm. By 1989, Vietnam syndrome was effectively dead. Then came Afghanistan and Iraq. Both wars began with clear, limited objectives. The war in Afghanistan aimed to depose the Taliban and prevent al-Qaeda from regaining sanctuary. The war in Iraq sought to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Those goals were quickly achieved. What followed, however, was years of large-scale nation-building—at enormous cost in blood and treasure. The result was a revival of the old paralysis, now rebranded as the “Iraq syndrome.” This was not a reasonable skepticism about intelligence failures or a caution against nation-building. It was a full restoration of Vietnam-syndrome thinking: the assumption that every U.S. intervention would inevitably become another Iraq or Afghanistan. That belief took hold across the political spectrum, echoed endlessly by both the horseshoe Left and the horseshoe Right. Predictably, the Iraq syndrome produced the same results as its predecessor. Under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, American retreat became policy. The withdrawal from Iraq enabled the rise of ISIS. Iranian proxies expanded across the Middle East, culminating in the catastrophe of Oct. 7, 2023. Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan left 13 U.S. servicemembers dead and signaled American weakness—encouraging Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and emboldening China’s global ambitions. But now, at the end of an Iraq-syndrome presidency, something has changed. Just as Reagan once did, Trump has put the prevailing paralysis to bed. Trump has done so through what can fairly be called the “Trump Doctrine,” a framework I outlined in November 2024. Its principles are straightforward: America’s interests come first; those interests must be matched to proportional investment; all tools—-from diplomacy to military force—remain on the table; and threats should be explicit, not implied. Deterrence works best when it is public and unmistakable. Over the past year, Trump has applied this doctrine twice. First, with the June 22, 2025, B-2 strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, reestablishing American deterrence in the Middle East and reshaping regional geopolitics. Then, with the ouster of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. In both cases, critics warned—yet again—of World War III. Once more, Iraq syndrome spoke. And once more, it was wrong. These actions have restored American deterrence without dragging the country into quagmires or endless nation-building. America’s enemies are now on notice. The message is simple: Actions have consequences. The Iraq syndrome should be dead. If it truly is, it died at the hands of Trump. America is once again feared on the global stage—an extraordinary turnaround given where the country stood just a year ago. This is what many of us voted for. At least those of us who actually want to make America great again in the world. The post How Trump Finally Buried the Iraq Syndrome appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Rush reunion announcement landed like a Neil Peart cymbal crash heard from two continents away.For some, it was a benediction. For others, a blasphemy. In America especially, Rush has always been a band that splits the room in two. On one side: devotion bordering on reverence. On the other: a curled lip, a sigh, a muttered word like “soulless” or “show-off.”Rush endured because they never chased cool. Cool is perishable, but craft is not.Few great bands inspire such loyalty and such irritation at the same time. Even fewer manage it without changing who they are.A Farewell to KingsThe power trio we know as Rush formed in 1974 in Toronto, three young men chasing something bigger than barroom rock. They were loud, fast, and committed to mastery. As the years passed, they grew tighter, more disciplined, more deliberate. While other bands burned out or sold out, Rush stayed true.That mindset carried them for four decades. Album after album. Tour after tour. By the time they bowed out in 2015, Rush had become one of the most reliable live acts in rock history. No scandals (despite a well-documented affection for Bolivian marching powder). The farewell felt final, especially as drummer Peart’s health declined. When he died in 2020, the door seemed closed for good.Which is why this reunion lands so satisfyingly. It doesn’t feel forced. It doesn’t feel desperate. It feels natural. Two old friends picking up guitars, laughing through familiar songs, and realizing the music still matters to millions.To others, it matters in the way a neighbor’s power drill matters — piercing, relentless, and likely to trigger a migraine.Working ManRush has never fit comfortably into the American rock myth. The band wasn't blues-rooted, booze-soaked, or born of Southern swag. Geddy Lee sang like a caffeinated banshee. Alex Lifeson mixed power with precision. And Neil Peart — the irreplaceable center — treated drums like an Olympic event.To rock traditionalists, however, something about this just felt off. Rock, to them, was meant to feel dark and dangerous. Think Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the Who, AC/DC. Part of the gig was bringing chaos — both on and off stage. Treating hotel rooms like demolition sites and sanity as optional. Consider the late, great Ozzy Osbourne: a man who built a Hall of Fame career out of conduct that would have ended most working lives in a padded room.Rush never subscribed to that model. And for a certain kind of American critic, that alone was enough to raise suspicion.Rock wasn’t supposed to sound so organized. It wasn’t supposed to sound like the band had talked things through. So the complaints piled up. Too clean. Too lame. “Cheesy” and “corny” became the easy shortcuts, a way to dismiss what they didn’t want to engage with.RELATED: Exclusive: Former Toto bassist recalls 2019 breakup: It got a little 'Lord of the Flies' NurPhoto/Getty ImagesLimelightTake “Tom Sawyer,” still my personal favorite. Purists love to pick it apart. The synth line is too bright. The lyrics are too earnest. The chorus too triumphant. It doesn’t brood.But that’s the point. “Tom Sawyer” isn’t trying to sound dangerous. The aim isn’t menace but momentum. It captures motion, confidence, and propulsion — three qualities rock critics often mistake for shallowness. Look past the childish nitpicking, and what’s left is undeniable. A song that still fills arenas, still hits hard, still makes people feel 10 feet tall.For some critics, Rush was the band you loved if you owned graph paper and color-coded your homework. Rush's music was for the kids who finished the test early and then checked their answers. Not rebels, not wreckers, but students of the thing itself. In rock culture, that kind of seriousness was treated like a social crime.SubdivisionsRush is hardly alone in this. Steely Dan took the same beating, dismissed as music for dental offices, waiting rooms, and people who alphabetize their spice racks, despite writing some of the sharpest, most venomous songs of the era. Yes was mocked as bloated and indulgent. Genesis, especially after Peter Gabriel left, got the same treatment.America has always had a complicated relationship with genuine greatness. It celebrates brilliance, but only when it looks accidental. Genius is best received if it arrives late, drunk, and a little out of control.You see this pattern everywhere. Adam Sandler spent decades being treated like a joke because his films made money and audiences laughed until they nearly lost bladder control. Jim Carrey wasn’t taken seriously until he stopped being funny and started looking permanently unwell. Rush refused that trade and paid the cultural price.Headlong FlightWhat the reunion clarifies — especially now, in an age of irony fatigue — is that Rush endured because they never chased cool. Cool is perishable, but craft is not. When Lee and Lifeson talk about laughing while jamming, about the music “dispelling dark clouds,” they’re describing something purists often forget. Music is allowed to be joyful. It’s allowed to be exhilarating without being mystical. It can be thrilling without pretending to be profound every second.The dark humor is that Rush’s biggest sin may have been optimism. In an era increasingly allergic to it, they believed in improvement — musical, personal, even societal. That’s unfashionable.Cynicism sells. Rage Against the Machine built an entire brand on permanent fury, screaming about “the system” while cashing checks from it. Nine Inch Nails turned self-loathing into an aesthetic. Nirvana mattered because they captured the feeling that nothing worked and no one was coming to fix it. Misery read as honesty. Anger read as depth. Enjoyment, by contrast, looks unserious.But why? We’re here for a good time, not a long one. Rush understood that early. Music doesn’t always need to diagnose the human condition. Sometimes it just needs to move, lift, and hit you square in the chest. Half a century on, they’re back. Not to win over the skeptics, who never wanted convincing anyway. But to reward the faithful and quietly remind everyone else that having a good time isn’t a crime.

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