Showing posts with label Constitution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Constitution. Show all posts

June 28 - Constitution Day in Ukraine

   Posted on June 28, 2022     


This is an update of my post published on June 28, 2011:




What a time to talk about a Ukrainian holiday! And yet - what a time to celebrate the modern democratic constitution of this nation!

Since late February, Ukraine has faced a terrible invasion from its larger (area-wise) neighbor, Russia. Ukraine is utterly innocent of wrongdoing but is still paying the price in deaths, injuries, displacement, and destruction - all because of evil intentions on the part of Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin. You probably already know more about this heartbreaking war than you wish to know...So I will relate happier knowledge about Ukraine.

For decades Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, which was dominated by Russia. Today the Ukrainian language, which is the official language, is supplemented by the Russian, which is also widely known. I wonder if the Russian language has become a lot less used, however, given the terrible atrocities needlessly foisted upon Ukrainians by Russian troops. 

Usually concerts and fireworks mark the anniversary of Ukraine's 1998 adoption of its constitution, which made it a semi-presidential republic.

Ukraine is the largest country in Europe (Russia, which is larger in area, lies mostly in Asia).


Ukraine is famous for its Easter eggs, called pysanky, for sunflowers (an important export crop and national symbol),  and (unfortunately) for the largest nuclear plant disaster in the world, Chernobyl.




The Ukrainian flag is a yellow field topped by a blue
field. Can you see how this photo of sunflowers and
blue skies echos the Ukrainian flag? 

Nowadays, of course, Ukraine is known for its citizens' amazing courage and their courageous comedian/actor-turned-president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukraine has been known for beautiful architecture (seen below). The saddest part of war is, of course, the loss of people, but I'm bleeding for Ukrainians losing structures and infrastructure, as well! 


I love the Metro station, above.
Below, a tunnel of trees!







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February 5 - Mexican Constitution Day

   Posted on February 5, 2022


This is an update of my post published on February 5, 2011:





On this date in 1917, Mexico's Constitutional Congress approved a new Political Constitution of the Mexican United States. It is similar in many ways to the Constitution of the United States of America, but it is the first constitution in the world to set out social rights. Creating a list of banned books was prohibited, and free secular education was established. Land reform and labor rights were spelled out. In an effort to keep religion and government separate, some religious freedoms were restricted; many presidents chose not to strongly enforce these anti-clerical articles, and by 1992 most of them were removed.


A Constitution is a Plan
It's like a written blueprint for the basic structures of government, and the powers of and restrictions on each governmental structure.

A Constitution is a Promise

Most written constitutions also include a list of rights of the people that are guaranteed. Mexico's constitution, for example, outlaws slavery, the death sentence, and bigotry. It guarantees equal protection under the law and specifies that people have a right to protection of their health and to housing. There are many other articles that speak to people's rights and societal standards.





Learn more...

The Constitution was influenced by the Mexican Revolution. Learn more about the revolution through the work of seven artists.


 

Did you know...

Many Mexican children learn all or many of the state names of the United States of America--but most U.S. kids don't even know that Mexico has states, let alone the names of those states! 


Here are the names:
1. Chihuahua
2. Sonora
3. Coahuila
4. Durango
5. Oaxaca
6. Jalisco
7. Tamaulipas
8. Chiapas
9. Baja California Sur
10. Zacatecas
11. Veracruz
12. Baja California
13. Nuevo Leon
14. Guerrero
15. San Luis Potosi
16. Michoacan
17. Sinaloa
18. Campeche
19. Quintana Roo
20. Yucatan
21. Puebla
22. Guanajuato
23. Nayarit
24. Tabasco
25. Mexico State
26. Hidalgo
27. Queretaro
28. Aguascalientes
29. Colima
30. Morelos
31. Tlaxcala

There is also a Federal District. Like Washington, D.C., this means that the capital city of Mexico City is not part of any state.









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September 25 - An Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Begins its 74,003-day Journey to Adoption! (!!!!)

  Posted on September 25, 2021


This is an update of my post published on September 25, 2010:




On this day in 1789, twelve constitutional amendments were passed by the new United States Congress and sent to the states to be ratified (approved).


These amendments were called the Bill of Rights. The second one concerned paying Congress: any law that increases or decreases payment to Congressmen and women cannot take effect until the next set of terms for Representatives begins.



However, only ten of the twelve amendments were ratified in the late 1700s, and it is those that we consider the Bill of Rights. (The second amendment thus became the right to keep and bear arms.) The original second amendment—the one about Congressional salaries—wasn't ratified for more than 202 years!!! 


Yes, it took more than 74 THOUSAND days for it to become the law of the land! It was finally ratified in 1992 and became the 27th Amendment.


In other words, one of the very first amendments suggested became the last amendment to become part of the Constitution (at least so far).



Did you know...?

  • There are still four amendments that are pending (waiting to be ratified) before state lawmakers. One of these was part of the twelve original passed on September 25, 1789.

  • One of the supposedly "pending" amendments specifically preserves slavery! It was passed by Congress in 1861 as a last-ditch effort to prevent the Civil War, and three northern states actually ratified it! (Seven southern states had already decided to secede from the nation and didn't bother to ratify.) Of course, even though it was passed without a time limit, the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlaws slavery, makes it moot.


  • Two amendments that passed Congress but weren't ratified by the states have apparently expired. One of these was an amendment that ensures equal rights to women, and the other would have provided full voting rights to people in the District of Columbia. It seems awful to me that we can't get two-thirds of the states to approve these important amendments!



Here's the path that the 27th amendment took:


1789 – passed Congress, sent to the states for ratification


1791 – the sixth state (out of ten then required) ratifies the amendment


1873 – Ohio ratifies it in protest of Congress's “Salary Grab Act”


1978 – Wyoming ratifies it in protest of Congress giving itself a raise


1982 – a college student wrote a paper on the languishing amendment and began a letter-writing campaign to state legislators


1992 – enough states ratified the amendment that it finally became law

 


 This is Greg Watson. When he was just 19 years old, he discovered an amendment languishing, unratified, and he wrote a paper on it. He only got a C on the paper, and that made him want to get the amendment passed. It took Watson more than a decade, but he got it done - and he changed the Constitution!


Learn more about the U.S. Constitution and its amendments here. 



Also on this date:






(4th Saturday in September)




(Last Saturday in September)



(4th Saturday in September)





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