Welcome September!

Hello, Friends.

It is football season! College and high school games are in full swing. Football is an important part of American culture. Whether you follow the sport or not, we are impacted by this sport.

The professional football season begins September 8. Pick a team or players to follow and learn about the game from the NFL (National Football League).

International Friends Registration Is Open: Classes Begin the Week of September 12

Register to get the Zoom links. Links will be issued Friday, September 9. You can enter either a phone number (for numbers outside the U.S., include your country code) or email to get a confirmation code to confirm that you are a real person and not a spammer or bot.

Welcome September! Mark Your Calendars for Indiana Fall Fun

Now that the pools have closed, the lazy days are over and the fall festival season has begun.

Hamilton County has so much to offer. September festivals and fun are on. Click to see all or see our favorites below.

Jupiter Balloon Flights at Connor Prairie: September 9 and 10. Join for free at 7:30 AM or get tickets to the park and celebrate.

Chinese Mooncake Festival: September 10, 6:30-8:30 PM, Art and Design District, Carmel.

St. George Middle Eastern Festival: is held annually at 10748 E 116th street, Fishers. This year it is a three day event: September 16, 5:00-10:00 PM, September 17, 1:00-10:00 PM and September 18, 1:00-5:00 PM. Free admission, tours of the 

Cornerstone Lutheran Church Oktoberfest: September 23, 4:00-10:00 PM, on the corner of Main and Gray Streets in Carmel.

James Dean Festival: Fairmount, IN, September 23-25.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

Citizenship, Equal Protection, and Other Rights of Citizens

This amendment is quite long and describes how the rights of the citizens of the United States are upheld and enforced. Many cases have come before the Supreme Court to inform how this amendment is upheld. Most current events are informed by this amendment and understanding this right and the history supporting this right is critical for understanding current American issues. There is a wonderfully long outline and discussion that is well worth looking into The Fourteenth Amendment: Citizenship, Equal Protection, and Other Rights of Citizens

Section 1 Due Process of Law

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2 Apportionment of Representation

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4 Public Debt Clause

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 5 Enforcement Clause

The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

abridged: shortened or condensed

apportioned: divide and share

assume (a debt): take over the payment of a debt

bot: a computer program that imitates the behavior of a person

come before: presented for judgement

disability: (law) lack of legal qualification to do something

disqualification: to deprive of a right after a hearing

quite: considerably, very

spammer: a person or organization that sends irrelevant or unsolicited messages over the internet, typically to large numbers of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc:

upheld: supported or given support