When Do We Know It Is Too Late?

My colleague Hanna Moore, last article,  "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to spare."  really cought my attention. She did a great job a providing data and facts. She gave very good information as to what the problem really is and I completely agree with her. We need to realize and accept that the whole planet is having a water crisis. Texas' droughts is a big problem. Arlington and other cities were put under water restriction, not allowing them to water their plants everyday but just two times a week and other measures to avoid the misuse of water. Residents of these cities were mad because they believed their freedom was taken away.

I think as residents of Planet Earth we should think more about our actions towards the misuse of our resources. We can't live without water, and unfortunately due to climate change and droughts, water has been misuse throughout the world. I think that by Texas taking measure to try to save a little bit more of water and prevent it to being misuse is a huge positive thing. It shows that Texas does care about their environment. Hanna's article really made me realize how easily we take stuff for granted. We need to make conscious now on what we are doing, and we need to take action to help save our water.  Hanna was also right, when she said that restricting by restricting watering lawns, it does not have to do with the Bill of Rights, it's more about taking care "Earth's natural resources." I really loved her article and I completely agree with her and with the issue that we are having as a state, and as residents of planet Earth.

New Bill Against Sexting Between Teenagers.

I recently just found out about a bill signed by Gov. Perry that was introduced by Senator Watson. This bill is in regards of the act of young teens sexting. To those who are unfamiliar with "sexting", it is the sharing of sexually explicit images of themselves to other people. This law permits law enforces to charge teens with a  Class C misdemeanor. The new generation of kids start having cell phones from a very young age. This, off course gives them the freedom to do whatever they want as they are not being properly controlled. At this age kids don't have the maturity to realize how dangerous can be sending expliciti images of themselves. Child pornography is off course illegal in the state of Texas.

In this case, parents or other adults who catch minors sexting have two options. First one is to either ignore it or just ground them. Secondly, is to report it to the authorities and teens will be charged with a misdemeanor At this time the judge will put them in an education program where they will have classes about how dangerous sexting is, and they will do this instead of sending them to prison.

I completely agree with this law. It can either work or not, it's hard to say that a parent would make their teens go in front of a judge for sexting. As an older sister of a teen I have seen how hard it is to control teenagers in the era. I think making them scared at least will teach them how illegal and seriously dangerous can sending sexual pictures over the phone or e-mails be. It might be an exagerated way to deal with this problem but I think in cases where it problem is out of control this bill will work.

Texas Legislature Decisions affects Women, Infants, and Children.

 I came across a very interesting article by my classmate M. Kelly "Women, Infants, and Children: The First to Suffer." As an expectant mother I find this very sad. It is true that the decisions made by Texas Legislature have impacted Texas' women and kids. Unfortunately, there are many unplanned pregnancies, and as I wrote on my last blog if Texas is becoming a state pro-life that means they should think about the help for those women who choose to have the babies. Cutting budgets to programs like medicaid and WIC, that help single pregnant women to go through a healthy pregnancy, is very sad as this kids are the future of this nation. I know it sounds a little dramatic, but it is true, in the long run we need to be investing in the future kids, and that begins at the pregnancy and continuing with education and so on. 

Kelly did an amazing job at providing legit information about the budget cut on WIC, and how it affects pregnant women, infants and kids. This program helps infants to be born healthy and in the long run it will help to save money on future health care issues. Kelly did address this point when she said "...by cutting funding to WIC we can only assume Medicaid costs and SNAP benefits will increase." This is completely true, WIC is a program that helps women to have a healthy pregnancy and help them promote breastfeeding, which has been proven to lower the risk to many health issues that are now a big problem in our society.

I really hope that the Texas Legislature starts to really think about the decisions they make and who it is really affecting and recognize that it is affecting the people who are in real need.

New Texas Law on Abortion

There is a new law in Texas that recently passed in October 1st and it is about abortion. With this law, it requires abortion providers to show or at least a given a verbal detail an ultrasound to the mother of what is going with the fetus at the time of making the decision of having an abortion. This law requires women to have at least 2 ultrasounds before having the procedure done. This law shows how Texas is pro-life. This law makes a lot of sense as it will reduce the number of women having abortions and just ending lives like if it was just a game. An abortion is a difficult choice to make, and I think this law helps women have a little more understanding of what an abortion means. I've heard people making uneducated choices when deciding to either have an abortion or not and personally, I think it is critical for a women to know what is going on inside her body before making this kind of decision. Texas' new law about abortions will create a more aware society. I do understand that sometimes that if a woman makes the choice of having an abortion should be respected, but I also think that at least she should be educated first as far as knowing what is going on with the fetus at least. This new law can help Texans be more aware about protection and reduce the chance of unwanted pregnancies. This could be the start of a more sexual educated society. This law will create a more conscious picture at the timrmof making the decion of having an abortion or not.

"Texas Will No Longer Take Sex Lying Down"

While searching for something good to write about, I encounter this blog "Texas Will No Longer Take Sex Lying Down" by, Eileen Smith. In her blog she talks about the current debate of banning family planning in Texas' schools and religious-affiliated hospitals. On her blog she uses a lot of sarcasm: "Thank God. This will dissuade the teachers from having protected sex with their students. Now they’ll just have unprotected sex with their students..." This makes her point of view more obvious, which is being against the lawsuit against the government trying to mandate birth control pills in school and religious-affiliated hospitals. She uses actual statements made from Texas attorney Greg Abbot, who is the attorney representing Texas. She does not use actual articles where all the information comes from, but she does gives her opinion on how she is against it. Her blog was directed to all the public but specially those who are directed affected by it, as parents and religious people. Smith's opinion seems to be derived from articles read about the current debate, but her evidence is weak.

I do agree with her, that having birth control pills in schools doesn't necessarily means that it would be like allowing school students to have sex, but instead it gives them at least protection. Banning birth control pills does not solve the issue of school students having sex, they would be prohibiting something that actually solves more problems than it creates. Smith did a good job on her blog, but she should have provided more evidence and information on the current debate.

"Invest in care for our aging Texas inmates"

  As I was searching for something interesting to talk about, I found this article "Invest in care for our aging Texas inmates". At the statesman.com. In this editorial, the author talks about how Texas is always proud to say how tough they are on crime, but they have notice how much money it is spent to have people in jail, especially older people.    The author, who is unknown, did a great job on providing facts about the topic. His point of view was obvious in the article as he agreed that there should be new methods of incarceration and that old people in jails were more expensive as they needed health care. He based his argument on previous articles and statistics that showed the number of older inmates that needed medical attention. The audience was obviously every tax payer in Texas.     In the article he also introduced a new system where they setted up special geriatric units for inmates that are 60 and older. This article was very informative as well as opiniated. The author did a very good job by providing evidence which gave him more credit and made the article more interesting.

Death Penalty " A Texas Issue, but Not A National One"

       As I went through different  websites, I encountered this article: "A Texas Issue, but Not a National One" at the Texas Tribune written by Brandi Grissom. In this article Grissom talks about a controversial case where Rick Perry issued a stay of execution for Hank Skinner; who was convicted of triple murder on New Year's Eve in 1993. Skinner had requested to have a DNA test that he believed would have proved his innocence but it was denied per Rick Perry. On Grissom's article, you can tell that she does not agree how the system for Death Penalty works. On the article, Grissom points out how by approving DNA testing, Skinner might have been proven innocent of the murders. She gives examples of some other cases where the same thing happened; where DNA testing was denied and a stay of execution was issued. Grissom also wrote: "But for Perry the stay and the court’s continued deliberations over DNA testing makes this one issue he doesn't have to deal with while he is on the campaign trail."; which you can tell that the decision made by Perry was not completely thought about.


      On her article, she mainly believes that a decision like this, should not be made only by the State Governor but it should be taken as a National decision. Grissom showed a lot of her opinions on the article, but also gave proven facts as how the decision a stay of execution is not done properly, and gave her point on how it can be faulty and mistakenly execute innocent people.