A Mouth for the Young

In one of her blogs, Senate OKs Changes to Newborn Screening, my colleague argued over the protection of the parents and their child’s blood to be sampled. She sided that, although government probably has too much to do with our children and that they are being endlessly protected by the adults, that it should not be that big of a deal for the blood of the kids to be used for research.

In accordance to my colleague’s blog post, I agree to what she has to say at some extent. She believes that with or without the parents’ consent the government shouldn’t exactly have to worry about a research including which ever child’s blood they want. I  don’t agree with that. Although they can’t really do much with just a sample of blood from the children, the parents are there to protect their kids from the time they are born, and if that means keeping even a drop of blood from being freely drawn then so be it.

However, I do completely agree that civilians are completely aware for the well- being of others and that is a great sign of unity. Children are helpless when it comes to their rights and having such adults make them have a place in society. They have their own representatives without being able to stand up for themselves. Additionally, she is also thankful for the concern of the government’s presence throughout the life of Texas’ residents. With that, I agree to as well. Regardless of how much the government and government officials may make one angry, they are there to help and have an open ear to the concerns of civilians. That is, however, to a point where they halt in having complete control over society.

Not in Texas. We're Perfect!

While looking over the Austin American- Statesman, I ran into an article by Juan Castillo about poverty, More School-Children in Central Texas Living in Poverty. At first, I didn’t think too much of it; knowing that it is a problem, I didn’t think it was that big of a difficulty in our living area and surrounding areas. However, after reading this article I was caught with my mouth open at the numbers that I was reading and realizing the magnitude of the problems being presented.

Although plenty of people live in luxuries and with no problem to have food in the palm of their hand when they ask for it, there are many other-  specifically children- who are suffering to have a full out plate on their tables. The percentage of children that are living in poverty has increased impressively and it seems that the places that have the most child poverty are those that are extremely near us, around the Austin area. There is no pride in being the second state in the United States to have the highest poverty rate and even less pride to know that this rate is solely among children. More than 40% of the people that are being cared for by the Capital Area Food Bank are children, an astonishing number if you consider those that are being helped by other organizations or those that fail to seek for help.

The situation here seems to be that the problem is hidden. How is it possible that in a city so big, within a state as populous as ours, it isn’t made a major public concern? Why are government officials not appearing to make many regulations to help this rather than worrying about elections or other such insignificant issues?

A Clean Texas

I concur with my colleague, Steve‘s, perspective on the issue of whether plastic bags should be banned or not in his blog, Plastic Baggage. He believes that it won’t be successful to make them disappear for either the government or the people. He is able to put forth the difficulties that could develop if this ban took place and inform his fellow colleagues and readers of a proposal and its possible effects.
It is true that banning plastic bags would make it hard to replace the function of them to many people. In a sense, they are recyclable. Unlike paper bags, they can withstand the rain and the heat; they will take less time to decompose; they take less space when being shipped to their destination; they don’t cost money to be used compared to the recyclable bags that one has to purchase.
It would take too much getting used to for some people if such a proposal was passed. They might have to spend more money on ways to replace the plastic bags and people would request the return of the bags. Although it may cost the city of Austin lots of money to clean up the mess of the bags it may cost more to ban them and make them vanish and can result in them coming right back.

More for Less

It has been said that illegal immigrants have taken some of the jobs of Texan workers. Immigrants, although they have looked for the job, have not “stolen” Texan’s work but rather the own employers have sought them out due to such benefits as the low pay that illegal aliens are willing to take (compared to how much a native is expected to get payed or the nagging of a right of a payment raise.) Additionally, these workers will obey most demands, sometimes hard labor, in order to keep their jobs.
In the Texas state House, they have proposed a bill in which hiring or allowing an illegal alien to work will result in up to 2 years in jail and a $10,000 fine. This bill, however, will not be eligible for those working in household jobs such as working as a maid, caretaker, lawn work, or any other type of housework. This bill may be viewed as many as an act of ignorance coming from the Texas government since these immigrants are basically being used to do the jobs that others find too laborious, underpaid, or are just not willing to do.
Furthermore, these illegal workers are not given all the benefits that a Texan is able to receive. These benefits include medical insurance, retirement funds, and other such things that can be enjoyed by legal residents.
Although they may be "stealing" jobs, they are working more for less gains and are being punished for it by the government.

A Half Life Lost

Michael Morton, in 1988, was accused and sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife, Christine Morton. However, later it was found that many pieces of evidence were being held back from the public and the court. He was found innocent with evidence that didn’t match his DNA, the credit card that was under Christine‘s name was being used, and his then 3-year-old revealed that his father was not at home at the time of the murder. He was released after he had spent about half of his life in prison; 25 years.

Jay Janner, from Austin American-Statesman, declares that something has to be done by the State Bar to find out why so many pieces of evidence were held back and a possible punishment for those responsible, in his opinionated article, Morton free; now State Bar must act. Janner also blames Attorney, Ken Anderson, that was serving then, who is now in a higher position thanks to Governor Rick Perry, for improperly withholding evidence from the jury. Additionally, he declares that a system that fails in accountability is "an accessory to miscarriages of justice." He is in all his right to say that, given the facts that are being brought out after two decades and a half. Janner is hoping to find justice for a man whose life was wasted for a crime that he failed to commit. Not only that, he lost 25 years of watching his own son grow up and being able to see a world that he was supposed to be experiencing all this while. Janner does a well job in filling his readers in to the injustice done to this man and the possible upcoming outcomes of this grand error; correctly debating that something major has to be done in punishment. 

Money in Exchange for Insignificance

I believe that the article, Time to Take a Bite Out of Wasteful Spending, is an accurately written commentary in which the government is looked down upon by revealing the, evidently, pointless waste of money coming from their part. During conferences, the political employees are provided with food and luxuries that they do not need. This isn’t only unnecessary, but also very expensive and greatly hurtful to the economy. The author is able to inform the reader that in 1,832 conferences, held by the Justice Department, about $121 million were wasted. Money that should not have been spent. If they had not been held in extremely expensive hotels, with ridiculously pricy food, there might have been a couple of million bucks saved for possible emergencies or things that matter more than satisfaction for government officials. The author exposes “that the Obama administration is embarrassed by the revelations,” and they believe that the administration should feel guilt, I definitely agree with them. They also suggest that “those at the Justice Department responsible for such wasteful spending should be held accountable,” a statement that I completely concur with as well. It is wrong that during a recession like the one we are currently in, those that seem to be more financially stable are the ones that are making the economy decline.
The author is able to make the reader recognize a problem that has to be communicated to the public. They try to compel the reader into believing that the government is not handling their money right and something has to be done.

...With Injustice For All

While reading many articles of the death sentence for Duane Edward Buck I was impelled to read about the death penalty in general and Governor Rick Perry’s standing, or rather influence, on it.
I found an article by Brandi Grissom, Under Perry, Executions Raise Questions, in which she explains some of the history of Rick Perry’s numerous amount of times in which he refused granting clemency or other justice-prone requests. According to a spokeswoman for Rick Perry, he has disagreed only three times for clemency with accordance to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. However, there have been a good 234 executions under his governance, the highest number under any governor in the whole nation! Grissom also gives us examples of four different times in which the patient had either a mental incapacity, was a juvenile at the time of the murder, was not the shooter, or his counsel was questionable. None of which were given clemency, a sentence to life in prison, or a 30-day reprieve delaying the execution.
This article is extremely important due to the fact that so many people have been killed in a matter of 11 years, some having been innocent and not having a second chance by the government. The article also includes a Visualization in which it shows all the victims of the death penalty, their stories, and their last statements.