Extra Credit

Death by lethal injection is a horrible way to go, regardless of the acts that convicts carry out, it is still challenging to view let alone be apart of. I myself have had a close friend who's father died lethal injection. I remember that it was a very challenging time for him and although he new that his father wasn't an upstanding man that it is never easy to say goodbye.

 In the case of Mr. Panetti however the controversy is that he was mentally inept and unable to make sound decisions. And although that has been proven to be true considering that he showed up to court pleading his trial in a purple (10-gallon) cowboy hat and calling upon Jesus Christ, Pope John Paul the II, and JFK to the stand. This is just one of the many mentally challenged decisions that he has carried out.

The myth that is stirring up all of this controversy is that mentally ill patients are never to be sentenced to death, which has come to be through incorrect information from TV and the internet although it  may be proven wrong considering that Mr. Scott Panetti's set date for lethal injection was postponed by an appeal's court issuing a stay allowing Panetti's lawyers to find more evidence supporting the claim that he is mentally unstable and that death row is unconstitutional.

I stand by Mr.Bagby in his view on this article and I believe that his writing is well structured and overall an enjoyable read. In the matter of Mr.Panetti I am somewhat torn. The fact that he murder his in- laws is a horrible and unforgivable act, but does taking his life amend that? Wouldn't it be more of a punishment to make him sit in prison for the next 30 years? I guess it truly is up to the Gov. Rick Perry and the courts of Texas.

Blog 8

Patirck Zeno wrote a very eye-catching piece titled "Free Mother Cannabis,"that I personally agree with. In this day and age people are so quick to jump to conclusions in regards to various topics but more specifically in regards to marijuana. "Its bad for your body." "Its a gateway to more serious drugs." "Its worse than alcohol." All of these statements and many more are backed up by very close minded opinions and to believe them would be the same thing as believing everything you read on the internet or watch on TV.

In his article Zeno speaks of all the different people such as Ms.Tran in "Say 'No' To Marijuana;"and how it discusses all of the negative side effects of marijuana but none of the substantially positive ones such as pain relief for various illnesses (i.e. cancer, glaucoma,etc.) You cannot fatally overdose on marijuana while alcohol can easily be overdosed on. I myself have a cousin who suffers from extreme anxiety and the only solution that has proven to provide her with relief is medicinal marijuana. 

She was even able to cease the usage of three anxiety relief medications once she started the use of Ms. Mary Jane. All in all I believe that there are circumstances in which people who are on the effects of marijuana make bad decisions which in turn causes the general view of marijuana to be negative. I enjoyed reading Mr.Zeno's article, being that this is a critique on an editorial I would say that he executed this piece very well. He provides supporting evidence along with a well structured literary piece. And I believe I can speak on behalf of Mr. Zeno when I say that residents worldwide would benefit form the various aspects of medicinal marijuana and that he overbearing regulation of the government on this matter will only stop it from doing so. 

Immigration Overload

Immigration is the movement of something or someone from one place to another. Usually it is urged by a desire or a want of something that isn't attainable in ones current standing/place. Immigration is  important dating back to pre-colonial times, without it there would have never been any exploration and discovery of the "New World." However there are forms of immigration that have had the exact opposite effect; causing harm and negatively impacting society, more specifically illegal immigration.

People coming primarily from South America and Mexico who have no citizenship or legal right to be in the US. This looming problem is causing a domino effect in many instances but mainly on the growing US debt. In the Texas Tribune just the other day there was an article in regards to another $86 million dollars being approved for border control, to keep the operation afloat.

It was a unanimous decision to increase the spending on the high-profile border surge operation. It began in June in response to a mass influx of illegal immigrants from Central America. This new round of money will be utilized to station hundreds of DPS officers at the state border through August and maintain the deployment of National Guard troops though March.

DPS executive director Steve McCraw said that his agency will apply some of that money towards technology that will allow them to shift the agency's overall border strategy; moving from and I quote "to a saturation of cameras from a saturation of people." All in all this is an immensely important topic that needs to be handled. I personally feel that there should be more money to fund border control due to the fact that it is very costly to maintain and it is detrimental to the security of the US and its citizens if not properly regulated.

Pulling Out Before Its Too Late

My classmate Karis has a very strong and empowered stand in her editorial titled "Pulling Out." Abortion in this day and age is one of the most controversial topics America, and the rest of the world for that matter are privy to. Speaking of Texas alone, it is one of the most anti-abortion states in this nation.The government's overbearing regulation of this topic has caused much more harm than good; although citizens think otherwise they are horribly mistaken.

 Karis's title definitely caught my eye; and after reading the first sentence I knew not only that this piece would be written exceedingly well, but also something that I would personally agree with. The government should have no say in whether or not a woman should or should not conceive a baby. Although one of life's greatest gifts, it is also one of life's greatest responsibilities. It takes a high level of devotion and dedication to truly raise a child.

Her most fascinating and sadly true piece of information in this reading is that people don't actually care about the child when they are protesting abortion, its the idea or the concept perhaps, regardless, once the child is out of its mothers's stomach it is no longer of any concern to these so called protesters. The kid could bounce from foster house to foster house; if the mother is not caring and nurturing to her kin then it could lead to that or potentially worse. All in all I back Karis in her view on this subject matter, and I hope that the government pulls out before its too late .

ID-mania

IDs also known as identification. It is what society as a whole use as credibility; as a means of proving that one is who they claim to be. Needed for everything ranging from buying a pack of cigarillos from a gas station to voting for the next president of the United States. But when it comes down to voting it seems like dilemma is definitely bigger in Texas. Due to the approximate 650,000 workers in America who lacked the basic forms of ID, a new ID was formed; known as an EIC or election identification certificate. This enabled those with invalid ID to vote at the polls for the upcoming election. Voting to many is vitally important and the inability to do so was an immense problem, and it still is. Although EICs are issued for free there are thousands of requests that aren't being met. In Georgia 2,182 EICs have been issued and 2,539 in Mississippi since the program commenced 10 months ago. Texas DPS has provided only 371 EICs since June of 2013. There seems to be some discrepancies in these statistics to me. Supposedly Tom Vigner a DPS spokesman claimed that a majority of the people making inquiries have valid forms of ID, which raises the question of why is this happening? Many Texas residents have however found alternative means for casting their vote. Many mail in their ballots if they meet the the certain requirements, and others have even pursued gaining a Texas state ID instead of waiting for EICs; but have been discouraged due to the vast price difference between the two. A state ID costing $16 and an additional $22 if the person does not have a birth certificate while an EIC a birth certificate can be obtained for as low as $3. All in all I believe that there shouldn't be any catch-22 when it comes to voting. It is an unalienable right for the citizens of the US whether they are apart of a minority group or a group not containing proper ID. If they can prove that they are citizens then that is all they should be required to do.

Written on October 16th, 2014 in the San Antonio Express, columnist Thomas Friedman discusses Oil and the looming question of whether or not an oil war is about to emerge; pairing up the US and Saudi Arabia against Russia and Iran. He seems to dance around the topic listing a plethora of information but not ever getting around to his personal opinion. Although one might speculate that he is simply objective in regards to this matter. He claims that the Americans and Saudis are attempting to do to Putin and Khamenei what they did to the last leaders of the Soviet Union which is "pump them to death," literally. To drive them into bankruptcy by lowering oil prices so immensely that there would be no return. After carefully examining the document and comparing this piece to some of Friedman's other writings I have come to the conclusion that he is in support of resolving this matter and that he does not desire there to be any further escalations, eventually leading to war. I believe that in this article his audience is the world; anyone and everyone who has interests on the matter. And although he does not utilize any hard evidence to make personal claims he still is considered one the of best columnists in the US, and for a good reason. He leaves you wondering, contemplating whether or not there is a resolution to this matter. Whether or not war will break out between these nations. Will it?

Published today at 12:33 pm in the Dallas Morning News Mike Hashimoto discusses the possibility of implementing a pilot program in Dallas Texas, that would allow police officers to issue citations to appear; instead of making the standard arrest for a plethora of class A and B misdemeanor offenses. Specifically in regards to the possession of marijuana. Due to a state law passed in 2007 officers now have the authority to exercise this at their own discretion. However Dallas law force and officials have been reluctant to do so. Travis County Sheriff's Department is the one and only law force that currently has this policy in effect. Officials say that in 2012 alone 4,500 people were ticketed for marijuana possession. Given that it takes an average of 2-3 hours to book an assailant into the Travis County Jail the use of this program has saved the officers more than 11,300 hours of work. Allowing the men and women of law to be on the streets protecting the city from real crime rather than sitting in a jail house waiting for the kid who was busted with 2 joints to be put into the system. I believe that this article is meant for a variety of viewers but that Hashimoto intends it primarily for the Dallas Police force and Dallas County district attorney Craig Watkins (who currently has no statements on the topic.) Hashimoto argues that this policy could in turn assist the police and save them stress and man hours. I feel as if Hashimoto has a point and is credible in his most recent article being that Travis County has had a 90% show-up rate among those cited, instead of incarcerated.