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.

Abbott vs Davis

The Dallas News published an article the other day in regards to Senator Wendy Davis, being accused by her competitor Attorney General Greg Abbott for being unethical. The issue at hand was a book tour that Davis took in New York this past week to launch her new memoir Forgetting to be Afraid. She gave multiple TV interviews promoting her book as well as conducting a fundraiser for her campaign, which funded her trip. Abbott's campaign manager Wayne Hamilton filed the complaint stating that Davis is personally benefiting from this book promotion. "Senator Davis' book promotion has gone from ethically questionable to outright unlawful," said Abbott spokesman Matt Hirsch. Davis's campaign management team claims that no laws have been broken and that this accusation clearly portrays how worried Abbott is about the influence and capacity of her story. Personally I feel that this whole scenario is cliche politics in which both sides are always looking for a spot of vulnerability; a way of negatively impacting their opponent. Whether or not these accusations should stand truthful are currently unknown.