Evolution

In Ms. Gadush blog post she mentions the necessity it is to start including evolution in Texas textbooks. I completely agree with this motion. As a person who grew up in a catholic home I have seen firsthand how parents react to even the mention of evolution. I understand that many parents do not want to expose their children to a fact that might change their kids ideas of who is God and what might happen if they don’t belive in him.

Ms. Gadush had excellent points made. One of my favorite quote she said was “evolution is an established factual phenomena, that is a necessary factor in understanding the natural world and should be taught in schools” this quote basically sums it up. Evolution is a something new and scary, but is a necessity since our science is moving forward we have to move forward with it and open our minds to new concepts. Our parents and their parents were taught that there is a God and if you don’t believe in this God than you are not going into what they call a better place. Texans take many cautions to prevent eternal damnation for their children. Jennifer point of view was pretty specific. I wish that she would’ve included some point of view from the religious perspective.

                To have evolution being part of our textbooks will be a challenge, but it is a challenge that people who have strong believes can overcome. I am starting to open myself up to evolution. I have had questions all of my life and evolution is answering a lot of them maybe evolution can help others understand who they are.  

Power to the Women

Government in Texas is ruled by the white, 50 year old males whose interests are only those who benefit him. Women occupy 21% of the positions in government. You would think because we have fought so hard to be heard and be treated as equals we would start taking more jobs in government where we can make our voices be heard. One of the biggest issues in Texas is most of the Texas government is governed by males. Even though the male representatives and senators have been doing what they think is right they in true do not really know what best is for own gender. While they establish laws over us like we have no voice we in fact do. And we have to start using that voice and stand up for our own beliefs and what we know is right for us even if that is just a mere 21% that represent us. We as women might have a difference of opinion on what kind of laws should be established but at the end we know exactly what can benefit all of us. We need to start taking part in our government, and we have to make sure they know we are still here and still fighting for what benefits all of us. As a woman one day I would like to see Texas government with at least half of the representatives as women. Women like Wendy Davis who finally stood up and is fighting to be our voice. 

Capital Punishment and Medical Insurance

Capital Punishment and Medical Insurance are one of the biggest issues in Texas. The article my classmate Jennifer Gadush published is hitting every point. The way Texas is handling capital punishment is a true disappointment. Most of the people being affected are those who are poor and with many mental issues. Although I sometimes feel the way many Texans do. They want to people to pay for their crimes. Criminals should be punished for disobeying the law and if that means they have killed or done any horrendous action amongst any others then they deserve nothing less than capital punishment. Texas could be a little more thorough with their crimes inspections by making sure that there isn’t any mistake like that of Michael Morton.  In Jennifer’s article I would have loved to have seen more statistics on how capital punishment is hurting the poor and those with mental issues, and for more dramatic effect the amount of wrongful deaths made by Texas capital punishment.

            Medical insurance isn’t the best either. I’ve been trying to find the best fitted insurance and Texas doesn’t really provide you with any that are very beneficial. I completely agree with my classmate in this matter. Texas needs to find a way to provide insurance to those who are less fortunate. I know there is a big ordeal behind healthcare but in reality they just need to somehow get the ball rolling. There are many Texans without medical insurance who are sick and are too scared to go to a hospital because of the bills they would have to pay. 

One State, One Choice, Every Woman

Women rights were not easy to get. When women were given the right to actually be considered human beings they were given the right to vote and the right to work the way men did. Although women till this day are not treated as equal in the work place by not earning the same as a man does even though we do the same job or not being able to get to a higher position because we are considered to be weaklings.  Women are not given the same respect that men are given. As any other human being has control over their own body you would think women have the same right especially living in the country of freedom. Here in Texas Rick Perry thinks otherwise. He believes that he has some sort of hold over women’s wombs and he should decide what should be done with the children they bear even in the worst of conditions. Rick Perry has no idea what it is to be a women and he never will. He would never have to deal with dire consequences.

                While Mr. Perry decided to take it upon him to ban abortion. The Texas government should have fought against this bill. They should have not supported a bill so unfriendly to women rights. When it comes down to it when Rick Perry signed the abortion bill he took away the power over every woman in Texas. It was as if we turned time and we let men choose for us again. We stood up for many years just too basically end up back where we started. We as women should have stood up once more and let our voices be heard and say that the Texas abortion bill was not helping us in anyway. It might have helped the morale of many humans who thought that abortion is the damnation of all but during that process many women were hurt by the bill.  Abortion should have never been the choice of a man but of a woman. It is a woman who chooses over her body not the government and definitely not a man. 

He's a Bigot and a Hater

Monday October 21, 2013 Omar Araiza published an article titled “Rick Scarborough, Texas Tea Party Leader: We Need A Class Action Lawsuit Against Homosexuality” in the Burnt Orange Report.  Mr. Araiza refers back to how Scarborough is being a huge bigot. Scarborough has said that gays are the leading cause of AIDS and HIV. He says that the AIDS/ HIV that the gays are causing more deaths than that of cancer. He also took it upon himself to declare the word gay “abuse of the English language” which I find to be absurd.

Araiza’s blog has no real evidence or statistics showing anything that Scarborough “facts” are correct in any scientific way. I love that Araiza made Scarborough look like a complete fool. Even though the article might have no real support to outright say that Rick Scarborough is completely and utterly wrong which it would have been fabulous. Most of the information in this blog is mostly quotes of what Scarborough said. Araiza puts a bit of opinion into the article but not a lot. Not until the very end when Omar says that Scarborough is very close from being a bigot to becoming someone spitting hate.

In my opinion Scarborough is just a complete ignorant fool. He had no right to say such things. He really doesn’t know anything. I the only part I am really disappointed in this article besides its length it is that Omar did not call out Rick Scarborough for what he was: a very hateful person. The article did lack a lot of the information needed to be able to influence a supporters of Scarborough, but the article completely made you have some sort of emotion. It made you angry that someone could say something so hideous about another human being. The way how Omar quoted every insolent word coming out of Scarborough made you feel more irritated by such a person which in my opinion was the best part because it let you see you much nonsense someone can say in just a couple of minutes.

Teachers in Gun and Defense Training

On Tuesday October 8^th the San Antonio Express News released a commentary titled “Should dealing with shootersbe part of teacher-training?” This article explores the idea of teachers getting some sort of training against shooters or threats.  The author Esther J. Cepeda mentions that some schools are starting to implement the idea of using self defense with articles around the classrooms like fire extinguishers and how to use a gun.  Cepeda seems very inclined towards the training. Her opinion was expressed at the very end of the article, but it seemed randomly stated. The way she expressed the article was more sentimentally motivated than factual. I do agree with teachers being trained for such an occasion but to the point on actually showing a teacher how to shoot a gun is something a bit more dramatic.

                The way this commentary was setup felt like I was reading a timeline of all the horrible school massacres that had happened.  I understand that school massacres are the reason why teachers should be trained, but Cepeda didn't have enough information about the statics. She did say that 84% of the shootings during the years 2000 to 2010 were involving schools. This didn't seem like enough back up information to motivate other who are really opposed this idea. Texans are easily motivated when it come to protecting and more so if it involves guns. Cepeda sentimental string pulling will affect Texans and really anyone who has feelings. She didn't really have to do a lot of digging to lean people the way she wanted.

                In the way she puts things I completely and utterly support this cause. I want people to be safe especially in schools where innocent children are. If I ever do have children I like any other Texan I want to be assured that my children and others are safe and they aren't in any kind of danger, but on the other hand I don’t want my child or any other children to have access to some sort of weapon. Even if Cepeda just pulled at peoples heart strings it seem that it is enough to get peoples support. 

Rainbow Colors in San Antonio

In September 5th 2013 The Texas Tribune released an article by Jody Serrano titled San Antonio Passes LGBT NondiscriminationOrdinance. This article explains how San Antonio had been eighth to pass an ordinance against any discrimination towards gender identity or sexual orientation unlike the cities of Austin, Dallas, Huston, and Forth Worth.  The ordinance passed with an 8-3 vote. The ordinance not only prevents discrimination among each other but it “also prevents public officials from discriminating against LGBT people while acting in their office and prohibits people who are awarded city contracts from discriminating” against the LGBT community.  This means that restaurant owners can no longer throw people out who fall under the ordinance. Many people alike Attorney General Greg Abbott think that the ordinance is violating the first amendment right in both the U.S and Texas Constitution. Many people like him who are out right conservatives think that it will destroy and put in risk the faith and values of many homes.  This ordinance is not only important to the people who fall under it, but it should be important to everyone. This helps the LGBT community not feel threatened or embarrassed to be whom they are and it helps everyone be one community. It helps us all be part of a society or in this case a city or town that has opened its self to a new era. An era in which many young people don’t really give much thought about whom people like. They including myself want fairness and equality for all.