Legalizing Marijuana

Legalizing marijuana in general has been a hot debate around the United States. It is interesting to see states slowly and slowly taking action to legalize marijuana. However, those actions may bite them in the back or may not and it is most likely that Texas will be the one to take last action in the future.

Ms. Vasquez's blog on Legalizing Marijuana uses some great reasoning and examples on how legalizing the green leafy substance will play role in Texas. For example, when she compares a drunk man going out causing a fight rather than being on a drug that will keep you high, which makes a good point. On the other hand, there are some examples she points out that are a little inaccurate, such as the festivals held here in Austin. Although I've never been to a couple of the examples she uses (Marley and Eeyore's festivals), I've been to the two other festivals and I did notice Marijuana in the air but I've also noticed cops arresting those with possession of Marijuana. Therefore, Austin is a low key relaxed area to smoke Marijuana but there will be people arrested with it if they are not in the crowd smoking undercover.

Another great point she makes is when she compares the drug of Marijuana to the drug of Xanax which she showed the purposes of both drugs. Marijuana helps the ill and Xanax helps anxiety. The drug of Xanax is legal and can cause addiction. Marijuana is illegal and there are has been no scientific proof whatsoever on addiction with the drug. I love this comparison she makes because it makes me think, what is the idea behind drugs? Legalizing addicting drugs but prohibiting non-addicting drugs, what's the logic here Texas?

Comparing the other State's economy and crime rates with Marijuana legalized is one more reason she uses to back up the process of legalizing Marijuana. After reading that idea, I researched a little to find some quick statistics in the state of Colorado in the city of Denver. According to the article, there is a 53% drop in homicide deaths, 36% drop in automobile break-ins, and 14% drop in sexual assault. Moreover, in the article it mentions that a 10% of the sales made on marijuana go to the government, and there in three months there is a huge increase of taxes of 1.9 million dollars.

In my opinion, the statistics says it all to me. I don't know what side Ms. Vasquez is on but I'm sure we both can agree that the legalization of marijuana will be fair and logical to process because they are many other drugs out there that are legalized that shouldn't be. Wouldn't this resolved issue be best for society?

Obama's Executive Action

On November 20, 2014, President Barack Obama made a historic speech by using his authority as an executive to take a major step towards immigration reform. The United States have been through years of a broken immigration system but the President is taking a step by giving the opportunity to 5 million undocumented illegal immigrants to pardon the fear of deportation. Obama cannot grant citizenship to those who are undocumented but is urging congress to do so. The President pointed out that since he took over congress there has been a rising 80% of deportations done in America, of those 80% are undocumented immigrants with felonies (Obama immigration). At first, I didn't think Obama didn't really change the immigration system but after hearing how committed he is to fixing the issue and pointing out the statistics I believe that his executive order is a huge step on helping those undocumented immigrants who are in fear every day. 

Living in Texas I know the fear that the illegal immigrants suffer. I see family everyday who are not able to travel across the border to visit their parents, I have cousins who are restricted from gaining scholarships or benefits from education. Furthermore, my family live as Americans working below minimum wage to put food on the table and to clothe themselves. I'm glad Obama made this speech, it is a step that will help families like my family to live safely here in the United States and it is a step that will run the dangerous criminals out of the United States.

However, republicans need to relax and realize that Obama's executive action is best for the country. Texas future governor Greg Abbot is filing a law suit against president Obama's action. Abbot, like many republicans disagree and wish to keep the broken immigration system. With Obama's term running out in two years I'm encouraging some of my family to not join the process that Obama is granting. With the Republicans on Obama's back, they could push the next president to reconsider the executive decision and possibly change it for the worst. Hopefully congress will follow Obama's executive orders but with the issues between Republicans as conservatives and Democrats, issues may not be solved in the future. 

Gay Marriage

It is no surprise to see that Texas is not one of the 32 states that has legalized gay marriage. Now the question is... Should Texas legalize gay marriage or stay on the conservative course? I believe keeping marriage the traditional way would be best for society.

Ms. Vasquez finds great evidence in her blog Gay Marriage to prove that same-sex marriage is a civil right by using a statement from the supreme court in 1967 saying that marriage is "one of the basic civil rights of man." However 'sexual orientation' does not meet a criteria set by the Civil Rights act in 1964, where (1) a history of longstanding, widespread discrimination, (2) economic disadvantage, and (3) immutable characteristics. Therefore, the belief that same-sex marriage is a civil right can be misleading. 

The famous Mark Twain quotes are the best to get your mind thinking such as the quote used by Ms. Vasquez, "History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Although the purpose of the quote is to get the mind open to see events in a different way, I wouldn't think that the married man didn't intend the quote to be a reflection of gay marriage. 

I agree with Ms. Vasquez that kids aren't exposed to a different type of love other than their parent's love. I'm sure that Ms. Vasquez and I believe that kids grow up being nurtured, meaning that the environment is what affects children. Moreover, it is possible that in twenty years we could see young children being raised by same-sex parents, only if gay marriage is legalized in all 50 states. However, can same-sex parents raise the child the same as a traditional married couple? In my opinion, I think not. They will be raised differently, they will grow up seeing that male should find a male love or a female should find a female love. What about the exposure to traditional love? Having same-sex couples raise kids could increase some risk. There are reports from pro/con gay marriage stating that "girls who are raised apart from their fathers are reportedly at higher risk for sexual activity and teenage pregnancy." Legalizing gay marriage may be a law that demonstrates same-sex marriage is okay but it lacks many things that a traditional marriage provides and why put the future at risk when you can keep the way things are.

The United States isn't abusing gay people, this isn't the era of slavery. The world knows whats right from wrong and gay people should accept that. Sure, we can be more aware of abuse on bullying by calling gay people slang mocking terms but they aren't the only human beings getting mocked. Don't forget that there is racism, people live with being mocked every day by their color but they hold the anger in. Eventually being gay in society will be a custom in the United States, there won't be any major mistreatment but being given the privilege to marry same-sex can lead to some high risk. 

The blog was well written by Andrea with good obvious points to make you wonder why the gay marriage isn't legalized. I searched the web a little to show another side of the story and found reasons on why it shouldn't be legalized. 

Dram Shop Act

Becoming a server or a bartender is one of the most popular jobs you can find around Texas. Selling at a restaurant or bar is quick fast money. However, there are some consequences if the seller does not carefully follow certain guidelines. Prior on receiving the alcohol related job, sellers must complete a Texas Alcohol and Beverage Certificate (TABC) in order to show proof that they are aware of intoxicated customers and aware of minors illegally buying alcohol. Reasons why this certificate is so important in Texas is because selling alcohol to the wrong customer can result in a car accident. Of course the drunk driver will get filed for charges, however, they may not be the only ones charged. Furthermore, if the victim of the drunk driver wishes to sue the restaurant that served the drunk driver alcohol, then the employee who served the beverage to the drunk driver can suffer major consequences as well. Does the seller deserve the Dram Shop Act consequences? I don't think so.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that identifying minors or intoxicated customers may help to protect the road better. However, it takes a lot of small cues to identify an intoxicated person. Furthermore, if one of those small cues are missed by the seller, then he is at huge risk for himself once that intoxicated customer is on the road. The TABC shows you many techniques to identify an intoxicated person and they are very useful such as hearing customers slandering words, shouting, or seeing the inability to control their own body (TABC general questions). However, this is why I go against this policy. For example, the setting is a Halloween night, people are in costumes asking for drinks at the dance club's bar. The bar only has three bartenders working their best in order to serve drinks as fast as they can. At the time, the helpless bartenders probably can't recognize how many drinks has been served to each customer. Although, they do try their best. Later that evening, one of the people who drank at the club suffers a huge car accident. The victim of the car accident files charges and wants to point more fingers at the firm who sold the intoxicated person alcohol. Little does the victim know, the bartender had too much going on his mind to serve drinks throughout the night. Nevertheless, none of the justification supports the guilty bartender. He served an intoxicated customer unwillingly and can't get out of the situation. The bartender pays up to 500$ for fines and has his certificate removed. Therefore, he is unable to work as a bartender.

Let me establish first that there should be policies and laws to avoid situations of drunk driving. However, I believe it is not fair that sellers should take all responsibility for the drunk diver's mayhem. Accidents happen but don't point the fingers at the wrong helpless people.

Key industries of Texas, not for immigration policy

If this new immigration policy pulls through, then it'll show that the American people didn't appreciate what illegal immigrants have done for the economy and will regret the change after witnessing the loss of labor force.

That was my final thought after reading this blog. 

Immigration has been a broad major issue in the United States, especially in the southern states such as Texas. However, the author who wrote the blog "Key Texas industries heavily reliant on immigrant labor" posted on September 08, 2014 on the Texas political blog "Grits for breakfast" gives some credible evidence with logical reasoning on why the United States should not consider the immigration policy.

What I really admire about this article is the statistics pointed out of the workforce in Texas's key industries such as Construction, Hotels, Restaurants, and Agriculture. I've always known that these industries contain a huge amount of illegal immigrants in the workforce but I never knew that 85 percent of illegal immigrants are in the workforce of agriculture. 85 percent, that is a lot! What I took from that statistic is why are they even considering this policy?  It also put me in perspective on how these industries with illegal immigrants would be if this policy does pull through. Since I am Hispanic, the statistic given by the credible author from grits did get my skepticism from my roots out on how absurd this policy is. The first thing that came to my mind was that the illegal immigrants come to America to work and make enough money to put food on the table and clothe their children. Yet, they want to take that opportunity away and possibly let some lazy unemployed american work at the same industry for a higher wage and less work commitment. To me, just as the author, it doesn't make sense.

The author from Grits gives great examples and hard evidence to prove what illegal immigrants have done for the United States. Even after he finishes one example, he continues on to another to demonstrate on how important it is for this policy to not pass. However, on the other hand some may say he is being biased and doesn't show any ideas on why they are considering this policy. Furthermore, his writing is solid and provides reliable resources to make himself credible. The flow of everything is easy to follow and brief to get to the point.

Lastly, to make this article even better on stating how ridiculous it is to consider a new immigration policy is by having a great (to me, Texan) ending by referring to the government "Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!" 

Our future Lieutenant Governor

Other than the voting of Governor of Texas, there will be a voting for the next Lieutenant Governor as well. As recalled from class, Dan Patrick (Republican) is the favorite to win the position. However, in the editorial of For Lt. Governor, Houston Chronicle illustrates the future with a positive image if the Democratic candidate, Leticia Van de Putte, is elected and offers a negative future image if Dan Patrick is elected. The editor for Houston Chronicle clearly is a supporter of Van de Putte by criticizing the Republican Candidate, Dan Patrick, and not offering a single pro to the favorite candidate. The intended audience is for those who are looking for ideas on who to vote for in the upcoming elections for Lieutenant Governor and especially for the undecided Republicans.

According to the editorial, the Van de Putte is clearly the worse choice for Lt. Governor for many reasons. The editorial shows a quote from the former long serving governor, Bill Hobby describing the Texas Senate as "a legislative body rich in traditions of civility, courtesy and respect for one's colleagues." Shortly after the description of the suggested qualities on being a Lieutenant Governor, the editorial did not hesitate to point out how Dan Patrick has the exact opposite qualities of the position. Then, the editorial continues on describing the possibility of reducing powers if Dan Patrick is elected Lieutenant Governor, reason being is because of the potential threat he may produce. What shocked me most from this idea is the fact that it's not only a suggestion from the Democrats but from the Republicans as well which gave me the idea that Dan Patrick is not trustworthy.

Reading this article makes me wonder why Dan Patrick would be the favorite to win the position of Lt. Governor. The conclusion claims that if the Republican voters put aside their loyalty to being a red-state then Van de Putte will be the one for Texas. As for myself, I came to a conclusion of agreeing that Van de Putte would be the best choice since she is known for being "knowledgeable, experienced, [and] also congenial and easy to work with," which is the complete opposite of Dan Patrick. However, at the end of the article I still felt a little skeptic and have yet to figure out the positives for Dan Patrick and if there are any cons for Van de Putte.

For Lt. Governor article was published on Houston Chronicle site on October 3rd, 2014

Greg Abbott Campaign

Ever since I watched the presidential campaigns when I was younger, I only knew that Texas was and still is a Red State (Republican State).  However, it wasn't until I read this article Abbott Sets Sights on "The Bluest Part of a Red State" that made me realize Texas isn't a complete red state. In Texas, the Rio Grande Valley are a major Democratic area with a huge amount of Hispanics in the area. What is mentioned in this article is what we were talking about in class on how Hispanics are projected to be the highest ethnicity group by the year 2020. Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate, took this into consideration for his campaign by going door to door at the Rio Grande Valley area to persuade the Democratic Hispanics' to vote for him. The last Governor to attempt on capturing the Rio Grande Valley was George W. Bush but as some said, he had a special and rare connection with the Hispanics. I would suggest my classmates to read this article to have an idea on what's going on for our local elections especially for those who have no idea on how Texas elections are, like myself.