Blog 8: comment of colleague's blog

Shannon Adaway published a blog entitled, “SB 4: Not 4 For The People” in regards of the Texas Senate Bill 4. Shannon was very informative and had a clear argument. She definitely had a strong opinion and made it clear in serval places, it was well written and very organized. I agree with Shannon, Senate Bill 4 undermines community trust and drives crime victims and witnesses into the shadows. It DOES NOT work. It encourages racial profiling so that rogue law enforcement officials to detain whomever they perceive to be undocumented. This overrides the judgment and expertise of local law enforcement

Blog Stage seven: Original editorial or commentary #2

As I said in Blog 5, the bathroom should not be passed. The Texas Senate has officially passed the so-called bathroom bill. Which to me is a big mistake. No law should make whole segments of the population feel unsafe and exploit their privacy and security.
This bill would undo that common sense precaution and force all businesses and ‘public accommodations’ to allow men who ‘identify’ as women into the ladies’ room, and vice versa.  My concerns are what are the ultimate next steps? Is there a criminal code associated with this bill so that someone may be charged? Will this lead to "bathroom monitors" whose job it is to make sure you are what you say? Can they stop someone they are not sure about on the way to the bathroom and demand some sort of indentification ? Now what if that person soils themselves while the gender gendarmes are determining their real biological sex? Does that person get to sue? If so, who? Many people are going to feel uncomfortable with having someone who is the opposite sex in the same bathroom. 

Guns on campuses

First and foremost I couldn't agree more with Alexander Nanez's blog. He definitely had a strong opinion that was made clear at several places in the blog. The blog was well written and easy to read. Alexander provided the information in an organized manner.  The important terms used in the blog were paired with proper clarification where it was needed. He believes that there should be serious improvements towards gun laws and for open carry on campus'. Gun should not be in a learning environment/atmosphere. Guns would be a sign of intimidation, schools are a place where you are supposed to have the freedom of action (but not completely free, of course). The potential of a violent incident happening would be even higher. Guns on one hand act as protection, but they may be misapplied to be used as violence. I agree with Alexander, we don't need to add more weapons to this environment. Guns should not be in a learning environment. Guns would be a sign of intimidation, should are a place where you are supposed to have the freedom (but not completely free, of course) The potential of a violent incident happening would be even higher. This society is corrupt and I believe this is the wrong thing to do (if you watch Lifetime, you would agree too). 

Should Texas enact a "bathroom bill?"

The official name of the Bathroom Bill is “An Act relative to gender identity and nondiscrimination”.  This bill would add the vague category of “gender identity” to the state ban on discrimination in public accommodations.  However, the bill relegates a person’s sex to their state-of-mind or a mental choice, instead of basing it in biological reality. Those advocating for this bill do not believe that men are necessarily men and women are necessarily women. Rather, they believe that biology is an inconvenient fact when it comes to matters of identifying one’s sex.

Although I am not homophobic, this bill would endanger the privacy and safety of women and children in public bathrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and other intimate places (such as common showers), opening them to whoever wants to be there at any given time, and also to sexual predators who claim “confusion” about their gender as a cover for their evil intentions.  Since the law doesn’t require a protected person to have a legitimate problem with gender confusion, there is no way to distinguish between those people that this bill is designed to help and those who will undoubtedly abuse its existence to fulfill any number of deviant desires.

No law should make whole segments of the population feel unsafe and exploit their privacy and security

When the Transgender Rights Bill was passed in 2011, it specifically did not include bath rooms, locker rooms and other “lawfully sex-segregated facilities.”  This bill would undo that common sense precaution and force all businesses and ‘public accommodations’ to allow men who ‘identify’ as women into the ladies’ room, and vice versa.  For example, A Boston man, who was arrested for refusing to leave the bathroom in a women’s shelter, was recently awarded $20,000 of taxpayer money after he sued the city under a local ordinance that made this bathroom policy the law in Boston. If this act is passed, it would allow for incidents like this to spread throughout the entire Commonwealth!

should the elderly pay more for health insurance- and smokers, drinkers, and obese too?

I read the article "Why the elderly should pay more for health insurance- and smokers, drinkers, and obese, too"  This article caught my attention because although, I have no reason to get offended by this, I viewed this as a very sensitive topic. The author had a strong opinion and made it clear through out the article. The author's intended audience in this article is to all of the United States because at the conclusion of the day everyone should be attentive listening to the changes and updates that relate to the elections. The arguments that the author made are very good points, so good that the arguments were making me rethink my thoughts about the issue. My thoughts on this issue is why don't we just discriminate more, people who drink should pay more. It doesn't matter to the insurance companies as long as they get money. People are already having to pay to much, and if you already have something such as diabetes you pay more. All I see is greed and another way to make people pay. People smoke and never get cancer, people who do not smoke and have cancer, over weight people may be due to other medical problems and they already have problems trying to get insurance. It needs to be a flat rate for everyone. Overall, the article was well written and easy to read.

Deportation Plan

An article published in the Dallas Morning News on the 23rd of February discusses the shocking reality of Donald Trump’s costly plan to deport millions. Trump has proposed to deport all undocumented immigrants in the United States and prevent anyone from coming in illegally in the future. I feel that if all of these people are removed from the country, there would not be enough unemployed workers left to fill all of those spots. I feel that the article was informative. I knew that Trump's deportation plan was going to be costly, but it blew my mind whenever I saw an estimated cost. The article was well written and easy to read, even for someone with no prior knowledge on the subject. The writer definitely provided the information in an organized manner. The author claims that we should just forget about the wall because it will cost the economy hundreds of billions. This claim flows clearly throughout the article, bringing in facts to support his/her claim. I feel that the writer did his/her best to provide an unbiased approach and present facts. The article was directed at Texas' general public; more specifically, citizens who are not aware of this issue, or are not already supports of undocumented immigrants and their rights. 

 

   

ICE raid in Ausitn?

According to the recent article by Mary Tuma, published in the Austin Chronicle, Trump's war on sanctuary cities played out in Austin, Texas on February second.  After President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that makes substantial changes to America’s immigration system. Sheriff Sally Hernandez, however, pledged not to comply with noncriminal ICE request. Hernandez  plans to take away the privilege to immigration agents to have access to her jail.  Having this new federal order there has been tension between Sheriff Sally Hernandez and state leader, Governor Greg Abbott. Gov. Abbott vows to remove sheriffs who protect undocumented immigrants. The governor to cut off $1.5 million in county funds used to finance various programs unrelated to law enforcement. Abbott had threatened to cut off those funds to force Hernandez to comply with his demands. I most definitely enjoyed this article and believe it is worth reading. I was amazed by Hernandez's actions. In my perception, I feel that anyone who is willing to risk their job to help others, is simply incredible.