Stage Eight

    Tragic that we live in such a society where those that are suppose to protect us can also harm us and nothing happens to them. After reading my classmate's blog, "No Justice, No Peace", which describes  her views on the brandy jury not bringing any charges against police officer Darren Wilson, who fatally short Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The decision shook the entire nation, along with the city of Ferguson, causing protest and riots nationwide. I do feel like Officer Wilson should've been indicted, but in the end nobody knows what really went down that day besides Officer Wilson and Michael Brown. Although the situation has calmed down to an extent, the incident is far from forgotten, but to help ease the pain, Officer Wilson has resigned from his police duties.
   Incidents like this happen everyday like this, as I'm sure we're all familiar with the Eric Garner case. Eric Garner was taped being killed by a police officer in an illegal chokehold, which resulted in the officer not being indicted. This caused uproar nationwide, with peaceful protest and staged "Die-Ins". The officer claims it wasn't a chokehold, but the video shows otherwise, which again raises questions as to why he wasn't indicted. Another video was released from cbsnews raising more questions as you can clearly see Eric Garner on the ground and clearly him his repeats "I Can't Breathe" several times. And to make these matters even worse, the only indictment made from this case was the man who filmed the incident. Seriously?
    I do agree with some points made from Shay's blog, I wouldn't necessarily imply the race card being a main factor, but maybe for both incidents it did play a contributing factor. Maybe one day all the protesting will pay off, and equality for all people will finally be reached, maybe not. At the end of the day, it's up to the decisions made by others based of the actions of others. Incidents like these occur everyday, majority of which don't get filmed to make it to our eyes. This has to stop now!

Stage Seven

In 1992, Scott Panetti killed his mother-in-law and his father-in-law, the parents of his second wife, Sonja Alvarado. He then held his wife and daughter hostage for the night, and surrendered to police the next morning. Three years later, Panetti was tried in a Texas state court for capital murder. Scott Panetti was scheduled to be executed on February 5, 2004 in Texas, but was granted a 60-day stay on February 4, 2004. Now we fast forward to over a decade later, Texas has now set an execution date of Dec. 3, 2014, for Panetti following the U.S. Supreme Court declining to review a lower court's ruling allowing his execution to go forward. With that said, if the state continues forth with this execution, a miserable spectacle of a trial will have led to one of the most outrageous executions of our time. The TexasTribune acknowledged the latest update of the case, "with the 6-3 ruling on Wednesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals thwarted the latest effort to stay the schizophrenic death row inmate’s execution." There's no question that Panetti must be incarcerated for his actions in the early 90's, however, his execution would be immoral and serve no purpose, either in retribution or to prevent similar crimes. Either the courts must step in to stay this travesty or Gov. Rick Perry must change Panetti's sentence to life. Otherwise, the state will kill an individual who is so ill and delusional that he cannot begin to comprehend his fate. As of now, I don't see either of those things happening to halt the unfortunate fate for Panetti's life with our failed justice system, but at least his attorneys are seeking to get him off death row or, in the very least, to get his execution date postponed so that he can undergo further psychological testing to determine if he's competent to be put to death. According to Kathryn Kase, one of Panetti's lawyers, "He cannot appreciate why Texas seeks to execute him. You have to have a rational as well as factual understanding of why you're being executed." A diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, Panetti had been hospitalized for mental illness more than a dozen times within the decade leading up to the September 1992 killings of the Alvarados. And now Panetti, who believes that Satan, working through the state of Texas, is trying to kill him to stop him from preaching Christ's word to other inmates is just days away from death by lethal injection, unless his execution is stopped. There are multiple legal safeguards that are meant to protect the inherent dignity and civil rights of Americans with mental illness when they come into the criminal justice system. Majority of people assume that the United States doesn't execute people with severe mental illness. They wrongly presume that people with mental illness are protected by our laws. Unfortunately, as Panetti's case illustrates, the safeguards can and do fail. We do execute people with severe mental illness. And now Panetti, 56, may be the next horrifying example of this failure.

Stage Six

After reading fellow classmate Shay's post about Funding for Planned Parenthood, I decided to 
research the benefits and detriments for reasons on why we should defund Planned Parenthood instead. Planned Parenthood is reported to be the largest U.S. provider of reproductive health services, including cancer screening, HIV screening and counseling, contraception, and abortion. After researching, I've decided to lean towards defunding for Planned Parenthood because they're not what everyone is expecting them to be. According to LifeSiteNews, Planned Parenthood facilities in Texas are closing shop due to serious sterilization issues,which has been a problem in many facilities across the country. "In San Antonio, an annual inspection report showed that the Planned Parenthood facility had serious sterilization issues. They weren’t separating clean and dirty instruments. They weren’t testing their autoclave machine to ensure that it was still working. Lots of problems". It goes on about another city in Texas, Beaumont, "There was an abortion clinic in Beaumont with the same issues. They have also been cited for untrained staff, dirty equipment, expired medications given to patients…the list goes on and on. So, instead of fixing these problems, Planned Parenthood has chosen to close these facilities". Why continue to fund Planned Parenthood if they're not bending over backwards to implement these changes to facilities if they're really concerned about the health and safety of women? Also, why fund a program that is America's largest abortion provider? According to sba-list, Planned Parenthood is America's largest abortion provider, having performed a record 332,278 abortions in 2009. Data shows that since 1970, Planned Parenthood has performed at least 5.3 million abortions, nearly one out of four abortions are performed at Planned Parenthood. More taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood leads to more abortion and fewer adoption referrals. In 2009, that record breaking adoption number performed at Planned Parenthood (332,278) led to only 977 adoption referrals. This meaning with the 80 percent increase in taxpayer funding resulted in a 69 percent increase in the number of abortions and a 61 percent decrease in the number of adoption referrals. For more reasons to Defund Planned Parenthood now, you can click here.

Stage Five

Proposition 1... Aren’t we lucky in Texas to have all this ‘free money’ in our “Rainy Day Fund”?  The Rainy Day Fund, formally known as the Economic Stabilization Fund, is the state’s savings fund that allows states to set aside excess revenue for use in times of unexpected revenue shortfall. The money comes from excess oil and gas production taxes and some unspent general revenue.  Proposition 1 will require the Texas Comptroller to transfer 50% of oil and gas tax revenues away from the economic stabilization fund (Rainy Day Fund) to the State Highway Fund. Why not dip into that Rainy Day Fund for something more important like a program would pick up the tab for two-year public colleges? Senator Leticia Van de Putte, the liberal nominee for Texas Lt. Governor, wants to make college free for every student in Texas through a scholarship she calls the “Texas Promise.” This exceptionally generous program would pick up the tab for two-year public colleges and similar institutions by amending the state constitution and siphoning $2 billion from the state’s emergency coffers. The scholarship is intended to remove barriers students face in obtaining degrees and jobs, the Texas Tribune for a promise that is only “tuition free” for the lower rungs of higher public education, mainly community colleges and technical schools. Proposition 1, also known as Project Connect is a proposed $1 billion bond for city transportation. Of this amount, $600 million would help to build a 9.5-mile light-rail line, while $400 million would pay for various road improvements. The total cost of this rail line is estimated at $1.4 billion; for it to be built, Austin will apply for a $600 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration. Project Connect estimates that by 2030 (eight years after it opens) the rail will receive between 16,000 and 20,000 boardings per day. Prop 1 is just going to waste our limited transportation funds, and in no chance will relieve congestion, but will slow the growth of congestion very slightly. So again I ask, why not dip into that Rainy Day Fund for something more important like a program would pick up the tab for two-year public colleges? 

Stage Four

I enjoyed reading commentary from Texas blog, GritsForBreakfast, about studies showing the high level of vulnerability in youth during police interrogation and how the youth don't use there rights. The article written by Scott Henson, a former journalist turned opposition researcher/political consultant, public policy researcher and blogger, made commentary on an article from this New York Times piece. Potential intended audience for his commentary would point towards parents of the youth to inform them about real world situations and the constitutional rights they're able to exercise. Among the 57 videotaped interrogations of the teenagers, aged 13 to 17, 37 percent made full confessions, and 31 percent made incriminating statements. John Firman, director of research for the association had this to say,"We want to avoid involuntary or false confessions from juveniles. The ultimate goal is to get accurate information from them. And if you don’t understand juvenile brain development, the likelihood is that you’ll get bad information.” The writer, Scott Henson, starts off the piece with "Adolescents are a psychologically vulnerable population when it comes to police interrogation tactics," agreeing with the previous article he stumbled upon and I support his claim. In the end it's the parents responsibility to inform kids about the rights in which they have so there better prepared for the future.

Stage Three

By now, everybody is on there toes about Ebola thing, since the unfortunate tragedy for Thomas Eric Duncan. I stumbled upon an article on the TexasObserver website written by journalist Christopher Hooks, who previously had works published in Politico Magazine, Slate, and Texas Monthly, among others. The article gives his views and comedy on the Ebola misunderstandings from people and and bittersweet incident leading to a Child Protective Services report filed against the Dallas County Judge, Clay Jenkins. The article, intended for majority of Texans, I think primarily in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, was written to prove “fear of this(misunderstanding of Ebola) could be more damaging to this community than the virus itself.” As a gesture of compassion and reassurance to Dallas residents, Jenkins paid the Duncan family a visit at their apartment, and then came back the next day to personally drive them to a new donated lodging away from the public’s glare and on the advice of experts, he didn’t wear protective clothing. Things to a sharp turn when Breitbart Texas ran a story with a charming title: “NAIVE LIBERAL TEXAS JUDGE ENTERS EBOLA APARTMENT WITHOUT PROTECTION.” Resident Breitbart virologist Bob Price implied that Jenkins can now spread Ebola to anyone he touches, even without showing the sickness himself. Writer Christopher Hooks helps clear this mess up by stating,"Ebola is difficult to transmit, and not contagious until a person shows symptoms." I totally agree with Hooks statements and his entire piece, that often misunderstood things should be taken into careful consideration before being published and we should be better informed on such matters of seriousness.

Stage Two

I found an interesting article published by the associated press on KVUE simple titled "Ted Cruz sounds like he's running in 2016". Ted Cruz is the U.S. Senator for Texas, who was most recently publicized for his 21-hour filibuster, one of the longest in Senate history. I'm convinced we're going to win in 2014, and 2016 is going to be even better," Cruz said during a summit of Americans for Prosperity. Cruz joked with the crowd of nearly 3,000 at a hotel ballroom as they serenaded him with calls of "Run Ted, Run!" he offered a quip: "Oddly enough, that's the same thing my wife, Heidi, says to me when I go to the gym." Cruz ignored direct questions about a presidential campaign when he met with reporters after the speech. If  Cruz decides to run for President, he would be campaigning again Gov. Rick Perry, two Texans haven't competed for the presidency since George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot in 1992. You can check out more of the article here: Link