Critiquing my classmates blog post Blog 5: I agree with about 85% of your argument. This is not the the way democrats/liberals should be portrayed; and in the eyes of conservatives they see us as stooping down to a uneducated child-like level; reacting with violence and destruction. This is not good representation of our generation. In no way am I condoning this but I don't think you should be putting down the people who are trying to stand up for a cause that matters to millions- especially one that affects millions of PoC. Will these WHITE kids ever know the struggle of an African American or Hispanic or ANY minority? Undoubtedly no. Even in a country where the white percentage is ever-so slowly declining, these conservative political figures will always have room for them in their agenda. This election seems like a step backwards in our progressive age; but like the old saying goes- it always gets worse before it gets better.

On Friday, November 4, Chuck Lindell who covers legal issues, politics and states agencies for Austin American statesman released some compelling information on Federal inmates. President Obama cut short another 72 sentences for federal drug crimes on Friday (as of now totaling 944 federal inmates- 324 who were serving life sentences!-WOW, how did I not know about this…hmm maybe we’re all too fixated elsewhere...)  Counting seven Texans; including two inmates that are from Austin Texas.  One of the inmates from Austin is Darryl Dewayne Frazier who was sentenced in 1997 to almost 22 years in prison, mainly for possession of crack cocaine—He’s spent about 19 years in prison, but he is scheduled to be released on March 4th.
Obama believes that some of these sentences are too harsh of a punishment for non-violent drug related crimes- and quite frankly I AGREE. People who are sentenced for drug crimes are usually uncontrollably addicted to such drugs and are usually of lower income; these are people who need rehabilitation and psychiatric help. Not at all am I condoning their drug use but personally I feel that these people deserve a second chance in society. Federal prisons should be reserved for murderers, rapists, child molesters and terrorists. Don't you think we have bigger fish to fry than someone who is struggling with drug addiction?

U.S. Children Living with Deported Parents in Mexico

An entertaining article has emerged from the Texas Fred blog, posted on September 29, 2016. Here, we have a critique that is primarily aimed at staunch Republicans and anyone who stands by Donald Trump's wall. Half a million US born kids are living in Mexico with deported parents trying to assimilate to Mexican culture. TFB (TexasFred Blog) is criticizing Mexico due to their strict immigration laws in comparison to the U.S. (implying it is hypocritical of them to have such laws) and children are struggling because of it. TFB does not seem concerned with the treatment of the children who are struggling to adapt to a completely new culture with little help from Mexican government; he seems more critical of the fact that Mexico has strict immigration laws and is upset that "American society is supposed to welcome *anchor babies* with open arms and wallets" Never mind the fact that these children have a little to zero choices in a situation like this…

"In the last seven years, approximately 4.2 million Mexicans have returned to their home country from the US with an order of deportation, according to the Department of national security... Official records show one out of four ends up bringing the entire family back to Mexico... This explains why there are currently 498,000 US born minors living in Mexico, many of them Spanish illiterate and struggling to adapt." A statement from Latino Fox News. 

Although, I DO believe that Mexico should welcome these binational children and assist the families with attaining proper documentation, etc. I think TFB's argument is unsound and morally skewed, and is upset at the soaring Hispanic population throughout the US and is xenophobic towards any immigrants in the US, no matter what the situation may be.  

What are YOUR thoughts on this topic? 

How can we fix something if we don't know what's causing the problem?

An interesting editorial has emerged from the Dallas morning newspaper on October 5th, 2016, this specifically targets families and especially women who are expecting...I imagine hearing this would make many future mothers uneasy, feeling unsafe and make women strive for answers and a solution until we are satisfied with the results.

  DMN (Dallas Morning News) is arguing that the department of state health services needs to release the medical data to find out why Texas women are dying after giving birth, claiming that it is unacceptable and there must be a solution. It provides the reader with some alarming statistics: "News reporters J. David McSwane and Terry Langford asked for the data under the Texas public information act and showed the results of Texas maternal mortality rate has shot up to 35.8 per 100,000 births from 18.6 in 2010 (statistics provided by Obstetrics and Gynecology, September 2016)  The numbers were even more startling for black women in a separate report commissioned by the state, found that they were twice as likely as white women to die within a year after their pregnancy... Department of state health services wants to keep this data secret in order to prevent fraud." Also, thought this was an interesting statement considering Texas governor Rick Perry denied Obamacare: "Both reports on maternal mortality noted the lack of affordable health care as a cause for concern, especially with Texas being home to more uninsured people than any other state."

 By golly, that is a ridiculously high increase with a very lame excuse.

  

I most definitely stand with Dallas Morning news on this one, we should be kept in the light as to what is causing this, why the state refuses to share this information with us, what kind of health care  women are receiving, what we can do to fix this… But mostly, what are they hiding?  

Interesting insight on Texas women's political stance

 A glimpse behind the curtain for  Texas women who support Trump (not very insightful).  A large group of women that has very little  recognition, which is odd because they are a statewide group and have a substantial amount of 740 members (Don't you feel like you would've heard of them by now?).  These women feel as if they are expected to support Hillary Clinton  simply because she is a woman, and are offended by it;  they admire Donald Trump as a father and agree with many of his  policy positions.  And therefore decided to go against the status quo.  Despite the fact that they are 740 members strong I have a hard time deciphering  exactly why they whole heartedly want Donald trump to be Americas next leader, given that the statements they provided didn't have much depth. An interesting read in regards to where a (surprisingly) substantial amount of Texas women stand in the red and blue. What are your thoughts on this?

Hello! I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend!