Monday, November 30, 2015

Denton Ban against Fracking Appropriate

Denton city banned fracking in all areas within its borders. The northern city of Texas residents voted for the ban after associating it with the frequent earthquakes in the area. Their victory was fleeting after Governor Greg Abbot struck back with another ban. The ban prohibited all cities and towns in Texas from banning fracking. Fracking is like a timed bomb whose impact and time of explosion is unknown. Fracking should not be allowed until the link between it, and the earthquake is established.

In the past, serious disasters that would have been avoided or whose impact reduced occurred. They occurred because the relevant authorities ignored or dismissed the signs. The 2005 hurricane Katrina in New Orleans is one example. It is still fresh in the minds of many people. Three years earlier, the Times-Picayune, the city’s main newspaper had devoted several days to cover a special series, “Washing Away”. The city authorities ignored the warning and the hurricane killed many people.

Greg Abbot and his circles of politicians are interested in the revenue from the energy activities. They are aware of the danger posed by fracking. However, they decide to overlook the lurking danger.

Apart from the unknown magnitude of the potential earthquake, fracking has psychological effects. People are reluctant to invest in Denton for fear of a possible earthquake. As a result, the value of land in Denton is falling.

Fracking is an important source of energy that keeps the state and regions beyond in motion. The revenue generated goes into helping the same people who are against it. However, their lives are more precious than anything else.

The fight against fracking is founded on the wellbeing of the society. This is consistent with the state’s goal for its people. Consequently, the governor should collaborate with experts in the field of seismology to find whether or not fracking and earthquake are linked. Otherwise, before the real situation is established, the fracking should stop.

Monday, November 16, 2015

"Sanctuary Cities" In Texas



The issue of Sanctuary cities and their plan to have more control on immigration rules is in bad taste. This shows an intention of the said cities in using the laws as they wish, and disadvantage many immigrants who may not be having any issue to do with the immigrants, whose only aim is to work for the betterment of their lives, and that of their families. In essence, the history of the larger United States is such that the immigrants were very vital in its progress. Therefore, it will be wrong to punish them, when they do not have an outright offence.

What the sanctuary cities have in mind is that they will bring heaven by having more control on the immigration rules. That is not the case. They would not change anything at all, because, the people they are targeting are not the problem. They will therefore not be at a position of solving the issues they have. It is therefore wrong to have such a thought, simply because you are in power.

Factually speaking, the intention of the cities in coming up with such rules is not because there is something wrong.it is because of some selfish interests, where they want to put the immigrants at their mercy, so that they can use them as they wish, and if they feel they are not useful any longer, then they can dump them without any accountability to anyone. This means that the rules seek to demean the immigrants, and make them lesser people in the cities in question. The writing therefore is on the wall, and if there is any sensible leader, this should not happen.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Texas $800 Million Border Security Bill Inappropriate


            Leaders from Texas State have on several occasions called for a quick fix of border security issue and the immigration system. The approval of the $800 million by Abbot Gregg, the new governor of Texas, is the epitome of their concerted effort to solve the problem for good. The problem with the security border is not about money but rather a problem of the security system.
           
          A similar move by Rick Perry led to the purchase of six new gunboats with the ability to fire 900 rounds per minute and move at very high speeds. Ironically, the boats that cost the state $580,000 each were most of the time docked. The cost of the six gunboats combined, though smaller than what Texas intends to spend, did not yield any positive results.
            
        Reasonable people should build their judgment upon past experiences to realize that spending more money will not bring positive results. According to Texas public safety agency, a secure border is one that interdicts all people, contrabands, and drugs but the current situation is far from this definition. Adam Isacson, a longtime border analyst, says that “Even the most secure sectors of the border still have thousands of people get through,” an indication that the $800 million is not a solution.
            
       The problem is not money but accountability. Money put on border patrol is enough, but the problem is with performance evaluation. Texas has failed to follow up to ensure money mete out for border security yields results. The Republican lawmakers stripping out of the section that would demand monthly updates and crime data from an oversight board to be formed is a repeat of the same mistake.
     
     Governor Gregg Abbott should rethink his joke on Twitter that, “Dallas Cowboys. More porous than Texas border” as it might happen with the $800 million. The problem is with the security system and not funding, and until the lawmakers realize it, the border security problem remains unsolved. Otherwise, the issue of security is best solved by the federal government.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Denying Illegal Immigrants Chance to HealthCare

In the article written about as the demographics shifts, so should the health care services, the intended audience is the government, health practitioners and people in general in the society who might discriminate against the immigrants from other countries either legally or illegally existed in a certain area. I concur with the author in his argument that he makes a claim about taking care of everyone’s need regardless of his cultural inclination and origin.

The author goes ahead and uses a logical argument to support the claim. It is quite true that discrimination against other immigrants who have come to live, study and work in our society greatly limits the speed at which our society grows and as well our well-being. We should not scare the illegal immigrants from seeking medical attention merely because they feel a great threat of being exposed and deported back to their countries when they search for medical attention.

The logical argument in this case is the fact that if you have a child at school, and he sits next to another sick and illegally settled child in that country whose parents fears to seek medical attention for fear of being caught, your child will end up being sick. Sooner or later, every child in the class will be exposed and vulnerable to the same disease.

This, therefore, suggests that our health is greatly a factor of how we take care of the overall health situation of the diverse population.As the demographic shifts, there is a greater need to for healthcare providers to also shift. Because access to care is a fundamental right for each and every human being, it is mandated to extend the same to people of different walks of life regardless of their documentation.

Monday, October 5, 2015

More guns on campus will not make us safer

The gun crisis in the United States of America is still an issue of debate even though much legislation has been developed in respect to the issue. “More guns on campus will not make us safer” is an editorial by the editorial board at my statesman. According to the authors the state of Texas is one of the most highly affected states with gun violence that is visibly on an increase given the soft legislations on carrying. These authors are targeting the lawmakers who seem to be reluctant on tightening the rules regarding carrying firearms to institutions and other public places such as parks. It has been realized that some violence that have been experienced could have been controlled by having tight rules on carrying of firearms. The question that the authors have in the back of their mind is the main reason as to why one has to carry a firearm to school anyway if it is made safer.

The rise in mental cases in schools and also the high rate of depression among students is a sign that having the guns within the school premises poses a danger to other students. The firearm licensing board is also seen to have failed given that most of the firearms used in the previous cases of campus violence were found to be legally owned. I agree with the authors of this editorial and argue that the licensing board has failed to assign firearms cautiously to avoid cases of mental license holders gong wild and shooting at innocent crowds. This claim has been proved by cases recorded by the Guardian magazine; an example is the Charles Whitman case where sixteen were murdered after his random shooting. He was later found to be a mental case.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Taxpayers under governor Rick Perry's plan

Surplus refunded to taxpayers under governor Rick Perry's plan is an article from the Texas Watchdog authored by Mark Lisheron. This article is a lead on Governor Rick Perry's idea on how the state of Texas should handle its extra revenue which is seen to be in surplus of a billion dollars. The article reiterates the means by which the idea of returning tax payers money back to the taxpayer can possibly be done if governor Rick Perry's idea is to be implemented by any chance.Refunding unused tax to the taxpayers requires a lot of legalities starting with the legislature to a referendum, that is, as described by governor Rick Perry in his speech during his update on the current state of his government. The governor is seen to be entrenched in his initial idea that a collection of extra taxes does not validate an extra expenditure in the state’s budget. The governor further disseminates that the hard earned tax payers money cannot by any means be spent in unfruitful ventures such as the health insurance exchange. According to governor Rick Perry, the current system guiding the mentioned health insurance exchange is not sustainable and venturing in it could plunge the nation into bankruptcy.This article by Mark Lisheron is an insight on the state of the nation that is worth a read. The article gives an economical status report of the state of Texas and in a way further gives a report on the status of the state’s top leadership especially the governor Rick Perry. Further the article gives details regarding the process of getting the tax relief as described by the governor on his speech. The article is a complete coverage of the most important information that was relaid by the governor during the event.

The Link to the article: http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2013/01/surplus-refunded-to-texas-taxpayers-under-gov-rick-perrys/1359489780.column.