number two

In response to the Blog “Government: Bigger in Texas,” I read an article about how Republicans would rather not teach critical thinking schools because it threatens the parents believes that were instilled into the child’s brain. I completely agree with Veronica when she was shocked by that thought.

Personally I find no problem with teaching critical thinking in schools; it allows the student to think their own opinions regardless of their parent’s opinions.

In my opinion there really is not that much to say other than, what the heck is wrong with you republicans!

Water conservation and rice from China!

To expand on my blog “WaterConservation and Meat from TEXAS”, I would like to address that as much as I am for conserving our water and raising our own animals. I do think we should maybe not farm for rice in Texas or any other crop that is water expansive. Most farmers need 2,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of rice. Now that’s a lot! Those 2,000 liters could go to something more important such as farming livestock. Texas does have a lot of room to grow so why not keep the land just for those animals and leave the rice to states and countries that can make an abundance of it without still struggling for water.

Personally as an everyday Texan, living in an area that the land is desperate for water, I think I could personally conserve water. At least in my own home as I am sure that most of us could. Why don’t we make it a law to only allow shower heads to run only 15 minutes at a time, so you are forced to take shorter showers. I know that some people do not take that long to shower, but hey my brother takes about 30 minutes. Crazy, I know. But this could help with those of us that use more than we really need. As well as laundry day, some people do it every day and it really is not needed that often. Families of 4 should cut laundry in half by only doing it twice a week. I know that some family’s do it every day! More than half the time the load can fit a lot more in them and we don’t use the space.

Did you know that every time you flush your toilet, you waste approximately 3.5 gallons of clean water and go through about 17 gallons a day! Now this is insane why are we using water that we could bathe and drink in to flush our waste? I know it would take a lot of effort to change this around but I know an easier way to help this. If you are at home and you only have to urinate, why don’t you just not flush it that time and wait till the next time you have to go. That way you are now saving approximately 4 gallons of water each day. I could do that. 

commentary number one

As I was reading an article from the blog “Government: Bigger in Texas,” I realized I could not agree more! It makes total sense to me when Veronica writes about how if marijuana was legal, crime would decrease. She makes a valid point when she tells us that people don’t smuggle alcohol over to the United States because it is legal. If marijuana was legal than I believe there would be a lot less crime because people would not be working so hard to keep things on the down low.

                Now I love her example when she uses the idea of heroin becoming legal. I mean honestly if heroin became legal, I am pretty sure no additional people would be using. It would merely become easier for the ones ALREADY using to use it legally.

Why is Texas spending too much money on trying to get rid of drugs when we aren’t seeing any improvements? It just makes no sense. Texas could make so much money on the taxes just as Veronica had said. 

Water Conservation and Meat from TEXAS

Texas should pass strict water conservation laws. It is as simple as that. Why is it so hard to get this accepted by everyone? Rhetorical question, don’t answer that. I for one am extremely accepting of cutting water anywhere we possibly can. I can definitely take shorter showers, wash clothes when it is absolutely necessary and I can use paper plates instead of regular ones so I won’t have to run the dishwasher as much.

Though I suppose that’s what a lot of people will be okay with, right? I guess the bigger thing is watering our yard and more importantly, watering our crops and land where our meat is. State Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples has a lot to say. He feels that the waste that “farmers” are using, are not what they seem. “Blaming agriculture is hog wash…Modern agriculture has been doing more with less for decades… Agriculture may be a convenient target for accusations of wasteful water usage but it’s actually more efficient than ever, and its impressive return-on-investment provides our country with a reliable, domestic food supply.”      

What are we going to do? We need our food but we also need to preserve our water source. Water Development Board report in 2011 found that the water being used in the farmland water decreased the amount of water used by about 14 percent. Whoa! Now that is an improvement especially stating the fact that the Texan population has increased significantly within the past decades.

In short, water conservation is definitely important but maintaining healthy livestock (that requires substantial water) is important too. I mean what else are we going to eat, meat from Maryland?  

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/green/entries/2012/07/24/environmentalists_and_agricult.html?cxntfid=blogs_salsa_verde

I shot a man, and got away with it!

Eileen smith from the blog “In the Pink” wrote a pretty interesting blog. It was titled “I shot a man in Houston just to watch him die. (Jonny Cash anyone?) She tells us about what’s called the Castle Doctrine in 2007, which was described from the Houston Chronicle. It was said to be a new law that allowed you to stand your ground. More specifically, it is called justifiable killings.

Justifiable killings are described by Eileen by telling us a story that happened in Houston.  A 24 year old man robbed a TIP JAR from a local taco truck. The owner, in response, chased him down and shot him in the back. Now come on, this is truly NOT against the law. Eileen explains little further in the article about how average citizens can use the force of guns but cops can’t, really? She explains that she completely disagrees with this law and honestly so do I!

Eileen’s opinion is quite clear throughout the article pertaining to the Castle Doctrine. She does not come out and just say it but it’s obvious. She does not like the idea of anyone being able to KILL someone just because they stole a tip jar. She doesn’t like the idea that the Texas law allows the use of violence and possible death for the following; rape, arson, burglary, robbery, theft and criminal mischief at night.  She explains that she is lucky that was not the law when she was a kid in Virginia because she used to TP her crushes houses.

I believe Eileen’s intended audience was to young minded liberals. She is a very informal blogger which I think attracts the younger crowd to read. 

Educating young Texans gives hope for our future

John Sharp, Texas A&M System Chancellor from "The statesman", makes a great argument for furthering education among young Texans throughout the state. I find this extremely wonderful because I am finally seeing someone not bash the Texas schooling system but seeing the good of it! Sharp says that among Texas’s great money makers such as; crude, cattle, and cotton. We shall now have the prosperity of the young Texans.

                Texas has the most young people than any other state does. Therefore, we have more students and definitely a greater need for schools and education. Sharp wants to encourage more and more young people to achieve an associate’s degree and more.          

                In this commentary, Sharp points out a few statistics that are very important in understanding this idea. He states that, Texas is projected to have 4 million new jobs by 2018. Now that is something to get excited about, am I right? He also says that ONLY 31.4 percent of Texans actually have degrees. One last important statistic is that nearly 60 percent of kids in school in this age do not have the money to attend college. Now that has got to be worked upon.

                His logic, in my opinion comes from these two sentences, “The next economic empire in Texas will be built on human resources, the only thing we have left to sell. We have a huge advantage in that category. Few states can compete with our human resource potential.” If Texas has a way to make more money for our state, then we should be working on it. And that means building our human resources!

                I appreciate the fact that he recognizes the need for education! I also completely agree with this thought, Texas has greater human resource potential than any other state. Let’s prove it right in the years to come! 

Blog stage 2

               Apparently people in Austin are actually against Health Care? I must be naive; I thought national health care was a good thing. KXAN published an article on A few hundred person protest. The protest was for getting rid of Obamas Health care. A big argument some made was that because of this new plan, the government has become too intrusive.

                In all honestly, I don’t understand what the big fuss is about. I understand that our tax dollars go to public health care among many other place, but I think I would rather people who don’t make enough money to be able to see a doctor if they really needed it; without pay a lot for it. I rather like the idea of public health care.

                This article is definitely something all of you should read. It’s short and to the point and it was right here in Austin! And if it’s something you agree with than great! For the ones who don’t see eye to eye should still read it to see what’s going on in our county!