Women Unite for Planned Parenthood

I recently came across a fellow blogger's site that discussed a topic I personally find very important; funding for Planned Parenthood. Ms. Dehoyoz explains here how it is wrong for Texas to completely cut off funding to an organization that is dedicated to women's healthcare. Frankly, I couldn't agree more.
As a woman who has been helped by planned parenthood in the past and has several friends that were also helped when they had nowhere else to turn, it is an organization that I believe is entirely worth the money. Especially in the state of Texas where we have a reputation for one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to women's health. With this information, why would we ever want to make our statistics worse and risk even less women getting the proper healthcare that they need?
My guess is that it has to do with a particular procedure that Planned Parenthood performs; abortions. Now while my personal view on abortion is pro-life, that is an opinion that I reserve specifically for my own body. I don't pretend to know exactly what another woman is or has gone through. For that reason, I think that to provide a safe and medically sound environment is important.
The other bad reputation that Planned Parenthood gets is that it is a promoter of sex. While it is true that a young woman can walk into a clinic and receive a form a birth control, whether it's a condom, the pill, etc; this organization is trying to promote safety for something that teenagers with hormones racing through their bodies are going to do anyways. I believe that it's a parent's job to teach their children values about their bodies and sex; if they have done that properly then they won't have to worry about the problem. However, there are teens out there who haven't been taught those values, and for their sake I believe that Planned Parenthood needs to stick around.
Overall, I thought that Ms. Dehoyoz did a great job expressing her opinion on the topic; using cites and statistics to back her argument.

To Test or Not to Test?

Drug testing recipients of welfare has been a topic of conversation over the past several years. The first place that I ever saw the idea was on a social networking website as a poll that was being passed around and voted on. When I last saw the poll it had an overwhelming number of votes in the "FOR" category. I'm not sure if enough people voting or talking about it is what originally started the legal ball rolling, I'm just glad it got rolling in the first place.
That's right, big surprise, I'm one of the people that voted "FOR" people being drug tested if they were to receive any sort of government benefits. I feel like Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst really summarized well when he said, "We owe it to Texas taxpayers to structure our welfare and unemployment programs in a way that guarantees recipients are serious about getting back to work." The biggest argument that we have in our corner is the fact that drug tests are required when you start a new job. I am required to be clean and drug free when I WANT to get out there are work for my money and not just be given a handout. So why has it been okay for so many years for people to be helped out by our government and not have to give the same proof?
 It seems that Texas has now (finally!) joined the ranks with other states such as Oklahoma, Georgia, Tennessee, and Utah. It seems as though our votes have been worthwhile, leaving me to ponder the idea if social media is the future key for our government.

Spanking: A parent's job

I recently read an editorial by one of my fellow bloggers called A Pass On Spankings; and my

initial thought was, "Finally! Someone who believes that spanking is an essential part of

parenthood!". I responded as such because it is becoming less and less common to see or

hear of people spanking their children. I will unofficially say that the thought of "spanking is

cruel and unnecessary" turned into a fad about ten years ago; and from what I've seen of the

pre-teens out there, I don't believe the theory worked. It is well known by now that I am a

person who deeply believes in respect and I'm seeing hardly any traces in today's youth.

From results that I have personally seen, children who were spanked respected their parents

much more than those who weren't disciplined. Now that I have gotten my beliefs clear on the

topic of spanking I will finally refer back to the original editorial, which is about spanking in a

school environment.

I learned about five years ago that there was even such a thing as spankings in schools. I

grew up in California where such a thing wasn't done; respectfully avoiding the Catholic

schools and stories of nuns and rulers. When I first heard of this topic it didn't seem anything

more than interesting on how different my childhood had been from my husband's. Now,

however, it leaves a certain bad taste in my mouth; it just doesn't quite sit right with me. The

main reason for that is very well explained by my fellow blogger, stating that "This particular

area of education is territory that should be cultivated at home--in a loving, respectful,

controlled, and sober environment--where TRUST is a foundation that's been firmly laid." In

other words, it is MY job as a responsible parent to make sure that the child I brought into this

world is being raised properly.

Getting arrested for skipping jury duty

Recently, in Corsicana, a District Judge commented on how not enough people were showing up for their jury summons. A solution that he is proposing is to send a sheriff’s deputy to the homes of these people and picking them up to come to jury duty or to pick them up and take them to jail. We all know that jury duty is a mandatory thing, and I always believed that not responding to a summons was a big offense. As that is very well the case, apparently not many places care to enforce the issue, however in the case of Corsicana a trial had to be cancelled because not enough people showed up. I try to place myself in the shoes of some of these people who don’t show up for this legal obligation. Lack of transportation? Lack of childcare (which in most cases will allow you to be exempt)? It seems that, ultimately, these people just don’t care enough. Why is it that some people just don’t understand the definition and importance of civic duty? I completely agree with this District Judge’s attempt to fix the problem. Now some people might suggest that this is a waste of our tax payer’s money to have the local law enforcement drive to individual houses and pick these people up. However, there is a big thing that people should remember; making an example of those that don’t abide by the law. It might take a week of hard work to accomplish the task, but say in that week 104 are arrested and brought to jail on the charges. The local newspaper writes an article, word gets around, and people begin to take the summons seriously. Before you know it the problem will have taken care of itself. The thing is that if being a juror isn’t an important part of the justice system then would it really still be in place? Keeping in mind that, yes sometimes it takes a while for changes to happen, I think that something would definitely change if it could. The thing is that I haven’t heard a recommendation for an amendment of some kind to jury duty. There just used to be so much more respect for the system.

I'm beginning to sense a theme here...

I am becoming more aware at how straightforward a person I am; either that or I simply don't like the things that people say to 

get misconstrued. Again there I was reading an editorial about how a republican said one thing and how an assumed democrat

 completely ran away with it. 

 In Eileen Smith’s blog, in the Pink, she expresses her slight outrage that Mitt Romney referred to women as “binders”. 

Not just that but apparently he claims to “keep binders of women”? I watched that same debate that night and unless my 

cable provider was able to drastically edit the debate that I viewed, I am going to once again have to completely disagree with 

what a liberal is saying. 

 I, for one, understood Romney to say that he questioned the inequality shown in his cabinet and worked to get it fixed. What 

about thinking literally here and seeing binders as nothing more than a device to keep pieces of paper organized, pieces of paper 

that have individual women's information. Hmm, that seems to be a legitimate explanation for the phrase "binders full of women".

Ok, so maybe saying that you approached several women’s groups in search of some qualified candidates seems a bit silly.

(And by silly, I mean you’re trying too hard to impress some people.) However, in the grand scheme of things, does it really 

matter where one goes to ask for help? It shouldn't. The point that everyone should walk away from this remembering is how 

Romney was an advocate for women in the workplace. Now, whether these women earned just as much as the men is a 

detail that I am unaware of; so don't color me completely red just yet. 

 My biggest concern, or annoyance, is the pattern I’m seeing emerge. The one  where the conservative voices an 

opinion and then the liberal plucks a phrase out of that and twists it into something that suits them. I can't help but think 

that that’s all this other blogger has done, capturing the minds of other liberals and making them believe, even more, just 

how “evil” republicans are.

Religion and Politics

Let me begin by saying that I don’t necessarily think that religion and politics can be separated; unless you are someone who doesn’t have any religious views at all. Most people’s beliefs about morals and how this country should be are rooted in a religion of some sort. Typically, these views align with the religion you were raised in.

While I do agree with this editorial and how religion is very much a part of the public arena; I do not believe that that’s what Governor Perry meant.  In his quote he states that, “…one of the untruths out there is that people of faith should not be involved in the public arena.” (To read the entire quote and article, visit DallasNews.com) Let’s dissect this quote for a minute: should not are the words used, he doesn’t say that they are not. My interpretation is that Gov. Perry is expressing how there are those in this country who do not believe that the two subjects should be linked. In fact, he specifies that this belief is an “untruth”, leading me to believe that he himself feels differently. While the editorial sets out to prove that religion and politics are very much intertwined, and I think that was accomplished, it actually doesn’t address the quote that is included. In fact, the second paragraph explains how Gov. Perry meant that there are people, namely “secularists and leftists”, that are trying to keep the two separate.  The reality, it’s true; there are those out there with that belief and although I don’t agree with it they are entitled to the opinion.

So the reason for this article in the first place? My first conclusion jumps to how the author may not be a particular fan of this state’s governor. Maybe these words are meant to draw in people who, like me, believe that the two are linked but don’t take the time to interpret what the governor actually says.

What's going on in Texas news right now...

Have you heard about the 45 year old man who is on trial for the murder of a friend 25 years later? You read that right, 25 years later; it seems that "cold case" is more than just a show on TV.
The story goes that Ryland Shane Absalon is being accused of stabbing his friend, Ginger Hayden, over 50 times with a kitchen knife. A special cold case unit part of the Fort Worth police department reopened the case, ran DNA evidence and came up with a match to Absalon; resulting in his arrest while residing in Arizona. Along with the DNA evidence, Absalon confessed to the attack just 2 years later while in a treatment facility for drug abuse.
The case was a slam dunk, despite the defense attorney's best efforts; Absalon was just convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. As I wrote about the case the article was updated on the Austin American Statesman website, and can be viewed here. It seems that justice can be swift, even when it's 25 years later.