Unemployment Benefits...No Problem; Why?

I read Megan Fisher’s commentary Unemployment Benefits…NoProblem. I have to say that it kind of struck a nerve.

I can understand her point of view, but I don't necessarily agree with it. 

She says that they shouldn't make it so easy to obtain and continue receiving unemployment, but how would she suggest to make it harder? How would she better the system? What would she change?

I got fired. Unjustly, unfairly, and completely out of line. I was being harassed and mistreated by my supervisor. I am a young white woman and therefore do not qualify for protection against the harassment since it was not racially, gender, age, or religious based harassment. I was simply stuck with an awful boss who treated me different than all the other employees, in a very disheartening way. One day when I had had enough, I simply told my supervisor ,”I understand you are my supervisor, but I would appreciate it if you would quit treating me different than the other employees. I do my job and work hard and I don’t understand why you talk to me the way do.” Maybe I was out of line because she was my supervisor but I don’t think that people with power should be able to get away with saying or acting any way they want. I was fired the next day for "insubordination".

I took the chance and applied for unemployment. After an extensive two part interview process, in which they contacted me and my employer, I qualified. I get 1/4 of what I use to make in a month and it runs out at the end of December. I only qualified for $3500. I apply to a crap load of jobs every week; in person, on line, through email. I use every tool available to me. I have been unemployed for 5 months and I am struggling financially. It's hard to find jobs especially when you have little to no experience in the workforce and don't have a college degree. There are so many people out there with degrees and experience that don’t have jobs, and because of that I am being looked over. Out of all the jobs I’ve applied for, I have had 3 interviews and no job offers. What more can I do to keep what little pay I am getting from the government? Should I write an essay about each experience? Go to a minimum of 2 interviews per week? 

I understand there are people out there who take advantage of the system which is why I understand where you are coming from, but to make it harder for them is to make it harder for people like me as well. You shouldn’t punish the class for the misdeeds of one student.

Texas' Death Penalty: Are We Hypocrites

I was inspired by recent articles in my classmates’ blogs about their opinions regarding the death penalty. Since this isn’t a topic I have approached yet, I thought I would write my 7^th assignment for my blog on this topic. 250-500 words on how I feel about the death penalty in Texas.

How do I feel about the death penalty? A small part of me believes that if someone commits a heinous crime such as murder, that they shouldn’t be allowed to be a part of this world. The other, larger,  part of me wonders how much better we are for killing that person? How sure are we that person is guilty? 

Some people will say “an eye for an eye”. When someone gets arrested for theft, do we steal from them? When someone gets arrested for assault, do we assault them? No, we don’t. We put them in jail, attempt to rehabilitate them and then set them free on the world again.

Here’s some statistics to keep in mind:

•  As of January 1, 2011 there were 321 inmates on death row; 127 of them African-American, 97 Caucasian, 94 Hispanic, and 4 of them Asian; 311 of them men and 10 of them women.

• There have been 10 botched executions in Texas since 1985. These botched executions caused these inmates pain, which is the opposite of what the death penalty is supposed to be doing.

•  Texas has the highest execution rate of any state with a cumulative number of executions since 1976 of 472 people. The state with next highest execution rate is Virginia with 108 people. Yet, Texas is ranked 18^th for murder rates.

The biggest aspects for me, are innocence and humanity. There have been people who were sent to death who are now found to be more than likely innocent, such as; Ruben Cantu, Cameron Todd Willingham and Carlos DeLuna. The truth is, even with all the evidence and all the witnesses, most of the time there is still a shimmer of doubt. Because of this doubt I feel that the death penalty is not our best option. It’s not our most humane option.

I don’t believe in eye for an eye. I believe in turning the other cheek. I believe in kindness, hope and love. I believe that killing these people, even though we have a solid reason (because they believed they did too), just makes us as bad as them. We condemn them for murder, and yet we commit it ourselves.

Let's Not Be Heartless

In Josh Coffman's original commentary, An Amendment to the Texas Constitution Worth Voting For, he writes about Proposition Number 1 coming up in the elections. If this proposition passes, it "will extend the homestead tax exemption to the surviving spouses of soldiers."
I feel that the author provided a very reasoned response as to why we as Texans, as humans, should have the heart to pass this proposition. The author clearly knows what he is talking about and it is evident that he researched the topic. I personally am astounded about the amount of disabled veterans in Texas and how strict the current tax exemption is for veterans.

 I would like to applaud the author for this well written and thought out article.

Texas Sonogram Law: The Road to Unnecessary Heartache

The Texas sonogram law, four words with a huge impact. Although the law is up for appeal right now, should it go through, it could change and effect hundreds of lives. For those of you who don’t yet know about this new law, it states that every woman going in for an abortion must submit to a sonogram before she goes through with it. According to Ricky Perry, "This important bill will ensure that every Texas woman seeking an abortion has all the facts about the life she is carrying and understands the devastating impact of such a life-changing decision."

             What Rick Perry doesn’t talk about is the emotional impact it will have on the woman. For a lot of woman getting an abortion is already a very hard decision and forcing them to hear the heartbeat and see the fetus can be very traumatic. What the lawmakers don’t take into consideration are some of the reasons women get abortions; like rape, incest, teenage pregnancy, disease, and financial hardships. According to the Center for Disease Control in 2007 around 10,500 abortions were performed on teenagers between the ages of  15 and 19, 57% of the abortions were for women who had never had an abortion before, and 80% of the abortions were for unmarried women.

             I’m not one to condone abortion as a form of birth control, because I think if you can bring a baby into this world you should. Yet if you can’t take care of the baby, you were raped, have AIDS, or have a child who tested positive for a life altering disease you should be able to make that VERY personal and hard decision on your own without the government forcing their way into that decision.

            Everyone will tell you there are other options, one major one being adoption. Here’s what you have to consider: In Austin, Texas as of May 2011 there were 1,822 children in foster care (source:TxDFPS), in 2010 statewide there was a total of 29,072 children in foster care with nearly 4,000 of them between the ages of 0 and 2 years old (source:TxDFPS), and in September of 2010 the United States had a total of 408, 425 children in foster care (source:DH&HS, ACF division). So yes, let’s bring more children into this world who can grow up without families, without love, without dependability. That’s a wonderful idea. There are enough children out there that need families that at this point adoption is not necessarily the most viable option.

This sonogram law that they are trying to put into effect is, in my opinion, the governments way of interfering in a woman’s decision to get an abortion. We all know that Texas is mainly a pro-life state and they will do whatever it takes to convince/threaten/scare this women into not getting an abortion. It’s wrong and it’s harmful. Like I said before getting an abortion for most women is already one of the most hardest and traumatic decisions they will ever make, is it really necessary to make it worse?

Classroom Ratios

In the San Antonio Express News Editorial Boards’ article Texas Classroom Ratios Are a Sham, the author writes their opinion on the new school budgets’ effect on classroom sizes. The author seems to be directing the article at the Legislature with the intent of trying to write to them about their mistakes. The author writes about how the politicians involved in the budget making decisions should “recognize that starving the public education system of a growing state is pennywise and pound foolish.” The author also seems to be writing to the parents of children in public school, who might be slightly clueless as to how large the classes have gotten. I feel that one of the intentions of this article is to try and educate parents to the fact that classroom sizes are in fact getting larger. I’m assuming since this article was written by the Editorial Board, that their credibility is legit. The author does reference a colleague and The Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott in their attempt to get through to the audience. He (I say he, to prevent you from reading ‘the author’ every other sentence) writes that school districts in Texas are requesting waivers for larger classroom sizes because of the budget cuts, and The Texas Education Agency is more than happy to grant these waivers because of what they call “financial hardships.” He states that the classroom sizes are growing from a 22-1 ratio to a ratio of 28-1 and that some school districts such as Northside ISD “will have to seek waivers for about one quarter of its classrooms.” Although his article is short and to the point, I do feel that he gets his point across to the audience.

This is one of those articles I agree and disagree with. Yes, I think the budget cuts were stupid (for lack of a better word). I feel that education is the most important thing for anyone to experience. Yet, the Legislature is cutting billions of dollars from Texas’ education system. I believe those cuts could have been made elsewhere. I also believe there is no harm in larger class sizes. When I say larger I mean less than 35, and I believe that teachers should get paid more for teaching these larger classes. I went to a large high school in an fast paced growing town. I would have on average in my core classes (Math, History, English, etc.) 28 other students. Keep in mind that’s the average. There were classes with 30 or more students in them. Yet, I still got a good education and my teachers never failed to teach me something every class period. Would I have had a better education if I had smaller classes? Maybe, but my education didn’t lack because of it.

Texas Sexual Education

In the unknown authors opinion article Let’s ReconsiderAbstinence Only Sex Ed (from the Houston Chronicle), he/she writes his/her opinion on the abstinence only policies for sexual education. Duh. The author writes that it is “past time” to support the masses in using “more effective programs” in Texas schools. The authors audience seems to be (at least to me) directed towards certain Texas politicians who refuse to let go of their right-winged ways and implement useful sexual education classes for students. Although I know absolutely nothing about the author of this article and therefore cannot vouch for his/her work ethic/credibility, the article references many legit/reliable sources itself. This seems pretty credible to me. Some of the sources the author cited are the Texas Freedom Network , the Texas Tribune, and the Guttmacher Institute. The author uses polls to help prove his point, polls such as, “A Statewide TFN poll showed that about 80 percent of likely voters favor teaching students about contraception.”. The author also uses a quote from the director of the UT Prevention Research Center, Susan Tortolero, where she states that the more an adolescent knows, the more of an opportunity they have to make the right choices. Although there have been some school districts that have changed to abstinence plus programs (ones that teach about contraception’s and STD’s), there are still way too many school districts that are still teaching abstinence only classes. The authors logic is pretty simple, it is what it is. Teenagers are having sex and teaching abstinence only classes only keeps the pregnancy rates and STD rates higher. Teaching abstinence only isn’t helping and it’s “past time” we let it go. The authors logic and the solution are simple. Why don't we try to change what obviously doesn't work?

As for my opinion? When are these people (I won’t say who, to keep myself out of trouble) going to wake up, take the blinders off and realize that teenagers are in fact having sex. You can teach abstinence only until your ears turn blue, but teenagers are still in fact going to have sex. Yes, there are some (very few) who will remain virgins until they are old enough/ mature enough to make that decision or until they get married, but the truth is that the vast majority of teenagers are still in fact going to have sex. Face the facts and help protect your loved ones by teaching them something substantial instead of abstinence only crap.

Texas HPV Vaccinations

There are many scary things in this world, and one of the scariest is cancer. HPV IS a preventable disease if you take the right precautions. If you get the vaccinations at an early enough age, the chances of you ever contracting the disease goes WAY down. Making it mandatory for teenage girls to get this vaccine IS a good idea, and it does NOT in any way promote sex. It does not take away from abstinence only teaching (which in my personal opinion is an ignorant way to teach). All it does is protect these girls, who will in time become young women, who WILL eventually have sex. What’s wrong with protecting our daughters, our sisters, our friends?

You can read an article here, about Rick Perry’s decision to make it mandatory for teenage girls in Texas to get the HPV vaccine and the following aftermath.

Just as a side not: Do we really want a guy as our president who makes (in my opinion) a GOOD decision and  then turns around and says it was a mistake because he’s getting criticized?

A Wonderful Stop Along The Road

Although this is not pertinent at all to Texas State Government, I just wanted to share what an amazing week I had. Recently, I lost my job and my husband and I have been struggling to make ends meet. And although it probably wasn't the greatest idea, we used a portion of my student loans to take a trip to Washington. I hadn't been home in almost 4 years, and I needed to get away from all the stress (even if just for a little bit). I got to spend a week in sunny 75 degree weather. I got to see my best friend and her family (who have always been my family too). I got to meet my godson for the first time (and what a beautiful baby he is). I got to see my older brother who just got back from his third tour in Afghanistan. I got to show my husband a place I love and call home. It was amazing. It was beautiful. It's given me peace of mind and heart.

This is my love and I in front of Mt. Rainier. ♥

I just wanted to share. :)