Commentary on Are Sobriety Checkpoints the Only Way?

This is a response to the commentary, Are Sobriety Checkpoints the Only Way? I was interested to know your view on this topic. At first with some of those statistics I wasn't sure which way you were going to go. This commentary is well researched, there's nothing like statistics and links to prove a point. I am in complete agreement with this commentary which with my liberal beliefs doesn't happen very often. From previous posts you may know that I am not the biggest fan of APD and I don't like APD turning Austin into a police state while violating my civil rights.

The statistic that less than 1% of drivers arrested are arrested for alcohol related reasons is troubling to me. Isn't that the purpose of the checkpoints? To find drunk drivers? With statistics like that, checkpoints seems like a huge waste of time and money.

Perry passes shield law for journalists

I just read that Governor Perry passed a law which keeps journalists from having to reveal certain confidential sources in court. Its called the Free Flow of Information Act and it is a great victory for journalists. Texas is the 37th state to pass a shield law and advocates have lobbied for the law for the last three legislative sessions. The act will encourage whistleblowers to come forward because journalists can now protect their sources and in many cases not have to testify or produce notes or tapes gathered while acting as a journalist.

Journalists are our eyes and ears, they are working for us, the people. This law will allow them to do an even better job, whistleblowers can come forward and reveal government corruption or public safety hazards because their identities are protected. There are a few exceptions to the new rule, reporters must name a confidential source in a criminal case if they observed the person committing a felony or if the source confessed to them to committing a felony or if there is probable cause to believe the source has committed a felony and the prosecutor has not been able to obtain the identity.

This law goes into effect immediately and was overwhelmingly approved by the House and the Senate. "It's going to uncover acts and information that will lead to the prosecution of serious crimes," said Michael Schneider, programs director for the Texas Association of Broadcasters.

Source : Perry signs journalist shield law

More guns on campus?!?

This is in response to a classmates blog, Guns on Campus.

I could not disagree with you more on this issue. I don't believe the answer to violence is more violence and I don't believe the answer to guns on campus is MORE guns on campus. The solution must begin before a gunman brings a weapon or weapons to school. There are warning signs to look out for and they need to be taken seriously. In a report done by CBS news a former Virgina Tech professor Lucinda Roy writes in her new book that she saw warning signs before the shootings but they were ignored. "Roy contacted four different departments on campus, including the counseling center and university police. She was desperate for Cho to get help. But, "I was told that - that would never happen," Roy said.

Statistics show a direct correlation between gun ownership and gun death rates. The chart above shows that states with higher gun ownership have much higher percentages of gun deaths. Inversely, low gun ownership equals low gun death rate. This was a news report from Violence Policy Center, based on data released for year 2006 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's division Center for Injury Prevention and Control.


So no, I don't believe the answer is the throw more guns at the problem, more guns means more people killed at the hands of gunmen.

Man fatally shot by police officer

I've read the news articles, I've read the editorials, and yes I've read the comments made by the fine citizens of Austin concerning this fatal shooting of an 18 year old kid. You can read yesterday's news article in the statesman here. I think maybe more than anything the racists and ignorant comments made by citizens of Austin scare me very much.

"They are combatic with police or anything vaguely resembling white authority.Ignorant,and basicly lawless,they will riot and claim injustice even if the thug murdered on live Tv."

"Another one bites the dust! One less thug we have to worry about! "

"We need more police shootings, we need to clean the streets of these low-life gansta pieces of you-know-what."

"he was a criminal and got EXACTLY WHAT HE DESERVED!"

This is just a few examples of what I've seen. Now I know this kid has a history of some criminal acts, that has been made very well known. I in no way believe he deserved to die for his criminal past. The fact is that we don't know what happened that day. The fact is that the officers camera was not on and that is very troubling to me. It's department policy that police officers run their cameras when making a stop. Why then was this officers camera off? Wouldn't an officer want proof to back up their word? It's a very scary thought that we have trigger happy officers running around making stops, "protecting" us. He was just a kid, teenagers make bad decisions, he didn't deserve to die for it.

Jenni Lee, HB 1323, and Why Words Matter

I found this pretty interesting. This post was found on the Burnt Orange Report blog, you can read it here. Jenni Lee is a reporter for Fox 7 and the Austin Chronicle printed a comment she made on her facebook page. The comment made was referring to the tv show The Amazing Race. I'm not sure if you can read her post but this is what she said, "They weren't really my fave, just the couple I disliked the least. I really didn't want that mom who raised a pansy son team to win." Jenni Lee was referring to the team of Luke and Margie Adams, just so you know, Luke Adams is deaf and gay. The purpose of the post was the point out that words are strong and especially as a member of the media Jenni Lee should know better. The writer of the blog includes himself as a "member of the media" which I don't dispute but then he goes on to call himself a journalist and that's where I have a little bit of an issue. I don't believe bloggers are journalists, an opinion is not fact. I looked at the writers bio. He is very involved in politics and knows the ins and outs of government but as far as I know according to his bio. he has never written for a news publication. This doesn't bother me though, I know this is a liberal blog and most likely I'm going to agree with him on most matters. This issue is no exception and I'm glad someone is writing about it. He goes on to suggest Jenni Lee do a report on HB 1323 by Mark Strama which is an anti-bullying and harrassment bill. The biggest impact of the blog came at the end when I clicked on the video at the bottom of the post. The video from YouTube shows the pictures of multiple children who were victims and ended their own lives to deal with the bullying and harrassment. I immediately followed the link to Equality Texas to do my part and ask my state representative to vote yes on this bill. I recieve emails from Equality Texas and found out I had already participated. I think I will post a link on my facebook to get the word out.

You can take action here by asking your state rep. to vote for the bill.

Texas must tackle issue of uninsured children

This editorial is from the May 5th issue of the Austin American Statesman, you can read it here. The editorial begins with a statistic, that we lead the all other states in this category. We just talked about this in class so I know this is one of those embarrassing statistics that we'd rather not say out loud. Yes, we lead the nation in the percentage of uninsured children, that's 1.5 million children, 22% of all kids. This has been the case for more than a decade. Two new bills are trying to cut down on the number of uninsured children. One is the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which would insure an additional 80,000 children in Texas. Another bill is looking at expanding the medicaid enrollment period from six months to 12 months. I had no idea that families have to prove their eligibility every six months and lawmakers purposely designed the system that way knowing that many families would drop out because of late applications or errors processing the applications. Personally I agree with the editorial board that the problem of the largest number of uninsured children in the nation is something that needs to be addressed and these bills would help get more children insured. It appears that Republicans generally oppose expanding health insurance for children which is why we currently have the largest number of uninsured children. The programs from these bills will be paid for by President Obama's stimulus package for Medicaid which I assume is why both parties are working together on this issue. The funds will only last two years but I guess we won't have to worry about those consequences for another two years.

Lawmaker suggests that stimulus money pay for mansion restoration

What?!? Yes, apparently Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Steve Ogden, R-Bryan wants to use Texas' federal stimulus money to repair the governors mansion. You can find the full article here on the Statesman's website. Now lets not jump to conclusions, Steve Ogden is just inquiring about the stimulus money. He just wants to know if this could be a possibility. I guess he believes restoring the mansion is more important than education, health care, child care, homelessness...I could go on and on here.

The Honorable Steve Ogden
P.O. Box 12068
Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
(512) 463-0105
(512) 463-5713 (fax)