Reply to Gerrymandering in Austin

This is a very interesting topic that doesn't get as much attention as it should. Most of the time I hear people talking about Gerrymandering it is talked about at the national level, although it is obviously still very prevalent in Cities as well. It really hard to see families pushed out of their homes because companies want to build a business there. I'm also interested in the "other factors" you mentioned that causes these families to relocate from their homes. I definitely realized local gerrymandering this was an issue but I don't think I noticed how big of a problem it is. I've heard that gerrymandering in Texas is one of the worst states. It doesn't seem fair for big companies to be able to bully families out of their homes. I agree the US Government should take action on this nationwide issue and take the following steps to handle the situation correctly. Overall, this was a great article, very informative and interesting. The only thing I wish you touched a bit more is the "other factors" that gerrymandering effects in negative ways.

Austin Gerrymandering Article

Trump Repeats Idea of Buying Greenland

PRESIDENT Donald Trump is still looking for the U. S. government to purchase Greenland, even though the region's leaders say the massive island is not for sale.

Trump said Sunday he has asked his advisers to explore the chances of buying the country, which is a politically self-governed region of Denmark. "Essentially, it's a large real estate deal," he said.

"We are good allies with Denmark," Trump said. "We protect Denmark like we protect large portions of the world, and the concept came up. Strategically it's interesting, and we would be interested, but we will talk with them a little bit."

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thought Trump's purchase idea was "absurd." She said, "Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously," according to CNN. Frederiksen added that (Greenland Premier) "Kim Kielsen has of course made it clear that Greenland is not for sale. That's where the conversation ends."

But Trump persisted. "A lot of things can be done," he told reporters in Morristown, New Jersey, as he ended a 10-day vacation. He said owning Greenland "would be nice" partly because it would give the United States strategic advantages, apparently by allowing the United States to beef up its military presence there as a deterrent to adventurism by the Soviet Union and China. Yet Trump added: "It's not Number One on the burner, I can tell you that."
Trump may visit Demark in two weeks and it isn't known whether he would then make the case for purchasing Greenland. He said Sunday that owning Greenland is "hurting Denmark very badly" and, "They carry it at a great loss."

Criminal Justice Reform Response

https://hannahjane1967.blogspot.com/2019/11/criminal-justice-reform.html

Throughout this article, you made some very good points that need to be addressed by congress sooner rather than later. I am happy to see that there has been some progress in criminal justice reform with the First step Act, but there still seems like there are so many other issues in the prison systems that need to be taken care of as well. I really appreciated the clear and concise article and think you did a great job organizing everything. It's sad to hear that there are many prisons in Texas not allowing prisoners access to A/C or even required medication that many need in order to function correctly. I really hope you are right about the fact that the First Step Act will help open doors for other prison reforms to come in the future. I just hope it moves a little faster then it has in the past. I really agree with you about the part when you said: "whether a person is behind bars, or walking freely there still needs to be a basic protection right in place for everyone." Without that basic protection, prisoners are unable to live a life without fear or struggling to survive. It makes me feel bad that there are so many people out there not being treated humanely and not receiving basic human rights that everyone deserves. Overall, I think you did a great job addressing all the issues as well as pushing for a change in the right way.

Stress from politics

U.S. governmental issues have been fantastically disruptive as of late, and will probably just deteriorate as President Donald Trump faces conceivable prosecution over the Ukrainian outrage.

So it's no big surprise the pressure of monstrous national governmental issues has begun to influence the mental and physical wellbeing of certain citizens, as a recent examination proposed.

About two out of each five Americans say some political topics worry them, and one of every five are restless or have had friends harmed over governmental issues, the scientists found.

"A surprisingly large number of American adults perceive their engagement in politics as having negative effects on their social, emotional and even physical health," said lead researcher Kevin Smith, chair of political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Tuesday that the House of Representatives will start impeachment request, blaming Trump for a "betrayal of his oath of office" in asking Ukraine's recently chosen president to examine a Democratic opponent for the U.S. administration.

Things possibly escalated Wednesday when the Trump organization discharged an update of his telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump squeezed his partner for an examination of presidential applicant Joe Biden and offered U.S. help for such a test.

The new overview of 800 individuals across the nation, led preceding these most recent disclosures, demonstrated that legislative issues are making a blossoming general wellbeing emergency in the United States, Smith said.

Political stress seems to be taking a greater toll on citizens from the left side of the political spectrum, potentially tied to the infamous 2016 presidential election and Trump's confrontational style of governing.

However, it is possible that this politically driven stress has been around before Trump was in office, but no one asked the question.

We don't know what people would have reported with previous presidents, noting that other researchers have cited former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama as "very polarizing presidents themselves."

"It could be there has been a fair amount of polarization and stress associated with politics that's been increasing over the past decades, but it's hard to say.

The guardrails are off the Trump presidency

This article comes from a journalist from CNN that goes by Stephen Collinson. The main audience for CNN is slightly left politically leaning more liberal. They begin the article by calling out  White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney saying " abuses of power, conflicts of interest and unhinged behavior is the work of Mick Mulvaney. They then began to bash Trump saying things such as "nothing is going to restrain or moderate him. In fact, he's becoming ever more incorrigible." Just from this, it shows the intended audience for this article is democratic or at the least anti-Trump. The authors are pretty credible in the usage of facts but much of what was said in the article was purely opinion-based. Since it is such a heavy opinion based article it’s hard to say it’s a very credible article. The author then begins to give his opinion on Trump's behavior saying things like " Such behavior is a lesson that when a politician is prepared to remove a fundamental underpinning of shame and ethics from his political personality, there's almost no limit to his destructive political behavior. Later in the article the author uses a Retired Navy Admirals words to back up what he's saying yet the Navy Admiral doesn’t state any facts, instead, he accuses Trump of undermining the intelligence community, law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the State Department, the press, America's Kurdish allies, its NATO friends and international treaties. The author claiming to back up his opinion with an Admiral's opinion deteriorates the credibility for me. I don’t agree with this article but I don’t necessarily disagree with it either. I don't like how most accusations in the article were not backed up with facts, rather just someone else opinion.  In conclusion, this is an anti-Trump article with the purpose to convince people that Trump should be impeached or at least not back in the office in 2020.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/18/politics/donald-trump-impeachment-turkey-kurds-g7-mulvaney/index.html

Trump is now publicly abusing his oath of office

This article comes from the editorial board  of the Washington post. The main audience for the Washington post is slightly left politically leaning more liberal. They begin the article explaining why Trump is trying to be impeached then state if Republicans agree with what he’s doing it is “shocking and damaging to our political system.” This obviously show the intended audience for this article is democratic or a least anti-Trump. The authors are pretty credible in usage of facts but much of what was said in the article was purely opinion based. Since it is such a heavy opinion based article it’s hard to say it’s a very credible article. The authors began to argue how they think Trump should have handled the situation. They then came to the conclusion that his actions are “unacceptable presidential behavior.” The authors decide to back up these strong statements with a paragraph from a historian. The historian yet doesn’t state any facts, instead he gives his opinion on what he thinks will happen if Trump goes unpunished. The authors claiming to back up there opinion with a historians opinion deteriorates their credibility for me. I don’t agree with this article but I don’t necessarily disagree with it either. I don’t think what Trump did was right but I think agree with there logic or technique they are trying to make Trump out to much worse then he really is.  If what Trump is saying is true I don’t necessarily see why presenting corruption to the public is such a bad thing. Instead their logic is to just kind of assume Trump is lying and when there’s no evidence he’s lying. In conclusion this is an anti-Trump article with the purpose to convince people that Trump should be impeached or at least not back in office in 2020. They lack evidence to pack up any of their opinions, yet use a Historian to seem like everything they are saying is true.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-is-publicly-abusing-his-oath-of-office-on-live-television/2019/10/03/44d8d902-e5f9-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html%3foutputType=amp

Cost for last three government shutdowns estimated at $4 billion

Cost for last three government shutdowns estimated at $4 billion

Recently in the last few years the government has shut down three times. These shutdowns have been caused from the fight with Obama care a few years back and recently Trumps proposed border walls. That being said these shutdowns can really hurt the tax payers pockets. Its estimated that the three shutdowns combined will cost about four billion in tax payer dollars, with almost all of it coming from one thing. Around $3.7 billion will be going to back pay to furloughed federal workers. With that being said these government shut downs are not good for the American people, yet there could be another in the near future. In conclusion, Democrats and Republicans need to come to enough of an agreement where we can ensuring that our government has the funds it needs to operate.
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