On Texas and Government

If you are going to hit someone while smashed, make it Joe or Bob, not Officer Larry

2007-08-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

The below comment is directed at my colleague's post (The Eyes of Texas) regarding a new law that states those who drink, drive and kill a first respondent (police officer, fireman...)are sentenced to life in prison.

I agree, stricter action should be taken to penalize those who make the choice to drink and drive. This new law is one step towards forcing people to think about their decisions. But even though it is a step forward, I think it is a somewhat bizarre step to take. Why did they choose first responders? Is it because they are forced to be out on the road amongst dangerous drivers while everyone else has the choice to stay home, away for those whose brains don’t work well enough to protect the heads they live in? If the 9 deaths mentioned were directly caused by respondents having special reason to be in contact with the inebriated driver, there might be cause to choose to protect just them. But are the chances really that much greater of hitting a police officer than hitting a regular citizen? Why don’t we choose the elderly, the handicapped, or people wearing orange shirts? The statistics might be the same. Do the officers have to be in uniform and on duty or could you be put away for killing an officer who just happened to be down on 6th street partying right next to you? I think people who drink and drive are ridiculous and I have had to take a cab home at my own expense because of them. What if that expense was to be hit by another drunk driver? Possibly even the friend who wouldn’t let me drive? What makes me, the artist/designer any different from the cop or firefighter? Like I said before though, it’s a start, now let’s see some action for the rest of us.

More Theater...

2007-07-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

Did you know the Governor frequently signs bills more than once? Just for show? Apparently it is done to please the people and in a public place. I like the idea of involving those who may have had a large part in getting the bill through the legislature, but why can't it be for real? I think it is a waste of time and paper to sign the bills twice, not to mention the false sense of pride it gives the on-lookers.

To read more visit : On request, Perry signs legislation second time

How Safe is "Safe"?

2007-07-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

A new system for ranking sex offenders means citizens can be more accurately aware of their risk, but the system will only be applied to the newly released offenders. If the old tests proved to incorrectly/poorly inform the public, then I say, shoot, bring on the new system. But how will affected citizens be able to know whether "their guy" was accurately evaluated? As much comfort as this new system may give some people, surely others will be quite distressed to know that the current information they have comes from a system that,"tends to overpenalize young, low-level offenders and overlook more dangerous offenders."

Also I find it disturbing to learn that there are nearly as many REGISTERED sex offenders in Texas as there are students at UT. It might be my conservative side speaking here, but shouldn't we be a little more worried about this?

Read the entire article at: Austin American Statesman