Should We Build A Wall? Response

I recently read an opinion article by Kristin Gill called "Why Should We Build A Wall?"

This article was about President Trumps promise to build a wall to protect the United States from illegal immigration.

Kristin makes some great points about how the majority of illegal immigrants currently in the United States actually came here legally by visa, however they have overstayed. She also makes a great point which I agree with that even though the physical barrier of the wall would prevent some illegal immigration, it does not stop them from finding other means of entering the country.

One thing that is interesting is the Trump is trying to get the Mexican government to pay for the wall, which they have already said no too. So who is going to pay for this wall? Kristin points out that 58% of Americans oppose funding the wall. This leads me to questions who will pay for it. Will President Trump raise taxes to get it done? Will it ever be built?

The United States is already trillions of dollars in debt, why add more?

Overall this is a very informative post that gives good points as to why we should not build this wall.

Should Contaceptives Be Free?

Contaceptives by definition is a drug or device that prevents pregnancy. During the Obama Administration the Affordable Care Act called for free birth control, however the current administration under Trump are trying to do away with this. 

Preventative services (birth control) does has health benefits for example women that take "the pill" have a decreases chance of getting cancer, helps with uterine fibroides, and heavy menstural bleeding. Why would we want to take this away from our women? Also this pill prevents women who accidentally get pregnant from having to make the hard decision of what they are going to do with this baby. Do we want more abortions? Do we want more children in orphanages or poor living condition? Obviously not. With that being said having free contraceptives in place for women to prevent an unintended/unwanted pregnancy is something we need to keep around! 

I know what some of you are thinking..."Well if you don't want to get pregnant then don't have sex." Let's be real, do you really think men and women are going to stop having sex just because they don't want a child? They won't. Also, we should not have to ask them to stop doing that either. 

Millions of pregnancies a year are unplanned! And the cost of caring for these children are high. In 2010 the government spent $21 billion on unintended pregnancies. This is one of the main reasons that the government should be providing the most effective contraceptives for free. They are good for our women and more cost effective in the long run for the government. 

Here is another article I used to reference and also that supports free contraceptives.

I wrote a comment on my classmate Amy's blog called titled We the People. Amy wrote an original opinion post about the second amendment being challenged on a daily basis.

The post is about how in the US should not take the right to bear arms away from the people just because of what criminals do with them. I completely agree with this argument that the law abiding citizens of the US should be able to keep their fire arms. If this right was taken away I can almost guarantee that criminals will find the means to get their hands on a gun or even make one if they needed to. With this being said why take this right away? All it would do is piss off a bunch of people.

The media was mentioned in Amy's original post stating that they have a bias towards the destruction of the second amendment. Which in their defense if they did not oppose it on national television they would come off unsympathetic towards whatever situation had occurred.

Guns do not kill people. People kill people. It is unfair to blame a gun on the death of a person when it was a person that pulled the trigger.

Should Marijuana (Cannabis) be legal?

Marijuana has been a hot topic over the years. Should it be legal or illegal? This seems to be the main question. 

Cannabis has become legal in 28 states and Washington DC for medical marijuana use or for recreational along with medical. Research has shown that the use of Marijuana can be very beneficial for people. Benefits include: controlling seizures, decrease anxiety, ease pain, help with nausea, etc...

All of these are amazing benefits!! Marijuana is a great option for chemo patients who may be experiencing pain and nausea. There are also people who enjoy the use of Marijuana for recreational purposes. Reasons for recreational use may include: just to relax or to help them wind down from such a stressful day. 

Many people in the United States may be nervous about legalizing a Marijuana because it is a drug, but alcohol is legal which also alters a persons mental state maybe even more than Marijuana. Therefore, we as a whole need to look hard at the benefits of Marijuana at least for medical purposes. So many people can gain the positive affects of using Cannabis. 

Another thing we need to think about is even though Marijuana may be illegal in a state, that does not mean people are not purchasing it. The government might as well legalize the use of Cannabis (at least medically) and tax it. More than half of drug busts are for Marijuana! Another positive effect that the legalization of Cannabis would have is it would clear out space in jails, so the issues with overcrowding would be closer to being resolved. 

On February 27th, 2017 the Editorial Board of the New York Times posted an editorial called Mental Illness, Untreated Behind Bars. 

This editorial is about how a large percentage of the population in jail/prison are mentally ill and how that costs taxpayers a lot of money. The mentally ill are constantly in and out of jail because they are not being treated for their illness, just thrown behind bars.

This editorial is arguing that mentally ill people in jail should have the opportunity to get treatment for their illness.

This is a really great editorial with great information on creating a better system to help the large population of mentally ill people. There is a initiative called Stepping Up which helps local agencies develop ways to divert people that are no threat to the public into treatments.

In this editorial it states that a jail will distribute 700 prescription per day and spend $8 million per year caring for the mentally ill.

The intended audience for this editorial is going to be adults and those holding positions in office that can make the decision to become a part of the initiative to divert mentally ill people to treatment rather than behind bars.

The credibility of the authors is not to great. They may have had good sources of information, however they are not directly linked to the prison/jail system nor are they holding governmental positions that deal with this issue.

To sum it up, this editorial supports the funding of programs to help jail/prisons divert mentally ill inmates that are no threat to society into treatments. I agree with the view of this article because it 1) helps those people so they can be integrated back into society and 2) it is more cost effective for tax payers in the long hall.

The New York Times published an article on Feb 23, 2017 by Janet Mock called Young People Get Trans Rights. It's Adults Who Don't. This article is a personal story of Janet Mock and the struggles she faced (and is still faced with) being transgender and how the Trump administration is effecting the transgender community.

Mock wrote this article targeting the older adult population. She argues that young people understand the importance of transgenders men and women being able to use public facilities based on the gender they identify with. However the older adult population does not understand the importance of transpeople being able to use facilities and being treated equally according to their gender identity. Mock points out the suicide and self harm percentages among the transgender community.
Mock is claiming that with the Trump administration is creating a "...culture of fear, ignorance and intolerance...".

I agree with Mock that the Trump admin taking back the law that allows transgender people to use the gender bathroom they identify with is going to cause more bullying and discrimination. We are in the age of forward thinking and forward moving. Making people use a restroom that they don't gender identify is wrong and degrading. 


I understand that Trump thinks he is protecting the children from their own peers, but I think he is wrong. Kids are very accepting, it is only when they are told something is wrong or are made fearful of something they can become cruel. 

Janet Mock is a very credible source to be writing about this topic. She herself is transgender and was put through embarrassing discrimination during her transition. Mock also talks about how she had thoughts of ending her life and talks about how among transgender people suicide/self harm rates are higher.



One thing I think could be better in this article would be for Mock to talk more about the Trump Admin, it was touched on a couple times, but I feel it could be elaborated on more.

Immigration Ban and Terror Arrests

On February 8th, Fox News released an article called White House fires back at immigration order critics with a list of terror arrests by John Roberts and Adam Shaw which talks about the recent immigration ban and arrests that have followed.

This article from Fox News is about those who believe Trump has gone to far regarding the immigration and travel ban. In response to the critics the White House released a list of suspects who have come to the US from the countries in question. The list contains 24 examples of refugees and immigrants from a number off different Muslim countries.

The list being release seems to be rebuke to Seattle US District Judge James Robart who halted the rollout of the executive order. The Justice Department lawyers are attempting to get the order restored.

Names on the White House document names individuals who have been involved in "terror activity" in the past eight years.

Trump defended his order at a local meeting and warned the people that while that until the issue is resolved (restoring the executive order) the country is at risk.

The article ends with a Washington State Solicitor argues that Trumps campaign reveals evidence of intending discrimination.

This article is worth reading because it is important to stay up to date with all current orders put through by a new President. This order can effect many people so it is good to stay posted on its progress.