Turn drug money into tool used against cartels

In the article under the opinion section of the Austin American Stateman, titled, Turn drug money into tool used against cartels, gave interesting information on the money seized from narcotic traffickers. State Senator Steve Ogden mentioned a great idea on how to use the money seized towards paying for additional border security checkpoints. Steve McCraw, director of the Department of Public Safety states that $140 million has been seized since 2006 with most of it coming from vehicles bound for Mexico. Wow with all this money the government could really increase the number of seizures reducing narcotic trafficking along the border between Texas and Mexico. I think that the audience this article is geared towards is the Senate. I think that using the money that these cartels bring in is a great way to improve our border checkpoints and reduce the intimidation inflicted upon individuals by cartels in Mexico. As the unsigned author states, "An aggressive and accelerated effort to keep that cash from reaching the narcos in the first place would not only support the Mexican battle against them but also steer more money into state coffer". I think that Senator Odgen's idea is one to keep in mind and possibly follow through with. I don’t think we would really be loosing out on much but rather gaining a good source of income to place in areas needed for the state. The points made in the article are good enough to give it a shot at least in my opinion. To read more about article click on the highlighted text.

Eliminating abortion, 'moment that life begins'

Texas lawmakers are trying to pass what is known as the Bill Burch Act to eliminate abortion. The Act which was filed by state Representative Wayne Christian (R), specifies that human life begins at the moment the initial splitting of a human cell occurs during fertilization. If this is the case then we know that having an abortion at any stage during pregnancy is not allowed. This act is giving an unborn fetus the rights and protection that any other living person would recieve. The idea is to define an embryo as a living individual and to allow an abortion is the same as allowing a murder to happen. I absolutely agree with everything that the article has introduced in regards to abortion. An embryo does no magically develop on its own. Therefore the adults responsible for causing the embryo to develop should take full responsibility for their own actions and a fetus should not be eliminated by means of abortion. I found the article very interesting and if you would like to read more about it you should check it out.