(Kathi Thomas is the Democratic candidate for State Senate from SD-25 (Hays, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall and north-central Bexar Counties) - promoted by Damon McCullar)
It appears that our US Senate is finally going to get to vote on Stem Cell Research, of which about 70% of our population approves. It is more than about time! Unfortunately, the minority against regenerative medicine is very vocal, and their loud voices sometimes drown out the 70% of us who are informed and supportive of this issue. It is time we get vocal, too.
Regenerative Medicine (aka Stem Cell Research)
It appears that our US Senate is finally going to get to vote on Stem Cell Research, of which about 70% of our population approves. It is more than about time! Unfortunately, the minority against regenerative medicine is very vocal, and their loud voices sometimes drown out the 70% of us who are informed and supportive of this issue. It is time we get vocal, too.
My husband and I are advocates of stem cell research. Having lost both of my parents and his mom to cancer, we’re very interested in the potential of embryonic stem cell research to find a cure for this and other currently incurable diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and possibly even spinal cord injuries.
My husband and I may have a little different perspective on this issue than many of you. We went through IVF (in vitro fertilization)- with no results (other than it led us to adoption, and we have the most wonderful daughter in the world- far better than we could have ever produced of our genes!) The end result, however, was leftover blastocysts. Our doctor told us that these were not “quality” blast cysts in other words, they were unlikely to result in a baby being made from them, and therefore, they were not good possibilities for implantation or adoption. They would have been good for research, but none was going on in Texas, so these blast cysts, produced at a rather great expense and a large emotional investment, were simply discarded. How much more we would have liked to have donated those blast cysts to research- the potential is there- no one is saying for sure that these diseases will be cured, but the potential is there.
(Kathi Thomas is running for State Senate in SD-25, covering all of Hays county among others. - promoted by Damon McCullar)
Redistricting is all in the news now. According to the Supreme Court, it is apparently fine to redistrict for no other reason than political, so the precedent set by the Republicans & Tom Delay in Texas could be something that will be an expensive nightmare every time power changes in any state…or, we could have a nonpartisan redistricting panel, as they do in Iowa. http://www.fairvote.org/redistricting/reports/remanual/ia.htm
The way it works in Iowa is this: “The legislature has the final responsibility for enacting both congressional and state legislative district plans, but the nonpartisan Legislative Services Bureau has initial responsibility. It must develop up to three plans that can be accepted or rejected by the legislature. The plans are criteria-driven, meaning that the bureau draws districts based on clear, measurable criteria.
The four criteria, in descending order of importance are: 1) population equality; 2) contiguity; 3) unity of counties and cities (maintaining county lines and “nesting” house districts within senate districts and senate districts within congressional districts); and 4) compactness. A five-member commission consisting of four civilian members chosen by each caucus in the legislature, and a fifth chairperson chosen by the commission, is responsible for advising the bureau, but only upon their request. If the legislature does not approve the first three plans by the bureau, it must itself approve a plan by September 1st, or the state Supreme Court will take responsibility for the state districts. The Governor has veto power over both plans.”
According to Gov. Vlisack, they just load this information into a computer, and the maps come out- there is no gerrymandering. He says this nonpartisan bureau has resulted in very competitive districts- both their house and senate are very nearly evenly divided by party-meaning that most governing comes from the center, or moderates, rather than by the far right or far left. That means that the government actually represents the views of the majority of their citizens.
(Kathi Thomas is running for SD-25 against Wentworth and has been a teacher herself. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
May 7-13 is Teacher Appreciation Week in the U.S., but in Texas, some Republican legislators are proving they don't appreciate teachers at all, nor do they appreciate that ALL our students need a good education.
The Senate version of HB 2, “generously” give teachers a $2,000 raise, yet cuts the $500 health stipend. A little history here- teachers used to have a $1,000 stipend for health insurance co-pays, but in 2003, I believe it was, the stipend was cut entirely. Then, in 2005, the Legislature “generously” gave the teachers back $500 of that original $1,000. Of course, in 2005, the Legislature also gave themselves a “back door raise” when they gave judges a raise.
(It's Easter weekend, but the writers are also bumping up against term papers so I'm likely to start promoting more articles from the Journals if users write them. Kathi Thomas happens to also be running for State Senate against Wentworth here in Central Texas. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Toll Roads are being touted to us as the “only way” to have new roads, but we’re not buying that. In San Antonio and in Austin citizens groups have sprung up to save us from the tolling trolls.
In San Antonio, the bull dozers were literally in place and working (including puncturing a sewer line that leaked into the aquifer for a few days before it was noticed), but citizen’s groups were able to get them stopped, by forcing updates of impact reviews.
In SW Austin, a new group, Fix290, has sprung up, to work specifically on the toll road in our part of SD 25- the Oak Hill “Y”. TXDoT’s plan turns Oak Hill into a wasteland of elevated highways and concrete, splitting neighborhoods, killing the town, and turning what is now a lovely area into one of ugliness with elevated highways cutting across site lines and bringing in ever more noise. This plan even has highway being build over Williamson Creek, in the flood plain, which will, of course, move the floods further down creek, like the Westcreek neighborhood, in which my husband and lived up til 5 years ago.
The evening of April 11, 2002, my husband and I returned from Guatemala with our daughter, whom we adopted from there. She was 8 mo. old at the time, now, at 4 ½ yr old, she continues to be the light of our lives. This April 11, we’ll celebrate our 4th Family Day with dinner out at Lettie’s favorite restaurant, Nutty Brown Café. Sadly, there are those on the radical right (“Repub-libans”) who want to restrict adoption to fit their narrow views of the world.
