Medical Mishaps- End-of-Life Planning

A career in the medical field is demanding to say the least- especially involving emergency and life threatening treatments. However those treatments come hand in hand with the necessity for end-of-life planning, which can be difficult to approach for many physicians. As explored in Bertha Juarez' post "Doctors struggle with end-of-life talks", many physicians come unprepared and often ignore or delay this important topic- which can obviously be problematic; and if the physicians responsible for caring for individual patients are to assist in end-of-life planning, then that aspect of treatment definitely needs some improvement. Though, while I agree with Bertha's notion that this improvement doesn't lie in the payroll of the physicians, I feel that there definitely needs to be some additional allocation of resources towards the end-of-life planning aspect of the hospitalization process.

Somewhere to start.

If we've learned anything from Texas state and local government, it's that corruption, specifically in the allocation of power, is present; and while it may be easy to point at the various issues of the state and say "that's wrong", we're not doing much about it, and there must be some solution... right?

Hence the question on everyone's mind: "What's the solution(s)"? and for the average Joe or plain Jane there's really only one solution, a solution popularized by Lawrence Lessig's Ted Talk on Lesterland- to pressure the government to pass restrictions on campaign donations. This would likely have to first be done on the state and local level, and hopefully, eventually, on the national level. Doing this would essentially transfer a portion of the power of the billionaires and interest groups that currently control a large portion of politicians to individual voters.

However, since these restrictions would go against the billionaires and interest groups that currently hold so much power, it would be difficult for a statute to even be proposed. If this issue is to be solved, it needs to be the primary focus of the people of Austin, and the people of Texas. Support on this issue must be an a level that the city and state cannot ignore. If ordinances regarding campaign donations were proposed and passed in individual cities, bringing the issue to the state level would be plausible. and while i'm keenly aware of the American persona of lazy and proud, participation is required for positive reform of our republic;  as Lawrence Lessig said, "We have lost that republic, all of us have to act to get it back."

A risk not worth the reward

I'm a strong believer in the concept of individual pursuit of happiness, so long as that happiness doesn't afflict another individual's pursuit. Because of this, there is a plethora of laws and social issues that I disagree with, regardless of their intended effects.
Recently, Lienthelion has touched on the relatively new anti-vaxx movement in his post Editorial: PAC Mobilizes to defend Vaccine Exemptions in Texas. Throughout his Editorial, Lien explains the controversial decisions made by the parents involved in the anti-vaxx movement, and concludes that "there should be federally enforced legislation on the regulation of vaccinating children. This is not a right so much as it is a standard to be met as a member of society."
Frankly, I completely agree with Lien. I personally have a family member who has hopped on the anti-vaxx train and while because of that, I understand the concerns of the parents who have made the decision not to vaccinate their children, I still disagree with the decision; and like Lien I disagree with it being a decision left to individual parents. While the participants in this movement clearly want what is best for their children, they selfishly ignore the risk that they impose on other children, and on society as a whole. A trend of this magnitude that risks the welfare of the next generation(s) should not, and cannot be ignored- and while I generally condemn running to the government to solve any issues that would place restrictions on the individual, I feel that the best solution to this issue is a judicial and/or legislative one.  

The problem, or lack thereof, with the minimum wage

  One of the most politically pressed issues in the last decade is the public desire for a raise in the minimum wage, and what could be wrong with allocating additional funds to those in need?
Well, nothing; and while I support the allocation of additional funds directed towards those in need, I don't believe that a raise in the minimum wage would have that desired effect. Not only would a raise in the minimum wage affect only a small percentage of low income households, it could potentially do more harm than good by causing a raise in the unemployment rate and potentially causing inflation, degrading the value of our currency. 
Kevin A. Hassett and Michael R. Strain of the American Enterprise Institute agree in their article Why we shouldn't raise the minimum wage. They argue that "Raising the wage will make it more expensive to hire younger and low-skill workers. There are better ways to help the poor... only 11.3% of workers who would gain from the increase belong to poor households". Hassett and Strain go further in detail in their article, which includes a more effective proposal for the allocation of funds to low income households; they present the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's solution of "expanding the earned income tax credit [as] a much more efficient way to fight poverty". This solution though, as Hassett and Strain describe it, is not embraced by politicians since expanding the earned income tax credit would come out of government coffers, and raising the state or national minimum wage would not only gain them political points, but it would also have no effect on the government coffers. 
While it may be more difficult to push for a more beneficial solution, I feel that Texas should avoid any implication towards raising the minimum wage, for the better of her people overall.

The necesity for utter reform in criminal-justice

    Although there is a plethora of issues in Texas, I find myself almost drawn to issues regarding criminal-justice; and perhaps that's because of the abundance of examples of those issues. One such example came to my attention yesterday, march 23rd, on Scott Henson's (aka Grits for Breakfast, or GFB's) blog. In Henson's post, Alleged police perjury here and yon: Brian Encina on the dock while Dallas cop on year-long paid vacation, he compares two incidents of officers supplying false testimony, and questions the permissibility of how the officer in the case that received a public outcry was punished, while the officer in the case that received no indignation was seemingly rewarded with what is now over a year of paid administrative leave. Henson then stresses that a situation like this that flys under the radar is a "...typical outcome when perjury allegations arise against police officers: The behavior is too often excused and overlooked by their peers and supervisors, in this case giving him a year's worth of paid vacation when he should have been fired soon after he got off the witness stand." Grit's arguments are undoubtedly valid considering his experience in the criminal justice reform movement and the magnitude of the awards that his blog alone has received.
Additionally, his argument seemingly serves two purposes with two intended audiences: while highly unlikely, the article may poke at and possibly foster some sort of productive reaction in the criminal justice system and concurrently inform and the various readers of Grits for Breakfast which could potentially induce positive feedback and brainstorming. Although i'm sure the lack of accountability discussed in this article won't surprise many people, I feel there is an important message that can be taken from this article- that the criminal justice system doesn't only need reform with how it filters individual citizens,  but also how it tends to its' individual employees.

Law enforcement reform

On tuesday morning, February 25th, an aggressive, unstable man armed with a machete was shot down in Houston for attempting to attack an officer. While justified as self defense The Houston Chronicle questions if there was any way to prevent this in their article "Police Rethinking". The article argues that while understandable, incidents like this one happen too often across the nation; and while it's unclear if this specific incident could have been prevented, a future, similar incident can be prevented. The article goes on to comment on recent law enforcement attempts to implement methods used to defuse tense situations without the use of violence- and while it's possible that those methods were used here, a man is still dead. I don't believe that this article is geared towards a specific target audience, though I do think that it  was written to bring up the topic of the need for change in current law enforcement methods and to supply another example of why it's so necessary. The author of the article isn't clearly stated, however, considering the fact that the article is in a large news outlet and the piece presents a relatively common opinion, I would consider this article to be credible. Additionally, I appreciate the fact that the article takes a step back from the heated topic regarding police officers- the recent support, or lack of support for law enforcement has become what feels like a large pissing contest and instead of participating in that the article acknowledges the solemnity of the fact that a life was lost. The article then concludes by again expressing the immediate need for reform, leaving the reader with undeniable fact that we can do better.

Zika Virus, too close for comfort?

    According to The Texas Tribune, (In Jamie Lovegrove's article "Travis County Confirms First Case of Zika Virus")  Travis County health officials (on Thursday the 4th) confirmed the first case of the Zika virus in the county. The virus is obtained via mosquito bite, and can be sexually transmitted. Researchers have warned that the Zika virus could be linked with microcephaly, a condition causing children to be born with abnormally small brains and skulls; for this reason officials are urging pregnant women not to travel to the 20+ Lain American countries where there has been roughly 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly since October. 
    The first Zika virus case in the country was found in a man who contracted the virus while travelling in Columbia. While the virus may currently affect Texas due to travelers, The mosquito that carries the virus is found in Texas, however their activity is low during the colder months- because of this, as temperatures rise signs of the virus moving northward through Mexico will be monitored. This virus can potentially cause many people to fall sick, and impair thousands of infants in our community. So fellow classmates I highly recommend that you keep up with the migration of this virus and wear some sort of repellent during the oncoming spring and summer seasons.