#8 Commentary "Immigration in America"

Immigration in America has been around forever and will probably be around forever.  When i saw Zendy's article, it caught my eye and wanted to keep reading and comment on it.  The reason this post caught my eye is because I can relate to an immigrant, sort of.  My last name is Villarreal and its Spanish and my family comes from Northern Mexico from a state called Coahuila.  This state in Mexico borders Texas so I would imagine that there a lot of immigrants coming from Coahuila.  My first language was actually spanish but i was born here in the United States,  I then quickly learned english in elementary school and english became my main language because we are in the United States.  I want to say that Obama ordered this executive action to tax immigrants not paying taxes because they cannot report taxes.  Most immigrants here in the U.S. are not able to get jobs or make enough to support a family.  Ive always noticed that the harder working jobs are always filled with immigrants or hispanics because they like to work hard and get dirty.  Immigrants come to the U.S. seeking for better opportunity because in Mexico the pay is not great and i don't even think they have taxes.  I think this opportunity will be great for immigrants already here because it will allow a more comfortable life for them and also it will motivate their kids to grow up and be successful.

New Controls on Ozone Emissions

Obama and the Obama administration is expected to unveil a environmental regulation to stop emissions of ozone,  a smog causing pollutant linked to premature death, asthma, and also heart disease.  This regulation would aim at smog causing power plants and factories, particularly the Mid-west and try to shut them down or at least keep smog/pollution to a minimum.  The regulation would lower the current threshold for ozone pollution from 75 parts per billion to a range of 65 to 70 parts per billion in the air and it would in the long run make us a not as polluted nation.  Public health groups have lobbied for years in the fight to reduce ozone emissions and in Obama's second term he finally made a smart decision.  The ozone is not only killing people, but causing tens of millions of people to get sick everyday.  The ozone rules (Clean Air Act) are expected to force the owners of power plants and factories to install expensive technology to clean the pollutants from their smokestacks.  In 2015, the E.P.A. is expected to make final two more historic Clean Air Act rules aimed at stopping planet warming greenhouse gas emissions from coal fired power plants.  Pollution is what is making our climate change and we need to fix it now.  Within the next few year plan to see hundreds of power plants shut down and with that being said the freeze construction of future coal plants.  The standard for ozone was last set in 2008 by the Bush administration at a level of 75 parts per billion, above the range of 60 to 70 parts per billion recommended by the E.P.A.  The E.P.A. had planned to release the new ozone rule in August 2011, but as Republicans and industry groups prepared to go on attack against the plan, Obama had to keep delaying until his second term.

Comment #1 Marijuana Legalization Law

In James's article over "Marijuana Legalization Law" I learned lots of informative and interesting things about marijuana legalization that i didn't know.  I agree that the government can tax it and can  make tons of money off of it and it could help the U.S. get out of debt but it would only cover a portion of our nations debt... The U.S. is in trillions of dollars in debt and i don't really know how we will ever pay that back.  But I agree with James's opinion on marijuana being legalized, the legalization of marijuana would set back crimes having to do with marijuana and would also help people with disorders and people who really need it for medicinal use.  Although marijuana is legal in other states, and it has been in California since 1996, i think that we could maybe face some problems with legalization in Texas due to us being the biggest state that borders Mexico.  Being the biggest state that borders Mexico, i think thats one of the problems that the government has faced with legalization in Texas.  Ive heard that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes with no deaths caused by marijuana and tons of deaths due to drunk drivers and cancerous diseases caused by cigarettes.  I do support legalization in Texas but not now lets do some more research and make sure its the right thing first before we legalize it for good,  I give it 2 to 3 years.

Gas under 3$ Nationwide

For the first time in four years, gas is now under 3$ dollars nationwide.  This is so surprising to the nation that citizens are posting photos of gas prices and even doing things differently with how they fill up their car.  According to Foxnews, the national average of gas has fallen 33 cents in the month of October, landing at about $3.00 per gallon in the States.  When the national average of gas raised above $3.00 in the end of 2010, people thought they would never see $2.99 again.  Global demand for oil and gasoline was rising as people in developing countries bought cars by the millions and turmoil was brewing in the oil-rich Middle East.  Now that demand is not rising as fast, drillers have learned to tap new sources of oil, particularly in the United States.  Seasonal swings and other factors will most likely send gas prices back up in the future but the U.S. is on track of keeping it that way and we are hoping to have even cheaper gas prices in 2015.  In June of 2014, oil fell from a whopping $108 dollars a barrel to about $81 dollars per barrel because there's a lot of supply and weak demand in the U.S.  According to an article that I read, last year around this time gas was around $3.51,  at $2.99 this year it will save you approximately $50 per year.  The drop in gas prices will also affect U.S. economy by saving $187 million per day and it will boost the profits of any employees out on delivery or sales calls.  So let hope gas prices keep lowering by the day and it will make our lives easier by the day.

Additional Healthcare workers at Dallas will get Ebola

In this article from Real Clear Politics,  Josh Earnest explains how Ebola is still around even though Mr. Duncan the original Ebola patient passed away about a week ago.  He states that Ebola will most likely be around for a good while and that there is a high chance that one or many of the healthcare workers that were in contact with Mr. Duncan may have Ebola.  Healthcare workers in Dallas have been monitored daily for any small signs of Ebola.  He says that projections are less important because the risk of a widespread outbreak of Ebola in the United States is really low.  We don't really know whats going to happen from here.  Something that should be done, is checking people from foreign countries like Africa for sicknesses like Ebola and the United States should be more cautious about what comes in and out of our country.  It is certainly possible that other individuals will travel to this country that show no symptoms of a sickness but after they arrive have the virus.  President Obama directed that we will now detect, isolate and treat those individuals in a way that protects the citizens of the United States and every healthcare worker in the United States.  This article was intended to calm the drama across the United States because people are worried that this Ebola virus will spread drastically, when really its only a few people that were in contact with Mr. Duncan that have it.  In my opinion, this Ebola virus will soon go away...  Ive heard that Ebola has been around since the 1980's in Africa and that its not a big deal.  Ebola is very bad and people die from it but at the same time i think the government told us to scare the citizens of the U.S.  Lets hope Ebola doesn't spread more than it already has.

Amid Ebola fears, should the U.S. ban air travel from West Africa?

In this article by Jake Miller CBS-NEWS, it states that the U.S. should ban travel to and from West Africa due to the virus Ebola coming from there.  Jake Miller provides a concern to this virus that is being spread across the United States.  The first diagnosis of Ebola in the U.S., occurred on Monday here in Texas.  Thomas Eric Duncan a liberian national, left West Africa on a flight to the U.S. on September 19.  He was accepted to Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas on September 26, he was complaining of flu-like symptoms, shortly thereafter he was released.  Two days later as symptoms stay the same, he returned to the hospital and was diagnosed with Ebola and he was also placed in isolation.  Lisa Monaco, a homeland security advisor to president Obama, said during a new conference in the white house that we should ban flight to and from West Africa.  In one of her opinions she states that the most effective way to control this is to simply not allow the passenger on board if sick.  Dozens and dozens of people have already been not let on board of a plane for Ebola like symptoms.  "We should stop accepting flights from countries that are Ebola stricken", said Governor Bobby Jindal, R-Louisiana, in a statement.  Even countries in Africa have banned flights due to Ebola.  I agree, i think we should ban flights ASAP and we should have banned flights from West Africa at the beginning of this year because now its spread and hopefully we can cure every single cause of it and get it out of our country. 

Obama: ISIS Threat against U.S.

On September 16, Obama spoke about the ISIS threat against the U.S. and has approved a plan to strike ISIS in Syria, officials said.  Obama plans to have no combat troops on the ground in Syria but instead he said their mission is to advise and to help their partners on the ground.  More than 40 countries have offered to help in the battle against Islamic State, including Arab nations.  The developments of ISIS came as killing portions of Syria and Iraq, seizing 16 villages near the Turkey border.  Videos of American citizens captured and executed in ISIS territory have been released and Obama has stated to "not back down".  Question is when will Obama commit to seizing ISIS in Northern Syria.  Government officials and lawmakers have been debating the best way to stop ISIS.  On September 18, U.S. airstrikes hit training camp southeast of Mosul and also another strike southeast of Bagdad damaged an ammunition station.  As a part of the coalition France will be joining the air campaign in Iraq.  I thought that this article found on CNN was worth reading because it explains what we are against right now in this foreign country.  Without this news we wouldn't know anything about ISIS.  I hope nothing happens to U.S. grounds.