Mexican Texas

Genius of Texas Erica Grieder. PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107, copyright 2013. 284 pages. Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas, by Erica Grieder, breaks Texas down into its basic components in order to explain to non-Texans what Texas truly is. Grieder’s covers four main topics in her book. One of the topics she talks about is the economy. A major event that Grieder discusses is the Texas miracle,…

In the early nineteenth century the United States started to expand. Many areas in the expansion wanted to become territories to later become states. Arkansas was no different. As part of the Missouri territory, Arkansas wanted to break off and become its own territory. Being in the southern part of the United States, Arkansas was great for agriculture and slavery. Slavery and its legality in the United States was an issue that started when the country was being formed. It became an even larger…

“St. Thomas Aquinas identifies three criteria for a just war. First, a war must be waged by a legitimate authority. Second, a war must have a just cause. Third, a war must have the right intentions. (P. 139) In order for a war to be waged by a legitimate authority, it must serve the common good, not just private interests and agendas. (P. 138) In order for a war to have just cause, it must include: protecting citizens from hostile or violent behavior, restoring rights that have been taken away…

equipped with just about everything that civilians need to live a decent life. Suddenly, you come across areas that lack these essential elements for daily survival. Some cities, however, are working to change this. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and El Paso, Texas are implementing programs that make a case for allocating funds towards the wellness of those suffering rather than the added entertainment of those who are much better off. These organizations promote their community…

Elgin history spotlight – Nancy Lou Webster This is the story of longtime Elgin resident/artist Nancy Lou Webster and her 1935 Straight 8 Buick Coupe with suicide doors named “Katie.” The story begins with Nancy Lou as a teen in Oxford, Mississippi. “Miss Kate Skipwith was a philanthropist who lived on Main Street in Oxford, Mississippi. She wanted a car so she ordered a new car to be shipped by rail to her. A 1935 Buick Series 40 Coupe. It arrived by rail in Oxford with five miles on the…

Comfort Theory, developed by Katharine Kolcaba, proclaims that providing comfort interventions a holistic approach can lead to positive outcomes, health seeking behaviors, and improved health-care delivery system. Comfort can be difficult to define and subjective to every person. However, Kolbaca used other theories to propose three types of comfort: relief, ease, and transcendence. Relief comes when a specific comfort is met, while ease is a state of calm or contentment. Transcendence occurs…

Keystone Politics By Garrett Kizior History of the Keystone Pipeline Canada’s Athabasca River Basin is the home of one of the world’s largest stockpile of fossil fuels; bitumen. Bitumen, which lies beneath prehistoric boreal forests and peat bogs, is composed of oil, sand, and clay, and is often compared to thick tar. Because of its composition, bitumen is commonly referred to as tar sands The only method to remove the tar sands from the ground is to first inject hot steam into the earth until…

The video, “Trinkets and Beads,” illustrates a three-year struggle between a small Amazon tribe of 1500, Huaorani, and international oil companies. The video begins by mentioning the killings of American missionaries as well as the efforts of Rachel Saint to “civilize” and evangelize the indigenous people. Then, it moves on to discussing that approximately, 50 years ago oil was discovered in Ecuador and oil companies like Shell, Texaco and PetroCanada began drilling on the border of Huaorani…

Rock Springs, a short story by Richard Ford, tells a story of an unorthodox family travelling for unusual purposes. The story is told through the perspective of Earl, a morally ambiguous, yet endearing character who has to juggle fleeing authorities by stealing cars with providing a better future for his girlfriend, and two children. As a result, Earl’s character is an enigma; on the exterior, he resembles an ordinary father figure charged with protecting his family, but elements of his criminal…

The years from 1954 to 1974 in the Americas were part of an era of change and action in many parts of American society. These years would go down in history as the one of the most dynamic in American history. It was a time of empowerment, breaking down of social barriers, and many more topics, which authors such as Alice Walker discussed as major parts of their works. In her novel Meridian, Walker criticizes society’s expectations of woman’s roles, showing support of individuality and…