After staying away from any issues involving guns, Starbucks recently asked customers to keep guns out of their stores. Starbucks did not ban guns, they just politely asked customers to keep guns out of their more than 12,000 stores nationwide.

That doesn’t mean that customers in states where guns are legal can’t still walk in to Starbucks with a gun and get their frappuccinos, cappuccinos or lattes. Starbucks just doesn’t want firearms in its stores.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently concluded an impressive 21 hours and 19 minutes speaking through the night about the “Defund Obamacare” initiative that has taken flight in conservative circles. It’s a worthy cause ­— Obamacare is on track to become a bureaucratic nightmare for both doctors and patients.

However, one can’t help but question the strategy.

They lurk in airports, amusement parks, concert venues and shopping malls. They reside in the Tidwell Bible Building, the Ferrell Center, In-n-Out restaurants and Buc-ee’s convenient stores. They frighten children and frustrate mothers. They are uncontrollable and worst of all — a person has no choice but to use them.

I am talking about automatic toilets.

Since its debut in 2008, the explosive TV drama “Breaking Bad” has shocked viewers with its rich storytelling and visceral elements, reaching upwards of 6.6 million viewers in its latest episode Sunday night.

Critics, too, can’t seem to get enough of Heisenburg, the main character’s alter ego. The show has nabbed 50 awards in its potent five-year run.

I have a lot of names. I have my given name, Paula Ann Solis, and then there are the less official but still important titles I go by: daughter, sister, friend, American, Mexican, and, my favorite, tía. Then there are the names I’ve been called to bring me down. I will not list them here because they’re not worth mentioning, but there’s one I think people don’t realize I never want to hear: minority.

Many couples dream of adopting a child and will do whatever it takes to bring a child to the family, even if it means through less than legal means. A Reuters reporter investigated an underground network for adopted children where children and teenagers are handed off to other families.

An underground market can seem like a dream come true for couples who desperately want children but do not have the time or money to go through the lengthy adoption process to become official adoptive parents. However, if one child is sold, or given, to a family that will abuse him or her in any way, it negates anything positive that can be gained from this underground market.