abstinence ed

The conservative correctness crowd loves to preach against sex-ed in our schools. The only thing they want to teach our kids is "just stay abstinent, contraceptives fail".

Sounds so simple!

But what are the results?

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/27/why-young-christians-arent-waiting-anymore/

While the study’s primary report did not explore religion, some additional analysis focusing on sexual activity and religious identification yielded this result: 80 percent of unmarried evangelical young adults (18 to 29) said that they have had sex - slightly less than 88 percent of unmarried adults, according to the teen pregnancy prevention organization.
The article highlights what challenges abstinence movements face. Movements such as “True Love Waits,” encourage teens to wear purity rings, sign virginity pledges and pledge chastity during public ceremonies.
Yet many of these Christian youths eventually abandon their purity pledges, Relevant’s Tyler Charles concludes in the article. Tyler talked to people like “Maria,” an evangelical woman who said she wanted to wait until marriage to have sex.

But she said she started having sex with her college boyfriend when she turned 20 because nearly everyone, even most of her Christian friends, were having sex.

Remember, this is focusing on the religious young adults! NOT the gangsta crowd, NOT the punk rock crowd, NOT the atheist crowd!

That means all the abstinence preaching is NOT working!

This has been proven by the fact that highest teen pregnancies in the USA happen in the so-called conservative states in the South, instead of the liberal North.

And that the more liberal, more secular European nations have LOWER teen pregnancy rates than the more conservative USA!

Learn more at

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/02/06/10334156-sex-ed-less-effective-in-red-states-study-says?lite



The conservative correctness crowd will respond to this with "la la la, i can't hear you" but the facts are the facts.

And just a few more words on this topic, from the same article.

Yet the article also asks a question that rarely comes up in discussions about abstinence movement. Relevant notes that in biblical times, people married earlier. The average age for marriage has been increasing in the U.S for the last 40 years.
Today, it’s not unusual to meet a Christian who is single at 30 - or 40 or 50, for that matter. So what do you tell them? Keep waiting?

The politically incorrect reality is that once someone starts puberty, they will have sexual desires!

And once that person enters young adulthood, it is unrealistic to expect that person to not be in sexual situations.

Don't blame porn, reality shows or the liberal media for any of that! Just blame evolution and genetics for all of that!

As a friend once said --- "if God didn't want us to have sex so early, he would've delayed puberty until much later".

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PS: The critics will say that I am "encouraging people to make babies they're not prepared to take care of". Actually.............no!  This is why we have birth control and contraceptives.

The more educated folks make less kids than the uneducated folks. It's not that the educated are less horny, it's that too many of the uneducated have this "anything goes" mentality and are less likely to use contraceptives.

My apartment gets a make-over

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a blog post "My War Against Clutter", which mentions that I was starting to get rid of useless junk that has been taking up space in my apartment for too long.

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-war-against-clutter.html


 It's just about 3 weeks later, and I'm feeling like I'm living in a brand new place, even though it's the same studio apartment I've been living in for 9 years.

A lot of old outdated papers? Thrown out!
Big grey containers with piles of articles? Thrown out!
Old stuff that I haven't used in years? Thrown out!

Some stuff, I kept! Especially stuff I've been looking for that was hidden in a pile of useless papers!

But yeah, you'd be surprised what stuff is still in your house if you haven't had time to clean-out your stuff in YEARS!

But that's not all!

And what about the bed frame that had drawers under them? It was once a good deal since it WAS a good place to put a mattress on, and I can still reach down to get stuff out of the drawers.

The problem with that bed frame? It gave the bed bugs a good place to hide! I tried to eliminate the problem with sprays, chemicals and good old-fashion bug-smashing! But I LOST PATIENCE WITH DOING ALL THAT!

So I got rid of that bed-frame! Good riddance! It's now waiting outside for bulky item pick-up! 

No more bed frames for me. I will NEVER give bed-bugs a good place to hide again!  

(unless I end up so weak and disabled, hopefully by then, I'll be placed in a clean nursing home)

I just sleep on a matress placed directly on the floor instead of a bed-frame!

That will make home maintenance and cleanliness so much easier!

And my room has just been vaccumed and dusted!

My room is so much nicer and cleaner!

NOW, I have gotten my life back!

It's now much easier to invite relatives, friends (and even possible groupies) to my apartment!

:)    :)     :)


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So yeah, the fact that I'm currently on summer vacation from my DOE job, plus the fact that I'm not at UPhx (and still waiting for approval to enroll in grad school at  UH), gives me PLENTY of time to catch up on cleaning house!

I'm so loving my summer so far!
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In that blog post I've mentioned earlier, I mentioned that I rebelled against my parents who complained too much in the past about my housekeeping! Look, back when I first moved to my studio apartment, my mom occasionally visited and was trying to instill her values in keeping a clean home.

But she was too much of a complainer when she visited, kept complaining about MINOR piles of papers, about MINOR imperfections, not realizing that I don't always have the time to make my home perfect.  It was so ironic that she used to tell me "think positive" when dealing with seriously negative issues, yet when she visited my studio, her "think positive" mentality DISAPPEARED and she was too negative.

I told her in a letter that "I'll just keep my stuff there, just to show you that I refuse to be controlled now that I'm an adult" She stopped visiting after that!

That was years ago. It's good that she stopped nagging. If she was still nagging, I would NOT have cleaned out my apartment! She backed off and minded her own business.  Years of being left alone was good for me, in that now I can come to my own conclusions about my housekeeping!

( I know, it's not politically correct to criticize my mother. She is a caring and loving person, but I just have to tell it like it is.)

So if you visit someone's home and you don't like their housekeeping, just don't say anything and don't go back! Silence and avoidance can do wonders!

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Now, back on a positive note!  The stuff I decided to keep is a lot more organized, the floor is so much cleaner, it feels like you're in a brand new room.

And I did all by myself! No help from friends or family, I just did it all independently!

So if you're unemployed or if you're on vacation, just look at it as a blessing! You now got time to do what I did and give your home a makeover!

You'll be happy you did!

bus service cuts hurt the disabled!

In previous blog posts, I mentioned how unreasonable the bus service changes are, in regards to bus routes #2,3,4, and 9.

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/05/bus-route-insanity.html

This morning Star Advertiser's mentions the harm done by the changes proposed to route #14.


The  #14 bus route takes the scenic route from St. Louis Heights to Waikiki to Diamond Head to Kahala to Kaimuki to Maunalani Heights.  The proposed changes will end to scenic route, and will just go directly from St Louis Heights to Maunalani Heights.

This route change will severely affect the most vulnerable population of all ------- the developmentally disabled, many of who rely on The Arc, a community service center which is located near Diamond Head, and will be cut off the #14 route if the changes take effect.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20120715__Unpopular_cuts_could_swing_votes.html?id=162502916

The planned Route 14 changes have particularly alarmed officials at The Arc in Hawaii's Honolulu Center Day Program on Diamond Head Road, which relies on those buses to pick up Arc's disabled clients for shopping and other excursions.

The Arc program teaches clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities to become more self-sufficient. Becky Tyksinski, director of development, said teaching clients to navigate the bus system is an important part of the training.

Route 14 covers destinations that the Arc clients need to go without requiring transfers, including Kahala Mall, shopping areas along Kapahulu, the local libraries and Waikiki Beach, she said. The buses normally aren't crowded, which means they can accommodate two wheelchairs and a group of Arc clients.

Yoshioka said the city hopes to resolve the disagreement over the Arc and Route 14 "with a positive discussion." He said city officials are providing replacement service for the route that they believe will be just as effective as the old Route 14.

Tyksinski said those city proposals aren't workable because they would require clients to use stops that are more than a half-mile from the center. Many of the clients are in wheelchairs or walkers, or have vision problems.

"You have to really look at it from the health and safety point of view as well," she said. "We're taking away the access."

What also piss me off is that Mr Yoshioka, a transit official that was quoted above, had also said at a town-hall meeting, that the proposed bus route cuts will NOT be restored in the future, because "the long-term plan is rail".  Here is the link

http://honoluluweekly.com/letters/2012/07/railgate-2/ 

TheBus is taking a back seat to rail. At the May 3 Downtown Neighborhood Board meeting, an audience member asked City Transportation Director Wayne Yoshioka when we could expect the bus route cancellations and changes to be reversed. Mr. Yoshioka replied that the long-term plan is rail, there is no plan to restore the service. Buses are overcrowded, seniors are relinquishing seats to seniors, riders are forced to transfer and wait time is extended. By the time rail arrives there won’t be any complaints about lack of seating, as riders will be used to not being able to sit on the buses.

Lynne Matusow
Honolulu, HI

And the rail wasn't going to serve the community around Diamond Head anyways, yet the city officials want to take away the #14 bus service away from The Arc that serves the developmentally disabled!

And the bus services are also hurting the elderly in Kaimuki (which faces cuts in #3 and #14 bus services), as was mentioned in another of today's Star Advertiser's articles!

http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20120715__Rail_project_is_failing_to_win_approval_from_vital_kupuna.html

"That choo-choo train, that thing cannot come by my house. Cannot go up the street pick up my friends. That's only one track, that thing. Billions they spending on that thing and cannot go where I need it to go, but then they cut the bus service. I can make it to the end of my street catch bus but I cannot go more far than that. They need the money, raise the bus fare! People would pay! I cannot drive. I no need go Kapolei. No make sense, dat."

 The general well-being of our disabled and elderly of East Oahu are being sacrificed to fulfill the rail fantasies of Mayor Peter Carlisle and his transit director Wayne Yoshioka!

Yet, the rail project will eat up all our money that we need for buses, sanitation, roads and parks. The rail project isn't even accessible to many West Oahu residents who it was intended to serve! (As mentioned on the video at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7J7YZUTqNA&feature=share )

Ben Cayetano's ad says that "Ben's blood is boiling". Well, my blood is boiling too! I'm tired of our concerns being ignored! I'm tired of this rail BS! I'm tired of our bus services being cut!

And I'm tired of Peter Carlisle and Wayne Yoshioka!

The primary election is on August 11!  If none of the mayoral candidates get 50% (plus 1) of the votes, then the top 2 candidates will be on the ballot on November!

It's time to put an end to this madness!   It's time to put a stop to Peter Carlisle and Wayne Yoshioka! It's time to tell them YOU'RE FIRED!

Cayetano and rail

There is a saying that "politics make for strange bedfellows".

An example -- back in the late 1990's, when I was in high school, I used to blame then-governor Ben Cayetano for nearly everything going wrong in Hawaii.

When the rest of the USA was in the middle of it's greatest economic boom, Hawaii was lagging behind. Many young adults were moving to "greener pastures" even in desert states like Nevada. Business were struggling with excessive regulations and bureaucratic red-tape from permitting agencies. It got to the point where Forbes magazine taunted Hawaii as a socialist "people's republic".

And the teacher's strike in 1997 (which was planned for MONTHS) was only stopped because AT THE LAST MINUTE, governor Cayetano finally got involved.

So I wasn't much of a Cayetano fan back in the day!


--------------

However, times have changed, the issues have changed!

And the big issue is the rail project.

Yeah, it sounds nice to have rail!

But to make room for rail, people's property WILL BE confiscated to make room! Imagine if that was your property getting confiscated

(I wrote on that issue back in 2008 : http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/06/light-rail-and-property-confiscation.html)


Not only that, rail is a waste of money we hardly even have!


While the city is struggling to pay to update our sewage systems, water pipes, roads and to keep the buses running .................................................somehow we got money for rail?

Makaha beach bathroom has faucets that DON'T WORK.................but we have money for rail?

Bus services have been drastically reduced for Windward Oahu and the North Shore. And more cuts, this time affecting urban Honolulu, will be coming next month ............................... but we have money for rail? 


OH HELL TO THE NO!

And of the 3 major candidates for the mayor of Honolulu, we got Peter Carlisle, Kirk Caldwell and Ben Cayetano.

Only Ben Cayetano wants to stop the excessively expensive, and unneccessary rail project!

So yeah, I'm a Ben Cayetano supporter now!

Funny how times change things!

----------

And will rail really reduce traffic from West Oahu!

Well, if you're from West Oahu, will you really ride rail or do you just hope everyone else except you rides the rail ?


The reality is that the proposed rail stations are inaccessible to many West Oahu residents.

Rail does well in High-Density areas (ie. Manhattan, Tokyo, Paris, etc) where many people can just walk to the rail stations.  There's NOTHING High-Density about West Oahu neighborhoods, and the rail stations will NOT be walking distance for many West Oahu residents. 

This video (titled "Who Would Ride the Train?")   explains more  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7J7YZUTqNA&feature=share


End the rail project. Get more buses on the streets! And vote for Ben Cayetano!

This just might be our last chance to end the unneccessary, expensive rail project!

College Reform

For millions of people, going to college is a rite of passage!

Part of it is continuing education after high school. Time to learn more about the world, time to explore various topics like sociology (my major), psychology, literature, art, business, chemistry or whatever else turns you on!

Part of it is getting qualified for certain jobs.

And let's be honest, part of it is to join a fun atmosphere of dorm parties and football games!

However, there has been a crisis the last few decades.

1) College expenses have been rising at a faster rate than inflation. Meaning, yeah, most stuff has been getting more expensive, but college expenses have been getting more expensive AT A FASTER RATE!

2) And in this economy, recent graduates have been having a harder time finding jobs than previous generations.

3) Both 1 and  3 have caused massive difficulties to recent graduates who have to pay back all those student loans!

The older generation didn't have to pay such high tuition, nor did they have to face a junk economy right after they graduated from college!   That makes it hard for the older generation to relate to the struggles of recent college graduates.  The older generation were lucky in that they didn't have the pay the high amounts of student loans like today's generation.




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Just like there was a tech-bust in the early 2000's and the even more devastating housing-bust of 2008, there has been a prediction that higher education is the next industry to face a sharp decline!

Greater expenses, a slow economy and more exposure to stories of recent grads struggling have been causing the next generation to be more reluctant to attend college!

Colleges can only raise tuition so much, otherwise less students will attend.

Loan agencies struggling to receive pay-backs from struggling graduates can easily lead them to bankruptcy! Once that happens, there will be less sources for college loans, less financial aid available!

And the next generation might think "college? too much humbug, why bother?"

All that will hit all the colleges hard!

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What to do if you're running those colleges?

There are no easy answers.

Facilities need to stay updated! That doesn't come cheap!

You need to hire professors and keep them around! That doesn't come cheap!

Students want activities on campus! That doesn't come cheap!

But you don't want tuition to be too expensive that you're accused of "denying opportunities to the less fortunate students!"

----

Some things will have to change! None of the changes will solve every problem, but still.........something can be done!

Some had mentioned the idea of having different tuition rates for different majors! Meaning, it is likely that engineering students will have to pay more than those majoring in literature!

When that idea has been mentioned, the reaction is "that will cause students to just take the cheaper majors" or "it's impeding access to the less fortunate if certain majors pay more tuition".

Everything has a pro and a con! Those concerns mentioned are legit!

However, let's look at 2 groups of students

Group 1) those who majored in the "humanities" or the "liberal arts".

Group 2) those who majored in medicine, engineering, business


Obviously, those in Group 2 will have more lucrative careers! They're more likely to be able to pay back expensive student loans!

Is it Fair that Group 1 (who end up in less lucrative careers) pay the same high loan amounts as those in Group 2?

Now you see why it might be a good idea to charge different tuition rates to different majors!

Let's also face another reality ----- it's harder to find professors to teach business, science, engineering, or medicine. It's easier to find professors to teach literature, history and other humanities/liberal-art majors.

After all, those who majored in business, science, engineering and medicine have PLENTY of profitable opportunities. Why take a pay-cut to teach at a university when you can make more outside of the university.

So that means universities have to pay professors of those majors MORE than professors of humanities/liberal-art majors.

Dont tell me that's unfair. Look, LeBron James get paid a lot more than some bench-warmer on his team. It's a lot harder to replace someone of LeBron's talents, therefore he gets paid more than an easily replaceable bench-warmers. That's basic everyday economics. 

Whereas, those with PhDs in literature, history, and other humanities/liberal arts don't have as many profitable opportunities outside of academia. In fact,  there is such a surplus of PhDs in those majors that there's not enough jobs for them in the universities. 

Learn more at http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/02/21/academic_hypocrisy

Now, 50 years later, there is a long feature article in the February 17th issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education on the chronic over-supply of historians. Worse yet, leading university history departments are resisting demands that they keep track of what happens to their students after they get their Ph.D.s -- and inform prospective Ph.D.s of what the market is like. 

If any business operated this way, selling customers something that was very costly in time and money, and which the sellers knew in advance was almost certain to disappoint their expectations, academics would be bursting with indignation -- and demanding full disclosure to the customers, if not criminal prosecutions. 

But The Chronicle of Higher Education reports "faculty resistance" to collecting and publishing information on what happens to a university's history Ph.D.s after they leave the ivy-covered walls with high hopes and low prospects.
At a number of big-name universities -- Northwestern, Brown and the University of North Carolina's flagship campus at Chapel Hill -- at least one-fourth of their 2010 history Ph.D.s are either unemployed or their fate is unknown.

In other words, universities aren't always upfront about how much opportunities are really out there for someone with PhDs in history (or other topics). 

Why would they, the universities just want the tuition money.

And this brings up another topic  ---- CORE REQUIREMENTS

I remember when I was an undergrad at UH-Manoa, the university kept adding more and more core requirements. Even if the core requirements have NOTHING TO DO with our majors or future career plans.

I wouldn't be surprised if this goes on at other universities too.

They say that the additional core requirements are there to "make us a smarter person", "understand the world", "understand diversity", blah, blah, blah!

Anyone who believes such PR stuff is NAIVE!

The real purpose of adding more and more core requirement is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!

After all, if you make the students take more core requirements, it becomes A LOT LESS REALISTIC for students to "graduate in 4 years". After all, you can't expect the students to be able to cram more classes per semester. The students also have to work to pay the bills, as well as get some time to rest and chill!  So the core requirements make the students stay in the university longer. And the university gets more money!

And students who have to pay more student loans because of this have to suffer, while the profs and admin count their cash!

If the students have to take more core requirements, then we need to stop talking all this crap about "2 year colleges" and "4 year colleges".   That's outdated stuff!

Why pressure students to "graduate in 2 (or 4) years, if they need more time to fulfill their core requirements as well as balance their school/non-school life!

And the NCAA rules on student-athletes have to have 80% of their degree done by senior year, has also caused problems when student-athletes have to switch out of their original preferred major just to stay eligible to play! The NCAA is still buying this OUTDATED FICTION of a "4-year degree" when some majors are now 5-7 year majors. If I was the NCAA president, I'll be like " just pass your classes, you can still finish your degree when you can"

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And this other controversy on colleges is now focused on "for-profit colleges" like University of Phoenix, DeVry, Remington College, Argosy, etc.

Some left-wing activists who hate corporations and hate the word "profits" are advocating placing restrictions on financial aid to for-profit colleges because some graduates are struggling to get/remain employed and pay off student-loans.

Those left-wing activists claim they're protecting those students.

But why are they railing against "for-profit colleges" WHEN THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM IS OCCURRING AT state universities and non-profit universities!

Those left-wing activists are more against capitalism,corporations and profits than protecting students. Plus, it's the left-wing professors at state universities who advocate adding more core requirements that adds to the student loan debt.

In other words those state university profs are just as guilty as "for-profit colleges" of adding debt burdens to their students.


Yeah, I did spend a few months at a for-profit college (University of Phoenix aka UPhx). I recently left that university and am planning to switch to a state university (UH-Manoa) for my master's.

(Learn more at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/change-in-direction.html

Yeah, I prefer UH-Manoa over UPhx.  That is my personal preference!

But you know what, let's not put out this BS about "UPhx leading all their students to doom & gloom while (gasp) profiting off them." I know a few UPhx alumni are doing just fine after getting their degree! And I think of most of my former UPhx classmates will do fine too when they get their teaching certificate and work in the school system! If UPhx works for them, then don't hate, congratulate!

My War against Clutter

I admit, I have been becoming a packrat!

I do like to keep stuff, though I'm definitely NOT one of those who keep old food wrappers for "sentimental value". I'm NOT that crazy!

However, back in the early 2000's, I have developed a hobby of collecting articles, whether it's from newspapers or from online.

And I would organize those articles into folders. I would have separate folders for different subjects like economics, foreign policy, immigration, etc.

The problem was that I was having less time to organize those articles into folders, yet those pieces of paper have been piling up.

I have been buying those HUGE grey containers to place those piles!

And those grey containers have been taking so much space in my small apartment!

Plus, those big grey containers have been cramping whatever social life already. Hard to invite friends (or groupies) in a small apartment with those containers taking up space!

And when my parents visited, they kept complaining about those containers and piles. Me being easily defensive, told them "you dont like it, I'll keep them just to show you I refuse to be controlled!"

I kept telling myself, one of these days, you'll have time to organize those piles!

Time to face reality --- I'll NEVER have time to organize those piles!


So last night, I started throwing a whole bunch of paper piles in the big trash can outside!

A feeling of relief has come to me!

I'm nowhere near done! I still have more big grey containers to empty!

But that's my new personal project ---- emptying out containers, and make more empty space in my small apartment available again!


Make it easier to invite relatives, friends (and groupies) again!


And start having new hobbies that don't involve clutter!

Plus, if an article is so important, I could easily preserve it by citing, quoting and linking them on my blog!

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PS: To anyone who tells me "see, your parents were right", if they still kept complaining, I would NOT have gotten rid of my piles! 

Just like when my oldest brother  used to nag me about "watching too much TV" back when I was about 10-14 years old!

After that, my oldest brother moved away to his own home!

It was only YEARS LATER that my TV watching had declined! It's now to the point where I could go a whole week without watching TV!

If my oldest brother was still nagging me about "watching too much TV", I still would've done it, just to piss him off!

So yeah, next time you feel like giving unsolicited advice to anyone, just back off!

My parents backed off, I came to my own conclusions, and now I'm ready to de-clutter!

How lenient is too lenient?

Imagine that one of your relatives went out to chill one night. Your relative wasn't bothering anyone.


Then that relative was confronted and attacked by a drunken person who is 6 inches taller and 130 pounds heavier. That drunken person continue hitting your relative's head, and had to be restrained by 2 other people.


Now your relative has sustained severe brain trauma. That brain trauma is so severe that your relative can't even do simple tasks like brushing teeth or opening a can of juice. That relatives need 24 hour care. That relative can't even remember the names of other relatives. That relative experiences tremors and sometimes can't even speak.

The person who attacked your relative claimed he can't even remember what happened. He probably said "I can't remember" because his real reason for attacking your relative might be something so trivial as "he looked at me the wrong way", "he accidentally bumped into me", "he's the wrong ethnicity" or "I just felt like fighting someone".

Now what kind of penalty do you want your relative's attacker to receive.

Many of you want that attacker to be executed! However, since Hawaii doesn't have the death penalty, you would want that attacker to get life in prison without parole.

However, it is possible that your relative's attacker might only get 18 months in prison and followed by 5 years of probation.

You might think that is way too lenient for a violent felon who committed an unprovoked assault that caused severe brain damage and left your relative unable to do simple tasks.


However, that has happened in real life.


On March 26, 2010, 57- year old Andy Ganigan was minding his own business after he left a lounge in Waipahu. He was then attacked by a much larger intoxicated man named Matthew Kupa! Kupa kept hitting Ganigan's head even after he could no longer fight back. Kupa then had to be restrained by 2 other people.


http://www.staradvertiser.com/sportspremium/20120329_andy_ganigan_fights_for_his_life.html?id=144853325



Matthew Kupa claimed that he couldn't remember what happened that night, even though there were multiple witnesses at the scene.

photo from Honolulu Star Advertiser

Matthew Kupa

Let's face it, if you hit some in order to defend yourself, you would say so to everyone, especially in court. If you hit someone who pushed you or threatened you, you would admit that in court. Even if you over-reacted to someone who was bullying you, you would just admit that in court. Those are all things you would remember for as long as your brain can function properly.


But Kupa claimed he doesn't remember what happened the night he attacked Ganigan, because if he stated the real reason for the attack, he would be in more trouble.

Meanwhile, Ganigan's brain was so damaged that he could no longer do simple tasks like brushing teeth or opening a can of juice. He was unable to remember names. He experienced tremors and needed 24 hour care.

photo from Honolulu Star Advertiser

Ganigan's daughter in tears while discussing her dad's deteriorated condition

The prosecutor asked that Kupa recieve 10 years in prison. The judge Glenn Kim went even lower than that, and just gave Kupa 18 months (not years) in prison and 5 years of probation.

photo from Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Andy Ganigan's family reacted to Judge Kim's LENIENT sentence to Ganigan's attacker

Even more disturbing was the judge's reasoning for such a lenient sentence. Judge Kim mentioned "Kupa's young age" and a lack of a previous criminal record as excuses for a light sentence.


It's one thing for a judge to take into account the defendant's young age if the defendant is 11 years old. At that age, the person may not have gained the skills to resist peer pressure nor understand the ramifications of a criminal act.

However, Kupa was 21 years old when he attacked Ganigan. That meant he was old enough to drive, vote, join the military, and buy alcohol which he drunk so much before his vicious assault. In other words, Kupa was old enough to know better.



The judge also mentioned Kupa's lack of a previous criminal record. It is hard to believe that was Kupa's first drunken fight or act of unprovoked violence. It's just that this time Kupa got caught.



But even if this was Kupa's first act of a drunken unprovoked assault, it still doesn't allow for an excessively lenient sentence of 18 months in jail.



Remember, Kupa wasn't being convicted of shoplifting, gambling, drug possession, littering, grafitti or tax evasion. Kupa did not just push or slap someone. Kupa was convicted of a drunken unprovoked attack that so was heinous that it left his victim brain damaged and no longer able to care for himself.


Kupa got his excessively lenient sentence on March 28, 2012. A few weeks later, Andy Ganigan passed away, due to effects of the brain trauma that Kupa gave him.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/149899015.html?id=149899015

photo from Midweek

Andy Ganigan

photo by Nadine Guevara

from Honolulu Star Advertiser

Andy Ganigan

when he used to box back in the 1970s/1980s

Yet, after 18 months in prison, Kupa will be released from prison. It will be party time for him. He can walk around with a swagger. He can breathe the fresh air of freedom, the freedom that he physically denied Ganigan.



Sure, Kupa's following 5 years of probation will come with some inconveniences.


However, that is nothing compared to the inconveniences suffered by Andy Ganigan, who suffered 2 years with severe brain damage and unable to do simple tasks.


Judge Glenn Kim should be ashamed of himself and should resign. If Kim won't resign, he must be impeached.


Public safety and justice requires nothing less.

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From the comments to http://www.staradvertiser.com/sportspremium/20120329_andy_ganigan_fights_for_his_life.html?id=144853325&id=144853325&c=n

kalanilee wrote: I was called to Jury once with this judge. I toldl him I wanted to be excused till a later date because I was my spouse's caregiver. He was in a wheelchair. He went o to say that I should find someone else to tend to him, so that I could do my civic duty. He never asked me about them the other times I willingly served and was willing to serve.....he reprimanded me in court in front of people I didn't know like I was some little kid, although I am older than him. He basically wanted me to re-arrange my whole life, inconvenience other family members, or possibly incur some expense for someone else to do caregiver duties... I thought this was not a very bright judge....it wasn't necessary to lecture me in court.
on March 29,2012
02:22PM

 
This just goes to show that Judge Glenn Kim has ZERO compassion for the disabled! He insulted a prospective juror for expressing concerns over his/her time to take care of a disabled relative.
 
And now Judge Glenn Kim gives EXCESSIVELY LENIENT sentences to someone who DAMAGED AN INNOCENT PERSON'S BRAIN!

What Judge Glenn Kim did was as EVIL as what Matthew Kupa did! It's as if Judge Kim is treating this like a joke, treating this like a prank! He's a judge for NOTHING!