George Herbert Walker Bush

On November 30, 2018, former US President George Herbert Walker Bush (aka George HW Bush aka George Bush Senior) passed away. He was 94 years old!

He was president from 1989-1993, just when the world was in transition.  

Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe, best signified by the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. And then, America's rival, the Soviet Union, was no longer, split into 15 separate countries.

Meanwhile, America's foreign policy transitioned. It was no longer about beating the Soviet Union on the world stage. So there was now less incentive to support anti-communist dictators just to get back at the communists.  With this, the US could no longer use the communist scare as an excuse to support the apartheid regime in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

But the military-industrial complex still needed a reason to exist.

So now Bush  turned against other dictators once supported by his former boss Ronald Reagan. 

First was Manuel Noriega, Panama's dictator once supported by Reagan. But now that the Cold War was over, and that Noriega supported drug cartels, Bush sent the military in December 1989 to take him out.  Noriega was arrested and spent the rest of his life in US prisons. 

(note: there are some unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that Noriega wasn't allowed to talk to media while imprisoned because he would've spilled out embarrassing information about America's policy on foreign affairs, drug trafficking and more)

But Noriega was just the appetizer.

In August 1990, Saddam Hussein, another dictator supported by Ronald Reagan, sent Iraqi troops to invade Kuwait.  He thought the US (and the rest of the Western world) would let it slide, the same way they've been letting it slide when he used chemical warfare against Iran as well as his domestic opponents. But Hussein didn't realize that in the post-Cold War world, the US military-industrial complex needed a "new bad guy" and that now, he was it.

So now, Bush gave Hussein a warning: get the Iraqi troops out of Kuwait by January 15, 1991. Hussein didn't listen and the 1st Gulf War has begun! Bush sent US troops to save Kuwait and then put serious sanctions against Iraq.

People wondered why Bush didn't "finish the job" and sent US troops onward to overthrow Hussein. After all, Hussein was still alive enough to retaliate, with an assassination attempt against Bush when he visited Kuwait in 1993. Afterwards, the US (under next president Bill Clinton) launched missile attacks on Iraq, but no ground troops.

Bush's son, George W. Bush became president in 2001, and was determined to finish the job, first with missile strikes in February of that year. The 9/11 attacks (committed by Al Quaida with zero assistance from Iraq) gave new fears that Saddam Hussein might also launch future attacks. That lead to the 2003 Iraq war in which Saddam Hussein was finally overthrown, but also led to massive chaos as different factions fought each other to to fulfill the power vacuum after the invasion. This chaos led many to believe that Bush Senior did the right thing in not invading Iraq after kicking out their troops out of Kuwait.


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Bush Senior's success in expelling Iraqi troops out of Kuwait showed the world that USA was the last remaining superpower. It was a time for patriotism.

That feeling was short-lived!

On the domestic front, the US economy was in a recession.  The 80's boom was over, factories were downsizing, oil prices went up.

Bush being born wealthy, was seen as "out of touch" by average Americans struggling in the slowing economy.

To add insult to injury, Bush broke his famous promise :"Read my lips, no new taxes". But he did approve new taxes.  

Meanwhile, a charismatic politician, Arkansas governor Bill Clinton was running for president on the Democratic side in 1992.

Bill Clinton's energetic personality was seen as a contrast from the less charismatic "old" George Bush. 

Bill Clinton was less advantaged in that he grew up with a single mother in Arkansas small towns, but that humble beginnings became an advantage in 1992 as Bill Clinton was seen as someone who better able to relate to the average American as compared to born-wealthy Bush. 

Bill Clinton's election was seen as a dawn of a new era, in which the new generation was taking over. 
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However, with Bush Senior now done with politics, it was his sons turn to continue the family business. In 1994, his two sons ran for governors, George W won in Texas. Jeb lost in Florida that year, but eventually won in 1998.

George W was a popular governor in Texas, and was next in line to become the Republican nominee for president in 2000.  He won a close election against Clinton's VP Al Gore.

Unlike his father, George W was re-elected to a second term! However, his popularity declined with the mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina's recovery in 2005, as well as concerns of the continuing war casualties in Iraq. For the final insult, George W faced his own recession in 2008, just in time to hurt John McCain's chances to continue the Republican control of the White House.

In 2016, Jeb Bush was to run for president. However, he was too gentle a soul to effectively campaign against a loud belligerent Donald Trump!

As negative as Donald Trump is, his one redeeming quality is that he made the Bushes look sane in comparison.

I remember when everyone on the Radical Left thought the Bushes were the source of the world's evil. They thought things can't get worse than them. Donald Trump proved them wrong!

The Bushes were for a more lenient immigration policy. George W planned to give amnesty to illegal immigrants early in 2001. He even met with Mexico's president Vicente Fox early September 2001. However, 9/11 ended that plan! George W kept trying to remind people that not all Muslims were bad people. He wanted to emphasize that his war against Al Quaida and Saddam Hussein wasn't a war against all Muslims. 

However, not everyone wanted to hear that message. Donald Trump exploited such fears to take over the Republican Party and this country.

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Some said that George Senior exploited racial fears when his 1988 campaign ad featured Willie Horton (a convicted murderer who allowed to go on furlough when he committed a home invasion & rape) as an example of how Micheal Dukakis was too lenient on crime when he was governor of Massachusetts.  The furlough program was started by a previous governor, but Dukakis continued the program until the public angrily reacted to the Willie Horton incident.

Al Gore actually brought the issue up in the 1988 primaries by pointing out Dukakis was too soft on violent crime. He didn't mention Horton by name. But Bush's supporters noticed what Al Gore said, did more research, and showcased Willie Horton's face on TV ads.

Dukakis leniency on violent crime was a legit issue. Willie Horton was a dangerous person who should be locked up forever.  Willie Horton was a legit issue for the campaign. 

I don't think Bush was racist against African-Americans, but also could've diversified the example to use in his anti-crime campaigns. He probably underestimated the use of the race card by those who oppose him! 

However, in this decade, Donald Trump used the Willie Horton strategy to promote fear of immigrants. Whereas Bush never made any public statement blaming any ethnic groups for crimes (he only had an ad that showed a picture of Willie Horton), Trump routinely blames specific ethnic categories for crimes. He started his campaign with a speech saying that that Mexican immigrants are bringing crimes, drugs and are rapists (nevermind that Trump himself is an accused rapist who is lucky his victims didn't follow through in pressing criminal charges) and he promised a ban of all Muslim immigration (which he followed up with an attempt at banning  of immigrants from 7 Muslim-majority countries). 

Trump did post an ad on social media highlighting a Mexican-immigrant who killed police officers, as well as image of Central American riots to promote fear of Latin American immigrants. He also exploited/pimped the death of Mollie Tibbetts, an Anglo jogger in Iowa who was killed by a Mexican immigrants. However, Tibbetts family told Trump to back off, that they had Mexicans in their extended family and to leave them alone.  A Trump supporter running for the US House in Tibbetts' district lost a Democrat who supported a more lenient immigration policy. 

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George HW Bush also had other highlights in his presidency

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which required all new facilities to be accessible to people with disabilities
• Immigration Act of 1990, which allowed for increased immigration to the US
• Clean Air Act of 1990, to reduce air pollution
• Civil Rights Act of 1991, which allowed for lawsuits against employers who discriminate
• His visit to Pearl Harbor in the 50th anniversary of the attack. Bush joined the military a few months after the attack.
• the end of the military use of the Hawaiian island of Kaho'olawe as a bombing target

After politics, his highlights included

• developing a friendship with former political opponent Bill Clinton as they both did fundraising to help the victims of th 2004 tsunami that hit various Asian countries
• going skydiving in his 75th,80th, 85th and 90th birthdays

Stan Lee

Earlier this month, legendary comic publisher Stan Lee passed away at the age of 95!

photo from Townhall

Stan Lee

Stan Lee spent much of his career working for Marvel and created some of their major characters including SpiderMan, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Black Panther as well as the collectives Fantastic Four and the X-Men.

Much of those characters were introduced in the 1950s-1970s when the media landscape was changing.  Previously, the heroes of comics, films and TV shows were the epitome of the perfect men, with great morals, great strength and showed almost very vulnerability.  In film, John Wayne was the all-American man. In comics, the Superman (of DC Comics) was indestructible.

But the times were changing. People were questioning America's high ground in the light of the civil right's movement and the Vietnam War.  People were starting to question authority more. People were questioning their parent's generation more. People were questioning why the need for so much censorship. 

Stan Lee's creations  reflected those societal changes. He had his superheroes express vulnerability more, even though they had some rare superpowers. He introduced nonwhite characters in his comics and made anti-racist statements at the risk of alienating European-American audiences. 

His comic book characters eventually had their own animated cartoons and merchandise (including but not limited to toys, Halloween costumes, backpacks, school supplies, blankets, video games and more).

And in this century, they became a billion-dollar movie franchise.

And just like his contemporary Hugh Hefner (founder of Playboy), Stan Lee never faded from the media spotlight even as the world around them changed!  

Even at his old age, Stan Lee still toured the world and attended comic book convention. People stood in line and paid big money just to shake his hand and take a picture with him. 

On the day he died, many people shared photos they took with Stan Lee, as well as Halloween costumes of his characters.  I was volunteering at a booksale sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Hawaii (FLH) on the day he died, and FLH posted a photo on their social media pages  of Marvel comics being sold that day. 




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Growing up, my older brother was a comic collector who was a major Marvel fan. He said "DC Comics suck" and like a follower that I was, I said it too even though at that time I didn't actually read a DC Comics to figure out if they were better or worse than Marvel. 

My older brother mostly collected X-Men comics as well as Marvel cards.  I mostly learned the characters from those cards.

I also had a SpiderMan toy.

As I got older and became more distant from my brother (long story short, life happens! But we did talk story this past Thanksgiving), I stopped paying attention to the comic world. Some of my friends are still into the world of comics, whereas my pop culture interests shifted towards music and nightclubs. 

I had fictional characters in my mind, but I never came up with a storyline for any of them. I experimented with drawing political comics during my undergrad years in UH being that I was friends with the school newspaper (Ka Leo O Hawaii) political comic artist David Parker. Our friendship didn't last long and after we stopped hanging out, I lost interest in drawing comics. None of them got published. 

But I did return to doing visual artwork when I started selling my music.  (note: music distributors and online music stores require visual artwork to go along with any single or album you submit to them).

As for fictional characters, in some of  my music videos (check out Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior's YouTube channel), a Tiger makes an appearance. Sometimes, it's a rainbow colored Tiger made from scratch art. Other times, it's a Yellow Tiger made with coloring pencils. 

The yellow tiger symbolizes my high school mascot (McKinley High School), though I drew it differently so that I don't violate copyright!

The Tigers in the videos are shown doing stuff like

• motorbike stunts
• riding a lowrider
• playing a brass instrument
• holding a bazooka while the other is holding a tambourine
• lounging by a pool
• visiting an arcade
• taking a field trip to a mad scientist lab
• torturing another tiger with a whip
• riding a riverboat
• dying in a hospital bed

I also drew other characters for my videos, including not limited to a 

• a frog playing a guitar
• human video game warriors
• bears riding lowriders
• bears playing rock music
•  guard dogs in front of a barbed wire fence
• stick figures walking through a haunted castle
• person running from the police (coming soon, person on a motorbike speed chase)

They may not be international superstars like Stan Lee's creations, but hey, I am happy to be a part of a community of artists  :)

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BONUS: 

Some interesting articles about Stan Lee and his social impact



Jonah Goldberg, “Stan Lee's Work a Reflection of His Times,” Townhall, November 16, 2018,
 https://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2018/11/16/stan-lees-work-a-reflection-of-his-times-n2536050.


Chauncey DeVega, “Stan Lee Has Departed Our Universe, Having “surpassed His Wildest Dreams”,” Salon, November 19, 2018,
 https://www.salon.com/2018/11/19/stan-lee-has-departed-our-universe-having-surpassed-his-wildest-dreams/.

International Men's Day (and nighttime safety)

Today is International Men's Day!

(note: International Women's Day is March 8th. International Non-Binary Day is July 14th)


Now that we know all the International Days for the gender categories, I want to talk about nighttime safety.

 It is commonly perceived by many women that men never have to feel vulnerable when walking out at night!

However, men are more likely to be victims of homicides, assaults, robberies and more. The only crimes that women are more likely to be victims are sexual assault and domestic violence.

Men are aware of this and aware of their vulnerabilities, but they hide such vulnerabilities by pretending to be tougher and braver than they really are! This display of fake toughness gives the FALSE impression that men are not vulnerable at nighttime situations.

I have now posted a video about this issue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YilfGTHHkk4

"Gender & Safety at Night: who is really in danger at night?"

I mention that men that don't conform to hyper-masculine norms are very vulnerable to violence! I mention that men who dress in pink or wear dresses have extra vulnerabilities at night. I also mention that men who are (or just to perceived to be) gay, "nerds", "dorks", or just plain unathletic have been victimized by very violent bullying.

But I also mention that even men who conform to hyper-masculine norms have been brutally attacked at night.

I mention that former male boxer Andy Ganigan who got brutally beaten at night to the point where he had severe brain damage and required 24-7 care. He died from the effects of the injuries 2 years later. If that can happen to a former male boxer, that can definitely happen to any man. I wrote a blog post about the case at
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-lenient-is-too-lenient.html

I also mention that gangsta rap icons Eazy-E and Suge Knight have been attacked in separate cases. It is well known that Suge Knight threatened and attacked Eazy-E. But later in life Suge Knight got knocked out in separate occasions.  

Even in allegedly safe places can be dangerous for men. A friend who spent a few years in allegedly low-crime Japan was physically assaulted there.  As for the USA, many well-known cases of male-on-male violent bullying occurred in allegedly low-crime suburbs and rural towns. 

So the idea that men are not vulnerable to violence is just BS!


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PS: 


speaking of Japan being allegedly low crime
: 
Bruce Wallace, “Japan's Police See No Evil,” Los Angeles Times, November 09, 2007.
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/nov/09/world/fg-autopsy9

John McCain

yes, I know his death was a few months ago!

I just didn't have time to blog about it then! Better late than never! 
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John McCain came from a family with a long line of veterans.  He was born in the Panama Canal Zone, which was then a U.S. occupied territory that was later given back to Panama's control. Ironically, it was he that was born outside the50 states, when his opponent was born in the 50th state but was accused of being born elsewhere. 


 McCain became a Vietnam War veteran who got captured and tortured for years. 

He joined Congress in the 1980s and built a profile as a "maverick" which he used to run for President in 2000. He lost the Republican nomination to George W Bush who had more money and more connections.

He tried again in 2008, this time winning the Republican nomination. However, he was up against Barack Obama who was out to make history as the first African-American president. McCain tried to make his own version of "history" by picking for VP, Sarah Palin who had the potential to become the first female vice-president. However, she wasn't ready for prime time and was an easy target for ridicule for her various gaffes. 

John McCain was an advocate for an aggressive foreign policy, which helped aligned with his former rival George W Bush after 9/11.  However, since then, the public has less patience for military adventures overseas.

He was an advocate for campaign-finance reform, with his proposed bill becoming law. However, it was over-ruled by the Supreme Courts in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case. 

He had a mixed record on race relations. He generally supported civil rights laws and a more lenient immigration policy. However, he generated much controversy over his use of the racial slur "gooks" to refer to the Vietnamese guards who tortured him. McCain continued to use that slur until the California primary was coming up in his first run for president. Then he apologized.

learn more at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/27/when-mccains-anti-asian-slur-stalled-his-straight-talk-express-he-doubled-down-then-he-apologized/

McCain and Bush also tried to have it both ways in 2000 when the South Carolina primary was coming up. They were both asked about the Confederate flag appearing in front of South Carolina's state capitol. They both just said "it's up to the people of South Carolina to decide", which just goes to show what cowards both were. They talk a good game about a more lenient immigration policy when campaigning in places like Texas and New Mexico, but were too scared to criticize the Confederate flag in South Carolina.  McCain later apologized for his cowardice. 


Later in 2008, during his presidential campaign, a woman at McCain's rally said she didn't trust Barack Obama because "he's an Arab" (actually, he's of Kenyan and European ancestries). McCain responded by saying 

No ma’am,” he says. “[Obama’s] a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.”

This response gave the impression that being "Arab" and being a "decent family man" is somehow mutually exclusive (it isn't). Granted, many of us don't always give the best response when someone catches us off guard with really idiotic statements. Especially when you're not given time to think of a response. However, it would be more appropriate had McCain said "Obama isn't Arab, but there's nothing wrong being an Arab and that his ancestry is irrelevant to whether he's the right president. Now let's focus on policy rather his race!"

more on that issue: 
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-uptake/mccain-responds-to-arab-a_b_133820.html

McCain criticized the Jones Act, the protectionist shipping law that hurts the US access to international trade. McCain correctly pointed out that the Jones Act was benefitting shipping companies over the American people. However, the 2 old Dan's (Inouye and Akaka) from Hawaii were supported by the shipping companies and refused to speak up about how the Jones Act gave special harm to Hawaii and other US-occupied islands. 

Towards the end of his life, it must've broken John McCain's heart that the Republican base supported Donald Trump. Trump, a tough-talking pansy who avoided military service during the Vietnam War taunted McCain about being captured during that war.  Usually, that kind of disrespect would end the career of the person doing the disrespecting. It didn't hurt Trump much, as I noted in a February 2016 post
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2016/01/trump-and-real-conservatism.html

"Conservatives"  are usually appalled if the Radical Left Wing protesters disrespect the troops! But many didn't seem bothered at all when Donald Trump insulted Jon McCain for being captured as Prisoner of War!

Insulting a veteran over his/her war-time traumas is usually a fatal mistake for any politician!

It didn't hurt Trump much!

Why? Because for many "conservatives", hating Mexicans and Muslims is more important than respecting the veterans! 

The Republican Party has become a cult of personality, making excuses for Donald Trump no matter what he does. 

The Republican Party traditionally distrusted Russian tyrants. John McCain famously distrusted Vladimir Putin and offered support to Georgia (the nation, not the state) and Ukrained when invaded by Russian troops. Donald Trump basically praised Vladimir Putin and only offered insincere weasel-word criticisms when pressured by the media!



 John Mcain and Donald Trump had never made peace. Trump isn't worth making peace with!



More articles on John McCain


(note: the inclusion of these articles in this list DOES NOT mean I agree with everything written in those articles. just that I found it well-written and interesting)


first, from the more pro-McCain side

Jonah Goldberg, “How Mccain's Patriotism Can Still Best Trump's Nationalism,” Townhall, August 29, 2018,
 https://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2018/08/29/how-mccains-patriotism-can-still-best-trumps-nationalism-n2513750.


Erich Reimer, “Remembering Senator Mccain’s Patriotism and Duty to Country,” Townhall, August 28, 2018, 
https://townhall.com/columnists/erichreimer/2018/08/28/remembering-senator-mccains-patriotism-and-duty-to-country-n2513561

Charles Djou, “The Courage and Resolve of John Mccain,” Honolulu Civil Beat, August 27, 2018
https://www.civilbeat.org/2018/08/charles-djou-the-courage-and-resolve-of-john-mccain/

Max Boot, “John Mccain Leaves the Stage When We Need Him Most,” Washington Post, July 25, 2018,
 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mccain-leaves-the-stage-when-we-need-him-most/2018/08/25/a67793c0-a8cd-11e8-97ce-cc9042272f07_story.html.


--- 

from center-left writer Nicholas Kristof

Nicholas Kristof, “John Mccain, a Maverick We Can Learn From,” New York Times, August 25, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/25/opinion/john-mccain-death.html.


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from the left-wing writers critical of John McCain



Bob Hennelly, “Another American Happy Warrior Laid to Rest: John Mccain’s Legacy of Gung-Ho Militarism,” Salon, August 29, 2018, https://www.salon.com/2018/08/29/another-american-happy-warrior-laid-to-rest-john-mccains-supremely-mixed-legacy/.


Timothy Patrick McCarthy, “Reckoning with John Mccain: Respecting the best of Mccain requires grappling with the rest of Mccain.,” The Nation, August 27, 2018, https://www.thenation.com/article/reckoning-with-john-mccain/.

Thoughts on the General Elections

Last week Tuesday was the General Election.

Now that a week has passed, there is now enough time to process all the thoughts about the political trends I have noticed.

First, let's start off with here in Hawaii

Hawaii

As usual, the Democrats have dominated.

Current governor David Ige won re-election!

Earlier this year, there was some pessimism about his chances to get re-elected due to the miscommunications about the false missile alert.

Since then, people have been satisfied with his handling of the  situations related to floods, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions that occurred since then.

His chances to win the General Election were also boosted by the media's usual negligence to cover the candidates from the minor parties (Green Party's Jim Brewer, Nonpartisan's Terence Teruya), as well as the infighting within the Republican ticket.

For the US presidential elections, the presidential nominee gets to pick who his/her vice-president before the election. This way, the president can have an assistant that he/she can easily work with.

In Hawaii, things are done differently. In the primaries, the people vote for governor candidate and lieutenant governor candidate separately. If they winners get along (as in the case of David Ige and Josh Green), that's great. If not, then there's trouble.

For the Republican side, the candidate for governor was a relatively moderate Andria Tupola, who was earlier blasted by right-wing troll Eric Ryan as being "too liberal".  For the Lieutenant Governor, the candidate was Marissa Kearns, a hardcore conservative who also thought that Tupola should apologize for being "too liberal".  She later blamed Tupola for undermining her by not telling her that she was invited to debate with the Ige/Green team.

This infighting even more made people not want to vote for the Republican ticket? Why would people want to vote for a team that can't get its act together. People rather vote for a team that at least shows a united front than a team that just can't work together.

Because of this Ige won by one of the biggest landslides in Hawaii's history.  Not because he's popular, but because the other side was seen as an even bigger joke.

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On the legislative side of the elections,  the Democrats still have their majority as usual. In the State House, they are a few Republicans there, as usual. In the State Senate, the 2-years without a single Republican is finally over.

Back in 2016, the lone Republican senator Sam Slom was defeated by newcomer Stanley Chang.  So the Democrats had a total monopoly.

This year,  Kurt Fevella become the token Republican to join the State Senate.

This was thanks to his opponent Matt Lopresti being caught on security camera stealing his opponent's brochures from a house he was canvassing. A major embarrassment! Especially for someone bragging about how progressive he is and about he's all about "good government" 

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Ed Case is now the US  Representative for urban Honolulu.

Ed Case expressed skepticism about the Jones Act (the shipping law) in the past.


I really hope he presses the issue in Congress.  Whenever Jones Act is in the news, Ed Case needs to have an immediate public response.  Continue to speak to the public about how the Jones Act harms Hawaii's access to international trade. 

Introduce a bill in Congress to exempt all US-occupied islands from the Jones Act. 

Do all that even if it makes enemies with the status quo in Hawaii!

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There were 2 ballot measures up for a vote this year.

One was to allow the state to collect property taxes (here, it's the counties that do that) on " investment properties" (this wasn't defined) to pay for education.

Every politician promises to do something for education, even when there's not enough money to pay for all their promises.

But to add more property taxes when our cost of living is so high isn't going to get more support.

Because the term "investment properties" was a vague term that wasn't officially defined, the State Supreme Court ruled that amendment invalid before people could vote on.

Being that I have previously worked on ballot inspections, I know that Supreme Court ruling came too late to have ballots reprinted in time.

Even with that, people still voted on that proposed amendment, mostly to tell the world that they are not willing to pay more in property taxes, regardless of the "good cause" that it promised to fund.

Personally, I hate the idea of property taxes. It's one thing to pay taxes on something you bought this year. But to still collect taxes on something someone bought decades ago? Why?

Because of property taxes, many retirees on a fixed income had to give up their property that they bought decades ago in an era when property values were much lower. 

Property taxes are just proof that you don't even own the land or the house you "bought" even if you paid with cash!

As far as I'm concerned, while it may be ideal to have taxes be voluntary (I'm sure many people will voluntarily donate money to pay for schools, courts, emergency responders, etc), but if we are going to have taxes, why can't it just be on something you buy now.

If I buy a bottle of juice, I just pay the sales tax once. If I buy some studio equipment,  I just pay the sales tax once.

It should be the same for land/home transactions. If I buy it in 2018, I shouldn't have to continue paying taxes on it in 2048!  Especially since I'll be 68 years old by then, and I'll have to pay greater expenses on health care and everything else.  My income might not be able to pay for the increased property value of 2048 (especially being that demand will still be high for something that will be in even less supply by then).

As for the term "investment properties", it wasn't even officially defined. This worried property owners who rent out additional properties to family and friends. This worried property owners who bought property ages ago, and rent it out just to pay for the current level of property taxes. 

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The other ballot measure was for a constitutional convention. That ballot measure appears automatically every 10 years. 

There wasn't a massive demand for a constitutional convention. Meanwhile, the defenders of the status quo spent TONS of MONEY on ads claiming that having a constitutional convention will be a threat to labor rights, environment, Hawaiian rights, etc, etc, etc.

I thought all of that was useless fearmongering.

I do think a constitutional convention would be useful and I really regret not pushing that idea more.

For one thing, we definitely should amend the constitution for the following reasons

• reform our primary elections. Make it like California's primary in which people aren't restricted to voting within one political party, and make it so the top 2 vote-getters (regardless of political party) go on the General Election.  Learn more at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2018/08/hawaii-primary-elections-need-to-change.html

• Make it so that the governor's candidate can choose his/her running mate for lieutenant governor.  That isn't an option now. As the drama between Andria Tupola and Marissa Kearns showed, we can't afford to have that type of dysfunction in the executive branch! 

• Reform our legislature. Maybe one part of the legislature can represent districts (they both do now), and have another part of the legislature be like a parliament in which a political party can have proportional representation (ie. if Democrats have 60 % of all Hawaii resident support, they have 60% of the seats. If Republicans have 20% of all Hawaii resident support, they have 20% of the seats. And if Libertarians have 10% and Green have 10%, then have both have 10% of the seats each. That way all the parties have a seat at the table.  That way different ideologies have a voice in the legislature
• 
  

• Redefine Hawaii's relationship with the United States. A constitutional convention would be a perfect opportunity to discuss whether Hawaii would remain part of the US. The statehood vote was in 1959. Many of us weren't even born yet!  Why can't we have an official discussion about our status? Why can't we have at least an every-decade opportunity to vote on whether Hawaii shall remain part of the US?

I'm sure there's more we can discuss at the Constitution Convention. It's too bad we didn't get the opportunity!

The United States

The Senate remained in Republican hands. The House was taken over by the Democrats.

Most of the seats available in the Senate tend to be in conservative rural, overwhelmingly European-American states. This gives Republicans an advantage.  

Meanwhile, the  House of Representatives gives each state a number of seats based on population. So heavily urban states  have an advantage, giving the Democrats an advantage there. Also, the suburbs (once a Republican stronghold during the Reagan days) have been increasingly alienated from the Republican Party of Donald Trump, so this allowed the Democrats to gain extra seats. 

Now that the Democrats have the House, almost all of Trump's proposals are dead on arrival.  That means all of his anti-immigration proposals will not become law!  😊😊😊😊

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The Democrats dropped the ball when it came to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. They need to learn about the Art of Political War! Again, the Democrats waited until the last minute to publicize sexual misconduct allegations of their opponents. They waited a month before the election to reveal Donald Trump's joke about grabbing woman's private parts. Some senators knew about Kavanaugh's allegations in June, but waited until September when his hearings were almost over! 

This kind of waiting and last-minute revelations are seen as highly suspicious to the general public. It reeks of desperation. Even if the allegations were true! 

As far as I'm concerned, if there are sexual misconduct allegations about the opponent, it should be publicly revealed immediately!

Hit your opponent before he/she gains strength!

The stuff about Donald Trump should've been publicly revealed way before the Republican primaries.  The month before the general is too late!

Same with Supreme Court nominees. Any sexual misconduct should've been publicly revealed BEFORE the first hearings!  Why wait? 

All this waiting only empowered Republicans running for Senate. They got even more seats now! They will be able to pass anyone nominated by Trump now! 

(note: the House of Representatives doesn't get involved in confirming presidential nominees for appointments. So the Democrat majority there can't do anything about it)

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Even with the Republicans winning the Senate and various governorships (they might be able to hold on to Florida and Georgia though the results are still in dispute), various states still approved various ballot measures commonly associated with liberals.

Michigan, Maryland and Utah all approved some level of increasing leniency on marijuana laws.

Florida approved allowing most felons (except murderers and sex offenders) be automatically eligible to vote after their sentence is over.  

Louisiana now requires unanimous jury decisions to convict. 

Arkansas and Missouri approved minimum wage increases. Idaho, Utah and Nebraska all approved of increased Medicare spending. These cases proved that economic libertarianism is NOT popular among conservative voters.  Their votes for Republicans has NOTHING to do with "small government" or laissez-faire capitalism and MORE to do with abortion, guns, immigration, and "political correctness".

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Now it's on to 2020! 

Donald Trump will continue to benefit from "hey look at me everyone, I'm being politically incorrect".

People want a tough guy as commander-in-chief!

The best bet would be Corey Booker.

 No way could Donald Trump out-tough that guy on the debate stage!

Corey Booker also knows how to publicly atone for his past sins (high school groping) while still preserving his tough guy image.  It's good to show young males that it's not "soft" to apologize.

Corey Booker could also increase the African-American vote in swing states. 

But he can't make any of his "Spartacus" gaffes like he did in the Supreme Court hearings. That would just make him a target of ridicule.

He would also have to show a humorous side that benefitted  past presidents like Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton!

He would also have to be careful about any associations with socialism or the Castro brothers (he can't afford to lose Florida). 

Stay tuned!

ending public rivalries with old friends

I once blasted former friends by name and photo on my blog.

Being that I know that they got my point already, I have deleted all references to their names and photos!

We might never see eye-to-eye on everything!  I have kept other blog posts where I expressed disagreement with their ideas without mentioning their names or pictures, because really, those blog posts aren't really about them, it's about their ideas and why I disagree with those ideas. 

I know they've had their blog posts in which they expressed disagreement with my ideas without mentioning my name.  Some of which I have to admit is humorous to me.  We'll just have to agree to disagree.  

As far as I'm concerned, I'm done with having public rivalries with those former friends.  It's time for me to move on! 

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(PS: this blog post does NOT mean I will be silent about negative experiences I will have in the future.  Bullies will continue to be publicly exposed to the light on my blog post.  Just treat me nice, and apologize if you accidentally offend me, and you'll never have to worry about being publicly exposed on my blogs in the future. )

This blog is now 15 years old

Wow, time has flied so fast!

It was 15 years ago when I started this blog.

I wrote about the circumstances that led me to start this blog on my one-decade anniversary blog post which you can read at 
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/10/1-decade-anniversary-of-this-blog.html


Anyways, lots of things have changed in those 15 years!

Back then,  things like YouTube, facebook, twitter didn't even exist yet! But now, they're the center of many news reports and basically the center of mainstream life!

Back then, the word "viral" still focused on diseases! The word now refers to anything widely shared on YouTube, facebook and twitter (as I mentioned, didn't exist yet when I started my blog).

My blog was basically something I shared with friends. 

I was also thinking, just in case I become a celebrity, my blog is my one-stop shop for people to hear my side of the story! 

I'm still not a real celebrity [  still working on it 😉 ] but you never know when it's going to come! In this age of "viral", people become celebrities when they least expect it! At least with my blog, people don't have to guess how I really think about things, they can just refer to my blog! 

And now that we have facebook and twitter, I could use those tools to advertise my blog post and bring it to a larger audience.

And with facebook, long-lost classmates/friends/co-worker can be updated on how I think about things!  And yes, they read my blog posts! 

And with YouTube, I have another way to speak to the world. I could speak to people who aren't interested in reading long blog posts but are willing to watch a video!

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Also within the 15-year time-frame, my life circumstances and some opinions do change.

Back in 2003, I was 23 years old and still an undergraduate student at UH-Manoa.  This "real world" that older people talk about? What is that?

Since then, I've started working different jobs in very different work environments, with the main one being a substitute teacher (that one started in 2005). That means I had serious role model responsibilities, for which I really had to mature! Some perspectives, attitudes and behaviors had to change! 

Which was why some former classmates were shocked when I no longer had the same attitudes and opinions that I had when I was a student in high school.

So yes, you might notice that some blog posts from 2003 and the few following years will have opinions that are different from what I express in recent years.

Part of that is growth & maturity, but part of that is also the changing world around us.

Back in 2003, we were only a few years after 9/11 so the trauma was still recent. Also, the president was George W. Bush, who while pursuing an aggressive foreign policy, also advocated for a more lenient immigration policy.  Because I was appreciative of his advocacy of a more lenient immigration policy, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt! For that, I was accused by some of being "conservative" even though I was more of a semi-libertarian even though I was a product of various government programs. As you could tell, it's hard to put a label on my socio-political viewpoints. 

Fast forward 15 years, and we now have Donald Trump as president. Whereas Bush wanted a more lenient immigration policy, Trump's opening statement of his campaign demanded a stricter immigration policy and demonized Latin American immigrants with some weasel words said afterwards.  Racists felt empowered by Trumps' rantings. Abusive immigration enforcement has increased! Also, add that Trump has been exposed as a sexual predator, and that doesn't bother his supporters at all! 

Needless to say, I have become more pessimistic about USA's direction over the past 15 years.

I have become a supporter of Hawaii's independence.  Totally different from back when I had USA flag pin on my shirt after 9/11. 

Some opinions stayed the same over the years.  I still believe people should be judged as individuals instead of as members of groups (ie. race, gender, etc).  I still want more lenient laws on marijuana, gambling and prostitution and I still want more harsh punishment for violent criminals. I still have the same opinion on abortion & gun policy.   I still think capitalism is a great though imperfect economic system.  


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Some people might ask "why you put so much stuff on your blog, aren't you worried about how people might react?"

What do you mean "so much stuff"?

Actually, there's so much stuff I was planning to blog about, but haven't had the time to add it to my blog!

Of course I think of how people are going to react. Everyone does! 

But you have to take risks in life! You can't satisfy everyone! 

If you're not telling your story, someone else who don't have your best interests at heart will tell the world your story from their point of view.

That's not something you want to risk in a "viral" world, where people have their 15-minutes of fame when they least expect it!

People can write what they want about me, I can still write my side of the story!