Earlier this week, there was a big food fight at Kaiser High School! The principal reacted by not allowing the students to eat in the cafeteria for the rest of the week.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/115658864.html
And looking at the online comments, you can sense many have this attitude of "this is just harmless fun"
Harmless fun? When innocent bystanders get hit by food? When kids throw food as a subtle way of intimidation of vulnerable students? When someone could slip & fall because of wasted food on the ground? When this incident could easily turn into a real fight? When taxpayers pay all that money for the purpose of "keeping kids from starving", just to see all that food wasted by a bunch of ingrates?
Even more stupid is those comments that goes along the lines of "you were a kid once, you enjoyed it, why you picking on us kids now for having that fun?"
Parents and teachers are supposed to teach what's right & wrong! While they may not have perfect behavior in the past, they realize that their past mistakes are wrong! They realize that the main part of their job is to prevent their kids from making the same mistakes they used to make!
They don't want their kids to make the same mistakes because they don't want their kids to grow up having to regret the harm they did!
And most importantly, they want the kids to became well-behaved, productive citizens. You CANT do that by making excuses like "I used to do that, so I'll let you get away with it"
--------
Some of the online commenters even had the nerve to suggest the school was being a dictatorship for taking a food fight seriously.
Those kids have no idea of what a dictatorship really is!
The true rebels against dictatorships are protesters in Egypt and Tunisia who were brave enough to risk getting attacked by riot police to express their anger at the dictators who ruined their country!
True dictatorships are countries like Iran, China, North Korea, Belarus, Cuba and Zimbabwe where peaceful protesters get attacked by riot police and get brutally tortured in prisons.
Those kids taking part in the food fight are spoiled brats who are clueless about what real hardships are! They are ungrateful for all the subsidized (ie taxpayer funded) food they are allowed to have in the first place.
They won't get a brutal beatdown by authorities! They'll probably just get detention and suspension!
People in most foreign countries are not that fortunate!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Linda Lingle's legacy
It's been at least a month since Linda Lingle's time as Hawaii's governor has ended!
Linda Lingle was a Republican governor in a state that usually votes Democrat. So just her election alone was a major change for Hawaii.
Since the 1950's, the Republicans had a hard time winning major elections in Hawaii. Sure, some of the candidates won a few elections (ie. Pat Saiki, Frank Fasi) but Democrats won way more often. In the late 1990's, when Hawaii was trailing the other US states economically, people were willing to give the Republicans a 2nd look. Linda Lingle, a moderate Republican, was able to get the votes of many of those who usually vote Democrat! While Lingle lost a close one in 1998, she got elected governor in 2002 & 2006!
However, towards the end of Lingle's term, her popularity had dramatically declined. The economy was going down, and the state government had to cut the budget. The most unpopular move to reduce the budget was Furlough Fridays. This will be discussed later in the editorial
1) Lingle's electoral campaigns
I still remember when Lingle was running for governor back in 1998. It was the first year I was eligible to vote.
Lingle was running against the Democrat incumbent Ben Cayetano.
I have to laugh when people claimed "negative advertising doesn't work in Hawaii" because Cayetano won that year due to negative advertising. He had ads stating "the people are not stupid" in response to what Lingle was saying. There were ads featuring disgruntled Maui residents who weren't satisfied with Lingle's time as Mayor of Maui County. Inouye stated he supports Cayetano because "he knows what it's like to raise a family" which was an indirect attack on Lingle being childless. (which was why I found it ironic that Inouye claimed to be against negative campaigning last year)
Had Lingle ran more hard-hitting ads against Cayetano, she might've embarrassed Cayetano and defeated him.
But it wasn't meant to be. While many people in Hawaii were getting tired of Hawaii stagnating under Ben Cayetano (and Democrats in general), it wasn't enough. That election was more competitive than recent governor elections, but still the Democrat won.
However, Lingle didn't give up. There was an increase of Republicans in the state legislature. There was new energy among Republicans. There was also increasing diversity among Hawaii Republicans. While the party still had its strongest support among the European-Americans here, there were more Asians and Polynesians joining the party too.
Cayetano and his LT Gov. Mazie Hirono continued to embarass themselves. The UH professors and public school teachers went on strike in the Spring 2001. Hawaii was still seen as economically stagnating compared to the rest of the US.
So in 2002, Lingle defeated Hirono, and became the first Republican governor in decades.
In 2006, her popularity was so over-whelming that few Democrats even dared run against her. Lingle easily defeated previously lesser-known candidate Randall Iwase.
2) Economy
One of my friends who doesn't follow political news as closely as I do, has blamed Hawaii's economic problems all on Lingle, and claimed that Ben Cayetano's time was better.
I had to laugh at that one, because apparently, that guy has selective memory.
Things were actually going well under the first 6 years of Lingle's administration. They were a major improvement from how it was under Cayetano.
The economic problems last 2 years under Lingle were basically a by-product of the economic meltdown on the mainland. And other states had it worse than Hawaii!
But Cayetano's administration was worse for Hawaii economically, because Hawaii was going down economically when the rest of the USA was going through one of its greatest economic booms in history!
Under Cayetano, Hawaii was known for its excessive bureaucratic red tape that discouraged entrepreneurs from investing in Hawaii. The attitude from the government was "what, you don't like our regulations, our red tape, our tax policy? Too bad". The problem with attitude is that entrepreneurs will invest (and create jobs) somewhere else. Which is exactly what they did!
Under Lingle, Hawaii had a more welcoming environment for investors and entrepreneurs. Times were very good economically, to the point where Hawaii's unemployment rate was lower than other states. IT was at a point where employers could afford to hire more than what was available.
And things were so good economically, that Lingle was able to get re-elected overwhelmingly in 2006.
But Hawaii wasn't immune from the worldwide increase in oil prices, nor was it immune from the slowing economy on the continent, which made potential tourists not being able to come here!
3) Furloughs
With the declining economy came declining tax revenues. Not enough money to pay state workers. Though there were some layoffs, the government could only lay off so many workers. So there was furloughs. For 2-4 Fridays a month, many state offices were closed. This was done so the state didn't have to spend so much on payroll and energy costs.
However, the people of Hawaii were extremely offended by furloughs happening to the government-run school systems.
Because of Furlough Fridays, Hawaii was known nationwide as the state with the least amount of time kids are at school. There were major concerns of students falling behind in their studies. Teachers didn't have as much time as they used to have in going over their lessons.
There were also concerns over who was going to supervise the younger children on Furlough Fridays, especially if both parents were working that day. Obviously, most parents wouldn't want to leave their elementary school aged students at home by themselves. And even with teens, while most parents are OK will leaving them at home by themselves, there were concerns that teens with nothing to do are more likely to engage in sexual or criminal activities.
While Lingle approved the Furlough Friday plan, she was not alone in that part. The Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teacher's Association also went along with that plan. Teachers went along with it, fearing that if they didn't, they would be laid off.
After the First Furlough Friday hit October 2009 , there were months of negotiations of how to end the need for furloughs in the public schools. Some suggested tax raises. That would've made the state's economic situation worse, since that would mean entrepreneurs (job-creators) will start to look elsewhere. Credit to Lingle for not going along with that idea.
It wasn't until it was too late for the 2009-2010 school year that Lingle, the legislature, DOE and the HSTA agreed on a plan to reduce furloughs within the government school system. Furlough Fridays were finally over, though there were a few furlough days scattered through the school year.
It was also too late for Lingle's reputation. Ever since the Furlough Fridays had started, the people of Hawaii turned against Lingle. Though Lingle was no longer up for re-election, her Lt. Gov Duke Aiona was running for governor in 2010. So the voters took their frustration out on Duke Aiona, causing him to lose the governor's election to Neil Abercrombie.
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html#1592160011337005645
4) Linlge on "Moral Issues"
Linda Lingle usually had distanced herself from the extreme religious rhetoric that is popular among Republicans on the continental US. The kind of rhetoric coming from folks like Jesse Helms, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell is a big turnoff to many of Hawaii's people.
Sure, many people in Hawaii might conduct themselves in a "conservative" manner, but they are turned off by this "Christians are better than others" attitude. Especially since many of Hawaii's Asian people are Buddhists. And many others claim no religious affiliation, more so than most states in the USA.
Also, Hawaii was among the first few states to legalize abortion. Again, while I'm sure most parents here prefer their kids not engage in pre-marital sex, they are also realistic enough to realize people are going to do so anyways. And many would rather get an abortion than to take care of kids they either not emotionally or financially ready to take care of!
Lingle was pro-choice on abortion, which is opposite of what most Republicans believe.
So because Lingle was able to position herself as a "moderate Republican", she didn't seem as scary to Hawaii's voters as other Republicans like Jesse Helms, Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell.
However, many people in Hawaii are still uncomfortable with gay marriage. In 1998, ( the same year Lingle lost her 1st attempt at the governor's office), the people of Hawaii voted against legalizing same-sex marriage. And at the same year, there were rumors of Linda Lingle being a "lesbian" which she denied. But since she claimed to be a "moderate Republican", people were wondering which way she would go.
Well, in 2010, there was a bill in the state legislature to legalize same-sex civil unions. It had a majority approval in the state legislature. However, Lingle vetoed that bill!
Lingle claimed that the people should vote on that issue. I'm thinking she vetoed that bill in order to protect Duke Aiona's chance of getting elected.
While 68% of the Hawaii's people voted against same-sex marriage in 1998, let's not forget that those born between 1981 and 1994 were not eligible to vote that year but will be eligible in the next election in 2012. The younger generation is more liberal on gay issues. They will not look kindly on Lingle's veto!
5) Conclusion
Lingle's time as governor is done. While it was seen as a promising new direction for Hawaii, it ended up being affected by economic ills at the end.
While the start of Lingle's administration was seen as a time for a Republican revival in Hawaii, it now seems that the party needs to start over again. There is only 1 Republican in the state Senate. Republicans are still severely outnumbered in the State House 42-8!
Republicans nationwide are increasingly identified with "Obama-hatred" which offends many people in Hawaii. Local Republicans can still be critical of Obama's shortcomings, but would have to work extra hard to distance themselves from people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.
While I think Aiona gave it his best shot last year, I do think Charles Djou and Lynne Finnegan might be the better leaders for the party's future.
It'll all depend on Neil Abercrombie handles things. If things go well, the Democrats keep control. If not, the Republicans might rise again.
Linda Lingle was a Republican governor in a state that usually votes Democrat. So just her election alone was a major change for Hawaii.
Since the 1950's, the Republicans had a hard time winning major elections in Hawaii. Sure, some of the candidates won a few elections (ie. Pat Saiki, Frank Fasi) but Democrats won way more often. In the late 1990's, when Hawaii was trailing the other US states economically, people were willing to give the Republicans a 2nd look. Linda Lingle, a moderate Republican, was able to get the votes of many of those who usually vote Democrat! While Lingle lost a close one in 1998, she got elected governor in 2002 & 2006!
However, towards the end of Lingle's term, her popularity had dramatically declined. The economy was going down, and the state government had to cut the budget. The most unpopular move to reduce the budget was Furlough Fridays. This will be discussed later in the editorial
1) Lingle's electoral campaigns
I still remember when Lingle was running for governor back in 1998. It was the first year I was eligible to vote.
Lingle was running against the Democrat incumbent Ben Cayetano.
I have to laugh when people claimed "negative advertising doesn't work in Hawaii" because Cayetano won that year due to negative advertising. He had ads stating "the people are not stupid" in response to what Lingle was saying. There were ads featuring disgruntled Maui residents who weren't satisfied with Lingle's time as Mayor of Maui County. Inouye stated he supports Cayetano because "he knows what it's like to raise a family" which was an indirect attack on Lingle being childless. (which was why I found it ironic that Inouye claimed to be against negative campaigning last year)
Had Lingle ran more hard-hitting ads against Cayetano, she might've embarrassed Cayetano and defeated him.
But it wasn't meant to be. While many people in Hawaii were getting tired of Hawaii stagnating under Ben Cayetano (and Democrats in general), it wasn't enough. That election was more competitive than recent governor elections, but still the Democrat won.
However, Lingle didn't give up. There was an increase of Republicans in the state legislature. There was new energy among Republicans. There was also increasing diversity among Hawaii Republicans. While the party still had its strongest support among the European-Americans here, there were more Asians and Polynesians joining the party too.
Cayetano and his LT Gov. Mazie Hirono continued to embarass themselves. The UH professors and public school teachers went on strike in the Spring 2001. Hawaii was still seen as economically stagnating compared to the rest of the US.
So in 2002, Lingle defeated Hirono, and became the first Republican governor in decades.
In 2006, her popularity was so over-whelming that few Democrats even dared run against her. Lingle easily defeated previously lesser-known candidate Randall Iwase.
2) Economy
One of my friends who doesn't follow political news as closely as I do, has blamed Hawaii's economic problems all on Lingle, and claimed that Ben Cayetano's time was better.
I had to laugh at that one, because apparently, that guy has selective memory.
Things were actually going well under the first 6 years of Lingle's administration. They were a major improvement from how it was under Cayetano.
The economic problems last 2 years under Lingle were basically a by-product of the economic meltdown on the mainland. And other states had it worse than Hawaii!
But Cayetano's administration was worse for Hawaii economically, because Hawaii was going down economically when the rest of the USA was going through one of its greatest economic booms in history!
Under Cayetano, Hawaii was known for its excessive bureaucratic red tape that discouraged entrepreneurs from investing in Hawaii. The attitude from the government was "what, you don't like our regulations, our red tape, our tax policy? Too bad". The problem with attitude is that entrepreneurs will invest (and create jobs) somewhere else. Which is exactly what they did!
Under Lingle, Hawaii had a more welcoming environment for investors and entrepreneurs. Times were very good economically, to the point where Hawaii's unemployment rate was lower than other states. IT was at a point where employers could afford to hire more than what was available.
And things were so good economically, that Lingle was able to get re-elected overwhelmingly in 2006.
But Hawaii wasn't immune from the worldwide increase in oil prices, nor was it immune from the slowing economy on the continent, which made potential tourists not being able to come here!
3) Furloughs
With the declining economy came declining tax revenues. Not enough money to pay state workers. Though there were some layoffs, the government could only lay off so many workers. So there was furloughs. For 2-4 Fridays a month, many state offices were closed. This was done so the state didn't have to spend so much on payroll and energy costs.
However, the people of Hawaii were extremely offended by furloughs happening to the government-run school systems.
Because of Furlough Fridays, Hawaii was known nationwide as the state with the least amount of time kids are at school. There were major concerns of students falling behind in their studies. Teachers didn't have as much time as they used to have in going over their lessons.
There were also concerns over who was going to supervise the younger children on Furlough Fridays, especially if both parents were working that day. Obviously, most parents wouldn't want to leave their elementary school aged students at home by themselves. And even with teens, while most parents are OK will leaving them at home by themselves, there were concerns that teens with nothing to do are more likely to engage in sexual or criminal activities.
While Lingle approved the Furlough Friday plan, she was not alone in that part. The Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teacher's Association also went along with that plan. Teachers went along with it, fearing that if they didn't, they would be laid off.
After the First Furlough Friday hit October 2009 , there were months of negotiations of how to end the need for furloughs in the public schools. Some suggested tax raises. That would've made the state's economic situation worse, since that would mean entrepreneurs (job-creators) will start to look elsewhere. Credit to Lingle for not going along with that idea.
It wasn't until it was too late for the 2009-2010 school year that Lingle, the legislature, DOE and the HSTA agreed on a plan to reduce furloughs within the government school system. Furlough Fridays were finally over, though there were a few furlough days scattered through the school year.
It was also too late for Lingle's reputation. Ever since the Furlough Fridays had started, the people of Hawaii turned against Lingle. Though Lingle was no longer up for re-election, her Lt. Gov Duke Aiona was running for governor in 2010. So the voters took their frustration out on Duke Aiona, causing him to lose the governor's election to Neil Abercrombie.
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html#1592160011337005645
4) Linlge on "Moral Issues"
Linda Lingle usually had distanced herself from the extreme religious rhetoric that is popular among Republicans on the continental US. The kind of rhetoric coming from folks like Jesse Helms, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell is a big turnoff to many of Hawaii's people.
Sure, many people in Hawaii might conduct themselves in a "conservative" manner, but they are turned off by this "Christians are better than others" attitude. Especially since many of Hawaii's Asian people are Buddhists. And many others claim no religious affiliation, more so than most states in the USA.
Also, Hawaii was among the first few states to legalize abortion. Again, while I'm sure most parents here prefer their kids not engage in pre-marital sex, they are also realistic enough to realize people are going to do so anyways. And many would rather get an abortion than to take care of kids they either not emotionally or financially ready to take care of!
Lingle was pro-choice on abortion, which is opposite of what most Republicans believe.
So because Lingle was able to position herself as a "moderate Republican", she didn't seem as scary to Hawaii's voters as other Republicans like Jesse Helms, Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell.
However, many people in Hawaii are still uncomfortable with gay marriage. In 1998, ( the same year Lingle lost her 1st attempt at the governor's office), the people of Hawaii voted against legalizing same-sex marriage. And at the same year, there were rumors of Linda Lingle being a "lesbian" which she denied. But since she claimed to be a "moderate Republican", people were wondering which way she would go.
Well, in 2010, there was a bill in the state legislature to legalize same-sex civil unions. It had a majority approval in the state legislature. However, Lingle vetoed that bill!
Lingle claimed that the people should vote on that issue. I'm thinking she vetoed that bill in order to protect Duke Aiona's chance of getting elected.
While 68% of the Hawaii's people voted against same-sex marriage in 1998, let's not forget that those born between 1981 and 1994 were not eligible to vote that year but will be eligible in the next election in 2012. The younger generation is more liberal on gay issues. They will not look kindly on Lingle's veto!
5) Conclusion
Lingle's time as governor is done. While it was seen as a promising new direction for Hawaii, it ended up being affected by economic ills at the end.
While the start of Lingle's administration was seen as a time for a Republican revival in Hawaii, it now seems that the party needs to start over again. There is only 1 Republican in the state Senate. Republicans are still severely outnumbered in the State House 42-8!
Republicans nationwide are increasingly identified with "Obama-hatred" which offends many people in Hawaii. Local Republicans can still be critical of Obama's shortcomings, but would have to work extra hard to distance themselves from people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.
While I think Aiona gave it his best shot last year, I do think Charles Djou and Lynne Finnegan might be the better leaders for the party's future.
It'll all depend on Neil Abercrombie handles things. If things go well, the Democrats keep control. If not, the Republicans might rise again.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Tucson shooting
Last Saturday, there was a shooting in front of a Safeway in Tucson, Arizona. While the victim that got the most attention was a Congresswoman named Gabrielle Giffords (who survived), there others who got shot! One of them was federal judge John Roll , and a 9-year old girl named Christina Taylor-Greene!
Of course, there already so many other controversial topics discussed in reaction to that shooting.
1) Political Motives
Being that the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was a Democrat, I first assumed that the shooter might be a right-wing extremist. After all, if a Republican was attacked, I would assume the attacker would be a left-wing extremist!
So yeah, some left-wing liberal pundits (ie. Paul Krugman of the NY Times) blamed the shooting on right-wing propaganda promoted by Fox News and talk radio.
But it turns out that the killer (Jared Loughner) was a schizophrenic, whose previous rantings are a bunch of lefty-anarchist conspiracy theories. Loughner claimed to be influenced by books written by Adolf Hitler and Karl Marx. No evidence Loughner was influenced by Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck!
So when that fact was revealed, some right-wing conservatives were like "how dare those left-wing liberals pimp this tragedy to promote their anti-conservative agenda".
But many right-wingers pimp tragedies all the time. Especially those committed by Mexican and Muslim immigrants. Not only that, they pin the blame for the tragedies on politicians who favor a more lenient immigration policy.
One of those hypocrites is Michelle Maglalang Malkin! She seemed so offended when left-wing pundits blamed the Tucson shooting on Republicans. But yet, she blames EVERY crime committed by immigrants on politicians who favor a more lenient immigration policy. Michelle Maglalang Malkins LOVES TO PIMP the victims of immigrant criminals.
You think I'm exagarating? Michelle Maglalang Malkin accused comedian Stephen Colbert of lacking compassion towards victims of Mexican criminals.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin100410.php3
But Colbert NEVER mocked victims of immigrant criminals. Colbert was mocking those who claim "immigrants steal our jobs" but don't even apply to work in the farms where many immigrants work.
Because Colbert mocked those who said "immigrants steal our jobs", TRAGEDY PIMP Michelle Maglalang Malkin accused Colbert of lacking sympathy towards Jamiel Shaw and Cheryl Greene.
And Michelle Maglalang Malkin pimp the deaths of Shaw and Greene (both African-Americans killed by Mexican gang members) in a lame attempt to get more African-Americans to share her hatred of Mexicans!
What Michelle Maglalang Malkin CHOSE NOT TO MENTION that despite the deaths of Shaw and Greene at the hands of Mexicans, most African-American murder victims were killed by other African-Americans. And Latino criminals tend to target other Latinos more than other ethnic groups.
http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/2007/092307blacklatino.html
And Jamiel Shaw's murder had less to do with the color of his skin, and more to do with the color of his clothing!
http://www.streetgangs.com/street-gangs/jamiel-shaw-gang-race
That doesn't excuse the murder, but it shows that Shaw's murder, like the Tucson shooting, has been pimped by those with political agendas.
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Another hypocritical tragedy pimp is Pat Buchanan. Buchanan was also offended when left-wing liberals pinned the blame for the Tucson shooting on conservatives. Yet, Buchanan blamed pro-immigration advocates for the Virginia Tech shooting, committed by a LEGAL immigrant from South Korea, who came to the US as a child.
http://townhall.com/columnists/PatBuchanan/2007/05/01/the_dark_side_of_diversity
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Sarah Palin got the backlash over the Tucson shooting, due to the fact that on her website, she put a map in which sniper targets were placed on Congressional districts of her opponents, one of them being Gabrielle Giffords. While there is no evidence that Sarah Palin had any influence on Jared Loughner, her use of sniper targets on a map is still a stupid idea.
After her critics pinned the blame of the Tucson shooting on that sniper target map, Palin accused her critics of pinning a "blood libel" on her. Then the tragedy pimps on the Left pretended to be offended by her use of the words "blood libel", saying that those words were associated with the rampant anti-Jewish backlash in Europe centuries ago. But we all know that's not what Palin meant, she used the word "blood libel" to accuse her critics of falsely tying to the Tucson shooting.
2) on the Mentally Ill
After every tragedy, there's always a scream of "we need to do something" even though many times, doing something is worse than doing nothing.
Because Loughner was already known to be mentally ill, people are using this tragedy to demand that the mentally ill be held in an institution against their will, even if they haven't committed a crime.
People say crazy and stupid stuff all the time. But a truly free society doesn't imprison people without due process! You need to have evidence of harm in order to institutionalize someone. You can't just institutionalize someone just because they said idiotic things. Because once that happens, people running the government will decide what crazy thoughts deserve institutionalization. In countries like Iran, China, Cuba, Venezuela and Belarus, the government considers any protester of being "mentally ill" and institutionalizes those who have legit grievances against the government.
3) Gun Control
Because this incident involved a gun, many left-wing liberals are now advocating for more restrictions on guns.
The irony is many of those same left-wing liberals complain about conservative politicians violating our civil liberties and being over-zealous in imprisoning people. Yet, gun control policies will ...... lead to more civil liberty violations and lead to more over-zealousness in imprisoning people!
2 of those hypocrites are New York Times writers Bob Herbert and Nicholas Kristof. Herbert has written many articles protesting the police using intimidation tactics against non-violent African-American and Latino youth in a lame attempt to "stop drugs" or "stop illegal guns". Herbert especially complains about that happening in New York, which has mega-strict laws on guns. So, yeah, Herbert's gun control fanaticism is leading to the very civil liberty violations he is complaining about.
And Nicholas Kristof, who was recently complaining about the federal and state government resorting to imprisonment too easily, yet when gun control laws exist, you are asking the government to ...... resort to imprisonment too easily. DUH!
And his latest article is filled with anti-gun BS!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/opinion/13kristof.html
Likewise, suicide rates are higher in states with more guns, simply because there are more gun suicides. Other kinds of suicide rates are no higher
Yeah, but Japan ban guns, but still has a higher suicide rate. You don't need a gun to commit suicide. You could easily jump off a bridge or drink poisons.
The chances that a gun will be used to deter a home invasion are unbelievably remote, and dialing 911 is more effective in reducing injury than brandishing a weapon, the journal article says.
That is mega-stupid. It's impossible to say something more stupid than that! You think the intruder will let you call 911? Off course not, he could just cut your throat before you could even describe anything to the 911 operator! Criminals know that, that's why they prefer to burglarize when the residents aren't home or if they know their victims don't have a gun!
I even remember back in 2006, when working at Central Middle School, when a student went beserk at me, when I called for security, that kid slammed that phone on the ground before I could even say anything! Luckily, that kid wasn't that big, so he couldn't do much physical damage to me even if he tried! But if your ex is big, he's not going to just knock the phone out of your hand, he will choke you to death! Best to be armed before he barges in the door!
And because most homicides in the home are by family members or acquaintances — not by an intruder — the presence of a gun in the home increases the risk of a gun murder in that home
Another stupid statement. If you're not living with a dysfunctional family, you could have tons of guns in your house, your relatives aren't going to kill you! But if your ex-boyfriend is 3x your size, he could use his strength to break in your house and choke the living crap out of you before you can even complete your sentence to the 911 operator!
Improve background checks and follow Canada in requiring a 28-day waiting period to buy a handgun.
A-28 day waiting period? Your ex, your angry co-worker, your employee you just fired, is not going to wait 28 days to slash you with a knife or knock the living crap out of you!
Yet, so-called "humanitarians" like Kristoff advocate that you be totally defenseless against those who can slash your face, stab your kidneys, choke you to death or break your jaw?
Kristoff then goes on with stats about "firearm suicide rates" and firearm homicide rates", but really, those stats are NOT AS IMPORTANT as "overall suicide rates" and "overall homicide rates". "Suicide through gunshot" is NOT more tragic than "suicide by hanging."
And don't give me this crap that "innocent person beaten to death in a hate crime" is better than "burglar got shot because his potential victims". In fact, I believe burglars, carjackers, store robbers, rapists, spouse abusers and other punks DESERVE TO BE SHOT AT! You think I'm being mean? What about the mean-spiritedness of burglars, carjackers, store robbers, rapists and spouse abusers who use knives, baseball bats and superior physical strength over their victims. Compassion for those punks is compassion wasted!
Kristof also dismissed John Lott's research proving that allowing for concealed weapons do deter criminals. John Lott answers back at Krisof at http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/01/14/arizona-shootings-gun-violence-research-facts-vs-new-york-times/#ixzz1B4POI9HT
John Lott answers to more anti-gun BS at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/493636.html
And don't give me this "you don't need a gun, the police will protect you", because I wrote why that's bull-stuff at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/12/police-cant-protect-you-everytime.html
Of course, there already so many other controversial topics discussed in reaction to that shooting.
1) Political Motives
Being that the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was a Democrat, I first assumed that the shooter might be a right-wing extremist. After all, if a Republican was attacked, I would assume the attacker would be a left-wing extremist!
So yeah, some left-wing liberal pundits (ie. Paul Krugman of the NY Times) blamed the shooting on right-wing propaganda promoted by Fox News and talk radio.
But it turns out that the killer (Jared Loughner) was a schizophrenic, whose previous rantings are a bunch of lefty-anarchist conspiracy theories. Loughner claimed to be influenced by books written by Adolf Hitler and Karl Marx. No evidence Loughner was influenced by Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck!
So when that fact was revealed, some right-wing conservatives were like "how dare those left-wing liberals pimp this tragedy to promote their anti-conservative agenda".
But many right-wingers pimp tragedies all the time. Especially those committed by Mexican and Muslim immigrants. Not only that, they pin the blame for the tragedies on politicians who favor a more lenient immigration policy.
One of those hypocrites is Michelle Maglalang Malkin! She seemed so offended when left-wing pundits blamed the Tucson shooting on Republicans. But yet, she blames EVERY crime committed by immigrants on politicians who favor a more lenient immigration policy. Michelle Maglalang Malkins LOVES TO PIMP the victims of immigrant criminals.
You think I'm exagarating? Michelle Maglalang Malkin accused comedian Stephen Colbert of lacking compassion towards victims of Mexican criminals.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin100410.php3
But Colbert NEVER mocked victims of immigrant criminals. Colbert was mocking those who claim "immigrants steal our jobs" but don't even apply to work in the farms where many immigrants work.
Because Colbert mocked those who said "immigrants steal our jobs", TRAGEDY PIMP Michelle Maglalang Malkin accused Colbert of lacking sympathy towards Jamiel Shaw and Cheryl Greene.
And Michelle Maglalang Malkin pimp the deaths of Shaw and Greene (both African-Americans killed by Mexican gang members) in a lame attempt to get more African-Americans to share her hatred of Mexicans!
What Michelle Maglalang Malkin CHOSE NOT TO MENTION that despite the deaths of Shaw and Greene at the hands of Mexicans, most African-American murder victims were killed by other African-Americans. And Latino criminals tend to target other Latinos more than other ethnic groups.
http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/2007/092307blacklatino.html
And Jamiel Shaw's murder had less to do with the color of his skin, and more to do with the color of his clothing!
http://www.streetgangs.com/street-gangs/jamiel-shaw-gang-race
That doesn't excuse the murder, but it shows that Shaw's murder, like the Tucson shooting, has been pimped by those with political agendas.
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Another hypocritical tragedy pimp is Pat Buchanan. Buchanan was also offended when left-wing liberals pinned the blame for the Tucson shooting on conservatives. Yet, Buchanan blamed pro-immigration advocates for the Virginia Tech shooting, committed by a LEGAL immigrant from South Korea, who came to the US as a child.
http://townhall.com/columnists/PatBuchanan/2007/05/01/the_dark_side_of_diversity
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Sarah Palin got the backlash over the Tucson shooting, due to the fact that on her website, she put a map in which sniper targets were placed on Congressional districts of her opponents, one of them being Gabrielle Giffords. While there is no evidence that Sarah Palin had any influence on Jared Loughner, her use of sniper targets on a map is still a stupid idea.
After her critics pinned the blame of the Tucson shooting on that sniper target map, Palin accused her critics of pinning a "blood libel" on her. Then the tragedy pimps on the Left pretended to be offended by her use of the words "blood libel", saying that those words were associated with the rampant anti-Jewish backlash in Europe centuries ago. But we all know that's not what Palin meant, she used the word "blood libel" to accuse her critics of falsely tying to the Tucson shooting.
2) on the Mentally Ill
After every tragedy, there's always a scream of "we need to do something" even though many times, doing something is worse than doing nothing.
Because Loughner was already known to be mentally ill, people are using this tragedy to demand that the mentally ill be held in an institution against their will, even if they haven't committed a crime.
People say crazy and stupid stuff all the time. But a truly free society doesn't imprison people without due process! You need to have evidence of harm in order to institutionalize someone. You can't just institutionalize someone just because they said idiotic things. Because once that happens, people running the government will decide what crazy thoughts deserve institutionalization. In countries like Iran, China, Cuba, Venezuela and Belarus, the government considers any protester of being "mentally ill" and institutionalizes those who have legit grievances against the government.
3) Gun Control
Because this incident involved a gun, many left-wing liberals are now advocating for more restrictions on guns.
The irony is many of those same left-wing liberals complain about conservative politicians violating our civil liberties and being over-zealous in imprisoning people. Yet, gun control policies will ...... lead to more civil liberty violations and lead to more over-zealousness in imprisoning people!
2 of those hypocrites are New York Times writers Bob Herbert and Nicholas Kristof. Herbert has written many articles protesting the police using intimidation tactics against non-violent African-American and Latino youth in a lame attempt to "stop drugs" or "stop illegal guns". Herbert especially complains about that happening in New York, which has mega-strict laws on guns. So, yeah, Herbert's gun control fanaticism is leading to the very civil liberty violations he is complaining about.
And Nicholas Kristof, who was recently complaining about the federal and state government resorting to imprisonment too easily, yet when gun control laws exist, you are asking the government to ...... resort to imprisonment too easily. DUH!
And his latest article is filled with anti-gun BS!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/opinion/13kristof.html
Likewise, suicide rates are higher in states with more guns, simply because there are more gun suicides. Other kinds of suicide rates are no higher
Yeah, but Japan ban guns, but still has a higher suicide rate. You don't need a gun to commit suicide. You could easily jump off a bridge or drink poisons.
The chances that a gun will be used to deter a home invasion are unbelievably remote, and dialing 911 is more effective in reducing injury than brandishing a weapon, the journal article says.
That is mega-stupid. It's impossible to say something more stupid than that! You think the intruder will let you call 911? Off course not, he could just cut your throat before you could even describe anything to the 911 operator! Criminals know that, that's why they prefer to burglarize when the residents aren't home or if they know their victims don't have a gun!
I even remember back in 2006, when working at Central Middle School, when a student went beserk at me, when I called for security, that kid slammed that phone on the ground before I could even say anything! Luckily, that kid wasn't that big, so he couldn't do much physical damage to me even if he tried! But if your ex is big, he's not going to just knock the phone out of your hand, he will choke you to death! Best to be armed before he barges in the door!
And because most homicides in the home are by family members or acquaintances — not by an intruder — the presence of a gun in the home increases the risk of a gun murder in that home
Another stupid statement. If you're not living with a dysfunctional family, you could have tons of guns in your house, your relatives aren't going to kill you! But if your ex-boyfriend is 3x your size, he could use his strength to break in your house and choke the living crap out of you before you can even complete your sentence to the 911 operator!
Improve background checks and follow Canada in requiring a 28-day waiting period to buy a handgun.
A-28 day waiting period? Your ex, your angry co-worker, your employee you just fired, is not going to wait 28 days to slash you with a knife or knock the living crap out of you!
Yet, so-called "humanitarians" like Kristoff advocate that you be totally defenseless against those who can slash your face, stab your kidneys, choke you to death or break your jaw?
Kristoff then goes on with stats about "firearm suicide rates" and firearm homicide rates", but really, those stats are NOT AS IMPORTANT as "overall suicide rates" and "overall homicide rates". "Suicide through gunshot" is NOT more tragic than "suicide by hanging."
And don't give me this crap that "innocent person beaten to death in a hate crime" is better than "burglar got shot because his potential victims". In fact, I believe burglars, carjackers, store robbers, rapists, spouse abusers and other punks DESERVE TO BE SHOT AT! You think I'm being mean? What about the mean-spiritedness of burglars, carjackers, store robbers, rapists and spouse abusers who use knives, baseball bats and superior physical strength over their victims. Compassion for those punks is compassion wasted!
Kristof also dismissed John Lott's research proving that allowing for concealed weapons do deter criminals. John Lott answers back at Krisof at http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/01/14/arizona-shootings-gun-violence-research-facts-vs-new-york-times/#ixzz1B4POI9HT
John Lott answers to more anti-gun BS at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/493636.html
And don't give me this "you don't need a gun, the police will protect you", because I wrote why that's bull-stuff at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008/12/police-cant-protect-you-everytime.html
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
First Blog Post of 2011
Happy New Year's to Everyone
1) My New Year's night
For my New Year's celebration, I was still undecided where to go until the evening of New Year's Eve!
I decided on going to Aloha Tower Marketplace, where they had multiple stages playing different styles of music, and where you can see the fireworks show!
There was also a foam pit, where you can party in all the foam spewing out of a machine. I was in there at 11:30, watching the midnight fireworks from there, and stayed there a little while more. A bunch of drunken guys were play wrestling each other in there! At that point, it's just time for me to move on!
I saw some more stages, then went to a new nightclub in the 2nd floor. I was there for a while, but the atmosphere was just too mediocre.
At 2am, I just decided to go to Oceans808 at nearby Restaurant Row! The music was faster pace, so that made it a lot more exciting atmosphere than that other mediocre club I was at earlier that night! And the people were dancing and laughing and having a great time, without acting like those drunks at the foam pit I mentioned earlier!
It was a great way to celebrate the New Year's! Too bad I have to go back to the real world now!
2) Firework Ban
Starting from this year, people can't popping fireworks by their house anymore.
I never cared for popping fireworks anyways. Causing fire hazards, and making my community look like a mess the next morning is just not my thing!
Now people are wondering "what am I going to do now?"
You can still throw a big house party, play some music and talk some story. Sure, it's noisy, but at least your neighbors don't have to worry about you accidentally burning their house down, nor do they have to worry about all that smoke!
I know my opinion isn't the most popular one out there, but I said it anyways!
3) Pop Singers
In my previous blog post (2010:Year in Review) I did mention a few music trends of 2010.
One I forgot to mention was Justin Beiber. He was very popular among young girls! I even remember working at a middle school in May 2010, where the 6th graders had their dance party! You should've seen the excitement when played Beibers "Baby" song he did with Ludacris!
There is even girls out there who get into jealous rages at any of Beiber's girlfriends. Already, there some girls sending death threats to Selena Gomes over this.
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/01/04/justin_bieber_selena_gomez_rage
Obviously, those girls need to chill! Sure, some might outgrow their Bieber's obsession, but their jealous rages are the real problem they really need to outgrow!
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/01/04/justin_bieber_selena_gomez_rage
Before long, that girl posting her wishes for "a hit on" Selena will outgrow her childish attachment to Justin and Jaden and all the rest. But she'll still have desires and envy and anger. Only it'll be toward the kid in English class. It'll be for his girlfriend. And unchecked and unguided, those over-the-top little Gomez haters of today are the mean girls of tomorrow. But by then, they won't be gunning for a Disney star. They'll be aiming their rage squarely at your own kid.
Of course, there's also the Bieber haters out there! There's people who think they sound tough when they say "Bieber is a homo" and all this other junk! These haters seriously need to get a life. If you don't like Beiber's music, just say "I'm not into it" and move on! Plus, Bieber hasn't done anything negative.
If anyone deserve to be hated on, it's Chris Brown. While his abuse of Rihanna has been well documented, Brown is still causing trouble. Chris Brown has been taunting another pop singer, Raz B (former member of B2K) about being molested by his manager back in his younger days.
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/12/30/chris_brown_homophobia/index.html
Brown's snide "dick in da booty" remarks would be disgusting directed at anyone, gay or straight, regardless of the motivation. But what makes them particularly reprehensible is that Brown was referring to Raz B's very public allegations that his former manager Chris Stokes and label mate Marques Houston had molested him when he was a preteen.
The sad thing about all this was that it was only a few years ago that people talked about Chris Brown being the "Next King of Pop".
If Brown thinks his actions will give him "street cred", he is sadly mistaken! He is considered a joke by real ghetto gang members out there, some of whom might do some nasty things to him if Brown served some real time!
---
4) College Football
It was just last month that the Big 10 conference talked about being "leaders and legends" of college football.
Yes, many Big 10 teams have a legendary past. But with so many of their teams losing bowl games on New Year's Day (Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Northwestern), they want to reconsider this talk about being "leaders and legends".
Many Big 10 teams are from states in the Midwest, ranging from Pennsylvania to Iowa. One can say many of those states were "leaders and legends" when it came to industry and agriculture during the previous 2 centuries!
But if you look at the recent census, those states have lost their glory! For many of them, their population growths is so tiny. Michigan even lost population within the last decades! Meanwhile, states with college teams in the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Pac (10, about to be 12) have much larger population growths. It doesn't take a genius to figure out from this data that Big 10 will have a much harder time with gaining top college football recruits.---
One of the Big 10 losses mentioned was the Rose Bowl, where Wisconsin lost to Texas Christian University (TCU). TCU get all this crap from the critics about the "easy schedule".
Well, big schools like Alabama, Texas, Nebraska, Ohio State, avoid scheduling games with TCU and Boise State ON PURPOSE! They're scared of losing to them, so they just schedule non-conference games with mega-junk teams like San Jose State or New Mexico State!
Now TCU wants to join the Big East conference. The Big East? TCU isn't anywhere near the East Coast! But then again, the Dallas Cowboys are in the NFC East! Whoever decides on these conferences might need to re-learn some geography!
1) My New Year's night
For my New Year's celebration, I was still undecided where to go until the evening of New Year's Eve!
I decided on going to Aloha Tower Marketplace, where they had multiple stages playing different styles of music, and where you can see the fireworks show!
There was also a foam pit, where you can party in all the foam spewing out of a machine. I was in there at 11:30, watching the midnight fireworks from there, and stayed there a little while more. A bunch of drunken guys were play wrestling each other in there! At that point, it's just time for me to move on!
I saw some more stages, then went to a new nightclub in the 2nd floor. I was there for a while, but the atmosphere was just too mediocre.
At 2am, I just decided to go to Oceans808 at nearby Restaurant Row! The music was faster pace, so that made it a lot more exciting atmosphere than that other mediocre club I was at earlier that night! And the people were dancing and laughing and having a great time, without acting like those drunks at the foam pit I mentioned earlier!
It was a great way to celebrate the New Year's! Too bad I have to go back to the real world now!
2) Firework Ban
Starting from this year, people can't popping fireworks by their house anymore.
I never cared for popping fireworks anyways. Causing fire hazards, and making my community look like a mess the next morning is just not my thing!
Now people are wondering "what am I going to do now?"
You can still throw a big house party, play some music and talk some story. Sure, it's noisy, but at least your neighbors don't have to worry about you accidentally burning their house down, nor do they have to worry about all that smoke!
I know my opinion isn't the most popular one out there, but I said it anyways!
3) Pop Singers
In my previous blog post (2010:Year in Review) I did mention a few music trends of 2010.
One I forgot to mention was Justin Beiber. He was very popular among young girls! I even remember working at a middle school in May 2010, where the 6th graders had their dance party! You should've seen the excitement when played Beibers "Baby" song he did with Ludacris!
There is even girls out there who get into jealous rages at any of Beiber's girlfriends. Already, there some girls sending death threats to Selena Gomes over this.
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/01/04/justin_bieber_selena_gomez_rage
Obviously, those girls need to chill! Sure, some might outgrow their Bieber's obsession, but their jealous rages are the real problem they really need to outgrow!
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/01/04/justin_bieber_selena_gomez_rage
Before long, that girl posting her wishes for "a hit on" Selena will outgrow her childish attachment to Justin and Jaden and all the rest. But she'll still have desires and envy and anger. Only it'll be toward the kid in English class. It'll be for his girlfriend. And unchecked and unguided, those over-the-top little Gomez haters of today are the mean girls of tomorrow. But by then, they won't be gunning for a Disney star. They'll be aiming their rage squarely at your own kid.
Of course, there's also the Bieber haters out there! There's people who think they sound tough when they say "Bieber is a homo" and all this other junk! These haters seriously need to get a life. If you don't like Beiber's music, just say "I'm not into it" and move on! Plus, Bieber hasn't done anything negative.
If anyone deserve to be hated on, it's Chris Brown. While his abuse of Rihanna has been well documented, Brown is still causing trouble. Chris Brown has been taunting another pop singer, Raz B (former member of B2K) about being molested by his manager back in his younger days.
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/12/30/chris_brown_homophobia/index.html
Brown's snide "dick in da booty" remarks would be disgusting directed at anyone, gay or straight, regardless of the motivation. But what makes them particularly reprehensible is that Brown was referring to Raz B's very public allegations that his former manager Chris Stokes and label mate Marques Houston had molested him when he was a preteen.
The sad thing about all this was that it was only a few years ago that people talked about Chris Brown being the "Next King of Pop".
If Brown thinks his actions will give him "street cred", he is sadly mistaken! He is considered a joke by real ghetto gang members out there, some of whom might do some nasty things to him if Brown served some real time!
---
4) College Football
It was just last month that the Big 10 conference talked about being "leaders and legends" of college football.
Yes, many Big 10 teams have a legendary past. But with so many of their teams losing bowl games on New Year's Day (Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Northwestern), they want to reconsider this talk about being "leaders and legends".
Many Big 10 teams are from states in the Midwest, ranging from Pennsylvania to Iowa. One can say many of those states were "leaders and legends" when it came to industry and agriculture during the previous 2 centuries!
But if you look at the recent census, those states have lost their glory! For many of them, their population growths is so tiny. Michigan even lost population within the last decades! Meanwhile, states with college teams in the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Pac (10, about to be 12) have much larger population growths. It doesn't take a genius to figure out from this data that Big 10 will have a much harder time with gaining top college football recruits.---
One of the Big 10 losses mentioned was the Rose Bowl, where Wisconsin lost to Texas Christian University (TCU). TCU get all this crap from the critics about the "easy schedule".
Well, big schools like Alabama, Texas, Nebraska, Ohio State, avoid scheduling games with TCU and Boise State ON PURPOSE! They're scared of losing to them, so they just schedule non-conference games with mega-junk teams like San Jose State or New Mexico State!
Now TCU wants to join the Big East conference. The Big East? TCU isn't anywhere near the East Coast! But then again, the Dallas Cowboys are in the NFC East! Whoever decides on these conferences might need to re-learn some geography!
Friday, December 31, 2010
2010 Year in Review
It's a few more hours before 2010 ends, and 2011 begins.
This year has been an adventure. This year had some personal struggles, but I was also able to experience some new things as well as experience some things I haven't done in years.
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The biggest event for me this year was my 3-decade birthday! Yep, I turned 30 years old this year, and I wanted to celebrate in the biggest way possible, while staying on budget.
You can read about it at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-3-decade-celebration.html
As well as my life story of my 1st 3-decades at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-first-3-decades-of-life.html
In other news ...
Economic/Jobs
2010 started off on a crappy note for me economically. But it's ending on a good note now!
I have been working as a substitute teacher since 2005, with both the public schools and the private schools.
A sub only gets paid on the days you get called to work. If you get called very often, the money is good. If you're not getting called often, then you're going to struggle.
In 2008, I was on a roll. It was the best year economically as a sub. Getting plenty work for both public and private schools, even working in the summer.
The first half of 2009 was great too, but the slowing economy really start to put the cramps on the education industry by Fall 2009! The public schools had Furlough Fridays. The teachers were really to trying maximize their time in the classroom with whatever days they got left. And even the private schools had struggled, since less people were enrolling.
So yeah, early 2010, I was really feeling the sting! My industry was in the decline! I seriously couldn't afford some things I used to!
I was already starting to check the job ads on Craig's List for additional work. I sure as hell didn't want to quit working in the schools, but I wouldn't mind an extra job.
On early February, I applied to work a temporary job at Punahou Carnival. It was my first time working at a carnival, but it sounded like fun! And I haven't been to the carnival since 2002 and I missed going! I was originally scheduled to work with the rides, but was moved to work with the games. I liked working the games involving tossing beanbags and shooting basketballs.
Then later that month, I saw an ad on Craig's List about working part-time as a para-professional tutor (PPT) with students in the Special Education programs within the DOE! I had applied in previous years for Educational Assistant (EA) positions, but didn't get hired for them. But I sure wasn't going to give up! So I applied for the PPT position and took a training session. And I got hired by the 1st school to interview me.
Summer was slow, but I was back to work when Fall 2010 semester rolled around!
Being pro-active and remembering the income-free winter breaks of years past, I decided to apply for a temporary position at Macy's for the holiday season. This was my 1st retail job ever. Stereotypically, retail jobs are what people do in their early 20's. But a later start in life doesn't hurt here!
I worked in what is called "recovery" which basically folding clothes and making sure things look nice. I never worked the cash register and didn't have any sales pressure since I wasn't a sales associate. I saw some shoppers that I knew from before, but not as many as I expected! It was an eye-opening experience working there, and I'm glad that I did!
So yeah, I'm ending 2010 in an economically high note. I can afford to party New Year's Eve without worrying about that breaking my budget.
Fun Events -
Another theme of mine in 2010 was rediscovering fun events I haven't done in a long time.
One example is the carnivals. Before 2010, the last time I went to the carnival was in 2002! An 8-year hiatus.
I did work the Punahou Carnival in February, which I mentioned already. I was considering working the 50th State Fair, but it never happened. But I did go there as a customer.
If you're not from Oahu, then let me tell you what the 50th State Fair is. The 50th State Fair is held on the parking lot of Aloha Stadium for about 4 weekends every May and June! It is what many people live for. Rides, games, food, petting zoos, exhibitions, etc.
For 8 years, I missed out on all that due to other distractions in my life! But I was back this year. I noticed there were smaller crowds, and there wasn't the big roller coaster anymore. And higher prices. But I still enjoyed the rides, the games, the loud music, the food, and watched some pigs racing! I felt alive again!
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Another thing I had an 8-year hiatus on was the Waikiki Ho'olaulea. This is the huge block party on Kalakaua Avenue with multiple stages of people playing music, and people walking around having fun! This usually takes place in September!
The Ho'olaulea organizers don't put out much advertising on this event, so some years I found out" too last minute" for me to make time for it! This year, I was able to find out in advance! I went with my friend Aaron G., walked Kalakaua Avenue, saw local reggae band Ten Feet playing and re-lived what I missed out the last 8 years.
Like the 50th State Fair, it was done on a smaller scale, due to the slowing economy. But I still enjoyed it!
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I also ended my hiatus from karaoke events on my 30th birthday. This year's birthday was on a Friday, so it was convenient time to party! Though it wasn't convenient for a few people I tried to invite because they finished work late in the evenings and weren't able to make it to my events in time. Hopefully, they can make it to my next birthday which falls on a Saturday.
--
In all club adventures of the past, I still didn't go to one when I was wearing a Santa hat! Again, other distractions the previous years. I was going to go party on Christmas Eve, but I had other distractions, so I went on Christmas night. It was a last minute decision to walk into Senor Frogs. Senor Frogs has a stage to dance on, and their drinks are more reasonably priced than other places. They also had a great atmosphere that night!
Music
My favorite song of the year was "Billionaire" featuring Travie McCoy doing the rapping, and Hawaii's own Bruno Mars singing the chorus! There is also a great remix version of that song with Hawaii's reggae/hip-hop group BET!
I loved the Billionaire song so much , it was the 1st song I sang on my birthday's karaoke! Too bad 2 of the guests came after I was done with the song.
While I congratulate Bruno Mars on his success this year, and his 7 Grammy nominations, he needs to stay out of trouble. He's already busted for cocaine! He needs to stay away from that, and stop trying to fit in with those in the industry who encourages him to do harmful substances.
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I remember mentioning in my earlier blog post about the West Coast hip-hop making a min-comeback with a more party flavor, especially with the jerk dance! There was a song by Audio Push earlier this year called "Teach Me How to Jerk".
Well, "the jerk" got overshadowed by "the dougie" this year. Cali Swag District had their southern-sounding hit "Teach Me How to Dougie" which had very catchy phrases that I loved to repeat!
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My other favorite song this year was "California Gurls" with Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg! I also remember this being the last song I sang at my birthday karaoke event!
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BOB had some hits with Bruno Mars, Eminem and other stars, but my favorite is "Magic" featuring Weezer's Rivers Cuomo! A great rock/rap combo inspired a 1960's "Do You Believe in Magic?" by The Lovin Spoonful
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My favorite Rihanna hit this year is "The Only Girl in the World". I was singing along with that song when I was dancing on the stage at Senor Frogs on Christmas. I wonder if someone You-Tubed it! You might find it hilarious!
--
There's obviously more great music, but this is my list for now! While people may complain about how "there's no good music anymore", there's always something good every year. and I'm looking forward to what great stuff comes out in 2011!
Sports
The world's biggest sports event was the World Cup in South Africa. My commentary on the World Cup at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/07/world-cup-2010.html
---
For UH football, they weren't expected to have a winning season. But they were able to go 10-3 in the regular season. But they lost the Hawaii Bowl to Tulsa. Yet, some people are calling for Coach Mack to get fired over losing a bowl game? HELLO - WE HAD A WINNING SEASON! Too many people demand instant gratification these days!
Besides, Tulsa was one of the greatest offensive teams this year, and one of the most under-rated teams of the year!
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Another sign of people demanding instant gratification at UH- 2 men's basketball players quit the team in the early part of the season, because of a "lack of playing time".
Seriously, I'm not exaggerating.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/20101208_Rainbow_Warriors_lose_Salter_Coleman.html
HELLO - basketball is a TEAM sport, not an individual sport! Instead of whining over playing time EARLY IN THE SEASON, just keep practicing! You never know when the team needs you on the floor! Maybe if things don't work out at the end of the season, then they could chose other options.
But if they're going to quit EARLY in the season over playing time, then how are they supposed to handle minor inconveniences the first month in their future jobs? Are they just going keep quitting jobs as soon as something minor goes wrong? That's not going to pay the rent!
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Another side of excessive demand of instant gratification! Maryland's football coach got fired, even though he had an 8-4 season and won a bowl game. But the mentality nowadays is "winning seasons aren't enough, you need to win a championship every year!" Instant gratification run amok!
Learn more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121802878.html
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UConn women's basketball team finally lost a game yesterday (to Stanford) after win streak of 90 games in a row! That's the longest win streak for any college basketball team!
Yet, there are some haters out there disrespecting that team, saying stuff like "it's just a woman's team"
Oh yeah, where's the video evidence that you can beat those women in basketball? Is the answer "nowhere "? Then shut the beeping hell up! Actions speak louder than words!
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Brett Favre already is a sports legend, with a Super Bowl ring, and on the way to the Hall of Fame! But he needs to move on to the next phase of life already! He's past his prime!
Check out http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1110/hess_farve.php3
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I mentioned on facebook when Terrell Owens (TO) joined the Cincinnati Bengals, that TO and Chad Ochocinco could make the Bengals an exciting team. I had visions of the team having the most touchdown dances in NFL history. But they're past their prime, and the team wasn't successful! But the Bengals still got the coolest helmets that McKinley High School should imitate!
News Stories
You might've noticed that I didn't mention major news events on this blog posts. That's because I already wrote about them on the blog already.
I already wrote a blog post on the oil spill, the elections (both Hawaii and national), the controversy over a mosque near Ground Zero, airport security controversies, Arizona immigration controversy, Hawaii tsunami scare, and other stuff
And for sports, I already wrote about the Winter Olympics, World Cup, Ben Roethlisberger's rape case, and coaching and conference changes at UH!
Just go to the right side of this blog, click on a month, and explore my great insights, :)
And have a happy and safe new year's celebration
This year has been an adventure. This year had some personal struggles, but I was also able to experience some new things as well as experience some things I haven't done in years.
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The biggest event for me this year was my 3-decade birthday! Yep, I turned 30 years old this year, and I wanted to celebrate in the biggest way possible, while staying on budget.
You can read about it at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-3-decade-celebration.html
As well as my life story of my 1st 3-decades at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-first-3-decades-of-life.html
In other news ...
Economic/Jobs
2010 started off on a crappy note for me economically. But it's ending on a good note now!
I have been working as a substitute teacher since 2005, with both the public schools and the private schools.
A sub only gets paid on the days you get called to work. If you get called very often, the money is good. If you're not getting called often, then you're going to struggle.
In 2008, I was on a roll. It was the best year economically as a sub. Getting plenty work for both public and private schools, even working in the summer.
The first half of 2009 was great too, but the slowing economy really start to put the cramps on the education industry by Fall 2009! The public schools had Furlough Fridays. The teachers were really to trying maximize their time in the classroom with whatever days they got left. And even the private schools had struggled, since less people were enrolling.
So yeah, early 2010, I was really feeling the sting! My industry was in the decline! I seriously couldn't afford some things I used to!
I was already starting to check the job ads on Craig's List for additional work. I sure as hell didn't want to quit working in the schools, but I wouldn't mind an extra job.
On early February, I applied to work a temporary job at Punahou Carnival. It was my first time working at a carnival, but it sounded like fun! And I haven't been to the carnival since 2002 and I missed going! I was originally scheduled to work with the rides, but was moved to work with the games. I liked working the games involving tossing beanbags and shooting basketballs.
Then later that month, I saw an ad on Craig's List about working part-time as a para-professional tutor (PPT) with students in the Special Education programs within the DOE! I had applied in previous years for Educational Assistant (EA) positions, but didn't get hired for them. But I sure wasn't going to give up! So I applied for the PPT position and took a training session. And I got hired by the 1st school to interview me.
Summer was slow, but I was back to work when Fall 2010 semester rolled around!
Being pro-active and remembering the income-free winter breaks of years past, I decided to apply for a temporary position at Macy's for the holiday season. This was my 1st retail job ever. Stereotypically, retail jobs are what people do in their early 20's. But a later start in life doesn't hurt here!
I worked in what is called "recovery" which basically folding clothes and making sure things look nice. I never worked the cash register and didn't have any sales pressure since I wasn't a sales associate. I saw some shoppers that I knew from before, but not as many as I expected! It was an eye-opening experience working there, and I'm glad that I did!
So yeah, I'm ending 2010 in an economically high note. I can afford to party New Year's Eve without worrying about that breaking my budget.
Fun Events -
Another theme of mine in 2010 was rediscovering fun events I haven't done in a long time.
One example is the carnivals. Before 2010, the last time I went to the carnival was in 2002! An 8-year hiatus.
I did work the Punahou Carnival in February, which I mentioned already. I was considering working the 50th State Fair, but it never happened. But I did go there as a customer.
If you're not from Oahu, then let me tell you what the 50th State Fair is. The 50th State Fair is held on the parking lot of Aloha Stadium for about 4 weekends every May and June! It is what many people live for. Rides, games, food, petting zoos, exhibitions, etc.
For 8 years, I missed out on all that due to other distractions in my life! But I was back this year. I noticed there were smaller crowds, and there wasn't the big roller coaster anymore. And higher prices. But I still enjoyed the rides, the games, the loud music, the food, and watched some pigs racing! I felt alive again!
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Another thing I had an 8-year hiatus on was the Waikiki Ho'olaulea. This is the huge block party on Kalakaua Avenue with multiple stages of people playing music, and people walking around having fun! This usually takes place in September!
The Ho'olaulea organizers don't put out much advertising on this event, so some years I found out" too last minute" for me to make time for it! This year, I was able to find out in advance! I went with my friend Aaron G., walked Kalakaua Avenue, saw local reggae band Ten Feet playing and re-lived what I missed out the last 8 years.
Like the 50th State Fair, it was done on a smaller scale, due to the slowing economy. But I still enjoyed it!
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I also ended my hiatus from karaoke events on my 30th birthday. This year's birthday was on a Friday, so it was convenient time to party! Though it wasn't convenient for a few people I tried to invite because they finished work late in the evenings and weren't able to make it to my events in time. Hopefully, they can make it to my next birthday which falls on a Saturday.
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In all club adventures of the past, I still didn't go to one when I was wearing a Santa hat! Again, other distractions the previous years. I was going to go party on Christmas Eve, but I had other distractions, so I went on Christmas night. It was a last minute decision to walk into Senor Frogs. Senor Frogs has a stage to dance on, and their drinks are more reasonably priced than other places. They also had a great atmosphere that night!
Music
My favorite song of the year was "Billionaire" featuring Travie McCoy doing the rapping, and Hawaii's own Bruno Mars singing the chorus! There is also a great remix version of that song with Hawaii's reggae/hip-hop group BET!
I loved the Billionaire song so much , it was the 1st song I sang on my birthday's karaoke! Too bad 2 of the guests came after I was done with the song.
While I congratulate Bruno Mars on his success this year, and his 7 Grammy nominations, he needs to stay out of trouble. He's already busted for cocaine! He needs to stay away from that, and stop trying to fit in with those in the industry who encourages him to do harmful substances.
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I remember mentioning in my earlier blog post about the West Coast hip-hop making a min-comeback with a more party flavor, especially with the jerk dance! There was a song by Audio Push earlier this year called "Teach Me How to Jerk".
Well, "the jerk" got overshadowed by "the dougie" this year. Cali Swag District had their southern-sounding hit "Teach Me How to Dougie" which had very catchy phrases that I loved to repeat!
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My other favorite song this year was "California Gurls" with Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg! I also remember this being the last song I sang at my birthday karaoke event!
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BOB had some hits with Bruno Mars, Eminem and other stars, but my favorite is "Magic" featuring Weezer's Rivers Cuomo! A great rock/rap combo inspired a 1960's "Do You Believe in Magic?" by The Lovin Spoonful
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My favorite Rihanna hit this year is "The Only Girl in the World". I was singing along with that song when I was dancing on the stage at Senor Frogs on Christmas. I wonder if someone You-Tubed it! You might find it hilarious!
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There's obviously more great music, but this is my list for now! While people may complain about how "there's no good music anymore", there's always something good every year. and I'm looking forward to what great stuff comes out in 2011!
Sports
The world's biggest sports event was the World Cup in South Africa. My commentary on the World Cup at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/07/world-cup-2010.html
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For UH football, they weren't expected to have a winning season. But they were able to go 10-3 in the regular season. But they lost the Hawaii Bowl to Tulsa. Yet, some people are calling for Coach Mack to get fired over losing a bowl game? HELLO - WE HAD A WINNING SEASON! Too many people demand instant gratification these days!
Besides, Tulsa was one of the greatest offensive teams this year, and one of the most under-rated teams of the year!
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Another sign of people demanding instant gratification at UH- 2 men's basketball players quit the team in the early part of the season, because of a "lack of playing time".
Seriously, I'm not exaggerating.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/20101208_Rainbow_Warriors_lose_Salter_Coleman.html
HELLO - basketball is a TEAM sport, not an individual sport! Instead of whining over playing time EARLY IN THE SEASON, just keep practicing! You never know when the team needs you on the floor! Maybe if things don't work out at the end of the season, then they could chose other options.
But if they're going to quit EARLY in the season over playing time, then how are they supposed to handle minor inconveniences the first month in their future jobs? Are they just going keep quitting jobs as soon as something minor goes wrong? That's not going to pay the rent!
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Another side of excessive demand of instant gratification! Maryland's football coach got fired, even though he had an 8-4 season and won a bowl game. But the mentality nowadays is "winning seasons aren't enough, you need to win a championship every year!" Instant gratification run amok!
Learn more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121802878.html
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UConn women's basketball team finally lost a game yesterday (to Stanford) after win streak of 90 games in a row! That's the longest win streak for any college basketball team!
Yet, there are some haters out there disrespecting that team, saying stuff like "it's just a woman's team"
Oh yeah, where's the video evidence that you can beat those women in basketball? Is the answer "nowhere "? Then shut the beeping hell up! Actions speak louder than words!
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Brett Favre already is a sports legend, with a Super Bowl ring, and on the way to the Hall of Fame! But he needs to move on to the next phase of life already! He's past his prime!
Check out http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1110/hess_farve.php3
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I mentioned on facebook when Terrell Owens (TO) joined the Cincinnati Bengals, that TO and Chad Ochocinco could make the Bengals an exciting team. I had visions of the team having the most touchdown dances in NFL history. But they're past their prime, and the team wasn't successful! But the Bengals still got the coolest helmets that McKinley High School should imitate!
News Stories
You might've noticed that I didn't mention major news events on this blog posts. That's because I already wrote about them on the blog already.
I already wrote a blog post on the oil spill, the elections (both Hawaii and national), the controversy over a mosque near Ground Zero, airport security controversies, Arizona immigration controversy, Hawaii tsunami scare, and other stuff
And for sports, I already wrote about the Winter Olympics, World Cup, Ben Roethlisberger's rape case, and coaching and conference changes at UH!
Just go to the right side of this blog, click on a month, and explore my great insights, :)
And have a happy and safe new year's celebration
Sunday, December 26, 2010
UH sports changing conferences
After months of speculation, it was announced earlier this month that UH will leave the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1, 2012. After that, the football team will play in the Mountain West Conference (MWC), the other sports teams will play in the Big West.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Athletic_Conference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_West_Conference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_West_Conference
Boise State was already planning to leave the WAC for the Mountain West after this school year.
Fresno State and Nevada wanted to join the Mountain West at the same time as Boise State. But they missed the deadline, so they'll have to wait until 2012.
After it was announced that Fresno State and Nevada was going to leave the WAC, there was panic among WAC and UH officials.
The WAC went to find some new members from smaller colleges. They wanted Montana, which had some success in the 1-AA level. But Montana declined. So the WAC then added Texas State, Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) and Denver.
Some say that the WAC should fire its commissioner Jim Benson over the fact that teams always leave the WAC as soon as they had some success. But I'm already thinking that Benson actually enjoys being in charge of a conference that changes members all the time! I really believe that adding and losing teams makes his life exciting
But the UH fans sure aren't excited about the future WAC!
The better teams in the WAC are leaving. We're stuck with opponents that don't really attract crowds at Aloha Stadium. Hawaii fans tend to just go to games with big name opponents! They're not excited about watching UH playing smaller time WAC programs like San Jose State or New Mexico State. And they're sell as hell not going to fill the stadium to watch UH play Texas State or UT-San Antonio.
Some demanded that UH play football as an independent, meaning not being a member of a conference. That would mean UH would have to schedule all of its games. That's not as easy as it sounds.
Back in 2007, then-UH Athletic Director Herman Frazier got a lot of heat over his struggles in scheduling opponents for the football season.
But some things were out of his control!
UH was scheduled to play Michigan State that year. But Michigan State cancelled that game, and bribed UH with $250,000 into accepting that game's cancellation!
Frazier attempted to schedule the season's opening game at the other big university in the state of Michigan. That's right, Frazier attempted to schedule UH to play the University of Michigan at it's huge stadium at Anne Arbor. Michigan refused to play UH, and decided to play an even lesser-known school Appalachian State. Ironically, Appalachian State pulled a historic upset at that game!
Because of those scheduling difficulties, Frazier had to schedule small-time teams from Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern!
Frazier already had 8 games guaranteed, due to WAC affiliation. He just had to fill in 4-5 more games! Even that was difficult!
If Frazier had difficulty getting 4 more teams to play UH, what makes you think UH would have an easy time scheduling all 12 or 13 games by itself as an independent school?
Many college teams don't want to travel all the way to Hawaii! Too far, too expensive, too time-consuming!
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And that brings up another concern for Hawaii as well! To play their opponents on the road requires plane ride that goes 2,500+miles and takes at least 5 hours. And that's just to play a team in California!
But remember, the WAC as it is now, has teams in hard to get to places like Louisiana Tech (Ruston), New Mexico State (Las Cruces), Utah State (Logan) and Idaho (Moscow). Those schools are located in small towns far from major urban areas. There is NO direct flights from Hawaii to those places. So, it's either take 2 plane rides, or just take 1 plane to a major urban area (ie Las Vegas, Dallas, etc) and take a bus ride to your opponents' hometown.
And add possible flight delays, bad weather, etc.
And remember, these athletes also have to find time to keep up with their academic work in the midst of all this! That means finishing up research papers, reading books filled with words an average person doesn't use in conversations, and taking exams. And doing it all in the most craziest traveling situation in all of college sports.
That makes finding a good conference for UH sports more complicated than other colleges.
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The Big West conference as it is now, only has teams in California. That makes it easier on UH travel schedule, since they only need 1 flight to either Los Angeles, San Francisco or San Diego. No more long trips to isolated rural colleges located in landlocked states.
But the only problem with the Big West is that most of their schools don't have a football team. They all got basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball and soccer! But most don't have football!
The WAC will still have football teams, but Hawaii fans aren't interested in games against San Jose State, New Mexico State, or (future members) Texas State or UTSA.
So the compromise solution was for the football team to play in the Mountain West, and the other sports play in the Big West.
For football, the fans can continue to enjoy rivalries with Fresno State, Nevada and Boise State. Plus, they can take direct flights to road games against UNLV and San Diego State. The main drawback though, is long road to trips to games at rural colleges like Wyoming (Laramie) or Colorado State (Fort Collins).
For the other UH sports, they don't' have to worry about such road trips in the Big West. They can easily build or renew rivalries with Long Beach State, UC-Irvine, Pacific and Cal State Fullerton. Those schools may not have football teams, but they do have quality level volleyball, baseball and softball teams.
However, sports announcer Jeff Portnoy is upset that the Big West isn't a great basketball conference.
http://hoopstalk.honadvblogs.com/2010/12/10/uh-the-big-west-and-basketball/
He feels that UH basketball will take a step backward by being in that conference. But UH basketball hasn't done well in the last 3 years, so they haven't earned the privilege to complain. Just be lucky they won't be distracted by long road trips to isolated rural colleges.
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It's not just the distance that made it hard for UH! It's also the cost of travel. In this economic times, when schools are cutting budgets, college athletics aren't immune. Travel costs are a concern for the college teams traveling to Hawaii. So Hawaii had to agree to travel subsidies in order to join Mountain West and the Big West.
The words "travel subsidies" sent fear to the heart of many UH fans. You mean we gotta pay for our opponents plane ticket, hotel rooms, meals and other stuff? Actually no, we're just paying for their plane ride to and from the continent. Our opponents will continue to pay for hotel rooms and other accommodations, just like they do in their other road trips.
----
Even though the UH Warriors lost to Tulsa in the Hawaii Bowl, they still had a great season! Hopefully, they'll continue to have success in all their sports as they move on to their new conferences
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Athletic_Conference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_West_Conference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_West_Conference
Boise State was already planning to leave the WAC for the Mountain West after this school year.
Fresno State and Nevada wanted to join the Mountain West at the same time as Boise State. But they missed the deadline, so they'll have to wait until 2012.
After it was announced that Fresno State and Nevada was going to leave the WAC, there was panic among WAC and UH officials.
The WAC went to find some new members from smaller colleges. They wanted Montana, which had some success in the 1-AA level. But Montana declined. So the WAC then added Texas State, Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) and Denver.
Some say that the WAC should fire its commissioner Jim Benson over the fact that teams always leave the WAC as soon as they had some success. But I'm already thinking that Benson actually enjoys being in charge of a conference that changes members all the time! I really believe that adding and losing teams makes his life exciting
But the UH fans sure aren't excited about the future WAC!
The better teams in the WAC are leaving. We're stuck with opponents that don't really attract crowds at Aloha Stadium. Hawaii fans tend to just go to games with big name opponents! They're not excited about watching UH playing smaller time WAC programs like San Jose State or New Mexico State. And they're sell as hell not going to fill the stadium to watch UH play Texas State or UT-San Antonio.
Some demanded that UH play football as an independent, meaning not being a member of a conference. That would mean UH would have to schedule all of its games. That's not as easy as it sounds.
Back in 2007, then-UH Athletic Director Herman Frazier got a lot of heat over his struggles in scheduling opponents for the football season.
But some things were out of his control!
UH was scheduled to play Michigan State that year. But Michigan State cancelled that game, and bribed UH with $250,000 into accepting that game's cancellation!
Frazier attempted to schedule the season's opening game at the other big university in the state of Michigan. That's right, Frazier attempted to schedule UH to play the University of Michigan at it's huge stadium at Anne Arbor. Michigan refused to play UH, and decided to play an even lesser-known school Appalachian State. Ironically, Appalachian State pulled a historic upset at that game!
Because of those scheduling difficulties, Frazier had to schedule small-time teams from Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern!
Frazier already had 8 games guaranteed, due to WAC affiliation. He just had to fill in 4-5 more games! Even that was difficult!
If Frazier had difficulty getting 4 more teams to play UH, what makes you think UH would have an easy time scheduling all 12 or 13 games by itself as an independent school?
Many college teams don't want to travel all the way to Hawaii! Too far, too expensive, too time-consuming!
----
And that brings up another concern for Hawaii as well! To play their opponents on the road requires plane ride that goes 2,500+miles and takes at least 5 hours. And that's just to play a team in California!
But remember, the WAC as it is now, has teams in hard to get to places like Louisiana Tech (Ruston), New Mexico State (Las Cruces), Utah State (Logan) and Idaho (Moscow). Those schools are located in small towns far from major urban areas. There is NO direct flights from Hawaii to those places. So, it's either take 2 plane rides, or just take 1 plane to a major urban area (ie Las Vegas, Dallas, etc) and take a bus ride to your opponents' hometown.
And add possible flight delays, bad weather, etc.
And remember, these athletes also have to find time to keep up with their academic work in the midst of all this! That means finishing up research papers, reading books filled with words an average person doesn't use in conversations, and taking exams. And doing it all in the most craziest traveling situation in all of college sports.
That makes finding a good conference for UH sports more complicated than other colleges.
--------
The Big West conference as it is now, only has teams in California. That makes it easier on UH travel schedule, since they only need 1 flight to either Los Angeles, San Francisco or San Diego. No more long trips to isolated rural colleges located in landlocked states.
But the only problem with the Big West is that most of their schools don't have a football team. They all got basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball and soccer! But most don't have football!
The WAC will still have football teams, but Hawaii fans aren't interested in games against San Jose State, New Mexico State, or (future members) Texas State or UTSA.
So the compromise solution was for the football team to play in the Mountain West, and the other sports play in the Big West.
For football, the fans can continue to enjoy rivalries with Fresno State, Nevada and Boise State. Plus, they can take direct flights to road games against UNLV and San Diego State. The main drawback though, is long road to trips to games at rural colleges like Wyoming (Laramie) or Colorado State (Fort Collins).
For the other UH sports, they don't' have to worry about such road trips in the Big West. They can easily build or renew rivalries with Long Beach State, UC-Irvine, Pacific and Cal State Fullerton. Those schools may not have football teams, but they do have quality level volleyball, baseball and softball teams.
However, sports announcer Jeff Portnoy is upset that the Big West isn't a great basketball conference.
http://hoopstalk.honadvblogs.com/2010/12/10/uh-the-big-west-and-basketball/
He feels that UH basketball will take a step backward by being in that conference. But UH basketball hasn't done well in the last 3 years, so they haven't earned the privilege to complain. Just be lucky they won't be distracted by long road trips to isolated rural colleges.
----
It's not just the distance that made it hard for UH! It's also the cost of travel. In this economic times, when schools are cutting budgets, college athletics aren't immune. Travel costs are a concern for the college teams traveling to Hawaii. So Hawaii had to agree to travel subsidies in order to join Mountain West and the Big West.
The words "travel subsidies" sent fear to the heart of many UH fans. You mean we gotta pay for our opponents plane ticket, hotel rooms, meals and other stuff? Actually no, we're just paying for their plane ride to and from the continent. Our opponents will continue to pay for hotel rooms and other accommodations, just like they do in their other road trips.
----
Even though the UH Warriors lost to Tulsa in the Hawaii Bowl, they still had a great season! Hopefully, they'll continue to have success in all their sports as they move on to their new conferences
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Airport Security & Juan Williams controversy
1) Airport Security
In the old days, if you want to get on an airplane, you just buy a ticket and get in the plane!
Now, you have to go through all sorts of inspections. You get inspected to make sure you got no sharp objects because the 9/11 hijackers threatened passengers and airline staff with box cutters. Your shoe get inspected because Richard Reid tried to blow up an explosive under his shoe! You can't bring certain liquids because someone tried to blow up a plane using liquid explosives.
But now that someone tried to blow up a plane by lighting liquid explosives that he hid in his underwear, guess what? We got to go through a scanner that see what's under our clothes.
You can still opt-out of that, but that means you have to allow a TSA worker to pat you down! Ewwwww! I'd rather just go through the scanner rather than have some authority person touching all over me!
Some far-right conservatives are outraged at President Obama over this! Yet, when Bush was president, those same far-right conservatives were mocking anyone who didn't like airport security policies! Very hypocritical!
Well not all conservative pundits showed such hypocrisy. For example, Jonah Goldberg is a well-known right-wing pundit, but he refuse to play the "blame it all on the Democrat" game
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/jonah112510.php3
(skipped paragraphs)
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2) Profiling and Privacy Invasions
Arnold Ahlert on the other hand, is typical of what I consider "Conservative Correctness". Meaning, he says a bunch of far-right cliches and gets bent of shape if you don't automatically fall for such cliches. Pay close attention to what I highlighted and notice a pattern!
Notice a pattern. Look at the colors I highlighted the statements with! He wants government to respect HIS rights, but not of those who "look Muslims"
Many with the Conservative Correctness like yell slogans like "Live Free or Die", "Get Big Government Off Our Backs", and complain about an intrusive government that invades our privacy. But, yet many of those same people demand that government single out certain people for special scrutiny and privacy invasions if those people "look Middle Eastern". The mentality of many in the Conservative Correctness Crowd is "No Government Intrusions for the White Person, Tons of Government Intrusions for the Brown Person"
This "profile anyone if they look Muslim" is so lame, because Muslims aren't a race, they're a religious group. Yes, Islam started in the Middle East, but it spread to other areas in the world, to people who don't even look Arab. And some Arabs aren't even Muslims, some are Christians or atheists!
That aside, some still scream for more racial profiling of those who look Middle Eastern. They scream "look what they did to us on 9/11!" But racially profiling Arabs would NOT have stop the underpants bomber, because he did NOT look Middle Eastern! He was a very dark-skinned man from Nigeria!
More examples of terrorist actions involving people who would NEVER got caught if our security policy is "profile the Arabs" or "profile those from Muslim lands"
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/charen112610.php3
The whole point is, even though the 9/11 hijackers were of Arab ancestry, other people who are mad at the world, could blow stuff up, for whatever reason they can claim. It doesn't have to be related to Islam! The Oklahoma City bomber and the Columbine killers were definitely NOT Arabs, and definitely NOT Muslims, but they still caused mass murder and a national trauma. They might not have blown up an airplane, but don't be surprised if someone of their cultural background and who share similar grievances might want to blow up an airplane.
Either way, it wouldn't matter if I was killed by a Middle Eastern, European or whatever! Either way, I still would be dead!
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3) Juan Williams controversy
Juan Williams, who used to be a reporter with National Public Radio (NPR), was fired from NPR earlier this year, for mentioning that he gets nervous when he sees someone "in Muslim garb" while riding an airplane!
Williams later emphasized that it is still no excuse to be discriminating against people who are Muslims or who are of Middle Eastern ancestry.
But the damage was done!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/21/AR2010102101474_pf.html
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Some right-wing conservatives were saying stuff like "how dare NPR fire him for saying what many people think".
Their mentality is that whole "Arabs attacked us on 9/11, so I'm nervous when I see them on an airplane" nonsense
But an Arab/Mexican/African/etc could EASILY say something like this: "I grew up in a white neighborhood, got bullied by big white kids, and I still get nervous when I see a group of young white males".
Would the far-right conservatives defend that person the same way they defended Juan Williams for admitting being nervous while "seeing Muslims on a plane"?
OFF COURSE NOT!
The Conservative Correctness Crowd would be ridiculing any non-white who expresses nervousness about seeing a group of young white males. Glenn Beck would be whining about that non-white person's "deep-seated hatred of white people". Michelle Maglalang Malkin would write a sarcastic editorial about person and mocking his grievances as a "sob story". And Ann Coulter would demand that non-white person to be racially profiled some more!
So yeah, the Conservative Correctness Crowd likes other ethnic groups to be mocked, racially profiled, and face privacy invasions, as long as it's not their ethnic group facing all that! Hypocrites!
---
After the whole Juan Williams controversy, some right-wing conservatives were demanding the government stop funding NPR and PBS!
NPR and PBS are already mostly privately funded, though it still accepts government subsidises!
I do believe NPR and PBS should be totally privatized, but for a totally different reason from those Conservative Correctness Crowd!
Government shouldn't be owning any TV or radio stations. Government shouldn't be in charge of any journalism organization!
Jeff Jacoby made some following great points on the issue of government funding of NPR!
http://jewishworldreview.com/jeff/jacoby112410.php3
AMEN to all that!
In the old days, if you want to get on an airplane, you just buy a ticket and get in the plane!
Now, you have to go through all sorts of inspections. You get inspected to make sure you got no sharp objects because the 9/11 hijackers threatened passengers and airline staff with box cutters. Your shoe get inspected because Richard Reid tried to blow up an explosive under his shoe! You can't bring certain liquids because someone tried to blow up a plane using liquid explosives.
But now that someone tried to blow up a plane by lighting liquid explosives that he hid in his underwear, guess what? We got to go through a scanner that see what's under our clothes.
You can still opt-out of that, but that means you have to allow a TSA worker to pat you down! Ewwwww! I'd rather just go through the scanner rather than have some authority person touching all over me!
Some far-right conservatives are outraged at President Obama over this! Yet, when Bush was president, those same far-right conservatives were mocking anyone who didn't like airport security policies! Very hypocritical!
Well not all conservative pundits showed such hypocrisy. For example, Jonah Goldberg is a well-known right-wing pundit, but he refuse to play the "blame it all on the Democrat" game
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/jonah112510.php3
Obviously, the first people to blame for this mess are the murderers. Without them, flying wouldn't be the soul-killing experience it is.
(skipped paragraphs)
But Obama is not to blame. Osama bin Laden is.
-----------
2) Profiling and Privacy Invasions
Arnold Ahlert on the other hand, is typical of what I consider "Conservative Correctness". Meaning, he says a bunch of far-right cliches and gets bent of shape if you don't automatically fall for such cliches. Pay close attention to what I highlighted and notice a pattern!
Americans, quite rightly, are outraged by such an unseemly invasion of one's personal space. Not merely because such an invasion itself is uncomfortable and best and demeaning at worst, but because government-enforced gropes and peeps are the triumph of political correctness over common sense and common decency. Even more importantly, the ultimate destination of political correctness itself is also revealed: American airports are well on their way to becoming de facto totalitarian states.
Such an assessment is no longer arguable. When the state commands the power to subject citizens to a full-body search without the slightest concern for reasonable suspicion or probable cause, they are effectively obliterating one of the bedrock principals of our Constitution, aka the presumption of innocence. They do this because political correctness demands a subjugation of reality to a preconceived — and utterly misguided — notion of "fairness."
[Pablo's note: so that guy sounds like he hates government bullying airplane passengers, but pay attention to his statements that I'll highlight in this color]
In other words, despite over three decades of terrorist attacks perpetrated almost exclusively by Muslims, and of those Muslims, a subset of males between the ages of 17 and 45, government is determined to remain "equally suspicious" of everybody. Thus, grandmothers and four year olds are compelled to submit in equal proportions, lest charges of "Islamophobia" or "bigotry" and the inevitable litigation those charges would engender arise.
Notice a pattern. Look at the colors I highlighted the statements with! He wants government to respect HIS rights, but not of those who "look Muslims"
Many with the Conservative Correctness like yell slogans like "Live Free or Die", "Get Big Government Off Our Backs", and complain about an intrusive government that invades our privacy. But, yet many of those same people demand that government single out certain people for special scrutiny and privacy invasions if those people "look Middle Eastern". The mentality of many in the Conservative Correctness Crowd is "No Government Intrusions for the White Person, Tons of Government Intrusions for the Brown Person"
This "profile anyone if they look Muslim" is so lame, because Muslims aren't a race, they're a religious group. Yes, Islam started in the Middle East, but it spread to other areas in the world, to people who don't even look Arab. And some Arabs aren't even Muslims, some are Christians or atheists!
That aside, some still scream for more racial profiling of those who look Middle Eastern. They scream "look what they did to us on 9/11!" But racially profiling Arabs would NOT have stop the underpants bomber, because he did NOT look Middle Eastern! He was a very dark-skinned man from Nigeria!
More examples of terrorist actions involving people who would NEVER got caught if our security policy is "profile the Arabs" or "profile those from Muslim lands"
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/charen112610.php3
Colleen Renee LaRose, aka Jihad Jane, and Jamie Paulin-Ramirez were both blond, blue-eyed American converts to Islam who were arrested in October 2009 in Ireland and charged with plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had drawn Mohammad's head on the body of a dog.
In 1972, members of the Japanese Red Army opened fire in Tel Aviv's airport, killing 24 people. In 1986, a pregnant Irish woman was attempting to fly from Heathrow to Tel Aviv. A check of her luggage revealed that her fiance, a Palestinian, had planted Semtex explosive in her carry-on bag. If not discovered, it would have brought down the plane. In the early 1980s, a German national recently released from prison was befriended by Palestinians. His new friends bought him an airline ticket to Tel Aviv. He thought he was smuggling drugs. But in fact, his bags contained 10 pounds of explosives.
Yes, most aspiring airline suicide bombers are young Muslim men. But not all of them are from the 14 countries listed by the Obama administration. Richard Reid was British. Zacarias Moussaoui was French. One of the terrorists who hijacked an Air France jet in the 1970s on behalf of the Palestinians was a German woman. The suicide bombers who struck the Moscow subway in March were women. And women suicide bombers have struck at checkpoints in the West Bank.
The whole point is, even though the 9/11 hijackers were of Arab ancestry, other people who are mad at the world, could blow stuff up, for whatever reason they can claim. It doesn't have to be related to Islam! The Oklahoma City bomber and the Columbine killers were definitely NOT Arabs, and definitely NOT Muslims, but they still caused mass murder and a national trauma. They might not have blown up an airplane, but don't be surprised if someone of their cultural background and who share similar grievances might want to blow up an airplane.
Either way, it wouldn't matter if I was killed by a Middle Eastern, European or whatever! Either way, I still would be dead!
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3) Juan Williams controversy
Juan Williams, who used to be a reporter with National Public Radio (NPR), was fired from NPR earlier this year, for mentioning that he gets nervous when he sees someone "in Muslim garb" while riding an airplane!
Williams later emphasized that it is still no excuse to be discriminating against people who are Muslims or who are of Middle Eastern ancestry.
But the damage was done!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/21/AR2010102101474_pf.html
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Some right-wing conservatives were saying stuff like "how dare NPR fire him for saying what many people think".
Their mentality is that whole "Arabs attacked us on 9/11, so I'm nervous when I see them on an airplane" nonsense
But an Arab/Mexican/African/etc could EASILY say something like this: "I grew up in a white neighborhood, got bullied by big white kids, and I still get nervous when I see a group of young white males".
Would the far-right conservatives defend that person the same way they defended Juan Williams for admitting being nervous while "seeing Muslims on a plane"?
OFF COURSE NOT!
The Conservative Correctness Crowd would be ridiculing any non-white who expresses nervousness about seeing a group of young white males. Glenn Beck would be whining about that non-white person's "deep-seated hatred of white people". Michelle Maglalang Malkin would write a sarcastic editorial about person and mocking his grievances as a "sob story". And Ann Coulter would demand that non-white person to be racially profiled some more!
So yeah, the Conservative Correctness Crowd likes other ethnic groups to be mocked, racially profiled, and face privacy invasions, as long as it's not their ethnic group facing all that! Hypocrites!
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After the whole Juan Williams controversy, some right-wing conservatives were demanding the government stop funding NPR and PBS!
NPR and PBS are already mostly privately funded, though it still accepts government subsidises!
I do believe NPR and PBS should be totally privatized, but for a totally different reason from those Conservative Correctness Crowd!
Government shouldn't be owning any TV or radio stations. Government shouldn't be in charge of any journalism organization!
Jeff Jacoby made some following great points on the issue of government funding of NPR!
http://jewishworldreview.com/jeff/jacoby112410.php3
1. They aren't fair. Other radio stations and networks, from Air America to Clear Channel to Univision to Westwood One, must sink or swim in a competitive market. They survive only if listeners and advertisers value what they do. Uncle Sam doesn't keep them afloat with tens of millions of dollars annually in direct and indirect subsidies. If they can operate without corporate welfare, NPR can too.
2. They aren't appropriate. In a free society, especially one with a robust tradition of press freedom, the very idea of government-underwritten media should be anathema. When news organizations depend on largesse from the treasury, there is inevitably a price paid in objectivity, fairness, and journalistic independence.
3. They aren't necessary. NPR's partisans claim that public broadcasting provides valuable news and educational content that listeners can't get anywhere else. That may have been a plausible argument in 1970. It is utterly implausible today, when audio programming of every description can be found amid a vast and dizzying array of outlets: terrestrial and satellite radio, internet broadcasting, podcasts and audio downloads.
4. They aren't affordable. At a time of trillion-dollar federal deficits and a national debt of nearly $14 trillion, NPR's government subsidies cannot possibly be justified. All the more so when public broadcasting attracts a fortune in private funding, from the gifts of innumerable "listeners like you" to the $200 million bequeathed to NPR by the late Joan Kroc in 2003.
AMEN to all that!
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