How the Ka Leo lost its way

The University of Hawaii-Manoa's student newspaper Ka Leo O Hawaii (aka the Ka Leo) has been worrying about the declining student interest in their student newspaper.

 my  personal photo of the Ka Leo

There are so many copies around campus that never even gets picked up and read. It just sits there!

Conventional wisdom blame this declining interest to "the millenials being the digital generation who are only interested in Twitter, facebook, i-phones and blogs"

That is only part of the story!

You see, I was on the campus from 1999-2004 when I was an undergraduate student. I was a contributing opinion writer for the Ka Leo back then.

So what is the difference now?


Back then, the opinion articles were edgy, combative, confrontational, entertaining!

Now, it's boring as hell!


I don't blame the writers for this!

I BLAME THE EDITORS FOR THIS!

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

I know I'm going to sound like an "old man pining for the good old days" [even though I'm only 32] but bear with me on this one!

 You see, when I first entered UH as a freshman in Fall 1999, the Ka Leo opinion section was THE MOST ENTERTAINING PART OF THE NEWSPAPER! 

There would be verbal combat in almost every edition!

Opinion writers would be verbally combating each other!

The articles were so edgy, combative and controversial that the newspaper used to get TONS of ANGRY  "letters to the editors", which made reading the Ka Leo even more entertaining!

One of the most entertaining writers was Lance Collins. That guy had no fear of being controversial, confrontational, combative and FUNNY AS HELL!  He was like the Political Correctness Warrior with the Heart of the Prankster! I know, sounds like a strange combo, but it worked for him!

We had David McClard, who wrote the perspective of a juvenille fraternity boy, with the occasional serious stuff on the side!

We had David Parker experimenting with Objectivism/Libertarian, irritating the hell out of the campus leftist activists! And plus, his multiple verbal combats with Radical Left-Winger Devin Nordberg!

With all that going on, guess what I wanted to do in my 2nd semester at UH?  Jump right in and write my own provocative articles!

And yep, get some hate-mail when reading "letters to editors" too!

I had classmates coming up to me, laughing at  some of the angry "letters to the editors" responding to my articles!

THIS WAS WHAT MADE THE Ka Leo SO DAMN INTERESTING TO READ BACK THEN!

And as my undergrad years went on, there were additional provocative writers. There were frat boys, left-wingers, libertarians, neo-conservatives, feminists, you name it!


But not just that!

There were articles about drunken orgies! [dont look at me, I didn't write it!]

Lance Collins would have photo collages mocking political figures! 


There were humorous photo collages posted on Valentine's Day that irritated feminist activists! 


The administration officials and professors got mocked mercilessly [with real names mentioned] on editorials, comics and photo collages! 

There were comics accussed of all the -isms of the world because the fictional characters would say really crazy things! [the real comic writer is actually an activist against racism, sexism and homophobia. But not every reader got the irony and satire of those comics]

None of that would be allowed on today's version of Ka Leo!


(in fact, you won't even find them on the Ka Leo wesbite.  Just try typing "Lance Collins", "David Parker" or "Casey Ishitani".  All controversial Ka Leo writers/artists  from a decade ago, and you wont find the articles by or about them on the website!

It's like they're suppressing evidence that Ka Leo used to have a very provocative opinion section! They'll claim "technical difficulties" Yeah,right! )

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

Have you looked at the opinion section of the Ka Leo lately? 

It's been downsized!

Even worse, it's boring!  It's no longer provocative!

The Opinions Section went from....................... being the most interesting section  to............................ being the most boring section of the newspaper!
 

Something must have gone wrong between the end of my undergrad years (2004) to my start of my grad student era (2013).

Editorial policies have changed for the worse!

I know from experience that the current editors WILL edit out anything edgy and provocative from any editorial you can send them.

For example, my yesterday's blog post that was planned to be a Ka Leo article?
 http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/04/arm-our-campus-security.html


Well, here are some editor comments (highlighted in yellow)

   

ut what can they do if some crazy person [I would discourage you from using language like “crazy person,” it is not specific and therefore makes your argument seem nonspecific.] starts shooting people at random? Not much.

and

Sure, theY can call the police, but the police cannot secure every area on this island at once; they cannot be the first line of defense [They are the first line of real defense and they must be in order for your suggestion to make sense.].

And then also added this pile of horse manure

[Tim said: I like your idea, but I don’t like your argument. Giving guns to campus security is a HUGE deal, and I don’t feel like there is any pertinent research here. A country that is the armed minority in a region that hates it and an isolated incident in one of the best-functioning societies in the entire world are not good examples for an issue as complex as this.

Excuse me?  "an isolated incident in one of the best-functioning societies in the entire world" ? That was the major point of my editorial   ------ arm our campus security in case an isolated incident happens!

And I mentioned Israel just as an example of learning from other nation's experience!  That was the other major point of my editorial

More horse manure from the editors

Who is going to do the background checks on the security guards? Those aren’t cheap, at least proper ones aren’t.

Aren't they already supposed to go through background checks?

I think you need to find a new example to replace Israel, right now national security and campus security are just apples and oranges.

I WAS SPECIFICALLY REFERRING TO CAMPUS SECURITY IN ISRAEL.  Any reader who couldn't catch that is ridiculously stupid!


more nonsense from an editor

Also, shoot an email to CS and see what they have to say about this. Do they even WANT to have guns? How would it change their training and hiring procedures? How much would it cost them? Do THEY think they need guns, or is the police response time pretty good?]

Excuse me ? Why should I "shoot an email to  CS"?  How's that for bad grammar Miss Editor Sarah Nishioka? 

And here is more evidence that todays editors are too chicken-crap about anything provocative

But the reality is that decades of calm had made Norwegian society complacent. It gave them the false illusion that they are too evolved to require an armed police or security force.

and

and terrorists will always be dedicated to winning the arms race weapons and be willing to use them.

Yep, they crossed out stuff that is provocative in those 2 examples.

And more BS from the editors

. I would like to see more research and less fear-mongering.

 I did do my research, I did cite my source, you just dont like the results!

And "less fear-mongering"?  And you wonder why the current version of the Opinion section is boring as hell?

The great thought-provoking editorials of the old days always head some fear-mongering! Whether it was environmentalists mentioning the "gloom and doom of global warming" or the neo-conservatives mentioning the dangers of foreign terrorists, they all provoked the reader's hearts and minds!

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


All I know is that if  I sent the same article when Lance Collins was the editor, the only changes made would be grammar corrections and space trimmings!

Thought sometimes, if my viewpoint was different from Collins, he would add a strange title to my editorials [editors write the titles to make it fit the print version of the paper]

But I know for damn sure that Lance Collins would've published that editorials without making those stupid deletions and without all this Politically Correct nonsense todays editors are doing now!

Sheesh, even Jeremy Pippin, a grammar  and citation freak of an editor, would've posted that article without all this stupid deletions and politically correct mumbo jumbo!

Same with Sean Akiu and Chris Mikesell, the last 2 editors I dealt with back in 2004.  

Unlike today's editors, the opinion editors of the past weren't afraid of controversy!  They embraced controversy!  They would've published that article almost 95%  like I wrote, and let the angry letters come in!  


And today's editors dont even have much of a sense of humor either.

For example, from an article that I sent earlier this year on those stupid "Do It in 4" signs

If students have a job outside of campus, they may need to take less than 15 credits per semester. After all, they still need time to work, attend class, study, eat, sleep, as well as maintain social relationships with friends and family.

And at least an hour a day of free time would be nice.

That would NEVER have been deleted a decade ago. Past editors would've appreciated a little sense of humor to relieve a tension of a serious article

And another example of the editors censoring anything provocative

  Statements like those give the impression that this university cares more about RANKINGS (which are based on arbitrary criteria by outside "experts") than the actual lives of the students!

UH's priority shouldn't be about rankings (read: popularity contests for mainland "experts"), the priority should be about access to higher education for Hawaii's students.

Today's editors said those 2 crossed out paragraphs distracted from the focus of my editorial ! BULLCRAP!  I was anticipating opponent responses to my other points! That's what previous editors encouraged us to do!  That's what opinion writers do!   Yeah, I did some provocative statements in those 2 crossed out paragraphs.It was meant to shine a light on my opponent's viewpoints via exaggeration! It was not meant to be taken literally! No educated person (and this is a university) would take every statement literally! 

No educated person would expect every opinion article to only have literal statements!

So yeah, todays editors are humorless folks with no sense of irony. They want every sentence to be something taken literally.  They are  afraid to put stuff out there that is provocative and combative!

Today's editors  may be experts on grammars and formats, but they are NOT experts in thought provoking debates. They are experts in controversy avoidance and staleness! Any sense of rebelliousness and subversiveness is sniffled by the (ahem, ahem) opinion editors!

And you wonder why the current Opinion section is boring as hell?

----

But maybe I am sounding like an old guy (I'm only 32) pining for the good old days of the Y2K era! Maybe the whole thing about college newspapers having provocative, combative editorials are just a relic of a time when rap-metal ruled MTV, when  TheRock and Stone Cold ruled the wrestling rings, and a whole bunch of Animal House imitators (ie American Pie, etc) ruled the theatres.

Maybe I am sounding like that NOFX song "What's the Matter with the Kids
 http://www.metrolyrics.com/whats-the-matter-with-kids-today-lyrics-nofx.html

 There's something wrong with the kids in my neighborhood

They always listen to moms

They disregard civil disobedience

They'd rather do what they're told

They don't drink or f--- or fight

They stay home and read, expanding their minds

Yeah, there's something wrong with the kids in my cul de sac

Their always goin' to church

They dress well and they're speaking articulate

They show each other respect

They're never late, they don't smoke or break rules

They eat right, they study hard, they like school
There's something wrong with the kids in my neighborhood

listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3eMRVms4rI

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

But you know what?

The Ka Leo editors can't control me!

Unlike the old days, I can just post my thoughts on my blog.

And you know what else?

I can just use guerilla marketing to promote my thoughts to the UH campus population

Just a post a few thought-provoking posters around campus!  I could probably reach more students than a bunch of unused Ka Leo copies that nobody ever picks up!

After all, if the opinion section of the Ka Leo remains boring and unprovocative, those print copies would continue to be un-read.

And with Ka Leo turning into a once-a-week newspaper next school year, even more, there would be less urgency for the students to pick up a print copy.

And the online version of Ka Leo will continue to get less readers than the UH Confessions page on facebook!  

https://www.facebook.com/UniversityOfHawaiiConfessions?ref=ts&fref=ts

Arm our campus security

[my note: This was originally planned to be an article at the UH's newspaper Ka Leo O Hawaii  (aka the Ka Leo). as for why it's not there ........... well, that's the subject for tomorrow's blog post]

         Like many campuses, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa has its own security force. They are the eyes and ears of the campus. They look out for suspicious activity, record all reported incidents, give safety tips and even break up fights.

            But what can they do if some crazy person starts shooting people at random? Not much.

The Limits of Campus Security

 Our campus security is unarmed.

           Sure, the campus security can call the police. But remember, the police cannot secure every area on this island. They are not the first line of defense. They are merely the backup.

            When a shooting occur, seconds count. We don’t have time to wait.

While we wait for the police to arrive, everyone on campus continues to hope and pray that the shooter runs out of bullets soon. 

It shouldn’t have to be this way. We shouldn’t have to wait for the police to arrive on time. We need someone right there ready to shoot back when the bullets start flying.

Real life armed security

There is evidence that having armed security helps.

            Let’s look at Israel, a country surrounded by hostile enemies. In a nation that has dealt with real terrorism, they don’t just hope and wait for someone to save them. They don’t just rely on security that is armed with nothing more than a command presence. They know that a command presence is no match for an armed psychotic killer who thinks you shouldn’t even exist.

            In Israel, every campus has armed security. And they don’t have as many school shootings like we do in the United States.

(source: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/30/armed-teachers-guards-key-to-school-security-in-israel/ )

Real life example of unarmed security

            I’m sure some of you reading this will say “no worry, we’re not Israel. We’re fine, don’t be so paranoid.”

            Well, let’s look at Norway’s example.  This is a country that had gone decades without facing an external threat.  There wasn’t much of an internal threat either. That is until 2011, when a crazed gunman shot a group of teenaged campers.

            Not only was the security unarmed, so were a large percentage of police officers. 

            Some Norwegians defended the policy by claiming that an unarmed police force makes for a safer society.

(source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/world/europe/26police.html )

            But the reality is that decades of calm had made Norwegian society complacent. It gave them the false illusion that they are too evolved to require an armed police or security force.

We need to win the arms race

            Some Norwegians worried that having an armed police will lead to an arms race. But the reality is that criminals and terrorists will always be dedicated to winning the arms race.

            The Isrealis know that from hard experience. This is why they have armed security. This is why they take no chances.

            While Hawai‘i doesn’t have to deal with the terroristic threat as regularly as the Isrealis, we can learn from Norway’s experience that we can’t be complacent either. 

            It’s time we have a campus security that is ready for any disaster. It’s time we have a campus security that is ready to shoot back. Lives depend on it.

Will Obama evolve on marijuana policy

Last year, President Obama announced that he was in favor of  legalizing same-sex marriage. This was after years of saying his thoughts on same-sex marriage is "evolving".

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/05/obama-evolution-and-same-sex-marriage.html



Now that Obama has "evolved" on same-sex marriage, there is another issue that Obama has to start evolving on, something that Obama has disappointed many liberals and libertarians on.

That issue is the militaristic drug policy. Ever since Richard Nixon declared the "War on Drugs", every president tried to portray themselves as "tough guys" by putting stricter punishment on drug violations and allowing for more militaristic raids on suspected drug pushers/users/etc.

For too long, these raids allowed for abusive cops to go crazy. And in too many cases, they raided the wrong house, but it's too late!  Those who get raided are  either dead, severely injured or severely traumatized.

This has also encouraged cops to be an occupying force in many Latino and African-American communities.  But even the European-Americans aren't immune, especially those who are into the punk rock or rave scenes that are targeted by SWAT teams.

And it's not like those raids are reducing crime either. In fact, just like how alcohol prohibition had encouraged Irish, Italian and Jewish mafias to run rampant, the drug prohibition are causing black market turf wars in African-American and Latino communities. And it has poisoned much of Latin America. The Mexican mafias aren't shooting each other over tacos and burritos because those things are in the legal market. The mafias fight over illegal markets.

Portugal, Netherlands and other European countries have a more lenient policy on drug issues, and they don't have mafia wars like the countries in the Americas.

And now Latin American leaders are noticing that the European approach is better than the American approach to drug policy. They are discussing having a less militaristic drug policy.

Meanwhile, in the US, Barack Obama promised to not have the DEA raid farms and clinics associated with medical marijuana in states that allow them. But Obama has broken that promise, and the DEA raids continue.

This has pissed off many liberals and libertarians, especially since Obama admitted to smoking a joint when he was younger. Lucky he didn't get caught, otherwise, he would've been either on probation or in jail, making him less likely to have become president.

photo from

http://reason.com/archives/2012/05/16/when-will-obama-evolve-on-the-drug-war

young Obama smoking a blunt

Last year, Obama wass probably nervous that favoring a more lenient drug policy might alienate older voters in Ohio and Iowa.

 But now that Obama got re-elected, Obama can put caution on the side and do something brave and right for once.

He could end the federal government's militaristic policy on marijuana.


The militaristic drug policy isn't helping. The younger generation understands that! They have evolved.


Unlike Obama, I have never smoked anything in my life. But I know when things aren't working. It's time for Obama to evolve and start having a less militaristic drug policy!

Sam Slom, diverse cultures and sex offenders

Hawaii only has 1 Republican in its State Senate.

That would be Sam Slom!

Star Advertiser

Sam Slom

And if after next election, there is zero Republicans in the State Senate,  Sam Slom can blame ......................Sam Slom.

You see, a few days ago, Sam Slom was being interviewed by Bill O'Reilly,  the Fox News host who thinks Hawaii laws are too lenient.

(Yeah, I do think Hawaii's justice system can be too lenient on violent offenders, like I mentioned on http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-lenient-is-too-lenient.html )

Anyways, Bill O'Reilly asked Sam Slom why Hawaii's politicians refuse to pass laws with harsher sentences for sexual offenders

 http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2013/03/15/why-does-hawaii-oppose-jessicas-law

Here is Sam Slom's answer! 

SAM SLOM (R), HAWAII, STATE SENATOR: Well, aloha, Bill. The only thing I can tell you is basically what they say. And I think it's a case of misplaced compassion, compassion for perpetrators and there's also an underlying cultural problem here where some of our diverse cultures actually don't see any problem or any crime in having sexual relations with young children.

 You see what I highlighted in red?

And you wonder why Republicans are struggling with minority communities?

You would think Sam Slom, a Hawaii senator would know better.

Apparently not!

Here, UH's head of the sociology department responds

http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii/Controversy-follows-after-Sen-Slom-s-comment-on-Jessica-s-Law/-/8905354/19341242/-/n0mgdyz/-/index.html

 "The statement from Senator Slom that 'some of our diverse cultures actually don't see any problem or any crime in having sexual relations with young children' is inaccurate and offensive.  Clearly the Senator was referring to racial, ethnic and national groups in his use of the term, 'diverse cultures' in the Hawaii context," said University of Hawaii Department of Sociology Chair Valli Kalei Kanuha.  "However, there is absolutely no evidence that child sexual abuse is viewed as acceptable in any social group or community, and is in fact considered an aberration across most societies in this and in every period in history."

So Sam Slom, which groups do you think is accepting of sexual abuse of child?

Sam Slom answers :

 http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20130316__Some_isle_cultures_dont_see_pedophilia_as_crime_Slom_says.html

Asked Friday about his comments, Slom said they were a small part of the interview and that he did not get the chance to expound on the issue during the broadcast. He defended his comments as factual, however, "that in some cultures that are here, that they have a different interpretation of what may be sexual abuse or molestation."

Slom declined to identify any specific culture "other than to say that they exist here." He cited as an example the case of Howell "Chinky" Mahoe, a kumu hula who in 1998 received five years' probation from a judge instead of a 10-year prison term for sexually assaulting four young dancers. The judge also allowed Mahoe to continue teaching hula to children as long as another adult was present.

In other words, Sam Slom is a coward who talks smack, but when asked to back up his trash talk, he  runs for cover!


But yeah, the Democrats will finally be able to win the State Senate seat for Hawaii Kai. Almost anybody (except a sex offender) could just run against Sam Slom with mailing ads repeating what Sam Slom said!

You can easily imagine an ad that goes something like this:

 Star Advertiser

"This guy thinks your culture is too accepting of sexual abuse of children"

"This guy thinks you dont have any problem with sexual abuse of children"

And what is Sam Slom going to do about it?

Just complain about "political correctness"?

Just whine that his opponent is a "tax-and-spend liberal evading the important issues"?

 That's NOT going to be enough!

It's time for new leadership!

Yeah, I'm tired of having one political party running the show in Hawaii!

But it's time for NEW people leading the opposition against one-party rule in Hawaii!

Sam Slom will forever be considered a joke.

If the Hawaii Republicans are smart, they'll ask Sam Slom to step aside and have someone else step in!

I mean, if Charles Djou is still living in Hawaii Kai, he could EASILY save that Senate seat for the Republicans. 

After all, Hawaii Kai is the one area Charles Djou has got a strong following!

If not Djou, then maybe someone newer and fresher!

Random thoughts

1) You all heard the cliche "I was only joking".

Yeah, if you were really funny, I would actually be laughing.

And you wouldn't have to say "I was only joking"


Dont be the one who says "I was only joking". Be the one who actually makes people laugh!



2) Yeah, I dont always have time to go to certain events.


Some guy asked if I was going to some block party that night.

My answer : no! 

He asked "why?"

I said "no more time"

He didn't like that answer.

Next time, I should just tell him "mind your own business"




3) If you see me at the library reading something or using the computer, please wait until I'm done before "talking story" to me!




4) If you're going to major in medicine, I would think you would want to visit a hospital, right?

If you're majoring in political science, I would think you would want to visit  City Hall or State Capitol, right?

I know, duh right?

But I know this one student majoring in "Library and Information Science" that is too lazy to visit a public library and didn't even know where the Hawaii State Library is.

She also gets offended when suggested that librarians should actually walk with patrons to help find items. A person with that attitude wouldn't last long at Macy's!

And this other student in a Library and Information Science class doesn't even want to use a book, thinks everything should be in a "digital format"


Yep, both students in Library and Information Science that would rather stay home and hide behind the computer instead of ...............you know..........visit a library and read a book?


Who knows, maybe those students can surf without going to the ocean, or surf without using a surfboard.
 

Good luck with that!





5)  Anyways, I hope you all have a Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

BS heroes

How do you choose your heroes?

There's a lot of con artists out there who tell you what you want to hear.

But you can't just listen to their words. You have to know their actions.

But when it comes to political leaders, too many people just listen to the words, while over-looking the harsh reality


1) Communists

A lot of people have grievances towards capitalism.

A lot of people have grievances towards big corporations.

A lot of people have grievances against unethical business people.

And some businesses, corporations and business people deserve all the scorn they are getting.

However, there are con men who will tell you how much they hate capitalists, corporations,oligarchs,etc.

That doesn't mean they will make good leaders!

Sometimes, they're even WORSE than the oligarchs they are trying to replace!

The best examples are the Latin American dictators Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

They talk all their anti-capitalist, anti-oligarch, anti-corporate talk. They talk a good talk about liberation.

All this talk attracts useful idiots like Sean Penn, Micheal Moore, Harry Belafonte and a whole bunch of Hollywood and academic chumps.

Those chumps get invited to the dictator's palaces and are fascinated by the con-man's smooth talk.

But they don't experience the life of the average person living in those communist countries.

They don't experience the things that made tons of Cubans want to escape.

They dont experience the crime-ridden ghettoes of Venezuela.

They dont witness the censorship experienced by political opponents.

After all, those Hollywood chumps hear this "liberation talk" and get hypnotized.  The reality? Who needs to hear about the reality, when this leader who invited me to his palace is so cool to me?

Yeah, that sounds like Dennis Rodman after his visit to North Korea. But most people view Dennis Rodman as someone past his prime, someone desperate for attention now that his NBA career is over.

But Sean Penn, Micheal Moore, Oliver Stone et al are seen as "the educated", "the profound", "the intellectuals".

But I see them as THE USEFUL IDIOTS!

Let's look at the reality of Venezuela under Hugo Chavez

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/americas/23venez.html

CARACAS, Venezuela — Some here joke that they might be safer if they lived in Baghdad. The numbers bear them out.

In Iraq, a country with about the same population as Venezuela, there were 4,644 civilian deaths from violence in 2009, according to Iraq Body Count; in Venezuela that year, the number of murders climbed above 16,000.

Even Mexico’s infamous drug war has claimed fewer lives.

Venezuelans have absorbed such grim statistics for years. Those with means have hidden their homes behind walls and hired foreign security experts to advise them on how to avoid kidnappings and killings. And rich and poor alike have resigned themselves to living with a murder rate that the opposition says remains low on the list of the government’s priorities.
Then a front-page photograph in a leading independent newspaper — and the government’s reaction — shocked the nation, and rekindled public debate over violent crime.

The photo in the paper, El Nacional, is unquestionably gory. It shows a dozen homicide victims strewn about the city’s largest morgue, just a sample of an unusually anarchic two-day stretch in this already perilous place.

While many Venezuelans saw the picture as a sober reminder of their vulnerability and a chance to effect change, the government took a different stand.

A court ordered the paper to stop publishing images of violence, as if that would quiet growing questions about why the government — despite proclaiming a revolution that heralds socialist values — has been unable to close the dangerous gap between rich and poor and make the country’s streets safer.

“Forget the hundreds of children who die from stray bullets, or the kids who go through the horror of seeing their parents or older siblings killed before their eyes,” said Teodoro Petkoff, the editor of another newspaper here, mocking the court’s decision in a front-page editorial. “Their problem is the photograph.”

But why Sean Penn care about that? What's important to Sean Penn is "hey, Hugo Chavez let me visit his palace, his words on liberation are cooooooooool".

More from the article

There have been 43,792 homicides in Venezuela since 2007, according to the violence observatory, compared with about 28,000 deaths from drug-related violence in Mexico since that country’s assault on cartels began in late 2006.

Caracas itself is almost unrivaled among large cities in the Americas for its homicide rate, which currently stands at around 200 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to Roberto Briceño-León, the sociologist at the Central University of Venezuela who directs the violence observatory.

That compares with recent measures of 22.7 per 100,000 people in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, and 14 per 100,000 in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. As Mr. Chávez’s government often points out, Venezuela’s crime problem did not emerge overnight, and the concern over murders preceded his rise to power.

[that's right, Venezuela is MORE DANGEROUS than Mexico, Brazil and Colombia]

But scholars here describe the climb in homicides in the past decade as unprecedented in Venezuelan history; the number of homicides last year was more than three times higher than when Mr. Chávez was elected in 1998.

Reasons for the surge are complex and varied, experts say. While many Latin American economies are growing fast, Venezuela’s has continued to shrink. The gap between rich and poor remains wide, despite spending on anti-poverty programs, fueling resentment. Adding to that, the nation is awash in millions of illegal firearms

Police salaries remain low, sapping motivation. And in a country with the highest inflation rate in the hemisphere, more than 30 percent a year, some officers have turned to supplementing their incomes with crimes like kidnappings.

But some crime specialists say another factor has to be considered: Mr. Chávez’s government itself. The judicial system has grown increasingly politicized, losing independent judges and aligning itself more closely with Mr. Chávez’s political movement. Many experienced state employees have had to leave public service, or even the country.

More than 90 percent of murders go unsolved, without a single arrest, Mr. Briceño-León said. But cases against Mr. Chavez’s critics — including judges, dissident generals and media executives — are increasingly common.

 yep, that is Hugo Chavez's priorities : harass and arrest his critics, ignore the real crisis on the streets.

More on Hugo Chavez

 http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/05/world/americas/obit-venezuela-chavez/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

But Chavez also leaves a legacy of repression against politicians and private media who opposed him.

He concentrated power in the executive branch, turning formerly independent institutions -- such as the judiciary, the electoral authorities and the military -- into partisan loyalists.

Through decrees and a judiciary tilted in the president's favor, many political opponents found themselves barred from running in elections against the ruling party. Even former allies, like Chavez's onetime defense minister, Gen. Raul Baduel, faced accusations that critics called trumped-up corruption charges.

Chavez's government similarly targeted opposition broadcasters, passing laws and decrees that forced at least one major broadcaster and dozens of smaller radio and television stations off the air.

Opponents also have criticized his social programs, calling them unsustainable over the long run and responsible for unintended consequences. Price controls, for instance, drove up inflation, while expropriations of farmland depressed production.

Yeah, Sean Penn, Micheal Moore, Oliver Stone whine about "President Bush was violating civil liberties", yet  Hugo Chavez was violating civil liberties like crazy!  

As for Fidel Castro,
look at this
 http://www.hfontova.com/fidel.html

stunning expose' of the real Fidel Castro and the hypocrisy, ignorance and inexcusable appeasement that makes his liberal admirers notorious.

"Cuba's own Elvis" - that's what Dan Rather calls him. Funny name for a man who has threatened the United States with nuclear war, who has made common cause with Islamic terrorists against the United States, and whose people risk death to escape him. But there's a lot that Hollywood liberals and other Fidel Castro admirers would rather you didn't know about the dictator of Cuba - like how he imprisoned more people as a percentage of population than Hitler or Stalin; how Fidel's firing squads killed thousands of Cubans; how Fidel's subjects would rather inject themselves with AIDS than live under his tyranny.

Drawing on a wealth of research - including interviews with former Castro regime officials, anti-Castro freedom fighters, and Castro's political prisoners - acclaimed author Humberto Fontova reveals the ugly face of the Castro regime.

Along the way, he punctures some of the egregious myths about Cuba - The Motorcycle Bore: The real Che Guevara - not the rebel rock star of T-shirt fame, but a battlefield incompetent, a puritan-Stalinist bore, and the man who sent thousands of innocent Cubans to the firing squads -

Communist Economics 101: How Castro took Cuba from being a First World economy that had to turn away European emigrants to a country that even impoverished Haitians won't emigrate to, with among the highest suicide and abortion rates in the world

- The Saddam Hussein Next Door: How Castro has not only had nuclear weapons (and wanted to launch them) but has plotted massive terrorist outrages against the United States - Fidel the anti-black racist and unrepentant Communist - and his long list of useful idiots: from Jesse Jackson to Oliver Stone, George McGovern to Ted Turner, Bill Clinton to Steven Spielberg, to Katie Couric and many others - The Left's favorite racism: against conservative Cuban-Americans
Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant is a stunning expose of the real Fidel Castro and of the hypocrisy, ignorance, and inexcusable appeasement that makes his liberal admirers notorious.

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 As for Fidel's former assistant Che Guevara

 http://townhall.com/columnists/humbertofontova/2010/10/09/che_guevara;_guerrilla_doofus_and_murdering_coward/page/full/

"When you saw the beaming look on Che's face as the victims were tied to the stake and blasted apart by the firing squad," said a former Cuban political prisoner Roberto Martin-Perez, to your humble servant here, "you saw there was something seriously, seriously wrong with Che Guevara." As commander of the La Cabana execution yard, Che often shattered the skull of the condemned man (or boy) by firing the coup de grace himself. When other duties tore him away from his beloved execution yard, he consoled himself by viewing the slaughter. Che's second-story office in Havana’s La Cabana prison had a section of wall torn out so he could watch his darling firing-squads at work. 

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The Spanish word vencido, by the way, translates into "defeated" or "surrendered."And indeed, "the "acrid odor of gunpowder and blood" very, very rarely reached Guevara's nostrils from anything properly describable as combat. It mostly came from the close-range murders of defenseless men (and boys.) Carlos Machado was 15 years old in 1963 when the bullets from the firing squad shattered his body. His twin brother and father collapsed beside Carlos from the same volley. All had resisted Castro and Che's theft of their humble family farm, all refused blindfolds and all died sneering at their Communist murderers, as did thousands of their valiant countrymen. "Viva Cuba Libre! Viva Cristo Rey! Abajo Comunismo!" "The defiant yells would make the walls of La Cabana prison tremble," wrote eyewitness to the slaughter, Armando Valladares.

The one genuine accomplishment in Che Guevara's life was the mass-murder of defenseless men and boys. Under his own gun dozens died. Under his orders thousands crumpled. At everything else Che Guevara failed abysmally, even comically.

 http://www.hfontova.com/che.html

Che's bloodthirsty hatred is why Fontova considers him the godfather of modern terrorism. Exposing the Real Che Guevara is based on scores of interviews with survivors of Che's atrocities as well as the American CIA agent who interrogated Che just hours before the Bolivian government executed him.

Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the mainstream media celebrate Che as a saint and a sex symbol - a selfless martyr with a love of humanity second only to Jesus Christ's.

But their ideas about Che - Fidel Castro's henchman whose face adorns hipsters' T-shirts, posters, and ad campaigns - are based on a murderous communist regime's outright lies.
As Humberto Fontova reveals in this myth-shattering book, Che was actually a bloodthirsty executioner, a military bumbler, a coward, and a hypocrite. This biographical account proves it's no exaggeration to state that Che - who was captured and killed nearly forty years ago - was the godfather of modern terrorism.

And yet Che's followers naively swallow Castro's historical revisionism. They are classic "useful idiots." the name Stalin gave to foolish Westerners who parroted his lies about communism's successes.

Humberto Fontova interviewed the few people still alive who interacted with Che and can tell the truth about him, while overturning the myths and legends. In this book you'll learn:
- How Che longed to destroy New York City with nuclear missiles. (So why does Angelina Jolie sport a Che tattoo, while denouncing violence as a U.N. ambassador of goodwill?
- How Che promoted book burning and signed death warrants for authors who disagreed with him. (So why did Jean Paul Sartre praise him as a "perfect" man, and why did Time Magazine name him one of the 100 most influential people of the century?)
- How Che made amazingly racist statements about blacks. (So why do Jesse Jackson, Jay-Z, and Mike Tyson say nice things about him?)
- How Che persecuted gays, long-haired rock and roll fans, and religious people. (So why do Carlos Santana, Madonna and Johnny Depp think he's so cool?)
- How Che, the devoted Communist, loved material wealth and private luxuries. (So why do the mainstream media still depict him as an ascetic?)

David Horowitz says: "A great service for the cause of decency and human freedom. Deservedly puts Che Guevara in the ash-heap of history. Every American should read this book."

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2)  Cop Killers

Here in the USA, there is another example of people choosing the wrong heroes, all because "he said some things I want to hear".

I'm talking about the cop killer Chris Dorner! Before he went on his rampage, he wrote his manifesto about his grievances against the LAPD and society in general

http://abcnews.go.com/US/los-angeles-cops-chris-dorners-manifesto-speaks/story?id=18434105

Again, just like Hugo Chavez, Chris Dorner has his useful idiots out to defend him

Because Chris Dorner wrote things many left-wing people agreed with, some people think he is a hero.

They say we shouldn't demonize Chris Dorner!

WELL SCREW YOU!

No amount of righteous anger will EVER excuse the murder of Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence!

The only thing Monica Quan was ever "guilty" of was just being related to the wrong person!

That's right, punk-ass Chris Dorner killed Monica Quan just because of who her father was!(her dad was involved in Dorner's grievance hearing which got him fired from the LAPD)


Only a sick scumbag will kill someone just because who his/her relative was!


And yes, Chris Dorner is a sick scumbag!

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/car-479026-couple-inside.html

Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence

Both KILLED just because Chris Dorner didn't like her dad! 

Keith Lawrence was in the driver's seat, a standout basketball player with a new job as a USC patrol officer, shot and slumped behind the wheel. Monica Quan was next to him, also a basketball star, now a much-loved basketball coach, also shot dead.

They were college sweethearts, newly engaged. They had recently moved into the Irvine condo complex where they were found Sunday night on the top level of a parking garage.

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Coaches, friends and others who knew Lawrence, 27, and Quan, 28, remembered them as stars off the court as much as on. A middle-school teacher, for example, said Quan made her think about the type of parent she would have to become to raise a child like her. A college coach said Lawrence was that rare person who really did get along with everyone.

"He was the nicest person you could ever meet, humble, he never gave off any negative vibes," said Lawrence's longtime friend Edrian Ferrer. They spoke late last week, and Ferrer said Lawrence told him he had proposed to Quan a few days earlier. "I think he was in a good place," Ferrer said.

Lawrence and Quan met at Concordia University in Irvine, where they both played guard for the school's basketball teams. She was 5-foot-5 but was among the team leaders for three-point field goals. He hit one of the most dramatic shots in recent school history, a buzzer-beating three-pointer in triple overtime that helped send Concordia to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics finals.

That was in March 2007, just a few days after he and Quan first friended each other on Facebook. They documented their relationship in the years that followed with online photographs: posing at Disneyland, clowning around in front of a Christmas tree. One picture showed Lawrence down on one knee in front of Quan, but the caption explained that he was just resting his legs

Quan graduated in 2007 with a degree in exercise sports science, then got her master's degree in coaching and athletic administration. Her dream was basketball: "I've had one goal: to be on a WNBA team," she said in her 2002 yearbook from Walnut High in Walnut. "I've always dreamed of playing for the Los Angeles Sparks."

Instead, she became an assistant coach, first at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, then at Cal State Fullerton – where, for the past two years, she has been "Coach Mo." The head coach, Marcia Foster, broke down as she remembered Quan during a brief news conference on Monday. "A really bright light was put out way too soon," she said.

"As a second-year assistant, she was someone I called on to tell me the truth," Foster said. "I love that about her. I loved her work ethic. I loved her passion for life."

Lawrence graduated from Concordia with a degree in business administration. But even in his playing days, he had talked about becoming a police officer. He attended the Ventura County Sheriff's Academy and posed for a photograph on the day he graduated, proud in his uniform, with Quan by his side.

Yep, those are the 2 people killed by Chris Dorner!

Still think that punk-ass Chris Dorner is a hero?

A person can only hold it in for so long

I am trying to get rid of the bitterness of the past.

But it doesn't go away on its own.

Whatever bitterness you are holding in, you got to get it out somehow.

Which is why I'm doing a series of  "Exposed to Light" blog posts.

They keep me from the insanity of holding things in forever!

I might do a few more of those "exposed to the light" blog posts and be done with it!

Life is too short to be angry all the time!

Just be patient with me, and I'll be fine!