Thursday, April 30, 2015

"The Mystery" by The Goddess Lakshmi

I know that some readers of this blog remember Rene Calvo, the owner of the internationally famous B&B known as the Harlem Flophouse.  Rene was a volunteer in Carbon County for both Obama campaigns, and he also filmed, edited, and composed the music for our award winning YouTube movie, “Tea Party Chickens.”  Another Calvo  film, starring Larry Daiell and entitled “Have you been to Hazelton lately,” was a harsh critique of former Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta.

Last summer Rene and his friend Lia stayed with us after hiking from New York to Little Gap on the Appalachian Trail.  He brings glamour into our rather mundane lives.

I might add that this blog would not exist if it weren’t for Rene Calvo.  What do I know from blogs?  Rene set it up and explained to me that if anonymous comments are allowed, people post obscene and vicious messages.  That’s is why you have to join to make a comment.

Rene’s band, The Goddess Lakshmi, is about to go on tour.  In conjunction with the tour, the group has released a video on YouTube entitled “The Mystery “ by The Goddess Lakshmi.  Check it out.  That wonderful guitar player is Rene Calvo.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Christine Donohue

Christine Donohue is running for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  She’s been given the highest rating by the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and she would be a great addition to the Court.

She’s also a Carbon County native from Lansford.  Her father was a coal miner; her mother worked in the textile industry.  

How did a local girl from Lansford get the money to go to college and law school?  Her father was in the United Mine Workers; her mom in the ILGWU.  Union jobs, union pay, upward mobility.

Today the Morning Call ran an article entitled “Poll:  Most support workers’ right to unionize.”  Let’s hope so--countries that forbid workers from unionizing have a name.  They are called “dictatorships.”


The article noted that a majority of Republicans think the decline of unions has benefited workers.  These people do not inhabit the same world in which I live.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Crips and Bloods

In today’s Times a Baltimore Crips member said gangs had taken to the streets because “there is only so far that you can push people into a corner.  We’re frustrated and that’s why we’re out there in the streets.”

He went on to way that he and some “Bloods,” another gang, stood together to prevent black-owned stores from looting and vandalism.

He was proud of the way Crips and Bloods worked together.  He said they pointed rioters and looters toward Chinese and Arab-owned stores.


I think it is wonderful that Crips and Bloods can overcome their animosity, but I still can’t quite see that as progress.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Luann wins!

I’ve been on the losing side in quite a few elections.  I did vote for Bill Clinton twice and Obama twice, but among the presidential candidates I supported were Gene McCarthy, Dick Gregory, George McGovern, Mo Udall, Gary Hart, Walter Mondale, Teddy Kennedy, Michael Dukakis, Jerry Brown, Al Gore, and John Kerry. 

The Allentown Morning Call asked for a vote on which comic strip it should run.  One of the strips was “Luann.”  I’ve been following Luann’s life for years.  I know her, know her friends, know her dog. 

It is with pleasure that I’m reporting that Luann received 6,370 votes, Pickles, got 1,440, Non Sequitur 159, Wumo, 31, and F Minus, 26.  One of those Luann votes was Linda’s.  I got that one--Linda never reads the comics page, but I told her this was important to me.


That vote qualifies as a landslide.  It is also amazing to me that almost 8000 people thought it was worth sending in a paper ballot or going on-line to vote.  That may be a higher turnout than we will have in the May primary.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

GMO food

Mark Lynas has an article in today’s New York Times entitled “How I Got Converted to G.M.O. Food.”  The article makes the point, which I have seen before, that liberals who accept scientific evidence on global warming, refuse to accept that GMO (genetically modified organisms) foods are safe to eat.

I don’t think climate change and GMOs are necessary analogous, but I don’t have any problem with eating GMO foods.  I really don’t.

Nonetheless, I do object to GMO foods that are developed for a particular herbicide, like Roundup Ready soybeans and corn.  Those seeds are not developed to decrease hunger or increase corn yield, they are developed to make money for Monsanto or other chemical companies.  When farmers can be sued for saving and replanting GMO seeds, that is just wrong.

Secondly, I don’t see a problem with labeling GMO products.  It may be irrational, but some people might not want to eat GMO foods any more than they want eggs produced by chickens in tiny cages or pigs produced in gestation pens.  


The American agricultural industry (and it is an industry) has a lot to answer for--cruelty, laws that try to prevent publicity on questionable farm practices, antibiotics in feed, and attempts to drive out family farmers.  If people want to eat foods that come from crops that are not GMOs, give them that right.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Trans-Pacific Partnership Opinion Leaders

One of the important findings of the early voting studies of the 1950s and 1960s was that many voters don’t study the pros and cons of issues, but rather base their votes on people they trust, called “opinion leaders.”

I really don’t have the time or inclination to study all the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the one President Obama wants fast-track authority to negotiate.  What I do know is that Elizabeth Warren, Jim Hightower, and Bernie Sanders all oppose the Partnership as it stands.  Those three people are among my “opinion leaders.”  If they oppose fast-track authority, then I’ll trust their judgement.


One of the Congressmen pushing to grant the President fast track authority on the agreement is Paul Ryan.  He is not one of my opinion leaders.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Hostages

It is unfortunate that a drone strike killed hostages, and I won’t even get into the morality or effectiveness of drone strikes in general, but I do want to talk about hostages.

I taught a political science class at Soledad State Prison one semester.  When professors signed up to teach there, we were told that if we were taken hostage during a prison riot, prison officials would make no attempt to negotiate or bargain with the prisoners for our lives.  As bargaining chips, we would be useless.

The theory was that since this policy was general knowledge among the prisoners, there would be no incentive to take a worthless professor hostage.


It seems to make sense, and it is a good rationale for a policy of never negotiating with hostage takers.  The policy may be cruel and may initially get some hostages killed, but in the long run it should save lives.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Panther Valley fights on

Panther Valley School District is one of a number of school districts that sued the Commonwealth over its school funding formula.  The argument was that children in districts with low property values will never be able to get an equal education compared with students in property-rich districts.  The plaintiffs have an excellent case, since they can use the exam results from tests now required by the state.

It is obvious that legislators are not about to address this problem.  Republicans controlled both houses of the Pennsylvania state legislature and the governor’s office for two years and did nothing but posture and blather.  Now that Democratic Governor Wolf has actually proposed a plan for more equal funding, Republican legislators like Jerry Knowles and Doyle Heffley continue to posture and blather about eliminating property tax, proposing nothing to eliminate the disparities in funding.

The only way this will happen is if the Pennsylvania courts force the legislature to act.  Unfortunately we live in a state where the courts are just as craven as the legislature.  The Commonwealth Court on Tuesday said this issue was a “political” issue to be decided by the legislature, not the courts.

Courts do that when they don’t want to deal with a case.  Of course it is a political issue.  It is also very clearly a legal issue, with constitutional implications.


According to an article in the Times News, Panther Valley Superintendent Dennis Kergick said an appeal will be filed.  Mr. Kergick understands that his students are getting an unfair deal under the current system.  He knows they are starting out at a disadvantage.  He sounds like a reasonable and frustrated man.  Unfortunately he (and his students from Lansford, Nesquehoning, Summit Hill, and Coaldale) are dealing with unresponsive posturing legislators and a responsibility-dodging Pennsylvania court system.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Armenian genocide

The term “genocide” was first coined by Rafael Lemkin in 1943, and it refers not only to the killing of a group of people, but also their destruction as a viable group. 

For a people to heal from a terrible wrong, the first step is that the perpetrator of the wrong must admit it.  Otherwise it remains a festering wound, and the healing process cannot begin.

What the Turks did to the Armenians during World War I was genocide.  It may have happened before the word was coined by Mr. Lemkin, but that is what it was.  The Turkish government admits that crimes were committed against the Armenians, but it can’t quite bring itself to use the word genocide.  Until it does, the Armenians will not be able to forgive the Turkish government.  By its refusal to use the term “genocide” the Turkish government closes off the necessary healing process.


It may help to understand the Turkish government’s reluctance when we consider the U.S. response to its treatment of American Indians.  I live in an area that was once inhabited by the Lenape Indians.  Many were killed, then the survivors were relocated to Ohio, then moved again to Oklahoma.  Remnants remain even today, but the Lenapes were destroyed as a viable “people.”  That fits the definition of genocide, yet it is not a word you will hear when the Lenapes are discussed.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Rats and cats

If you could save either a rat or a cat, which one would you pick?  Suppose I told you the rat in question was a Gambian pouched rat, almost three feet from nose to tail, trained to detect land mines by scent.  Thirty-nine of these trained rats are at work in Angola, and they are far better at clearing mine fields than people with metal detectors, since the metal detectors detect any metal, including rusty nails, while the rats only home on mines.

In the future the rats may also be trained to detect tuberculosis.  In early tests the rats are more accurate and much faster than humans with microscopes.

Now let’s go to New York’s Jones Beach State Park, where nesting plovers, an endangered species in New York, are threatened by a colony of feral cats, cared for by cat lovers who oppose any effort to kill them.  Are the cats endangered?  No.  Do the feral cat lovers understand that protecting a threatened species may necessitate the killing of feral cats?  Obviously not.   Sentiment gets in the way of common sense and science.

I personally like cats.  I’ve been a cat owner.  Nonetheless, I understand that feral cats are not part of the natural world, do immense damage, and need to be eliminated.  And people need to understand that.


Information for this screed was taken from “The Giant Rats That Save Lives” by Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, (Apr. 19, 2015), p. SR1, 11; and “At a Long Island Beach, Human Tempers Flare Over Claws and Feathers,” New York Times, (April. 18, 2015), p. A17.  The opinion on feral cats is my own.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Rationality

I buy CDs from “The Great Courses,” a company that provides college level courses from various professors..  I just finished one by a Lafayette professor on the “Renaissance and Reformation.”

The course ends with Newton and Galileo and the rise of the Enlightenment, when rationality began to replace superstition and received wisdom.  Or so I thought.

I just read a recent “Harper’s Index” which provided the following statistics:
Percentage of Americans who believe that vaccines are safe and effective:  53.
Percentage of Americans who believe that houses can be haunted by ghosts:  54.


That whirring sound you hear is Newton and Galileo spinning in their graves.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Okies don't cotton to new-fangled ways

Oklahoma State Representative Scott Biggs has introduced a “Right-to-farm” measure.  He was inspired by the California law that required that eggs sold in that state must be produced by chickens housed in cages that meet minimum size requirements.

According to Lancaster Farming (Apr. 18, 2015, p. A19), Biggs stated, “The agricultural industry is getting pushed by these animal rights interests.  They’re trying to force Oklahomans to do stuff their way, rather than the way we’ve done it for 100 years.”


I’m fairly sure that Mr. Biggs followed his statement with “Dag Nabbit.”

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Earth Day celebration in Jim Thorpe

I often get homesick for California.  I lived in Fairfax in Marin County for 10 years; Fairfax was the retirement home for California hippies.

The Jim Thorpe Earth Day festival is the closest thing I’ve found to life in Fairfax.  Although I don’t get the scent of marijuana in Jim Thorpe, and they didn’t sell funnel cakes in Fairfax, the mellow atmosphere of tie-dye and laid-back ambience is similar.


Even better, we collected over 400 postcards opposing the PennEast pipeline to bring fracking gas from north-central Pennsylvania to New Jersey and then to overseas markets.  It was a good day.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Equal opportunity?

One of the great myths of American life is that we all have an equal opportunity to succeed in life.  Professor John Schaar has pointed out how hollow this idea really is.  Suppose you set up a 100 meter dash.  There are five contestants.  All five will run 100 meters.  All will start at the same time.  All will have similar running shoes.  Four of the five are average guys with high blood pressure and no training.  The fifth is an Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meter dash.

Theoretically all have an equal opportunity to win.  In reality, we don’t even need to run the race.

Rich kids in this society have a head start in the race for success.  They have good health care, live in good neighborhoods, go to good schools, have tutors if they are having problems, can afford prep schools, can afford Yale or Stanford, will have connections upon graduation.

Yesterday the House passed a repeal of the Estate Tax, which Republicans like to call the Death Tax.  I don’t care what you call it, it is a small step to try to at least limit an inherited aristocracy.  Republicans in the House see nothing wrong with that, of course.  They don’t watch “Downton Abbey” for the costumes, they watch it for a model of how life should be.


I don’t think this legislation will pass the Senate, and if it does, I hope the President will veto it.  It is just one more illustration of the type of people Republican congress members represent.  

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Why I'm supporting Clinton

Gail Collins today touched on what Hillary Clinton has going for her.  It is Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, and Jeb Bush.  I’d add to that Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson, Ricky Santorum, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Perry.

There is not one of those guys who should be anywhere near the White House.  I’ll admit Clinton would not be my first choice for Democratic nominee.  Not even my second.  I don’t like the whole dynasty business, and I’d like a true liberal.

Nevertheless, I think women have a right to abortion, voting should not be curtailed, gays should be allowed to marry, and the U.S. should not jump into combat with poor people’s sons and daughters.  I also believe that climate change must be addressed, we can’t deport 11 million people, the environment must be protected, Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act need to be kept and strengthened, federal judges should be intelligent and reasonable people, and we should be turning to renewable energy.

What Republican hopeful shares even a third of those beliefs?  We are talking about candidates who ignore science, pander to the wealthy, either ignore the poor or despise them, always put PAC donors first, and have about the same the level of understanding of world politics as an insurance agent from Lubbock.

So, Clinton it is.  I have a feeling as November 2016 gets closer, I’ll be an even more enthusiastic supporter.


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Visit to the E.R.

I took a break this afternoon to sit on the porch and eat tortilla chips and drink two Coronitas (they are half-size bottles of Coronas).  Then I went up to the stone waterway to cut the brush that grows up every year.  I stumbled and put both hands out to break the fall.  The left hand landed hard on a previously-cut brush stem.  

The bleeding was rather dramatic.  Linda wrapped up the hand and drove me to the Lehighton Hospital E.R., where the nurse “irrigated” the wound, tried to glue back the tear, which didn’t work to well, and ended up suturing me with two stitches.

The bandage has slipped a bit, and the wound is seeping slightly, but I think I’ll be ok.  I learned that the hospital no longer sterilizes scissors and tweezers because of strict rules on preventing infections, so the nurse gave them to me as souvenirs.


Next time, instead of the Coronitas, I’ll drink diet coke.  And just to make this political, Medicare and my CA Blue Cross will cover the E.R. visit, which I’m sure otherwise would have cost me hundreds of dollars.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Fight for 15

Tomorrow’s the day.  Nationwide protests.  Strikes.  Demonstrations.  

Maybe the workers at McDonalds won’t get $15 an hour, but maybe they will get something.  In fact, both McDonalds and WalMart recently announced a wage increase for their employees, although in the case of McDonalds, the increase won’t affect the franchises where most employees work.

Do you know who pays for the low wages of the working poor?  We do.  Patricia Cohen, in an article entitled “Counting Up the Hidden Costs of Low Pay” in the April 13 Business section of the NYT, noted that nearly 3/4s of the people helped by federal programs geared to the poor are members of a family headed by a worker.  You and I are subsidizing KFC and Walmart workers.

The number one state where this phenomenon occurs is Texas, where 67% of the federal safety net programs (Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, TANF, earned income tax credit, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) go to working families.  

Meanwhile, proud Texans Rick Perry and Ted Cruz rail against the federal government--and get elected in this bright red state.

My father-in-law, who lived in Gregory, Texas, said that Texans were dumb as a box of hair. 


I want to send out a thank you to Richard White, who sent me a link to an excellent song entitled “I want my country back” by David Ippolito.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Monsanto--Saving Butterflies?

According to an article in the April 11 Lancaster Farming, Monsanto, the company that produces Roundup and Roundup-ready GMO soybean and corn seeds, has announced that it will be committing $4 million to stem the decline in monarch butterflies.

Monsanto, of course, is the company that is credited with degrading the monarch butterflies’ habitat.  

PennEast, the pipeline company transporting fracking natural gas with eminent domain rights, is doing the same type of P.R. campaign, awarding grants to local governments and organizations impacted by the PennEast pipeline.


I don’t know whether these types of bribes really work.  I know for me they don’t.  I don’t feel one bit more charitable toward Monsanto or PennEast.  That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t take their money.  It won’t change my opinion that they are greedy, environmentally irresponsible, evil companies that are degrading our quality of life.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Hillary announces

Big whoop.  Instead of posting something about that anti-climax, I’m printing one of my favorite poems.  It’s by Malcolm Cowley from his book Blue Juniata:  A Life, and it is timely because the dogwoods will bloom in a few weeks.  It’s entitled “The Long Voyage.”

Not that the pines were darker there,
nor mid-May dogwood brighter there,
nor swifts more swift in summer air; 
    it was my own country,

having its thunderclap of spring, 
its long midsummer ripening,
its corn hoar-stiff at harvesting, 
    almost like any country, 

yet being mine; its face, its speech,
its hills bent low within my reach,
its river birch and upland beech
    were mine, of my own country.

Now the dark waters at the bow
fold back, like earth against the plow;
foam brightens like the dogwood now

    at home, in my own country.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

The N.R.A. convention

It’s hard not to draw the conclusion that N.R.A. members are a little short in the brains department.  For seven years the organization has warned its members that President Obama is about to take away their guns.  How this would be accomplished is never said, but members slavishly send in checks and vote Republican, fearful as ever.  The fact that this hasn’t happened in seven years doesn’t seem to register.


Now they are told that Hillary Clinton will take away their guns.  OMG!  Let’s send old Wayne LaPierre some money to prevent this horror.  Hillary’s going to take away our guns!  

Friday, April 10, 2015

Ultra-orthodox seatmates

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men on plane flights have been refusing to sit next to women who aren’t their wives.  Flights have been delayed, women have been insulted, and the problem seems to be growing.  A front page article in today’s Times discusses a number of such incidents.

I have a number of thoughts about this:

Here we go again with another stupid religious belief in a long list that seems to get longer every week and extends to just about every religion I can think of.

What is it with ultra-Orthodox men that they can’t even sit next to a woman on a plane without thinking impure thoughts?  Take a cold shower before the flight and memorize the instructions on that card they keep in the seat pocket.  That should take your mind of the woman next to you.


Men who hold medieval attitudes about women probably ought to stick to donkeys and other medieval forms of transportation.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Congressman Matt Cartwright's Town Hall

Tonight Congressman Cartwright held a “Town Hall” at the Opera House in Jim Thorpe.  I was expecting Tea Party people with their “Don’t Tread On Me “ Tee-shirts, so I came prepared.

I wore my own “Don’t Tread On Me” Tee shirt with a rattlesnake coiled and emblazoned with “Earth First.”  I also took along a poster that said, “Don’t tread on little salamanders either.”  As it turned out, no Tea Party members.


Cartwright was wonderful.  He favors repeal of the Haliburton loophole for gas and oil companies, favors net neutrality, and questions why private for-profit companies are allowed to use eminent domain for oil pipelines.  He is funny, quick on his feet, and smart as a whip.  I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have represent me in Congress.  Well, maybe Nancy Pelosi.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Rand Paul

Another hat in the ring!  

He has no understanding of economics, his environmental record is dismal, his views on abortion are anything but libertarian, and he has no chance whatsoever of winning the presidency, but I like two things about him.  


First, he has made a genuine effort to reach groups that have been written off by the Republican Party, including blacks and Latinos.  Secondly, he seems to be the only candidate concerned about N.S.A. phone taps and the ever-growing surveillance in this country.  He’s even said kind things about Edward Snowden.  We owe him thanks for that.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Republican legislators and Medicaid

Linda’s Grandma Wingo used to say, “A Republican is someone who can’t enjoy a meal unless he knows someone else is going hungry.”

I thought about that when I read an article in the latest issue of Governing magazine about what has happened to Republican governors who tried to expand Medicaid.  A good example is Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee, who pushed Medicaid expansion as a biblical duty to care for the poor.  Haslam won all 95 Tennessee counties in last November’s election and was very popular.

Didn’t matter. “Americans for Prosperity,” the Koch Brothers-led group that also has a presence in our own Carbon County, sent a hundred angry people wearing identical T-shirts into the legislative chambers to agitate against the bill.  They also lobbied legislators at town halls.  The Tennessee legislature, run by right wing Republicans, didn’t even bring up Haslam’s bill for a vote.


I don’t know what kind of person would deny medical treatment to people just because they are poor, but I do remember what Linda’s grandmother said.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Spring peepers

The world-wide decline of amphibians is unprecedented.  Scientists don’t even know what is causing it.  Global warming, the spread of diseases, increased use of pesticides--all have been mentioned as possibilities.  Whatever the reason, various species of frogs, salamanders, and toads will be extinct in a few years if current trends continue.


Every spring I worry about our spring peepers in the pond across the road.  Last night I heard one, and tonight the whole chorus opened up.  It is a lovely sound, and I dread the spring I no longer hear them.  

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Lehighton to Jim Thorpe Trail

Today Linda and I set out to walk the trail from Lehighton to Jim Thorpe.  The trailhead, near the beer distributor on Stanley Hoffman Boulevard, has picnic tables, a portable toilet, and blackboards where people can leave messages.  

When we hike we take a plastic bag with us to pick up litter.  This was our first hike this spring, and we forgot the bag, not that it would have done much good.  You can’t put a porcelain toilet in a plastic bag, nor can you put in dumped roof shingles, tires, or pickup truck loads of debris.  

Then, on the way back from Packerton Yards, we took a path along the Lehigh River.  This was a much more interesting trail, but again there were piles of illegally dumped trash.  


This could be an excellent walking trail, but it needs maintenance.  It also needs some local pride, obviously lacking among area residents who evidently see it as their own private dump.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Overturning science by legislation

In Arizona the state legislature passed a bill that requires doctors to tell patients with drug-induced abortions that the procedure may be reversible, even though most scientists say it isn’t.

Twelve states mandate that women seeking abortions must be informed that a 20-week-old fetus can feel pain, although research indicates that is not true.

Four states require that women who seek abortions must be given inaccurate information on future fertility.

Five states require that women who who wants an abortion must be informed that abortions are linked to an increased risk of breast cancer, although that is a lie.

How long will it be before a state legislature passes a law that the sun revolves around the earth?


The information on state legislative activity appeared in a Gail Collins column in today’s Times.  At some point I’m hoping the kind of backlash that accompanied the Indiana and Arkansas laws on gays will also accompany legislative action against abortion, but so far I haven’t seen it.

Friday, April 3, 2015

The Agreement with Iran

Do you realize how hard it is to reach an agreement when neither side trusts the other?  History is littered with failed attempts to head off a conflict because both sides thought they were dealing with an enemy who would cheat.  World War I may be the best example--no country really expected war, but no country was willing to step back from the brink.

The U.S. supported the Shah, an evil dictator.  The Iranians think the U.S. is the “Great Satan,” and they mistreated captives from the U.S. embassy.  Hardliners in both countries oppose any agreement.

The whole nuclear agreement is a gamble, but it is a gamble worth taking, and it could be the beginning of a new relationship between the U.S. and Iran.

Kudos to Secretary of State Kerry (what a great president he would have made) and President Obama, who has shown a willingness on both Cuba and Iran to think outside the conventional wisdom.  


And yes, I am aware that the final agreement is not in place, but we are so close, provided the Congress doesn’t screw it up.  Given our Congress, also known as the Caucus of Clowns, that is always a possibility.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Bloggers killed

Here’s a scary headline, at least for me:  “Bangladesh Attacks Send Chilling Message to Secular Bloggers.”  That was from the Times of March 31.  

Two bloggers were killed for poling fun at fundamentalist Islam.  One of the bloggers was hacked to death by three men with machetes.


That is some harsh criticism.