GW is apparently a treasure chest....

Every day my campus inbox is flooded with GW crime alerts.  I just don't get it.  I mean, I've been robbed.  I was a gringa with other gringas in a shady area of Buenos Aires...in retrospect, it was imminent.  But I am often left confused by GW crime alerts since GW is located in one of the safest parts of DC, not to mention the high number of police--actual or campus.  I just feel like thieves don't even try here...they just prey upon the young, white, often drunk, and rich...which constitues over 95% of GW's population...talk about diversity!  See for yourself.

Robbery
On Wednesday, Oct. 7, at approximately 9:30 p.m., a robbery occurred off campus at 25th and Eye streets, NW. A male student was approached by three African American males who asked him for a cigarette. One of the subjects immediately struck him in the face and took his backpack, phone and wallet. Metropolitan Police Officers responded to the scene and GWPD officers observed them in the area and responded to assist. There is no further description of the three subjects.
If you have not yet programmed the GWPD emergency number into your cell phone, please do so, 202-994-6111.
Avoid walking alone at night and use 4-RIDE if traveling within the service boundaries or take a taxi.
GWPD needs members of the GW community to immediately report anything suspicious or out of the ordinary and let us check it out.
This information is provided by:
The George Washington University Police Department
Non-Emergency 994-6110 EMERGENCY 994-6111 

and this one...this one really confuses me:

A robbery pickpocket occurred on Saturday, Oct. 3, in the 2000 block of F St., NW, involving three female GW students who were on their way home from a party. The students asked two unknown males on the street to take a photo of them, and the subject took one of the student's BlackBerry device while the photo was being taken. The photo to the right shows the suspect's hand in the student's purse. The following information was included in a "be on the lookout" flyer that the Metropolitan Police Department has issued for these two males. The suspects were described as: Suspect 1 - approximately 6'-6'1", 25-years-old, 220 lbs., heavy build, dark complexion, short-cut hair and wearing a green shirt and black pants Suspect 2 - approximately 5'11", 25-years-old, 180 lbs., slim build, medium complexion and wearing a green cap, green jacket, green shirt and indigo pants. Anyone with information about the identity of these subjects is asked to contact Detective Neil Jones at neil.jones@dc.gov or 202-730-1903 or the MPD Command Information Center at 202-727-9099. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call 1-888-919-CRIME (2746). Anonymous information may also be forwarded to the MPD's TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411. The GW community should be on the lookout for these two males and should contact GWPD at 202-994-6111 immediately if they are seen on or around the campus. Crime prevention tips: Do not ask strangers for assistance. Be cautious walking around campus at night. Use 4-RIDE or take a taxi when traveling around the city at night.

So tell me, am I missing something or are these kids just way to naive for their own good?

Anti-Free Speech or Anti-Bad Music?

Now, we all know Cuba is no paradise.  In fact its bad politics, social policies, and a crazy leader who apparently found the fountain of youth during the revolution in the jungle, drained and bottled it, and didn't share.  This post is inspired by an event to be held by GWUs Students for a Free Cuba.  Elena Ros-Lehtinen (ERL) will be speaking...I'm sure you guys can imagine how I feel about her...and a Cuban punk band will be performing.

ERL frightens me for a number of reasons.  One is superficial, she has no neck.  People with no necks and people with yahoo email addresses can't be trusted, ie: Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin.  (It is not confirmed that ERL uses yahoo, but she does fit the first criteria for mistrust).  The second reason she scares me is because of her ardent, hard lined stance against the Cuban government, seemingly forgetting that there are other people aside from the Castros on the island.  Check her out on Fox "news":

Cuba needs to be a part of the OAS, was never a true threat against the United States (and in my opinion, we kind of made this mess for ourselves as Castro was once a moderate nationalist a la Eddie Chibas), and the OAS for the good of the whole of the hemisphere, needs the U.S., its largest donor, to continue contributing. PS: The Cold War is over.

Gorki Aguila is a punk rocker that has been jailed for his outspoken and deep lyrics like "I'll piss in his soup" and "I don't want to be a cosmonaut" and is now on trial for "dangerousness." These bad lyrics and bad music to put them on, lead me to believe that Castro didn't jail him for speaking out...but instead for adding to the misery of the island with this hideous musica:

Now if you actually watched that video, I'm surprised he wasn't jailed for disrespecting the Comandante, I mean am I the only one who noticed the floating penis in front of a post-op Fidel's mouth for the entire first video? In all seriousness though, not cool Fidel, let him be. You should have just taken his amp away or something, or exiled him to Europe; he'd have freedom and they'd have more bad post-Cure era music.

 Miki Flow has never been arrested and to me has a more compelling and more peaceful form of social protest in his music, his stuff also pleases the ears...or at least mine.  He's from the poorest region of Cuba, which is also the capital of Cuban Hip Hop, surprise surprise, that this part of the island also has one of the largest concentration of Afro-decendents. Miki Flow is pretty freaking amazing.  I actually met him last year at a Cuba conference in Miami, very well spoken and politically involved, he wants to see a free Cuba and criticizes those who make this such a divisive political issue while forgetting about the people. Bravo, and pay attention ERL! The music? Put Calle 13, Common, and the Roots in a blender and tweek it a bit, oh and put it in Cuban (hey they speak faster than your drunk grandma at New Years) and then you have Miki Flow:

For those in the DC area, Miki will be performing at GWUs upcoming Festival for a Free Cuba, come check him out, and of course it will be covered by Poplitics. And if you're glutten for punishment Gorki and the crazy Congresswoman will be speaking next Wednesday, luckily I'll be in class.