Wacked professor lights cigarette on plane protesting "US war on Venezuela" & CIA gave Chavez cancer

[uhnope]

Penn State pays this woman to teach kids. Think about that.

http://wonkette.com/579947/lady-douche-professor-is-your-new-revolutionary-thoreau-by-being-a-dick-on-an-airplane

Lady-Douche Professor Is Your New Revolutionary Thoreau, By Being A Dick On An Airplane

Meet Penn State (Abington campus) associate professor of sociology Karen Halnon, who was on a flight from Nicaragua to Miami when the spirit (possibly distilled ones) moved her to make an inflight political announcement:

“The United States has declared war on Venezuela! The United States has declared war on Venezuela!” Halnon says in the video, as another woman reminds her she’s repeated the claim about “seven times.”

“My great hero, Hugo Chavez, nationalized the oil supply so that the people would own the oil,” Halnon continues. “Not Exxon Mobil. Tell Exxon Mobil to go away.”

Halnon was also recorded lighting up a cigarette, taking a few puffs, and then stubbing it out on the tray table in front of her, which was, we must note in her defense, at least stowed in a locked upright position.
...
After Halnon was arrested on landing, things continued in High Weird Mode; as she was being escorted off the plane by police, she shouted “F*ck you, this is not a democracy!”

Halnon, who has a prior arrest for public drunkenness in 2013, said that she had a wine and juice spritzer on the plane, but did not mention whether it was a single barrel or a full hogshead.

While Penn State officials had no comment on the incident, Halnon herself was happy to give an interview to Philadelphia Magazine, because at this point, why the hell not? She described her rant as “an act of civil disobedience,” and then proceeded to play out every possible stereotype about academic leftists. Asked why she felt it necessary to yell about Venezuela on an airplane, she replied,

"I’m very knowledgable about that part of the world. I teach about U.S. imperialism in Latin America. And the U.S. has declared war against Venezuela. That means military aggression. They tried to take out Hugo with a coup, and then they took him out with cancer."

She went on to explain that “Fidel agrees with me that the CIA had some involvement in giving [Hugo Chavez] cancer,” and that despite the corrupt U.S. government’s wishes, president Nicolas Maduro would carry on the Venezuelan revolution, and wouldn’t wimp out like the wimpy Castro brothers wimped out in wimpy Cuba. And her rant was a revolutionary act:

"The problem is U.S. military global domination. And they want the oil. And they want the water. And so I found that this act was a necessary Thoreau-like act of civil disobedience. I had to speak out now. The situation is dire and urgent, and any sacrifice I make for my own self, if it saves lives — there have been far too many lives lost due to U.S. global military domination."
...
We finally gave up on Halnon when she explained why lighting a cigarette was so key to her protest:

"Listen, the point is, I am a sociologist, and I live in an intellectual world. A sociologist always thinks in terms of symbols. And every revolutionary I know smokes. It was identifying with the revolutionary cause. And then, beyond that, it is a symbol that the United States is a smoking gun. The action was necessary. They are going to kill many more people […]

I am passionate about being an anti-imperialist. To follow Jesus is to be with the poor, to be with the suffering, to be with the oppressed, and to be anti-imperialist."

Which you apparently accomplish by being an asshole on an airplane, in imitation of the time that Archbishop Oscar Romero fashioned a crucifix out of airsickness bags and Skymall catalogues and then smoked it, to call attention to the conditions of the oppressed. A symbol? Look, we happen to have Umberto Eco right here, and he says you know nothing about semiotics.

We aren’t really sure here: mental illness? We’d feel pretty bad about mocking that, but she seems lucid enough, though unlike Fox News’s Keith Ablow, we are not professional psychiatrists who can diagnose people by watching a video.

The civil disobedient tries to blame the cigarette on the person seated next to her:

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Dum da dum dumb dumb... nt

[SoLeftIAmRight]

2. Wacked?

Yes. But, could some truth have spilled out?

[Perseus]

9. She doesn't even have her history right....

Her "Hero" Hugo Chavez did not "nationalize" the oil industry in Venezuela, that was done by another crook, Carlos Andres Perez, many years ago, and how could the USA give Chavez cancer when he never allowed doctors from anywhere but Cuba to treat him for anything, not even Venezuelan doctors, who are very good, were able to treat him, so if anyone gave him the cancer, that was in Cuba...For Fidel, Chavez had already accomplished his given mission, now the Castro needed someone who can't think, who can be manipulated much easier, and that person is Nicolas Maduro.

As punishment she should be sent to live in Venezuela, then she can see for herself the wonders of the Chavez regime.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

10. I repeat - Wacked? YES

"Some Truth"

Wow - seems you think South and Central America are better off with the Right Wing (US supported) military backed governments.

Too each their own.

Be well.

[Perseus]

11. I am not sure what you are talking about, and why are you assuming anything from me?

Please provide examples of the so called "Right Wing (US supported) military backed governments." that you attach to my comment?

Have you ever lived in Venezuela?, Have you ever been in Venezuela? Do you know who Carlos Andres Perez was? Do you know anything about Venezuelan history?

Ask questions but never assume, you know what happens when you assume.

"Too each their own."???? Please explain...This is a typical comment of someone who cannot provide a sensible argument.

From your comment I could assume that you prefer a socialist/communist regime, but I won't assume until you explain, and when/if you do, tell us about the socialist/communist regime you have lived under, it would be enlightening.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

12. I am of the opinion that "we" do not keep our own house in order and

that we have not made life much better for our neighbors to the south.

What is to gain by more bashing of their choices?

[JonLP24]

23. He nationalized something

Pivot to the Poor

When he assumed the presidency in 1998, Hugo Chávez launched his so-called “Revolución bolivariana,” making sweeping changes to the cultural, social, and political norms of Venezuela. These changes began with his attention to Venezuela’s lower classes. Under Chávez, Venezuela expanded low-income housing, made healthcare and medicine accessible to much of the population, and subsidized food distribution for those in need. These programs, especially in rural areas, made social services and government jobs available to large swaths of the population, resulting in a drop in the poverty rate from 48.6 percent in 2002 to 29.5 percent in 2011. The infant mortality rate also declined while literacy rates and access to free public education increased, according to data aggregated by Index Mundi. As Harvard professor Steve Levitsky explained to the HPR, “Chávez took social policies seriously. Even with cronyism, corruption, and inefficiency, he implemented policies that truly helped the poor.”

Chávez funded these ambitious and far-reaching social programs largely using oil revenues. Venezuela has the world’s largest estimated oil reserves, an apparent blessing that has made oil the nation’s main export. When he took office, Chávez nationalized privately owned oil fields under PDVSA, the state-owned oil and natural gas company. This gave the Venezuelan government direct access to oil profits, which increased dramatically during Chávez’s rule from just under $10 per barrel in 1999 to a peak of $126 per barrel in 2008. Prices now stand at just over $80 per barrel.
http://www.iop.harvard.edu/legacy-hugo-ch%C3%A1vez

Never allowed doctors from anywhere but Cuba isn't correct though

However, on 27 February 2012, Wikileaks released an internal Stratfor email, dated 6 December 2011, that detailed the earlier cancer as well as putting the blame on his doctors and Chavez's personal habits. It also details the cause for his second trip to Cuba.

"The tumor started as a growth close to the prostate. It spread to the colon, which is what led to a lot of confusion in the [unknown] about the treatment of prostate v. colon cancer in hormonal v. chemotherapy. A reliable source on the medical [team] has explained that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and into the bone marrow up to the spine, ie. very serious." [533]

"Chavez temporarily stopped the chemo in order to make an appearance at the recent CELAC meeting. The medical team is made up of both Russian and Cuban doctors. Both sides are clashing. The Russian team blamed the Cubans for an improper surgery the first time in trying to remove the tumor. The second surgery over the summer was basically the Russian team trying to clean up the Cuban team's mistakes. The Russians complain that the Cubans don't have the right imagery treatment to properly treat Chavez. The Cuban medical diagnosis is two years. The Russian medical diagnosis, due to improper medical equipment, is less than one year. The source on the medical team complains that Chavez is a very 'bad patient.' He doesn't listen to his doctors, and he ceases treatment when he has to make a public appearance. Now the Russian and the Chinese doctors are going at it because Chavez sought the advice of a Chinese doctor that advocates more natural treatments and the Russians are saying this is "horse shit treatment". Only Chavez can get the most politicized medical team in the world." [533
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez#Illness

[jberryhill]

3. "To follow Jesus is to be with the poor..."

Well, she was in economy class.

[heaven05]

4. She is right about one rant

this is not a democracy.....Whether drunk or not....I applaud her rant.

[Fred Sanders]

5. The substance of her tirade was truth...some can not stand being reminded of history and truths.

[COLGATE4]

6. For being a Prof who teaches students about

US Imperialism in Latin America and who claims to knowledgeable about Venezuela she seems to be a little shaky on her dates. She is heard on tape claiming that 'Chavez nationalized oil in Venezuela'. The only problem is that the nationalization of oil in Venezuela took place years before Chavez. Hopefully the rest of her 'curriculum' is a little more accurate.

[freshwest]

20. What I want is those who talk about that, to acknowledge that it's not just the US.

I'm not talking a matter of degree or making excuses. In every one of those nations that America has fooled around with in the past or the present, people in those countries agree, profit or are implicit in the worst of it.

To give all the credit to the USA is to treat the people of that country as gullible, infantile and unable to fight with each other over their own affairs. They don't need our help to oppress each other if that is their choice. They are not our pets.

World history is a series of empires, some of which are building now as we speak here online. 'Imperialism' is a worn out term, as if that word has more power than reality. Reality is far more frightening than jumping on your country of origin that is a democracy of else she wouldn't get a chance to spew that anywhere.

Being on an airplane where other people are impacted in a privately owned space, and the possibility of what could occur while high in the air sans the life support the plane offers, is by no means a democracy. Nor a place for anarchy, if one is inclined to break a window to get attention for the cause.

Just sayin'

[americannightmare]

7. Yeah, she might be nutty...

but the U.S. has been fucking with Venezuela at least since the first time Chavez was democratically elected. This reporting looks like a combination of Free Republic and the AOL news feed!

[valerief]

8. I wonder if the airline will charge passengers for the in-flight entertainment. nt

[freshwest]

22. Oh, no, Penn State paid for that upfront. Besides, she did her heroic sacrifice by flying coach.

And apparently, some passengers were not amused by the act she was putting on there. So they shouldn't be forced to pay for it.

[valerief]

27. Bad entertainment is like war. We all have to pay for it whether we want it or not.

[freshwest]

31. True, but that's a shared social contract with government. We like a social safety net, some don't.

We can't always get what we want, but this was a private venue and not government. Even though private security or government arrested her. But only government has authority to detain her. I think...

[freshwest]

13. Oh, wah! The sacrifices she makes living in comfort all paid by the same government...

Cry me a river, thou entitled 1%er! Smoking cigarettes for 'freedom' and the tobacco industry! Distilled spirits, indeed! Love the Wonkette.

[uhnope]

14. what's her DU name, I wonder?

[freshwest]

15. Thought the same thing, but I'd edit. *hint, hint* Be sweet!

[parkia00]

26. Starts with the letter "J" maybe?

[Joe Chi Minh]

16. A hopelessly drunk Chavista

A Chavista, hopelessly drunk and lying in the gutter, but already having vomited safely all over his clothes, is worth a million wingnuts. And if he is vociferous about his knowledge and beliefs, as this lady is, he's worth a zillion wingnuts. Get over it.

[paleotn]

17. One word....crank. (nt)

[Monk06]

18. Every academic disipline has a bottom. Teaching sociology at Penn State is THE bottom.

And this idiot is at the bottom of THAT.

The most non rigorous discipline at the most non rigorous university in the US. Even Tulane has good a reputation for something.

[freshwest]

19. Sociology used to be a respected field, back in the stone age. (Showing my age, there.)

[Monk06]

21. Can you imagine the unsuspecting freshmen/women who find themselves in her class

after the 'drop before penalty' date has expired? At least four months listening to her try to teach you things you can get from watching the evening news or even worse, shit she's made up from her drunkin' seminars in the student pub.

But she dresses and acts with the dignity of her office, so she has that going for her.

[cab67]

24. I visited Venezuela when Chavez was in charge.

From what I saw, he brought tangible improvements to poor communities, especially in rural areas.

But he was also a world-class megalomaniac and nutjob. His government was horribly corrupt, and it eventually wrecked the Venezuelan economy.

Something I noticed during my first visit in the early 2000's - license plates in Venezuela had little maps of Venezuela, but with national boundaries including present-day Guyana. This was something Chavez had ordered, evidently to boost nationalism. Guyana was, indeed, basically stolen from Venezuela close to the turn of the 20th century, but Venezuela has about as much chance of getting it back as Mexico does of regaining Texas.

Whatever one's opinion of US foreign policy in Latin America, this professor's approach (shouting at fellow passengers who probably just wanted to be left alone, ignoring flight crew instructions) couldn't have been more counterproductive.

[COLGATE4]

25. Ecuador does much the same thing, including

parts of Peru on all its national maps. And this lady obviously has some kind of a problem.

[uhnope]

28. thx for your quality reply.

I know Chavez did some good for the poor.
Isn't it awful that so many of these guys who get in to help the poor become/end up being megalomaniac nutjobs, as you put it?
And then supporters, who supported him because he cared about the poor, refuse to believe he was anything but a saint.
The process is repeated over and over. I've seen people support Gaddafi on DU for similar reasons. Not that Chavez compares to Gaddafi.

[cab67]

29. I'm torn on the motivations.

Did they get in to help the poor, or did they realize that by giving things to the poor in a country where so much of the population was poor, they'd get a large following? These things aren't always so clear, but I lean toward the later with Chavez. I don't think he actually gave a shit about other people.

[Matterate]

30. The fact she's allowed anywhere near impressionable minds

is so very frightening.

[zebonaut]

32. Fantastic Comedy!

[jmowreader]

33. What her fellow passengers are thinking...

"Where is the ejection seat on this plane, and why couldn't she have been seated in it?"