Jason Darensburg - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Leonhart a sympton of DEA corruption

Jason Darensburg | April 24

Michele Leonhart’s days as head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency are numbered. Last week, members of the House Oversight Committee delivered a vote of “no confidence” in her leadership abilities. Leonhart’s tenure as chief administrator for the troubled agency has seen a litany of scandals including, among others, the massacre of civilians in Honduras, defying President Obama on medical marijuana, the use of NSA metadata to illegally spy on Americans, and systematically fabricating evidence to obstruct federal investigations into the agency.

Opinion

Popular opinion says U.S. is unhinged

Jason Darensburg | April 10

No one looking at America from a balanced perspective can deny any longer that the country has gone collectively insane. Certainly there are some rational, intelligent Americans still around, but we must face the fact that a large segment of the population is totally nuts. Worse, the ruling class is sociopathic and inherently evil. This untenable situation has serious implications for our nation’s future stability, our living standards, and for democracy itself.

Opinion

Column: Gen-Y scores low on skills

Jason Darensburg | March 27

American Millennials are some of the most unskilled people in the world. That’s according to a recent study published by the Educational Testing Service titled “America’s Skills Challenge: Millennials and the Future.” The Princeton-based researchers administered a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies to measure the aptitude of adults in 23 different countries. Generation Y Americans — those born after 1980 — were shown to be lagging far behind their foreign counterparts in literacy, numeracy and basic problem-solving skills. Madeline Goodman is one of the report’s co-authors. She told Fortune magazine, “We really thought [U.S.] Millennials would do better than the general adult population, either compared to older coworkers in the U.S. or to the same age group in other countries, but they didn’t. In fact, their scores were abysmal.”

Opinion

Column: It's high time New Mexico legalized pot

Jason Darensburg | March 6

New Mexico should be next in line to legalize marijuana for recreational use. We can’t afford not to do it: Full legalization would provide tens of millions of dollars in economic benefits for the state at a time when the dwindling local economy needs a major boost. Colorado and Washington State legalized recreational use of marijuana in 2012. Oregon voters approved legalization in July 2014, and in February Alaska became the fourth U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana.

Opinion

Column: as 1 percent is coddled, time for new tea party

Jason Darensburg | February 20

“No taxation without representation!” That was the motto of the original Tea Partiers in pre-Revolutionary War Boston. The phrase encapsulated one of the primary grievances the American colonists had with King George’s government: Parliament kept imposing new taxes and tariffs without their knowledge or consent, and the revenue was being used for purposes at odds with the immediate needs of the settlers in the 13 colonies. The colonists argued that they had no representatives in Parliament and therefore their concerns weren’t being addressed. The British claimed they were being “virtually” represented. Tensions rose. In 1773, colonists violently rejected a proposed tax on tea imports at the so-called Boston Tea Party. What exactly transpired that night is under dispute, but the end result was that Britain retaliated in an escalating chain of events that ultimately led to the American Revolution.

Opinion

Column: Income inequality, crime are behind New Mex-odus

Jason Darensburg | February 6

People are leaving New Mexico in droves. The evidence is irrefutable. The latest proof comes from a recent study released by moving company United Van Lines: the Land of Disenchantment ranked ninth on the annual list of “most moved from” states. New Mexico was the only Southwestern state to show a high departure rate; Texas and Colorado were among the top 10 “moved to” states. Oregon won the prize for “most moved to” state, according to the study. South Carolina, Florida and Vermont were also popular places to move to. Earlier this year Albuquerque Business First published “Gone for Good,” a series of articles featuring interviews with New Mexicans who had just left the state or were planning to leave. The most common complaints focused on high corporate taxes and the increasing crime rate in Albuquerque. But that’s only part of it.

Opinion

Column: Today's youth are bombarded with bad music

Jason Darensburg | January 23

Kanye West’s latest hit song has created an uproar in the music world, and not because of the lyrics or subject matter. “Only One” is controversial because West teamed up with one of pop music’s old guard to create the track: none other than former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. “Only One” features McCartney playing a minimal keyboard riff over a programmed beat while West sings through Auto-Tune. The song is not by any means a creative breakthrough for either artist. “Only One” is mediocre at best; unchallenging pop music processed and homogenized to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I never would have guessed McCartney was even on the track if it hadn’t been so hyped. His contribution is not immediately apparent. Whatever their personal artistic motives may have been, the unlikely collaboration between Yeezy and Macca provoked an outpouring of scathing, often hilarious feedback from fans and critics. While some of the online remarks were clearly meant to be sarcastic, others appeared to be sincere in their ignorance regarding Kanye’s latest musical foil.

Opinion

Column: Social media may be killing our social lives

Jason Darensburg | December 4

I see hundreds of people on my way to class every week, and I try to smile, tip my hat or at least nod to anyone who walks by. Only rarely do I get any sort of response. More often than not, folks simply ignore me. Most people walk right on by, too busy sulking to acknowledge another human being crossing their path. I’m not going to stop doing it, though. As disappointed as I am with humanity, I still enjoy human interaction — and besides, I’m just trying to be polite. I mean, is it really that difficult to connect with another human being — even for a split-second? I can accept that kids are under a lot more stress than when I was growing up, and people are extremely busy nowadays. Others are not so kind, however.

Opinion

Column: As times progress, society goes in reverse

Jason Darensburg | November 14

Whatever happened to the Space Age? I never thought I’d grow old in an era where everything is actually worse than it was in the good old days. Civilization has seemingly gone several steps backwards spiritually, socially and technologically since the 1970s. I grew up expecting to take my summer vacations on Mars, and here it is 2014 and we’re living in a country that currently lacks even a high-speed rail system. The aging space shuttle fleet was decommissioned a few years ago, following numerous catastrophic failures, yet America is supposed to be the wealthiest, most technologically advanced nation on earth. What went wrong?

Opinion

The world is not a welcoming place for kids

Jason Darensburg | October 31

My wife and I recently celebrated our 31st anniversary. With each passing year we’re more convinced we made the right decision by not having kids. We decided long ago that we didn’t want to bring children into this world because we could see a looming disaster on the horizon. The future looked pretty bleak at the time, and things have only gotten worse since we tied the knot back in 1983: overpopulation, pollution, economic meltdown, disease, endless war, religious strife — how can anyone turn a blind eye to it?