Rest In Peace, Armando

The news today reported on the murder of Armando Rodríguez, a veteran crime reporter in Ciudad Juárez. He was shot multiple times in front of his daughter as he got into his car to take her to school and then go to work. Although colleagues are still speculating if he was in trouble because of some investigation, they say he had recently received death threats and that federal authorities knew about them. Much good it does to you in Ciudad Juárez, which has had an unprecedented wave of violence that has killed over a thousand persons this year as it has become the epicenter of an intense turf war among drug cartels.
BorderReporter.com also notes said that Armando had recently fled to El Paso, but return to Juárez thinking it was safe to go back.
I learned who Armando Rodríguez was when I started college at UTEP in 2001. A couple of months ago I told an editor of mine who worked with Armando some years ago that I attribute his 2001-2003 coverage of the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez and the prosecution of two scapegoats as one of my earliest influences in my decision to become a journalist. I might not be doing what I’m doing if his stories hadn’t taught me to care. I regret his death and the fact that I’ll never be able to thank him for his role in helping me develop a conscience and learn to believe in the importance of vigilant journalism.
It’s hard to stay in journalism, specially in Latin America. It's often poorly paid and when you actually get good at it, it becomes dangerous. On top of it all, it can be an ungrateful job with few rewards. But some people believe it necessary. I do too. It saddens me that good, noble and committed journalists die for it.
It also fills me with grief to think of his widow wife and orphaned children, and that I cannot realistically expect for his crime to be punished... although I dearly hope (wish, fantasize, pray) that his death will be the spark that will bring this battered city both the effective law enforcement and investigative journalism efforts that it so desperately needs.
Other stories, some in Spanish:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_MEXICO_VIOLENCE?SITE=TXDAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.php?notaid=295c9fb4d40adef540b837f73ede842d
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/555326.html
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/555204.html
http://www.ire.org/irenews/murdered-armando-rodriguez-crime-reporter/

Undead Blog and Prosecution-free Gub

Hrm... this joint looks abandoned. Here's to trying to revive this blog (I don't even like the design anymore. Green's too in my face). I'll ease my way into doing so by posting this link: Former NY governor Elliot Spitzer is getting a get-out-of-jail card after he admitted hiring a prostitute.
I think this opinion piece makes a good argument on how not prosecuting Spitzer allows levity where there should be outrage, indirectly condones the "demand for paid sex (that) drives the sex businesses," lessens the importance of addressing the underlying causes that lead people into prostitution (poverty, child abuse, lack of education) and undermines the importance of firm state and federal efforts (and firm public support toward those efforts) to combat human trafficking.
Food for thought. I certainly declare myself guilty, before reading this, of letting out a small chuckle when I read Spitzer was getting off the hook...