The Lies Behind the Selling of Props 47 & 57

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES-Politics will never exist without spin doctors. Yet, as cynical as our political system has become, recent ballot measures sold to the public as "public safety" measures have gone beyond the pale. Nearly every soft on crime law enacted in the last half decade included the words "safe" or "safety" in the description. No two better examples exist than Propositions 47 and 57.  

Read more …

The King of Hate

BELL VIEW--Hate. It’s everywhere these days. When Carlos Hakas overturned an immigrant street vendor’s food cart in a fit of rage over a slight inconvenience, the inevitable video went viral and the tsunami of hatred started flowing in both directions. Don’t get me wrong – Carlos is easy to hate. I’ve just burned through so much hate since November, I’m having trouble keeping the flame going. (Photo above: Hakas overturns vendor cart.) 

Read more …

LAUSD Still Believes that Minority Students Can’t Learn

EDUCATION POLITICS--While it remains politically correct to say Black and Latino students can learn, there's a little problem. Those running our still de facto segregated public education system for their own short-term personal interest and financial profit don't share this belief. Oh, they'll continue talking in platitudes about students being "life-long learners," the “100% graduation rate" and "everybody’s going to college," but the reality is drastically different. In fact, these goals represent disingenuous educational expectations for the overwhelming majority of Black and Latino students. 

Read more …

Is Adelanto California’s Guantanamo?

PERSPECTIVE--If you take Interstate 15 about two hours north from Los Angeles, heading into the high desert of San Bernardino County, you’ll reach a for-profit federal detention facility called the Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center. The center’s named for the neighboring town of Adelanto, which means “advancement” or “progress” in Spanish, and it’s not an inappropriate title for a town founded a century ago by the inventor of the Hotpoint Electric Iron. But the name now carries a rather different set of associations due to the ICE facility’s presence there.

Read more …

Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays