# VOICES ## [ The Re-Invention of History Should Have No Role in The Lord of the Rings! (Part One)](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24304-the-re-invention-of-history-should-have-no-role-in-the-lord-of-the-rings-part-one "The Re-Invention of History Should Have No Role in The Lord of the Rings! (Part One)") Details Ken Alpern [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 11 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/029p.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24304-the-re-invention-of-history-should-have-no-role-in-the-lord-of-the-rings-part-one) THE DOCTOR IS IN - There's a reason or ten why Tolkien despised allegory in his or other mythological or fantasy works, [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24304-the-re-invention-of-history-should-have-no-role-in-the-lord-of-the-rings-part-one) ## [ An Investment in Child Care Is an Investment in the Workforce](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24302-an-investment-in-child-care-is-an-investment-in-the-workforce "An Investment in Child Care Is an Investment in the Workforce") Details Nicole Mason, Jessica Sager [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 11 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/029u.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24302-an-investment-in-child-care-is-an-investment-in-the-workforce) CHILD CARE – LaToya Brown-Clayton is struggling financially as the owner and operator of Connecting the Pieces, a family child care program in Hartford, Connecticut. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24302-an-investment-in-child-care-is-an-investment-in-the-workforce) ## [ When My Profit is More Important Than Your Life](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24298-when-my-profit-is-more-important-than-your-life "When My Profit is More Important Than Your Life") Details Liz Amsden [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 11 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/029t.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24298-when-my-profit-is-more-important-than-your-life) GUEST COMMENTARY - The United States had the Great Recession; Europe had PIIGS. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24298-when-my-profit-is-more-important-than-your-life) ## [ CA School Boards Association Divorces to Go On its Own to D.C.](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24296-ca-school-boards-association-divorces-to-go-on-its-own-to-d-c "CA School Boards Association Divorces to Go On its Own to D.C.") Details California Policy Center [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 10 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/029e.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24296-ca-school-boards-association-divorces-to-go-on-its-own-to-d-c) EDUCATION POLITICS - The organization behind some of California’s most out-there education initiatives announced it’s splitting from the national group that helped it promote the “parents are terrorists” campaign. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24296-ca-school-boards-association-divorces-to-go-on-its-own-to-d-c) ## [ A World Full of Crazy](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24274-a-world-full-of-crazy "A World Full of Crazy") Details Liz Amsden [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 07 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/028z.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24274-a-world-full-of-crazy) GUEST COMMENTARY - It’s A Dangerous World Out There. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24274-a-world-full-of-crazy) ## [ How the Supreme Court Could Make Your Life More Dangerous](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24269-how-the-supreme-court-could-make-your-life-more-dangerous "How the Supreme Court Could Make Your Life More Dangerous") Details Robert Reich [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 07 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/028p.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24269-how-the-supreme-court-could-make-your-life-more-dangerous) SCOTUS - Your life could get a lot more dangerous. Republican appointees on the Supreme Court seem poised to strip away basic safety standards for our workplaces, our food, our air and water. Congress gives federal agencies the authority to enact regulations that protect us in our daily lives. Congress defines the goals, but leaves it up to the health and safety experts in those agencies to craft and enforce regulations. I know regulations don’t sound very exciting, but they’re how our government keeps us safe. Watch: Remember when lots of[ romaine lettuce was recalled**](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-e-coli-o157h7-unknown-food-fall-2020) because it was causing E.coli outbreaks? That was the Food and Drug Administration protecting us from getting sick. Working in a warehouse? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration sets standards to ensure you don’t breathe in dangerous chemicals like asbestos. Enjoying the fresh air on a clear, sunny day? Thank the Environmental Protection Agency for limiting the amount of pollution that can go into our air. These agencies save lives. Since OSHA was established a half-century ago, its workplace safety regulations have saved more[ than 618,000 workers’ lives**](https://aflcio.org/reports/death-job-toll-neglect-2020#:~:text=More%20than%20618%2C000%20workers%20now,and%20health%20conditions%20have%20improved). Republicans have been trying to gut these agencies for decades. Now, with the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority solidly in place, they have their best chance yet. In January 2022, the Supreme Court[ blocked**](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a244_hgci.pdf) OSHA’s vaccine-or-testing mandate from going into effect, which was estimated to[ prevent a quarter-million hospitalizations.**](https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/laws-regs/federalregister/2021-11-05.pdf) The Court[ claimed**](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a244_hgci.pdf) that Covid isn’t an “occupational hazard” because people can become infected outside of work, and that allowing OSHA to regulate in this manner “would significantly expand” its authority without clear Congressional authorization. This is absurd on its face.[ Section 2 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970**](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/completeoshact)clearly spells out OSHA’s authority to enact and enforce regulations that protect workers from illness, injury, and death in the workplace. Congress doesn’t need to list every specific workplace hazard before OSHA can protect workers. What this ruling tells us is that the Republican appointees on the Supreme Court are intent on gutting the power of agencies to issue regulations. This term, the Court[ will also hear a case**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/24/supreme-court-clean-water-act/) regarding the EPA’s authority to enforce the Clean Water Act. If the Court undermines the EPA’s authority, it will put our environment – and our health – at risk. Remember when the[ Cuyahoga River caught on fire**](https://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-of-cuyahoga-river-on-fire-before-epa-2019-6#but-in-1969-the-river-caught-fire-for-the-last-time-no-one-knows-for-sure-what-started-the-blaze-but-sparks-from-a-passing-train-might-have-lit-oil-in-the-water-on-fire-the-flames-were-extinguished-in-about-20-minutes-before-any-photos-that-we-know-of-were-taken-10) because it was brimming with oil, acid, and factory chemicals? That’s what we may be returning to. And what’s next? Will they gut the Federal Trade Commission and put us all at risk of being defrauded? Target the Securities and Exchange Commission and deregulate the financial sector,[ sparking another financial crisis**](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/business/economy/26inquiry.html)? Beware. If Republican appointees on the Supreme Court succeed in gutting regulatory agencies, we all lose. This agenda is anti-worker, anti-consumer, and anti-environment. The only thing it’s good for is corporate profits. *([**Robert Reich**](https://www.commondreams.org/author/robert-reich), is the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now. This article was featured in CommonDreams.)* ## [ When the Arc of History Bends Back Toward the Dark Ages](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24267-when-the-arc-of-history-bends-back-toward-the-dark-ages "When the Arc of History Bends Back Toward the Dark Ages") Details Joel Kotkin [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 07 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/028l.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24267-when-the-arc-of-history-bends-back-toward-the-dark-ages) GUEST COMMENTARY - The notion that “the arc of history” favors humanity extends across the political spectrum from[ George W. Bush](https://www.ned.org/remarks-by-president-george-w-bush-at-the-20th-anniversary/) to[ Barack Obama](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/obama-right-side-of-history/420462/). [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24267-when-the-arc-of-history-bends-back-toward-the-dark-ages) ## [ Is the Minimum Wage Really a Living Wage?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24262-is-the-minimum-wage-really-a-living-wage "Is the Minimum Wage Really a Living Wage?") Details Denyse Selesnick [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 06 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/028x.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24262-is-the-minimum-wage-really-a-living-wage) MY THOUGHTS - I really look forward to the comments you make on my articles. One of my lifelong mantras has been, I do not have the market on good ideas. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24262-is-the-minimum-wage-really-a-living-wage) ## [ The Myth and Reality of Activist Judges](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24261-the-myth-and-reality-of-activist-judges "The Myth and Reality of Activist Judges") Details Richard Lee Abrams [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 06 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/028b.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24261-the-myth-and-reality-of-activist-judges) THE VIEW FROM HERE - The most activist judges over the past thirty years have been conservative judges with deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (1986-2016) being perhaps the most activist justice in the court’s history. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24261-the-myth-and-reality-of-activist-judges) ## [ Former USC Coach Pete Carroll Goes Off on NFL Over Hiring Diversity](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24255-seahawks-pete-carroll-goes-in-on-nfl-over-hiring-diversity "Former USC Coach Pete Carroll Goes Off on NFL Over Hiring Diversity") Details Keith Reed [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 06 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/028j.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24255-seahawks-pete-carroll-goes-in-on-nfl-over-hiring-diversity) HIRING DIVERSITY - Pete Carroll seems to have developed his own, personal language for telling NFL owners he DGAF. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24255-seahawks-pete-carroll-goes-in-on-nfl-over-hiring-diversity) ## [ Is Biden TRYING to Flip Congress to the GOP This November?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24240-is-biden-trying-to-flip-congress-to-the-gop-this-november "Is Biden TRYING to Flip Congress to the GOP This November?") Details Ken Alpern [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 04 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/027s.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24240-is-biden-trying-to-flip-congress-to-the-gop-this-november) THE DOCTOR IS IN - At this point, it's probably the politically independent among those living in this divided nation, and probably those in either party willing to get past partisanship and do the right thing, who are to be respected the most. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24240-is-biden-trying-to-flip-congress-to-the-gop-this-november) ## [ Private Detention Isn’t Ending Under Biden – It’s Just Changing Form](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24235-private-detention-isn-t-ending-under-biden-it-s-just-changing-form "Private Detention Isn’t Ending Under Biden – It’s Just Changing Form") Details Joshua Leach, Hannah Hafter [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 04 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/027w.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24235-private-detention-isn-t-ending-under-biden-it-s-just-changing-form) PRISON NON-REFORM - Last year, a former federal prison near Folkston, Georgia was emptied after President Biden signed an executive order phasing out the use of private prisons. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24235-private-detention-isn-t-ending-under-biden-it-s-just-changing-form) ## [ Unions on the Rise Again](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24227-the-union-makes-us-strong "Unions on the Rise Again") Details Liz Amsden [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 04 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/027j.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24227-the-union-makes-us-strong) GUEST COMMENTARY - This is dedicated to Dolores Huerta, civil rights activist and grande dame of the Californian labor movement, who will be 92 this Sunday, April 10. Feliz cumpleaños! [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24227-the-union-makes-us-strong) ## [ U.S. Women’s Delegation to Afghanistan Calls for Schools to Open to Girls](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24223-u-s-women-s-delegation-to-afghanistan-calls-for-schools-to-open-to-girls "U.S.  Women’s Delegation to Afghanistan Calls for Schools to Open to Girls") Details Medea Benjamin [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) April 04 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2022/027e.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24223-u-s-women-s-delegation-to-afghanistan-calls-for-schools-to-open-to-girls) GUEST COMMENTARY - On Thursday, March 31, 2022 an American Women’s Peace and Education Delegation visiting Kabul for the past week held a press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel to report on their findings. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24223-u-s-women-s-delegation-to-afghanistan-calls-for-schools-to-open-to-girls) ## [ Big Oil Should Pay Windfall Tax to Offset Pain at the Pump](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24213-big-oil-should-pay-windfall-tax-to-offset-pain-at-the-pump "Big Oil Should Pay Windfall Tax to Offset Pain at the Pump") Details JAMIE HENN [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) March 31 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2022/026x.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24213-big-oil-should-pay-windfall-tax-to-offset-pain-at-the-pump) OIL & THE ECONOMY - There’s one group of people who aren’t worried about high gas prices this month: Big Oil executives. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24213-big-oil-should-pay-windfall-tax-to-offset-pain-at-the-pump) ## [ President Biden and the Left: Still Cavorting with Jew-Haters ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24206-president-biden-and-the-left-still-cavorting-with-jew-haters "President Biden and the Left: Still Cavorting with Jew-Haters  ") Details Ken Alpern [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) March 31 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2022/026i.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24206-president-biden-and-the-left-still-cavorting-with-jew-haters) THE DOCTOR IS IN - For reasons that escape so many of us, it's deemed to be "pro-Jewish" and "pro-Israel" to cavort with the openly-declared enemies and mortal dangers to Jews both here at home and abroad. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24206-president-biden-and-the-left-still-cavorting-with-jew-haters) ## [ When Jim Crow Greeted Black Veterans](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24204-when-jim-crow-greeted-black-veterans "When Jim Crow Greeted Black Veterans") Details Robert C. Koehler [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) March 31 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2022/026l.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24204-when-jim-crow-greeted-black-veterans) GUEST COMMENTARY - I figured I’d better write this column while doing so is still legal (at least I think it is), but I don’t recommend reading it aloud in a third-grade classroom. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24204-when-jim-crow-greeted-black-veterans) ## [ The Power of the Mother Tongue – Unconquerable](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24197-the-power-of-the-mother-tongue-unconquerable "The Power of the Mother Tongue – Unconquerable") Details Liz Amsden [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) March 31 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2022/026r.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24197-the-power-of-the-mother-tongue-unconquerable) GUEST COMMENTARY - For all of his lip service to Mother Russia and his support for Russian speakers around the world, neither Putin nor the Communist apparatchiks before him, nor the Tsars before them, really understood the power of a mother tongue. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24197-the-power-of-the-mother-tongue-unconquerable) ## [ Was the Slap Seen Around the World a Black Thing?](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24192-was-the-slap-seen-around-the-world-a-black-thing "Was the Slap Seen Around the World a Black Thing?") Details Richard Lee Abrams [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) March 30 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2022/026c.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24192-was-the-slap-seen-around-the-world-a-black-thing) THE VIEW FROM HERE - Significant behavior is often over-determined. Over-determination means a single-observed event was determined by multiple causes, [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24192-was-the-slap-seen-around-the-world-a-black-thing) ## [ Pasadena Activists Take Huge Step to Pass Rent Control and Rein In Predatory Landlords](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24190-pasadena-activists-take-huge-step-to-pass-rent-control-and-rein-in-predatory-landlords "Pasadena Activists Take Huge Step to Pass Rent Control and Rein In Predatory Landlords") Details Patrick Range McDonald [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) March 30 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2022/026e.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24190-pasadena-activists-take-huge-step-to-pass-rent-control-and-rein-in-predatory-landlords) HOUSING ACTIVIST - Activists in Pasadena, California, took a huge step to pass rent control in their city – and to finally rein in unfair, excessive rents. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24190-pasadena-activists-take-huge-step-to-pass-rent-control-and-rein-in-predatory-landlords) ## [ Will Smith's Oscar Worthy Moment: Ten New Ways To Bring Back Viewership ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24184-will-smith-s-oscar-worthy-moment-ten-new-ways-to-bring-back-viewership "Will Smith's Oscar Worthy Moment: Ten New Ways To Bring Back Viewership ") Details Ken Alpern [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices) March 28 2022 [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2022/025r.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24184-will-smith-s-oscar-worthy-moment-ten-new-ways-to-bring-back-viewership) THE DOCTOR IS IN - As a dermatologist, I understand first-hand Will Smith's outrage over Chris Rock's comments about "GI Jane 2" when referencing Will Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. [ Read more … ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24184-will-smith-s-oscar-worthy-moment-ten-new-ways-to-bring-back-viewership) 1. [ Want to Defeat Putin? Deliver the Green New Deal](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24180-want-to-defeat-putin-deliver-the-green-new-deal) 2. [ I'm an Iraqi and I Remember Madeleine Albright for Who She Truly Was](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24178-i-m-an-iraqi-and-i-remember-madeleine-albright-for-who-she-truly-was) 3. [ We Must Stop Family Separation – And We Can Do It Now](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24169-we-must-stop-family-separation-and-we-can-do-it-now) 4. [ The Deep Connections Between Democracy and Nonviolence](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24165-the-deep-connections-between-democracy-and-nonviolence) 5. [ Corporate Landlords’ Excessive Rents Fuel Homelessness. Rent Control Will Save Lives.](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24159-corporate-landlords-excessive-rents-fuel-homelessness-rent-control-will-save-lives) 6. [ Jackson Confirmation Hearing Proves GOP Has No Interest in Making America a Better Place](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24156-jackson-confirmation-hearing-proves-gop-has-no-interest-in-making-america-a-better-place) 7. [ Two Years In, We Need To Learn The Lessons Of This Pandemic](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24154-two-years-in-we-need-to-learn-the-lessons-of-this-pandemic) 8. [ There’s No Better Time To Start Kicking Our Oil Addiction](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24152-there-s-no-better-time-to-start-kicking-our-oil-addiction) 9. [ Gasping at the Gas Pump](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24145-gasping-at-the-gas-pump) 10. [ Bigotry in CityWatch - According to Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/24142-bigotry-in-citywatch-according-to-scientologists-taking-action-against-discrimination) Page 86 of 111 - [Start](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices "Start") - [Prev](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1764 "Prev") - [81](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1680 "81") - [82](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1701 "82") - [83](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1722 "83") - [84](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1743 "84") - [85](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1764 "85") - 86 - [87](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1806 "87") - [88](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1827 "88") - [89](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1848 "89") - [90](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1869 "90") - [Next](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=1806 "Next") - [End](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices?start=2310 "End")