VOICES

COMMENTARY-If the leading cause of death among police is COVID and 20% of the LAPD workforce is requesting exemptions (so they can be more efficient incubators of future variants?), where does that leave the residents of Los Angeles? 

COMMON DREAMS - Too often climate change is reduced to quantification of greenhouse glasses or melting ice caps.

GUEST COMMENTARY-In an op-ed entitled “Why California liberals turn into raging conservatives over housing,”

MEDIA MONOPOLIES-We have faced tough times before. World wars, famines, pandemics, economic ruin.

LGBTQ POLITICS - Noted queer academic Judith Butler accused transphobic feminists of allying with fascists in a new interview with The Guardian.

THE SENATE RULES - You’ve probably been hearing a lot about the filibuster these days. But here’s one thing about this old Senate rule you might not know: the filibuster actually violates the Constitution. 

CONSTITUTION WATCH - Bruce Fein, constitutional law specialist who has testified before Congress approximately 200 times, calls Congress “an inkblot.” Let’s see if he is exaggerating.

WAR LOOSE ENDS - I was a college student on 9/11. The ensuing “War on Terror,” anchored by the bombing and U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, has been with us ever since — virtually my entire adult life.

COMMENTARY-Due to the dead-of-night shenanigans of the regressive Supreme Court, the recent victory of the misogynists in Texas over women’s and girls’ rights to their own bodies will certainly be echoed in other states until and unless Congress can return our rights at the national level. 

THE WALKING UNVACCINATED - Radio host Howard Stern has a reputation for saying things other people shy away from in polite company.

COMMENTARY - Incumbent officeholders have a built-in advantage in seeking reelection as their position gives them ready access to the press, name recognition with the electorate, and the ability to generate goodwill by being generous with the public’s money.

VOICES - Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s baseless claims about unvaccinated Black people being the bearers of COVID-19 were not surprising at all. This is yet another instance of people, and not just elected officials, using Black folks as scapegoats for the failures of the state. 

SPIN SCIENCE - As the world tries to escape from the grips of a deadly pandemic, America is also battling another, perhaps more formidable foe that is taking over the country.  Bootleg science.

IMMIGRATION POLITICS - It’s easy to say, “our immigration system is broken.” Or to declare: “we are a nation of immigrants.”

VOICES-This letter has been sent to Ms. Alice Tolar, the 405 Express Lanes Project Manager at Metro: 

COMMENTARY - For all the doom and gloom about China taking over American culture at all levels, and a younger generation that has grown up with Tik Tok and a China-controlled media since at least 2012, there is reason for hope that the American spirit persists.

RANDOM LENGTHS NEWS - Coal miners are like longshore workers in that they’re tribal in nature. Distinctions are made  based on how many generations your family has been a part of the profession and successive generations of children are raised to live, work and eventually die the way their fathers had — in the mines. Trumka was no different.

A VIEW FROM HERE - The Declaration of Independence based the nation on individual inalienable rights and rejected any type of Group Rights. 

VIEW FROM HERE - The youngsters among us probably do not remember the time when excellence was essential to the fabric of American Life. 

CAPITAL & MAIN - Over the summer, three members of the Congressional Black Caucus — Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) — have been arrested at the U.S. Capitol while demanding action on two voting rights laws.

CLIMATE CHANGE - Ida was a fierce Category 4 hurricane when it came ashore Sunday in Louisiana. With sustained winds of about 150 mph, the storm ripped roofs off buildings and snapped power poles.