Disruptive Protests Don’t Serve a Purpose
Protests around the country, sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent have both helped and hurt the cause of protestors. Protests may be designed to cause discomfort but they also create negative attitudes. My recent experience tells the story. My 11-year-old boys and I were caught on the freeway this week in San Luis Obispo, which is in […]
Save Our Businesses. Wear a Mask
About a month ago, there was a glimmer of hope that things were getting better. The number of COVID-19 cases were beginning to drop, and more tests were becoming available. Nonessential businesses were also allowed to reopen. If they complied with state and local health orders and public health requirements, businesses could resume operations and […]
Polling the Environment that Surrounds Covid-19 and Social Justice
The Public Policy Institute of California is out with its regular “Californians and the Environment” poll, but this time the environment measured were attitudes around the three headline grabbing issues of the last few months: effects of the coronavirus; social justice issues; and the economy. While you can delve into the entire poll here, what […]
South LA for Vice President
Can South Los Angeles teach America how to lead? That’s the promising question behind the news that Karen Bass is a top contender to be the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. Bass is best known as a consensus-building and uncommonly kind politician who has served South L.A. in the State Assembly and in Congress over the past […]
Should I quit my job? California parents grapple with education in a pandemic
They worry about who will care for the children and how far their education will slide. They anxiously await details on what distance learning will actually look like this fall, hopeful but skeptical that there will be more structure and support than a spring of crisis education that left many dissatisfied. They’re furiously networking on […]
Taking Care of Workers; What About Businesses?
Governor Gavin Newsom announced additional worker protection proposals on Friday to confront the spread of the coronavirus. While these additional protections along with pending legislation the returning legislature will consider are aimed at offering benefits for workers, not enough has been offered for employers who struggle to keep their businesses open. Among Newsom’s new initiatives […]
Who’s on First
In a coronavirus-shortened season, the Oakland A’s baseball season is about to start in a stadium filled with cardboard cutouts of fans. Ironically, the cardboard cutouts will probably break the A’s attendance records of the past couple of decades. According to the Port of Oakland in 2019, the Portand its partners provide 84,144 jobs in […]
The City’s Shakedown Machine
The unfolding corruption scandal involving Los Angeles City Hall denizens and real estate developers is absolutely shocking. On the other hand, it’s not at all surprising. It’s almost to be expected. Huh? I mean this: It’s shocking to read the details of the pay-for-play charges, including allegations of $1.5 million forked over to City Councilman […]
Pandemic Politics: Is Trump Chanelling Newsom? Is Newsom Channeling Trump?
The coronavirus pandemic has confronted Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump with different kinds of troubles. We examine how Newsom faces the hands-on matters that Trump has long avoided–opening schools, finding masks and other supplies, rising infection rates. Trump’s problem is simpler but harder to solve, getting re-elected. That is why, we observe, he […]