IMPORTANT READS

RACIAL RECKONINGS - California’s task force on reparations has begun putting dollar figures to potential compensation for the various forms of racial discrimination, generational pain and suffering Black Americans experienced in the state.

GUEST COMMENTARY - As much of the world watched with alarm as the fascist Fratelli d'Italia party led a far-right coalition to victory in Italy on Sunday, Republican lawmakers in the United States had a much different reaction: Open glee.

GUEST COMMENTARY - Republicans in the Senate yesterday killed legislation passed through the House that would require “dark money” to be publicly disclosed: not a single Republican voted for it, although every Democrat in attendance did. 

COST OF LIVING - In my check of banana prices recently, one Oregon supermarket (Trader Joe’s) was still charging 19¢ each.

FASCISM - If you are a political fanatic, you've surely heard the old saying that when fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.

GUEST COMMENTARY - On October 1st, the U.S. military will start spending the more than $800 billion Congress is going to provide it with in fiscal year 2023.

Who would not love a movie that has the glamour and suspense of casino life?

SCOTUS - “The remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true. This is the ordinary course in a free society.

THE VIEW FROM HERE - The DEMs and the GOP agree that the three virtues of cooperation, integrity and courage must go in order for democracy to replace the Republic.  

FARMING INDUSTRY - In the early days of the pandemic, California farmworker Carolina Sanchez saw stark differences in how she was treated on union versus non-union jobs. 

REMEMBERING 9/11 - September 2021 marked the twentieth anniversary of the “War on Terror.”

TEACHER PAY RAISES - Today marks the start of the school year for many public schools.

GUEST COMMENTARY - President Joe Biden faces what he calls two possibly existential conflicts. 

A VIEW FROM HERE - While finding stupid things on the internet generally falls into the non-news category of dog bites man, sometimes the stupidity is so prevalent and so seemingly obvious that it is like successive pacts of wild dogs rampaging through Manhattan.

SPORTS BETTING - In California, you can bet on a horse race, buy a lottery ticket, put money on poker in a card room and play slots at a tribal casino all in the same – potentially expensive – day.

NUCLEAR WAR ZONE - The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, has referred to the perilous situation around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant—caught up in a war zone—as "playing with fire."

AT HOME WORKERS - Working from home has become the norm in 2022. 

THE DOCTOR IS IN - Contrary to those forever glued to CNN, MSNBC, and the Huffington Post, those who believe in the concepts of MAGA (Make America Great Again) go far, far, and very far beyond anything Donald Trump started.

WORKERS’ HEALTH - In late August, as temperatures soared around the United States, a driver for United Parcel Service (UPS) took before-and-after photos of chocolate chip cookies on a baking sheet.

COST OF EDUCATION - We're told that higher education is one of the best ways to overcome poverty. But for many indebted borrowers, it's been just the opposite.

JOB MARKET - What a strange Labor Day we are approaching in 2022.