Corruption, the age-old critique of local politics. And this year, San Francisco mayoral candidates seem to enjoy singing that worn-out tune. September 19th’s mayoral debate was no exception, with Mayor London Breed being slammed for her involvement in corruption. Breed was quick to dismiss these accusations. She seemed to claim that corruption is a natural […]
Tag: crime
Prop. 36 Would Curb Rates of Theft and Drug Addiction
A national drug crisis and a shoplifting epidemic have combined to make California, and the San Francisco Bay Area in particular, a hotbed of petty crime. Now Californians will have the opportunity to undo this trend, at least in part.
California: The Most Over-Hated State
When I first came to Berkeley, I was well aware of the Bay Area and its reputation. Friends and family, both in-state and out, hit me over the head with tales of crime, homelessness, poverty, and stuck-up tech CEOs. Although the last admonishment was warranted, as soon as I arrived Berkeley struck me with its […]
El Salvador’s New “Mega Prison” and Bukele’s Crackdown on Gang-related Crime
“Our one rule, besides stick together, is don’t get caught.” This simple quote from S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders highlights the struggle between group identity and self-identity, as seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old boy who believes he is an outsider to society. In his world, there are only two types of people, “Greasers” and […]
Do Progressives Ruin Cities? Analyzing Michael Shellenberger’s Book, “San Fransicko”
One night in late November, as Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season were right around the corner, I logged onto Twitter to catch up on news and the day’s events, a relatively normal routine I do multiple times a day. But what I saw on my feed, and on Trending, was anything but […]
Gangs and Gulags: How Vladimir Putin Utilizes Organized Crime to Power his Mafia State
“I’m sorry, the Russian Mafia is after me.” While this statement sounds like it’s straight out of a 1960s Bond movie, it was actually uttered by disgraced NFL defensive lineman Justin Bannan on October 16th after non-fatally shooting a woman in a building he partly owned. The validity of Bannon’s claim is for prosecutors to […]
Amber Guyger: A Symptom of White Supremacy in American Policing
By now, almost everyone has heard the infuriating details of the murder of Botham Jean. As off-duty police officer Amber Guyger tells it, she mistakenly walked into Jean’s apartment and shot him dead, thinking him an intruder in her apartment. The idea that an African American man can be sitting idly in his own home, […]
Bordering on Stupid: California’s Need for Trump’s Wall
On February 15th, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency regarding the U.S.-Mexico border, subverting Congress in order to acquire billions in funding for a proposed border wall that was supposed to be paid for by Mexico. This was the culmination of an ongoing dispute between the President’s agenda and Congress, with its previous iteration […]
Barred from the Ballot Box: Felon Disenfranchisement in America
Six million American adults are legally ineligible to vote, members of a group whose ranks have roughly quintupled over the past 40 years. In Kentucky and Tennessee, this group now comprises more than a fifth of the African American population; in Florida, this group composes more than 10 percent of the adult population. But these […]
The Ferguson Verdict
On November 24th, a St. Louis County grand jury of twelve came to the decision that white Police Officer Darren Wilson acted lawfully. He was on trial for shooting unarmed black teen Michael Brown six times, ending his life on August 9th 2014. Only 11 days after the death of Brown, the St. Louis grand jury […]