East Bay Conservative

By Mark Ross, Contributing Writer

I used to have a friend who was very politically involved, as an Anarchist.

He was a Wobbly — a dues paying member of the International Workers of the World, the IWW. History books call them an anarcho-syndicalist labor organization. He was radicalized in the Army during the Korean War, as an enlisted Army Intelligence operative. When the war ended he joined the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA).

Continue Reading »

By Mark Ross, Contribuing Writer

Is it me… or does anyone else think that it’s sort of curious that mayoral candidates are lining up in Oakland… as if the incumbent has announced his retirement… which he hasn’t? Talk about foregone conclusions.

Continue Reading »

This week’s edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet really was chock full of commentaries on racism (all from the predictable point of view), so I thought I’d continue with the same theme today.

The Daily Planet published an opinion piece by Cecil Brown entitled “Racial Profiling and Swimming While Black.” I encourage you to read it, but the gist of it is that Brown, a Black UC Berkeley professor, was hassled by the police at the UC swimming pool apparently because some other Black guy had earlier caused trouble at the pool.

Someone called the cops mistakenly thinking Prof. Brown was the troublemaker. This was obviously very embarrassing and troubling for the Prof. Brown.

Prof. Brown then decided the police were racists who hated Black people, so he wrote a rap song about the experience.

Continue Reading »

I guess this might come as a surprise to Black people, but in my experience white men spend essentially zero time thinking about race and race relations. It’s just a total non-issue.

A reasonable response to this fact might be something like, “It’s easy to say you don’t think about something when it isn’t a big problem in your life.”

Continue Reading »

The state released results today from the annual student achievement tests. As has been the case for the past few years, the gap between Hispanic/Black students and everyone else failed to narrow significantly.

And, as in prior years, the educational establishment decries the situation as “unacceptable” and racist, but then all the solutions that it offers will accomplish nothing.

Continue Reading »

By Mark Ross, Contributing Writer

I’ve never been a serious hawk on the immigration issue. However, I side with the right on two important aspects: We need to control our borders in order to maintain our national identity. And, the immigrants who come here through proper channels need to become Americans… not remain as foreigners in enclaves.

Continue Reading »

Word came out today that the union which represents the Bart’s station agents and train operators plans to strike starting at midnight on Sunday.

This comes after the union’s negotiators concluded an agreement with Bart management, which the union’s membership proceeded to vote down by a three-to-one margin.

Continue Reading »