East Bay Conservative

By Mark Ross, Contributing Writer

Early March, 2007, Oakland Mayor Ronald V. Dellums and his hand picked replacement in the U.S. House of Representatives, Barbara Lee, hold a joint press conference.  It is Mayor Dellums’ first major public media event of his (fortunately) limited tenure.  The topic?  Condoms for incarcerated villains.

The rest of us can live or die without consequence (as long as we keep paying taxes).  But God forbid the worst miscreants that society can produce should be exposed to disease as an unintended consequence of their punishment.  I use this as an example of the extensive and often bizarre agenda of what I call the Urban Mob.

Continue Reading »

There’s an article in today’s SF Chronicle about the race for Oakland mayor, crime and policing.

The positions taken by our politicians are unsurprising in general, but I was actually pretty shocked when I came across this little gem from Councilwoman Jean Quan, who is running for mayor:

City officials, including Quan, said Measure Y required the city only to set aside money for – but not actually staff – an 802-officer force. That figure includes the 63 that Measure Y would pay for.

Continue Reading »

Readers should take a look at Daniel Borenstein’s sobering article from last month about how Oakland’s terrible property tax situation came about.

Complaints about overly generous public-employee pensions have (thankfully) become a standard part of the political dialog in California over the past couple of years. Unfortunately, for Oakland, this is the second time employees and their unions have assaulted the city’s finances.

Continue Reading »

Amid all the bad news since the recession and housing crash began, the world has taken on a grayish hue.

With a do-nothing mayor like Ron Dullums, it’s easy to see why this pall has extended to Oakland, at least in the minds of most people.

Continue Reading »

Back from my long absence, I’m still thinking about schools in Oakland.

Some months ago, I wrote a post about magnet schools in Oakland. For the most part I was ignored, save for one person who took the time to inform me that such programs are illegal in California.

Continue Reading »

I literally nearly spilled my steaming cup of tea all over my hand and arm when I read this week’s East Bay Express article about eliminating science labs in the Berkeley schools to free up money for “struggling” students.

How do they define a “struggling” student? It won’t surprise you to find out that this word is a synonym for “black and Latino” students.

Continue Reading »

When I read in the paper that Friday that students had occupied a building down at UC Berkeley, I just had to have a look for myself.

I drove down to campus that evening, with the sound of media helicopters roaring in the air. It took a few minutes to walk from my parking spot to the epicenter of the protests, but when I got there I could tell the trip had not been in vain.

Continue Reading »

By Mark Ross, Contributing Writer

It was a risky political stunt that allowed the Nazi Party to consolidate its grip on the German nation.

The sad truth is that Hitler was elected democratically. The Nazis took advantage of a weakness in the Weimar constitution that allowed proportionate representation.

Continue Reading »

If one of Oakland’s new parking meters steals your cash, you’d better be prepared to litigate to get your money back.

A couple weeks back, I dutifully put my money into the meter and pressed the button to receive a receipt. The meter made some clicking sounds, but nothing came out.

I pushed the cancel button in an effort to get my money back, but it was too late. The meter wrongly believed it had dispensed a ticket.

Continue Reading »

What do you call it when someone makes a career out of lambasting others for not paying “their fair share,” then turns around and refuses to pay his own taxes when he becomes wealthy?

The word “hypocrite” comes to mind, but somehow it seems too weak to describe the sort of malevolence we’re talking about here. No, I think this level of cognitive dissonance rises to the level of sociopathy, mixed with a morsel of mental retardation — we are talking about Ron Dullums after all.

Continue Reading »