It has been over three months since we had a new post here and I apologize to all those who were eager to see some new posts. Sometimes life gets crazy and who knew running a blog would be so time consuming. I learned the hard way just how much time one must put into it and when you have a full time job and other priorities, well sometimes you have to choose what comes first.
When it comes to doing things like spending time with my children or blogging, I would chose spending time with my children any day of the week over maintaining a blog. With that being said, this will be the last post of Sunny D. Of course it does not mean I am going away.
I have been given an opportunity to blog over at The Liberal OC. There I will have the freedom to post my opinions on the many issues we face here in Orange County and not have to worry about running and maintaining the blog, I can rely on Chris Prevatt and Dan Chmeliewski to do that. So with that, thanks for reading folks and see you over at the Liberal OC.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
To Fight Gangs, Get Rid of Graffiti
Graffiti on walls and businesses is more than just an eyesore.
Some of the markings are messages sent back and forth between gang members.
While some of the spray paint is merely vandalism, other marks are communication between gangs. It may also be part of "ranking in," an initiation process.
To get into a gang, members may have to be beaten or "jumped in" by several gang members for several minutes, steal a car or break into one, or put graffiti in a noticeable place.
Unlike Santa Ana City Council, I don't believe in imposing fines on business owners who have had their property vandalized.
Imposing fines effectively makes the business a victim twice.
It's time for Santa Ana City Council to step up and begin the process of effectivly dealing with graffiti in our city by updating our outdated and uneffective graffiti ordinance.
Some of the markings are messages sent back and forth between gang members.
While some of the spray paint is merely vandalism, other marks are communication between gangs. It may also be part of "ranking in," an initiation process.
To get into a gang, members may have to be beaten or "jumped in" by several gang members for several minutes, steal a car or break into one, or put graffiti in a noticeable place.
Unlike Santa Ana City Council, I don't believe in imposing fines on business owners who have had their property vandalized.
Imposing fines effectively makes the business a victim twice.
It's time for Santa Ana City Council to step up and begin the process of effectivly dealing with graffiti in our city by updating our outdated and uneffective graffiti ordinance.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Green Dot Santa Ana?
Matthew Cunningham over at the Red County posted a great read today about Charter Schools.
I'll excerpt a bit here: "Rather than plodding along the well-worn path of mediocrity and failure, SAUSD should adopt a radical approach like converting as many district schools as possible to charter status. Such a move would enable those schools to escape stifling red tape of the California Education Code, control their own budgets, and focus discipline and the fundamentals of a quality education"
Why not SAUSD?
I've seen radical change up in Los Angeles at several of the schools taken over by Green Dot, such as Animo Venice using six simple tenents.
1)Small, Safe, Personalized Schools
2)High Expectations for All Students
3)Local Control with Extensive Professional Development and Accountability
4)Parent Participation
5)Maximize Funding to the Classroom
6)Keep Schools Open Later
If it can work in Los Angeles, why can't it work in Santa Ana?
I'll excerpt a bit here: "Rather than plodding along the well-worn path of mediocrity and failure, SAUSD should adopt a radical approach like converting as many district schools as possible to charter status. Such a move would enable those schools to escape stifling red tape of the California Education Code, control their own budgets, and focus discipline and the fundamentals of a quality education"
Why not SAUSD?
I've seen radical change up in Los Angeles at several of the schools taken over by Green Dot, such as Animo Venice using six simple tenents.
1)Small, Safe, Personalized Schools
2)High Expectations for All Students
3)Local Control with Extensive Professional Development and Accountability
4)Parent Participation
5)Maximize Funding to the Classroom
6)Keep Schools Open Later
If it can work in Los Angeles, why can't it work in Santa Ana?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Coarsening of America: From the Right
Coarsening of America: From the Right is back. In this edition, we will be focusing on the tax day protests, a so-called "American rebellion." Fact is, it was organized by Republican activists still sore about getting pummelled in the last election. It was attended by the same people who yelled racist and hateful comments at McCain and Palin rallies demanding Obama to be killed. The pics below clearly demonstrate the true world view of most Fundamentalist Conservative Christians. The silence from the organizers of these events clearly shows them to be guilty of promoting this hateful message. Here are the pics that show how the conservative movement is coarsening the debate in America:
Yeah, I think they said enough. There were said to be similar signs at the OC rally's as well. As I have said before, I always disliked the comparisons of Bush to Hitler, as bad as Bush was as a President, there is no comparison. I never hesitated to hold my end of the aisle accountable, we can't say the same for the conservatives. Christian conservative icon J.P. Moreland always loved to knock the left for signs like "Buck Fush" yet is silent on this. Can we call this a tacit approval? I think so.
Yeah, I think they said enough. There were said to be similar signs at the OC rally's as well. As I have said before, I always disliked the comparisons of Bush to Hitler, as bad as Bush was as a President, there is no comparison. I never hesitated to hold my end of the aisle accountable, we can't say the same for the conservatives. Christian conservative icon J.P. Moreland always loved to knock the left for signs like "Buck Fush" yet is silent on this. Can we call this a tacit approval? I think so.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
High Minority Concentration In Elementary Schools is Not The Problem
At article featured in the OC Register last week featured a study done by the Pew Center for Hispanic Studies in which Garden Grove Unified School District was one of the most segregated suburban school districts in the nation. They based their information on targeting six elementary schools in particular, Murdy, Allen, Russell, Hazard, Baker and Garden Park Elementary Schools. They compare it to the overall district data which shows it is a diverse district, with Latinos having an edge with 53% of the students. Yet there are 46 elementary schools in the district, they chose to single out six and say they are segregated. That thinking is flawed, the basic data may show something, but as we look closer we can see it is not a case of modern day segregation.
To understand what school segregation is, one has to go back to the 40’s and 50’s to understand what problems were faced by people like the Mendez family in Westminster and the Brown family in Topeka. In those days there were schools specifically designated for either a Latino or a Black child. In the case of Mendez and Brown, there were schools that were much closer and much more convenient for their children to attend, yet they were forced to make a long journey to another school simply because of their ethnicity or race. Ultimately, it was their longing to send their children to their neighborhood school that brought about the overturning of our segregation laws.
Which brings me to GGUSD and the “Segregated Six.” I looked at where all six schools are located. The two with the highest concentration of Asians(Murdy and Allan) were located in the vicinity of Little Saigon. The two with the highest concentration of Latinos(Russell and Hazard) were located in Santa Ana near the Santa Nita Barrio. The two with the highest concentration of Caucasians(Baker and Garden Park) are located in the far west end of Garden Grove, known for having the highest concentration of Caucasian residents. In other words, it is demonstrating that students are going to school in their NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS. There is no problem with outright segregation. The neighborhoods themselves are highly concentrated with people of a certain ethnicity.
By the way, did you know Garden Grove Unified School District posts the ethnic data of every school in the district. Check it out HERE. I did and found, for the most part that the district schools mirrored the population around them. Upon checking a couple of schools, I noticed they had an unusually high Latino population even though the schools were located in either Little Saigon or the northwest end of Garden Grove, far from any Latino population centers.
What I found was that the Buena Clinton Barrio and the Santa Nita Barrio north of 1st St. is bused to schools far from their attendance area. Two of those schools, Simmons and Skylark, in the north end of Garden Grove, it seems those students fill those schools while the kids in the immediate neighborhood go to another school in the neighborhood. Therefore it seems that the busing is done because of a lack of schools in one area and to fill areas where too many were built. At the same time, there are some who are bused to the Little Saigon area in an effort, it seems, to integrate Latinos and Vietnamese.
If the Pew Center for Hispanic Studies wants to really show some disturbing numbers on Latinos being left behind or segregated, they should look into the student populations of Hare Continuation and Lincoln Education Center which specializes in a program for teen mothers. While Latinos make up 53% of the district population, they make up over 70% at Hare and over 90% at Lincoln. The fact that they make up a disproportionate number of students at a school for failing high school students or for teen mothers should be more disturbing and alarming than the fact that a school in a predominately Latino or Asian area has a majority of students in that ethnicity. Instead of doing studies to try to claim segregation when it is not the case, it would be much more constructive to point out where minorities such as Latinos are being left behind and do something about it. Bringing down that percentage of Latinos at Hare and Lincoln is where to begin.
To understand what school segregation is, one has to go back to the 40’s and 50’s to understand what problems were faced by people like the Mendez family in Westminster and the Brown family in Topeka. In those days there were schools specifically designated for either a Latino or a Black child. In the case of Mendez and Brown, there were schools that were much closer and much more convenient for their children to attend, yet they were forced to make a long journey to another school simply because of their ethnicity or race. Ultimately, it was their longing to send their children to their neighborhood school that brought about the overturning of our segregation laws.
Which brings me to GGUSD and the “Segregated Six.” I looked at where all six schools are located. The two with the highest concentration of Asians(Murdy and Allan) were located in the vicinity of Little Saigon. The two with the highest concentration of Latinos(Russell and Hazard) were located in Santa Ana near the Santa Nita Barrio. The two with the highest concentration of Caucasians(Baker and Garden Park) are located in the far west end of Garden Grove, known for having the highest concentration of Caucasian residents. In other words, it is demonstrating that students are going to school in their NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS. There is no problem with outright segregation. The neighborhoods themselves are highly concentrated with people of a certain ethnicity.
By the way, did you know Garden Grove Unified School District posts the ethnic data of every school in the district. Check it out HERE. I did and found, for the most part that the district schools mirrored the population around them. Upon checking a couple of schools, I noticed they had an unusually high Latino population even though the schools were located in either Little Saigon or the northwest end of Garden Grove, far from any Latino population centers.
What I found was that the Buena Clinton Barrio and the Santa Nita Barrio north of 1st St. is bused to schools far from their attendance area. Two of those schools, Simmons and Skylark, in the north end of Garden Grove, it seems those students fill those schools while the kids in the immediate neighborhood go to another school in the neighborhood. Therefore it seems that the busing is done because of a lack of schools in one area and to fill areas where too many were built. At the same time, there are some who are bused to the Little Saigon area in an effort, it seems, to integrate Latinos and Vietnamese.
If the Pew Center for Hispanic Studies wants to really show some disturbing numbers on Latinos being left behind or segregated, they should look into the student populations of Hare Continuation and Lincoln Education Center which specializes in a program for teen mothers. While Latinos make up 53% of the district population, they make up over 70% at Hare and over 90% at Lincoln. The fact that they make up a disproportionate number of students at a school for failing high school students or for teen mothers should be more disturbing and alarming than the fact that a school in a predominately Latino or Asian area has a majority of students in that ethnicity. Instead of doing studies to try to claim segregation when it is not the case, it would be much more constructive to point out where minorities such as Latinos are being left behind and do something about it. Bringing down that percentage of Latinos at Hare and Lincoln is where to begin.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Angels Pitcher Nick Adenhart killed by hit & run driver
Angels aspiring star pitcher, 22-year-old Nick Adenhart was killed late last night while riding as a passenger in a car that police say was struck by a motorist who ran a red light. Two other people in the car also died and another was injured.
Adenhart had started for the Angels against the Oakland A's just a few hours earlier.
The Angel's have announced that this evenings game against Oakland has been postponed.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Santa Ana's economic woes explained
This financial crisis is forcing Santa Ana to make tough decisions,there is a risk that we might need to lay off Andre....
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