Dec 10 2013
Daily News Flash with Robert Jensen on Mandela’s Funeral, Day of Action on Education, and FBI Arrests of LA County Sheriff’s Staff
Uprising’s guest expert Robert Jensen, an author and Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, analyzes today’s news headlines:
On this International Human Rights Day, world leaders gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela. Mandela, who passed away last Thursday at the age of 95, was eulogized by US President Barack Obama. Obama compared him to Gandhi, King, and Lincoln, and attributed some of his own success to the inspiration he drew from Mandela. Obama also shook Cuban President Raul Castro’s hand, in what is being considered the warmest gesture between the two countries in decades. Click here for a Christian Science Monitor article about the story.
Actions in 60 cities around the country yesterday called attention to the negative impacts of school privatization. The American Federation of Teachers has launched a major campaign to call attention to what it sees as the failure of education reform which is based disproportionately on standardized testing, teacher evaluations, and non-union charter schools. AFT President Randi Weingarten told the press, “Our schools need evidence-based, community-based solutions like early childhood education, wraparound services, professional autonomy and development, parent voices and project-based learning.” Click here for a Washington Post article about the story.
In a local story that made national headlines yesterday, FBI agents took several officials from the LA County Sherriff’s Department into custody over alleged abuses in the County Jails. A total of 18 people have had charges brought against them. The LA County Sheriff’s Department is the largest such department in the nation and the charges come after years of investigations. According to the LA Times, “Prosecutors said they found a ‘wide scope of illegal conduct’ by deputies and their supervisors that went beyond mistreating inmates to actively attempting to hinder an FBI investigation into jail misconduct.” Click here for an LA Times article about the story.
One Response to “Daily News Flash with Robert Jensen on Mandela’s Funeral, Day of Action on Education, and FBI Arrests of LA County Sheriff’s Staff”
The quote from the LA Times I found disturbing in as far as the part about “A Wide scope of illegal conduct” that went beyond mistreating inmates! Witch makes it sound like if had Just been inmate abuse… No problem. But since there was some other kind of “Illegal conduct” they’ve now crossed the line? Perhaps I’m reading it wrong but it sure comes off sounding rather inhumane.