San Diego

Thursday

Matthew Foldi

Seeking accountability for Afghanistan with the Gold Star families

Escondido, California “I will fight till my last breath to get the truth,” said Coral Briseño, the mother of Humberto Sanchez, who was killed in Afghanistan during the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal. Her son told her that if he didn’t come back, he wanted her to tell his story.  Briseño and her fellow Gold Star family members had their first opportunity to address the nation in a hearing that was aired live on Fox News — but completely absent from CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS.  The field hearing marked the first time the group of parents addressed the public as one. The chaotic exit from Kabul, marred by suicide bombings and people falling off of planes, was praised by everyone from the president to his top military brass as historically successful.

gold star afghanistan

Tuesday

Mike Tunison

The Final Four that wasn’t supposed to happen

March Madness markets itself on the chaos, the unpredictability, and the Cinderella stories that make the NCAA basketball tournament one of the most beloved sporting events in America. Most years, the really shocking upsets are usually out of the way by the end of the first weekend. By the time the tournament reaches its most critical rounds, fans are fortunate if there is a single Cinderella still dancing. Over the last thirty tournaments — I would say years but the 2020 tourney was canceled due to Covid — only two national champions have started the tournament as lower than a three seed. In that same span, only two Final Fours did not feature a one seed, while thirteen Final Fours over the past three decades have contained multiple one seeded teams.

Final Four

Monday

Taylor Millard

The rising surveillance state in American cities

Three American cities now require or likely will soon require businesses to give police access to their private surveillance footage. Leaders of all three cities see it necessary and cite rising crime. But privacy advocates decry the proposals as another example of the USA becoming the United Surveillance States of America. Houston became the first city to enact such rules. It’s part of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s federally funded One Safe Houston initiative. Turner announced it in February following a series of officer-involved shootings coupled with several dozen murders. “I don’t want to see any more carnage on our streets or in front of these businesses,” the mayor told reporters after the ordinance passed in April.

Wednesday

Amber Duke

How to sneak critical race theory into the classroom

'Who are you going to believe, me, or your lying eyes?' Poway Unified School District in San Diego, California all but told concerned parents who say the school is injecting critical race theory into two new elective courses on offer to students. The two courses, 'Ethnic Literature' and 'Ethnic Studies', were made available to high school students 'in response to our racial equity plan and community conversations held with students, staff and families’, according to the school district's Facebook page. Ethnic Literature, a course guide says, seeks to promote 'empathy' by examining how 'systems of power in the United States' have affected various minority groups.

high school california critical race theory poway