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The other side of tech in San Francisco

By Kheven LaGrone on
Commentary   Opinion
In his essay titled, “San Francisco, You’ll Miss Your Tech Bros If They Flee,” Bloomberg Opinion columnist Noah Smith writes that the tech bubble is a victim of outsiders’ antipathy towards them. The essay suggests that it is more important that San Francisco retain its tech bubble than its longtime and native residents.

Cost’a rent not so high under Prop 10

By TJ Johnston on
Commentary   Opinion   YSA youth contributions
This November, Californians will vote on Prop 10, which will determine whether or not to repeal Costa-Hawkins—the 1995 law that placed limits on rent control in cities. If Prop 10 passes, it will be easier for California cities to lower their rents. An alliance of tenant organizations is demanding a “full repeal of the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, nothing less.”

Sidestepping Democracy: A Berkeley Tradition Lives On

By Carol Denney on
Commentary   Opinion
The anti-panhandling law, the anti-sitting law, the two-square-feet-of-possessions-only law, and the proposal to equip the smoke-free downtown with ashtrays have one thing in common: the Downtown Berkeley Association. This unelected group was given a free hand in crafting contradictory and unconstitutional legislation.

Greyhound Therapy: Symptom of a Failed Mental Health System

Commentary
Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas handed out bus tickets to about 1500 gravely disabled patients, “transferring” them to states all over the country. Patients were sent to states where they had never been a resident and areas that had no mental institution prepared to receive them.

Penciled Out of Existence by Some Grand Authority

Commentary
Our society doesn't want to be inconvenienced by someone who is suffering or is impoverished. As a disabled person, it feels as if I have been penciled out of existence by some grand authority, one which expects me to disappear into nothingness, or end up jailed, homeless or just dead.

Laura’s Law Turns a Psychiatric Diagnosis into a Crime

Commentary
Laura’s Law criminalizes mental illness and is spreading like cancer across California, county by county. Those labeled “noncompliant” can be subjected to forced medication and court-ordered involuntary treatment. In essence, they become captives of the criminal justice system even though they have committed no offense.

Unethical Medical Experiments on U.S. Citizens

Commentary   Features
The United States has an epidemic of ill health due to excessive drugging. The American people are considered a giant pool of experimental subjects for massively wealthy drug companies. Many persons diagnosed with mental illness are experimented upon, often without their consent and against their own best interests.