Ralph Bailey
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RALPH BAILEY: 'In God We Trust' has been asked and answered
God, or more accurately the phrase "In God We Trust," has reared its head in local news again, this time in the Kern County Board of Supervisors chambers thanks to recently elected Supervisor Zack Scrivner.
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RALPH BAILEY: On charter schools, educators missing the big picture
We're considered to be one of the "dumbest" counties in the state, with graduation and dropout rates that would make "The Dead End Kids" look like Rhodes scholars and still many educators remain blind to the goal and vital role charter schools play in the future of our educational system.
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RALPH BAILEY: Mettler and Bertram: Two political peas in a pod
Has anybody ever really seen Ken Mettler and Martin Bertram in the same room at the same time?
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RALPH BAILEY: Emotions demand no mosque, no "n" word
I need you to focus on me: Ralph Bailey, 48-year-old African American, radio talk show host, columnist and overall good egg. Don't think about the "black community" or the black guy at your job or Jesse Jackson or even Barack Obama. Just me.
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RALPH BAILEY: What's happening to local plastic surgeon 'just ain't right'
The fact I called three plastic surgeon's offices hoping to speak to doctors about the charges against one of their colleagues, and only one would talk as long as I didn't name him, brings home just how sensitive a situation Dr. Darshan Shah is in.
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RALPH BAILEY: We must wake up to our prescription drug problem
When most Americans think of a "drug addict," they envision a junkie in a Harlem alley, a rubber band around his bicep and a needle sticking out of his arm. Or perhaps we see a 5'11, 135 pound "tweaker" in an Oildale parking lot chewing on his teeth from the methamphetamine high.
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RALPH BAILEY: Political rookies aren't what they're cracked up to be
I enjoy the dozen or so opportunities a year I get to speak to school children. One of my favorite lines: "You are smarter than your parents!"
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RALPH BAILEY: Mettler tearing out pages from the Joe McCarthy playbook
I can't tell you when my obsession with the Kennedy clan began but it was so early and deep I was one of the few fifth graders who knew Joe McCarthy by name. Most Kennedy bios allude to Joseph Kennedy's friendship and admiration for the fellow Irish Catholic politician. So it was no surprise when Mrs. Flynn assigned me to write about the infamous Wisconsin senator.
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RALPH BAILEY: Californian CEO wrong about local talk radio
As Bonnie Raitt sings, local talk radio has given this town something to talk about in the last few weeks, culminating with the cancellation of a longtime running local show. All the hub bub even moved Californian CEO Richard Beene to comment in his usually fresh and entertaining blog.
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RALPH BAILEY: Ashburn proves gays are no victims
State Sen. Roy Ashburn is the gay agenda's worst nightmare.
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RALPH BAILEY: Martin Luther King's courage remains unmatched
It is said that prostitutes and old buildings gain respectability after a period of time but it seems living legends become posthumous targets of ridicule and scrutiny and no one's character has suffered more than that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., arguably the most courageous revolutionary this republic has ever seen.
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RALPH BAILEY: Kwanzaa creator a secular kook, convict
There are three aspects of Kwanzaa that most folks don't know. First, most blacks DON'T celebrate the invented holiday. Secondly, very few non-Americans even know of its existence and finally, its inventor is a kook and a violent convict.
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RALPH BAILEY: The problem is death row is a life term
A recent Los Angeles Times article detailed how a gang member openly opted for the death penalty instead of a life sentence, implying death row is cushier than general stir. Since one of Kern County's most famous killers hangs his hat on San Quentin's death row, I wanted to see what life was like for 47-year-old mass murderer and former educator Vincent Brothers.
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Ralph Bailey: Our kids deserve innovative charter schools
Charter schools are the tsunami of the future and while some believe this new wave could wipe out formal public education, charters will be the new road to a sea of success for disenfranchised children.
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Ralph Bailey: Afghanistan rules of engagement are all wrong
I often use the greatest motion picture to help me understand things and when contemplating Afghanistan, I recall "The Godfather" and Michael Corleone's dilemma. Forced to cut a deal with hoodlums who tried to kill his father, Michael opts finally to solve the situation: Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out!
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Ralph Bailey: Just sayin' we should pay attention to grammar
I recently read with great joy a columnist in this paper explaining the difference between it's and its. I felt like a freed slave! (As if my suburban self knows anything about hard labor.)
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Ralph Bailey: Lessons blacks and whites could stand to learn
After vowing to heal old racial wounds, the Obama administration called Americans "cowards," disparaged a Cambridge, Mass., law enforcement officer and all but poured salt in sores that continue to plague a young nation. Now the president thinks beer will douse a fiery situation he helped create.
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Ralph Bailey: It'd be 'insane' to cut JV sports
It was the summer of 1976, ninth grade. I had my palms flat up against the walls of an "Orange Julius" in Sherman Oaks as if the LAPD was searching me like a suspect.
