Levi Strauss Provides ‘Racial Trauma’ Help

The Looney Left Report

Snowflakes of the Left are apparently having a hard time dealing with the fact that Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges in the shooting deaths of two rioters and the wounding of another in Wisconsin last year.

First, it was California State University, Long Beach who held a "debriefing" for all students and faculty on the Rittenhouse verdict, ruling that he acted in self-defense.

From the Daily Wire:

California State University Long Beach (CSULB) provided students and faculty the option to attend a “debriefing” of the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. The “debriefing” noted that “Counseling and Psychological Services staff will be present” at the event.

To read more, go here.

I was a member of the CSULB Alumni Association (I graduated from there in 1979), but I dropped them years ago over their postings of a (2016) post-election protest and the dropping of the Prospector mascot due to political correctness.

Now, it is Levi Strauss who is providing "racial trauma" help to its employees. 

According to the Daily Wire:

After Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted, Levi Strauss tapped a “racial trauma specialist” to counsel employees.

During a riot last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin, then-17-year-old Rittenhouse — acting in self-defense — killed two men and injured a third. Earlier this month, Rittenhouse was cleared of all charges.

Nevertheless, the iconic clothing company took pains to address employees’ “pain and trauma.”

“With the news that Kyle Rittenhouse was not convicted in the shooting of three individuals — two of whom lost their lives — during racial justice protests last year, this is a difficult day for many,” wrote Levi Strauss chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer Elizabeth Morrison in a letter to staff obtained by the Daily Mail.

“To help promote safety, sharing and to encourage healing, I’ll be hosting a fireside chat and Q&A with Dr. Jamila Codrington, a licensed psychologist and racial trauma specialist in early December,” she continued. “Dr. J and I will talk about the mental and psychical impacts of back-to-back social and racial justice events and trauma coping mechanisms during our discussion.”

The article also noted that Codrington holds "staunch left-wing views."

Jamila Codrington is a New York-licensed psychologist who has appeared on various panels, claiming that “black people have been duped into thinking we do not matter.”

Codrington appeared on the Karen Hunter radio show in January for a discussion about how “we must decolonize our minds.”

“One of the main weapons of colonialism and white supremacy was to destroy our memory and to separate us from our wealth – our cultural wealth,” she said.

Never mind the fact that those involved in the Rittenhouse case were all white. 

I am glad that I ceased purchasing Levi Strauss products years ago over their support of left-wing causes, including gun control. I now only purchase Wrangler products. Many others have done the same. Screw 'em!

California State University Hid $1.5 Billion But Still Hiked Tuition

Back in the 1970s, I transferred to California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) from El Camino College.

Back at El Camino College, I switched majors, from art to political science. I continued on as a political science major at CSULB.

Back in those days, tuition was relatively cheap. They were cheap enough so that my parents paid the per-unit tuition costs while I bought all of my books. I graduated in 1979 with no outstanding student loan debt.

Times since then have changed and tuition costs for students in the California State University system have skyrocketed. I seriously doubt that students today can graduate without having student loans to have to pay off.

The following report in the Fresno Bee is especially galling when one considers the costs students and their parents have to pay today.

They reported:

The California State University stashed away $1.5 billion in discretionary reserves while raising tuition and lobbying the Legislature for more funds, according to a report released Thursday by California State Auditor Elaine Howle. 

CSU put the money, which came primarily from student tuition, in outside accounts rather than in the state Treasury, the report said. 

The investigation mirrors Howle’s 2017 report on the University of California Chancellor’s Office, which charged that top UC brass kept a $175 million slush fund while hiking students’ tuition.

A year ago, CSULB kowtowed to political correctness in deciding to remove the university's mascot, Prospector Pete over some dubious claim about prospectors mistreating Native Americans during the gold rush. That, and other acts by the university made me decide to no longer donate to the university or to the alumni association. I felt that the steps the university took dishonors its history and its alumni.

Even if this hadn't happened, the revelation that the California State University system stashed away $1.5 billion while raising tuition fees and lobbying more funds alone would have forced me to stop my donations. The revelation of the stash of money is totally dishonest. There's no excuse for it.

To read more, go here.

CSULB Kowtows To Political Correctness

Following the 2016 election, the administration of California State University, Long Beach (my alma mater) allowed a post-election protest. That's okay, but then they posted a video of it on their Facebook page. If that's the image they wanted to convey, that's fine, too. Only they won't get any more monetary contributions from me. Since this and other idiotic decisions made by the CSULB administration, I ended any and all contributions to the university and alumni association.

They've stopped calling me for contributions since I told them off.

Now, they've made another idiotic decision

From Patch.com:

LONG BEACH, CA – The statue of the Cal State Long Beach mascot Prospector Pete will soon be removed in order to disassociate the university from California's gold rush and its impact on native Americans, says Cal State Long Beach President Jane Close Conoley. 

A timeline is yet to be determined, but the statue will be transplanted to a future alumni center, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported. 

The Prospector Pete image reflected Founding President Pete Peterson's common references to having struck the gold of education by establishing Long Beach State College, Conoley told the newspaper in an Email. 

"President Peterson was absolutely correct; education is precious." But, Conoley said, as the university's diversity grew and more voices were heard, "we came to know that the 1849 California gold rush was a time in history when the indigenous peoples of California endured subjugation, violence and threats of genocide." 

In September 2017, Cal State Long Beach's Associated Students Inc. started working on a resolution that passed in March to move or relocate the statue. It acknowledges the campus's location of being placed on Tongva Tribe land, whose inhabitants are said to have been enslaved by settlers to build missions in the greater Los Angeles area.

My comments about the article at Patch.com:

It is getting so that history is not being honored or even discussed these days. Here we have another example of political correctness run amok. History should be discussed, be it good or bad. Decisions by CSULB in recent years has made me decide to discontinue making donations to the school or alumni association (I am of the CSULB class of 1979). This country is going crazy. The statue should be left alone and kept where it is.

They're painting with a broad brush the implication that all of the 49ers in the Mother Lode abused the Indians there. Perhaps a small minority did, but does that justify tarring all those who went for find gold?

Notice the university's seal at top. There's a pick and shovel on it to signify the 49ers. Looks like they'll have to change that, too.

The cost of removing/moving the statue is a waste of taxpayers' money. President Jane Close Conoley is sure no Stephen Horn (the president of CSULB during my time there).

Cal State Long Beach Gets Into The "Godzilla" Act

Banner: Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.

With the Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. Godzilla stomping his way into theaters on May 16, it seems that everybody is getting into the act in posting articles on the Big G.

My alma mater, California State University, Long Beach, is no exception. The campus's online newspaper, the Long Beach Union Weekly, posted an article on Godzilla. Unfortunately, it has a few things a bit wrong.

First off, their opening paragraph notes that this is Godzilla's 50th anniversary, not the 60th as it actually is:

Godzilla turns 50 this year, and as a commemoration of one of cinema’s greatest monsters, we at the Union have compiled a timeline to inform you of the essential facts about the lovable lizard. Use this guide to familiarize yourself with the King of all Lizards (not to be confused with The Lizard King) so you may impress your friends who are bored with your irrelevant and useless academic knowledge. Finally, get ready for the summer film since you’ll have a bunch of free time after graduation.

If Godzilla turns 50 this year, I guess all the events that took place ten years ago (Hollywood Walk of Fame induction, the Hollywood premiere of Godzilla Final Wars, etc.) didn't really happen.

Then they get into some of the movies and kind of flubbed some of them (and skipped a bunch). For example, they called the 1954 Godzilla "an environmentalist film." This is the first time I've ever seen Godzilla referred to as an "environmentalist film" rather than an allegory of the atomic bomb. Oh, well.

Maybe I am just getting nitpicky in my old age. I did send them a note correcting their 50th anniversary error.

At least the university's sister publication, The Beach Review (for alumni), did publish a blurb on The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan about three years ago as did the Political Science Department in the department's newsletter.

To read the article, go here.

Remembering Rep. Steve Horn

A notice was received this morning concerning former Congressman Steve Horn:

A Public Celebration of Life

A public Celebration of Life remembering Steve Horn will be held on Saturday, April 30 at CSULB’s Carpenter Performing Arts Center beginning at 2 p.m. Steve Horn served as the university’s President from 1970 to 1988 and as a U.S. Congressman representing California’s 38th District from 1993 through 2003. He died February 17 at his home in Long Beach from complications related to Alzheimer’s Disease.

Congressman Horn was president of California State University, Long Beach during the time I was a student there.

He and I had a few discussions when I was First V.P. of the Los Angeles County Young Republicans during my CSULB years. Following graduation from CSULB, I was my assembly district's Republican Central Committee Chairman and I would occasionally run into him at GOP conventions and other events in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County. I was a hardcore conservative, and he a moderate, but we got along well and he was a good congressman. I am saddened to learn that he passed away.

A press release has been issued by CSULB. To read it, go here.

Satisfaction In One's Work

Doing things business-wise can either be a chore or it can be an enjoyable experience. I try to enjoy what I do. If I am not enthusiastic about something, then it becomes a chore and the interest level drops.

Left, Miki. Photo by Armand Vaquer.



So far, promoting The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan has become a "third job" for me, but I am having fun doing it and, also, learning things. I am also meeting interesting people while promoting The Guide. Some are in the publishing industry while others are also involved in promoting their own self-published books and we compare notes and share successful techniques. Some I enlisted in helping to promote The Guide.

The ladies I photographed for promotional pictures, Yuu Asakura, Ai and Miki, all worked out splendidly. Having a pretty girl in advertising is a tried & true technique that has been successful (probably) since advertising began. I learned this and other techniques while taking a public relations class at Cal State, Long Beach.

I met and photographed Miki yesterday for a new round of promotional photographs. She has a very sweet demeanor and was easy to work with. She is a college student and I met her through dinosaur expert and filmmaker Donald F. Glut.

I know I enjoyed working with her yesterday and I received a very nice email from Miki last night which read, in part:

Thanks so much for today's shoot. I had a great time. The garden (and sushi, of course) were amazing!

While the aim for promoting items are increased sales, it's the other things (such as the above) that also gives one the feeling of satisfaction and the efforts put into them are indeed worthwhile. You can't put a price-tag on them.

If what one does also provides others pleasure, that's even better!

"The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan" and Cal State Long Beach

Above, Yuu Asakura. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Lately, I've been very fortunate (or lucky) in some things, while other things haven't worked out so well.

This afternoon, I got home from grocery-shopping and visiting friends and found a message from the External Communications Editor, Office of Public Affairs California State University, Long Beach. I had recently updated my information for the CSULB "In Touch" section of the alumni news magazine, The Beach Review and mentioned The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. (Nice "shameless plug!")

The message I received:

Hello Armand,

Thank you for the information. We can include your new book in our "Fresh Ink" alumni authors section of the fall Beach Review.

Can you provide a brief summary about the book, along with publisher information and a high-resolution (large file size) photo of the cover? (Web photos are too small.)

As requested, I sent them the information along with a large photo of The Guide's cover.



Sometimes, when it's least expected, good things do occasionally happen!