The Daily Angeles

     Tod ay I read an article by Rebecca Gonz á lez L auck, titled " La Venta " from  Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia . The article mainly focuses on La Venta and its location, climate, weather, architecture, sculptures, and socio-political organizations. The article states that La Venta's monumental architecture and sculpture "define it as one of the most important cities of the Olmec civilization, and one of the clearest examples of complex societies in Middle America during the first millennium before the common era" (Gonz á lez Lauck 92). I also watched Kingdom of the Jaguar , an episode from the program  Lost Kingdoms of Central America . The video is conveniently uploaded on Youtube but usually shown on BBC. The show's host is Dr. Jago Cooper , a British archaeologist who specializes in the archaeology of the Americas. In the episode, Dr. Cooper journeys to San Lorenzo, La Venta, Chalcatzingo, Juxtlahuaca, Xalapa Muse

American flag on a cannabis leaf Image by  Gordon Johnson Today I listened to the audio story, " Decriminalizing The War On Drugs, " on Latino USA, hosted by Maria Hinojosa, which aired on January 29, 2021. The guest speaker of the segment is Maritza Perez, Director of The Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, D.C. The segment talks about systemic racism in America acting as a catalyst in creating anti-drug policies that specifically target people of color. Let's not forget the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, where a vast disparity existed between federal penalties for crack cocaine and powder cocaine ( United States, Congress). It was a racially driven law because crack cocaine was mainly found and used in urbanized areas where people of color lived. I did learn several things from this segment. I learned from Perez that in November 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 110, which decriminalizes the personal possession of illegal drugs. In the s