01.03.19

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PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS •GUEST OPINION• BY JOHN GRULA A DANGEROUS PATH IS THE ADMINISTRATION LEADING US INTO A NEW COLD WAR? The Trump administration’s recent announcement that it plans to scrap the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), agreed to by then-President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, would be a major step backwards. It threatens to undermine decades of progress on nuclear arms controls and plunge the world into a new arms race. It is reckless, foolish and will destabilize a world already experiencing significant upheavals. This important treaty defused a tense stand-off in Europe, and helped to bring-about an end to the Cold War. The US-Russia relationship is currently precarious, at best. Has it plunged to the depths of the US and Soviet Union’s standoff of the early 1980s? Not yet, but we’re rapidly getting there. And the decision to do away with the INF not only threatens progress on nuclear arms control, but will also create diplomatic chaos in other ways with Russia. The situation in Ukraine and Crimea come to mind. Even though no solid evidence has yet emerged that Russia interfered in any way with our recent midterm elections, the last thing we need is further agitation with this formidable world power. The reality is we’re now living in a multipolar world. We need to recognize this. Russia has allies that we need to work with to defuse tensions in the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere. Germany, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey are among the most important. We can’t ignore these nations and hope to make progress in our efforts to promote world peace. So far, Trump has ostracized or marginalized them, as we have Russia. Not good. If a new Cold War is to emerge, we will probably be badly outnumbered, especially if we continue to burn our bridges with Western European allies, as Trump is doing. Our relationship with China (also allied with Russia) is also fraught with tensions, as the Trump administration continues to push for tariffs and other economic sanctions against the world’s second largest economy. Big mistake. If we are not careful, China is going to eat our lunch (if they are not already), and we will rue the day it became capitalistic. And Russia will aid and abet them. We must not let our arrogance get out of control or a major re-alignment of the world order is in store, and it will not be to our liking. We are also trying to push around China militarily. Not wise. Among other disputes, there are disagreements about the status of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province. There are deep historical reasons for this, which we should not disregard. We have sailed large naval warships into the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait on a routine basis. This is very provocative. How would we like it if China sailed major naval vessels into the Gulf of Mexico? We seem to be blind to these contradictions, but they threaten to escalate into something more dangerous. US warships and attack submarines are armed with highly accurate Tomahawk cruise missiles, some of which are nuclear-tipped, while our warplanes are equipped with surface-to-air missiles that can hit targets hundreds of miles away. China knows this. Let’s not push our luck and start trouble. Finally, the Trump administration is poised to reignite proxy wars common in Latin America and other places during the Cold War. For example, the administration has threatened to cut off millions of dollars in aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador for having trouble stopping immigrants from heading north. These people are fleeing violence and civil war to which our support of the right-wing governments in question contributes. Further inflaming tensions, White House national security advisor John Bolton has recently accused Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua of being a “troika of tyranny,” which regards the US as an “imperialist bully, the LA Times reported in November. All of this is reminiscent of George W. Bush’s pronouncement of Iran, North Korea and Iraq as being an “axis of evil,” and signals the possibility of war. Meanwhile, Bolton embraces the right-wing governments of Columbia and Brazil. Not a good way to win friends and influence people. Trump, Bolton, and their ilk are leading us down a dangerous path. Maybe now that the Democrats have won back the House of Representatives, disaster can be averted. We can only hope. ■ 6 PASADENA WEEKLY | <strong>01.03.19</strong> John Grula, PhD, is affi liated with the Southern California Federation of Scientists.
• NEWS • PASADENA | ALHAMBRA | ALTADENA | ARCADIA | EAGLE ROCK | GLENDALE | LA CAÑADA | MONTROSE | SAN MARINO | SIERRA MADRE | SOUTH PASADENA SELLER BEWARE JURY ORDERS PASADENA POLICE OFFICER TO PAY $750,000 DATA CITY PASADENA NAMED ONE OF THE TOP DIGITAL CITIES IN AMERICA COMING HOME TRUMP TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM SYRIA P. 8 P. 8 P. 8 WEEKLY WEATHER BUZZ KILL ILLEGAL POT DISPENSARY OPERATOR CHALLENGES CITY’S NEW CANNABIS LAW BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN In a lawsuit filed against the city, Mayor Terry Tornek and the City Council, the owner and operator of an unlicensed and illegally operating marijuana dispensary is challenging the city’s new marijuana ordinance. Golden State Collective is one of 12 unlicensed marijuana dispensaries that the city has been trying to shut down over the past three years, one year prior to the state voters formally approving the sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes. Despite a city resolution permanently barring operators of currently illegal marijuana dispensaries from receiving permits, Shaun Szameit hoped to come to an agreement with city officials THU 66° FRI 67° SAT 58° SUN 58° Shaun Szameit that would have allowed him to keep his business, located at 50 N. Mentor Ave., open after the city started accepting applications from marijuana dispensaries desiring to legally do business in Pasadena on New Year’s Day. “One of the stated purposes of the ordinance is to prevent those who have previously been ‘illegal operators’ engaged in cannabis sales within the city of Pasadena from ever obtaining a license to sell commercial cannabis products in the city of Pasadena,” the lawsuit states “Golden State did everything the right way,” Szameit told the Pasadena Weekly. “We brought it to the people and the city thwarted our chances. The City Council took our opportunity CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 MON 63° WEB EXCLUSIVE ‘HORRIBLE FOR EVERYBODY’ GANG MEMBERS FACE LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDERING FOUR PEOPLE IN 2017 Four Duarte gang members were convicted on Wednesday in connection with a mass shooting in Northwest Pasadena that left three people dead in January 2017 during a feud between gang members in Pasadena, Altadena and Duarte. Isaiah Daniels, 25, Pernell Barnes, 21, Charod Robinson, 29, and Derion Lee, 35 were convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and murder by discharge of a firearm from a vehicle. The quartet could face life in prison without parole when they are sentenced on Feb. 7. The jury acquitted 28-year-old Andrew Vasquez, also from Duarte, of all charges. Vasquez spent 18 months in jail while awaiting trial. The shootings — which Pasadena police say stemmed from a feud between an alliance of Crip street gang factions in Altadena and Duarte and Blood gang members in Pasadena — began on Jan. 6, when Antoine Sutphen Jr. and Ormani Duncan, both 24, were fatally shot in a drive-by shooting on Claremont Street, near Fair Oaks Avenue, shortly after 11:30 p.m. Two others — an unidentified woman and man — were wounded in that attack, the woman critically. The man suffered a not life-threatening injury. The wounded woman sought help at a nearby city fire station. Another unidentified woman tried to drive Duncan and the wounded man to Huntington Hospital, but the driver crashed at the corner of California Boulevard and St. John Avenue, near the facility. Duncan died while in the car. The shootings gripped the city and led to discussions among political candidates during the election season about hiring more police officers. But while politicians were talking about solutions, the Police Department was working the case through anonymous tips, sketches and leads acquired at the crime scene through its homicide unit and violence reduction task force. The incident placed policed police on high alert and within 48 hours, 10 people were arrested on various weapons charges. The Pasadena Police Department’s violence reduction task force seized 42 weapons and arrested 24 people on gun charges. “It was horrible for everybody — the victims, the family members and the families of the suspects,” said Police Chief John Perez. “We organized resources around protecting the community and stopping the shootings, and it worked. Unfortunately the circumstances that got us there were terrible. This is not what a community needs as we attempt to establish a better quality of life for everyone.” — André Coleman TUE 66° WED 64° THU 64° <strong>01.03.19</strong> | PASADENA WEEKLY 7
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