SQUIDFRY 09.27.18: Faceyspace Pages

FACEYSPACE PAGES… In an effort to connect to humanity, Squid enjoys hearing alternative points of view. For Squid, that entails seeking out content from strange places – the Wall Street Journal editorial page, for example, which recently suggested Senate democrats are suffering from “histrionics” over the potential for Brett “Fratboy” Kavanaugh to ascend to the Supreme Court. Or Fox News, in an effort to get inside Donald Trump’s mind (Squid imagines it’s like a greasy hamster wheel.) Or even the Facebook page of local GOP mover and shaker Paul Bruno.

Squid tried to surf on over to Bruno’s page just a few days ago, only to find that, well, Squid couldn’t find it.

Turns out, Facebook decided to turn Bruno off. When he tries to log on, he gets a message that his account has been disabled – and nobody at Facebook is willing to tell him why, even though the message says, “If you think your account was disabled by mistake, please visit the help center.” Bruno is suspicious about the timing. He tells Squid’s colleague the suspension happened after he changed his cover photo to a “John Cox for Governor” sign. The conservative website rightondaily.com stated (without any proof, of course, because: 2018): “It appears the left ran a complaint drill against his account, and Facebook obliged by expelling his account.”

Bruno says he’s reached out to Facebook multiple times to try to get his account back, to no avail. Specifically, he’d like to retrieve family photos. No word on whether there is a Russian spy in any of those photos.

ONE PERCENT… You’d think Squid would be a great soccer player considering all the tentacles. But Squid’s more of a spectator and besides, there are plenty of quality games in Salinas to watch. Not just amateur stuff, but real pro talent.

So it was unsurprising to Squid to read a story in the Los Angeles Times about some second-generation Salinas kids going back to Mexico to go pro. It read a lot like many stories done by media outlets from out of town covering Salinas. Mention John Steinbeck; check. MentionCesar Chavez; check. Mention poverty in East Salinas, and that unflattering title “murder capital”; check.

Especially unfortunate was the line that read, “less than 1 percent of Latino males at [Hartnell College] transfer to a four-year college after two years, the most recent state data show.” Squid’s colleague checked in with the authors, Lauren Hepler and Liliana Michelena, who say they used data from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, from 2011 – about six full classes ago.

More recent data, from Hartnell itself, tells a different story: In 2016-17, transfers from Hartnell to UCs and CSUs were 82 percent, from 57 percent in 2011-12.

Looks like Salinas soccer players aren’t the only ones making plays. So are their classmates.