Los Angeles Newspapers

Today I read old newspapers from Los Angeles in the 1870s.  The main newspaper in Los Angeles was called the Los Angeles Herald and it was printed daily.  There were many articles written about attempts to make sugar from beets.  People had trouble growing large amounts of sugar cane after the end of slavery because labor was much more expensive and many of the trials to make sugar from beats were happening in California.  Another interesting story was similar to something you would see in the news today, a man called Yankee Jim robbed mines around San Diego and claimed to steal from the rich to give to the poor.  The newspaper wrote about the trial and jury and eventually his sentencing to be hung.  One story was about  man who tried to stay on a pacific coast train after his ticket expired and was tossed overboard, the transpacific railroad was fined 400 dollars for damages.  There were also advertisements similar to what you could see today such as furniture stores claiming to have the lowest prices and people offering jobs.

Sources

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

http://web.csulb.edu/~odinthor/socal6.html

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_City_Views%20(1800s).html

Human Trafficking

  Human Trafficking has become a considerable problem around the globe  It exists everywhere but some factors make a country or region more susceptible than others.  Developing countries such as India have a lot of trouble fighting human trafficking due to an inability to provide a stable life for victims after they have escaped, insufficient police training regarding the subject, and the belief that there is a group of people that it is acceptable to victimize due to social status, religion, or ethnicity.  Also in many countries the government is corrupt and can be paid to look te other way, it is hard to fight human trafficking when charges can not be pressed against the wealthy people involved.