Just when you think it’s safe to stop hating people, they do something to reinforce that feeling deep in your gut that everybody is up to no good; that nobody can be trusted; that you’re all alone on this planet. These are the things that are bothering me this week: I heard the Los Angeles Police Commission is quite concerned by the tweeting habits of Sal LaBarbera, an LAPD homicide detective. It seems that LaBarbera’s tweets differ in content and tone, depending on the color of his subjects. Using the handle, LAMuderCop, LaBarbera sent a grisly picture of a murder victim in the park at 88th and Hoover. He tweeted: “Guess where I am.” Then added: “IfAnyOneCares.” Then, in reference to the beauty salon massacre in Seal Beach, the LAPD detective tweeted: “Thoughts n prayers for the victims, and their loved ones. If one community can come together Seal Bch can.” Do we have to put up with this? Najee Ali and them don’t think so and he pressed the issue with Chief Charlie Beck and Commission President John Mack.

Then there’s that Seal Beach City Councilman, Gordon Shanks, who, at age 76, hasn’t got the sensitivity he was born with. While publicly reacting to the horrible massacre in which a lone White gunman killed eight people in a beauty salon, Shanks said: “These things are not supposed to happen here. Maybe in Compton. But not here.” This bigoted old fool doesn’t seem to understand that these things are not supposed to happen anywhere, so an outraged Compton resident, Royce Esters, president of NAEJA, gave Shanks a big piece of his mind, including a statistical history and the current status of crime in Compton.

Then a Downey police officer, in pursuit of some kind of perpetrator, shot and killed the wrong man — an innocent man who had done nothing wrong. To add insult to you-know-what, guess who’s investigating the police shooting of this innocent man — yep, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department! Isn’t this the same law enforcement body that was supposed to be investigating the controversial Culver City Police killing of that young Black man in a strip mall last year? The one in which witnesses said the man was unarmed and had his hands raised when the cops gunned him down? Whatever happened to that? And is this the same law enforcement body whose actions resulted in the death of Mitrice Richardson and whose “investigation” resulted in a multi-million-dollar county settlement with Richardson’s family? Richardson’s death has been settled, but not solved and while the Justice Department is busy probing the brutality of sheriff’s deputies in the county jails, it needs to investigate Richardson’s death and determine once and for all whether she was killed by a sheriff’s deputy and what Sheriff Lee Baca knows about it and when did he know it. Law enforcement investigating law enforcement. Does that make sense?

Politico has reported that House Ethics Committee is moving toward a full-scale investigation of Rep. Laura Richardson, whom I reported months ago as being under scrutiny over allegations that she forced her staff to perform prohibited political activities on government time. Of course, she’s denied the accusations and even denied the scrutiny. But, you know ... If the Ethics Committee creates a special investigative committee to oversee the Richardson matter, that will make the fourth Black Congress member to land squarely in the crosshairs of the secretive Ethics Committee: Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, Gregory Meeks of New York, Maxine Waters of California and Richardson. I hoped we were better than that.

FEEL GOOD STUFF — More than 1,000 mourners attended the funeral of 16-year-old Angela Gettis, the Washington Prep cheerleader who collapsed and died during her high school’s football game. The grief-stricken community rushed to provide emotional support to her devastated family and to provide financial contributions to help pay the popular teen’s funeral expenses. In fact, we responded so well to the tragedy that Angela’s cash-strapped mother was able to pay every penny required to send her daughter home in a glorious manner. Lily Evans, Angela’s mother has issued the following statement of gratitude to the community:

“I am deeply grateful for the overwhelming community support to help bury my daughter. I want to thank everyone for their financial and other support during our family’s tragedy. This includes the alumni associations of Washington and Fremont high schools, Dr. Todd Ullah, the principal of Washington Prep and the entire student body, faculty, staff and parents, the Cal State Dominguez Hills students and staff, Jim Manga and the St. John’s Family Center, the owners and staff of Buffalo Wild Wings, Arnetta Mack of Mack Interprises, community leaders Najee Ali, Reverends Norman Johnson and E.L. Williams, the judges of the Compton Courthouse, school board member Marguerite LaMotte, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Rep. Karen Bass and all the other individuals who opened their hearts to help us. Last, but not least, I thank The Wave, which was the only Black paper in the city to cover our family’s tragedy.”

THIS AND THAT — A Los Angeles County District Attorney candidates forum will be held next Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St. It is sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of L.A. County and co-sponsored by 12 other multi-racial organizations. In addition to Deputy D.A. Danette Meyers, the forum will feature the other candidates seeking to replace the beast D.A. Steve Cooley — Deputy DAs Bobby Grace, Steve Ipsen, Alan Jackson, Mario Trujillo and, oh, Jackie Lacey. The event is free and you’re asked to RSVP by Halloween to contactapaba@gmail.com (subject line: “DA Forum”). I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

The Occupy South L.A. forces will protest and rally around the Chase Bank at 4401 Crenshaw Blvd. at 10 a.m. Saturday as part of their continuing efforts in support of the Occupy Los Angeles and Occupy Wall Street movements and their emphasis on addressing the perceived racist practices of big banks operating in the Black community.

The first of a series of public hearings by the Joint Conference Committee on Public Employee Pensions was held Wednesday in the city of Carson Council Chambers. The committee is co-chaired by Assemblyman Warren Furutani and state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod. Additional hearings are being scheduled and I certainly hope Furutani’s staff, or somebody will provide advance notice of them because this agenda is heavy, as the committee is charged with assessing the current condition of public employee benefits and reform efforts.

WOFFORD LOSES — Superior Court Judge Michael C. Solner entered a judgement of $60,000 Tuesday against community activist and bon vivant Tony Wofford in favor of Sharon Song Byrd, the woman who sued him for damages suffered by his sexual harassment and assault of her. I’m past deadline, so I’ll write about it some more next week after I’ve read all these court documents.

AND FINALLY — Now that my once blind right eye has been repaired and I can see out of it perfectly, I am having surgery Thursday on my weak left eye. I am told my left eye only has a cataract in it and removing it is a minor procedure and not nearly as unusual or complicated as the work done to restore sight to my right eye. Therefore, I expect to be back here next week shooting off my mouth and doing battle with DMV to get my driver’s license restored, which was revoked after my optometrist ratted me out and told DMV I was blind and should not be driving. Unbeknownst to me and my optometrist (whom I’m firing and possibly suing), I was driving blind with a license and had no accidents for more than two years. Now that I can see, I have no license and cannot legally drive! What do you bet? After I get two good eyes and a driver’s license, I’ll probably have an accident! Anyway, I figure the worst part of this whole three-month ordeal will be having to do business with the DMV.