Top Headlines

Debt, deficits and delays

Debt, deficits and delays

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform achieved something remarkable, at least by Washington's standards: It came up...

 

Improving the DREAM

All students deserve access to higher education and a prosperous future, regardless of their immigration status. Federal legislation that...

 

Little Green Men are enough

One of the better-known quotes from the original "Star Trek" series came from Mr. Spock, who, in describing a space colony, said "there is...

Art or sacrilege?

With conservative Republicans on the ascendency in the aftermath of last month's elections, the nation may be headed for a second round of...

 

Just 'budget dust'

Somebody call Meg Whitman: A state Senate staff report released this week dug up precisely the kind of waste in Sacramento that the...

 

Watching over Justice

He wasn't a household name even to political junkies, but for 10 years Inspector General

Keeping the Net neutral

Keeping the Net neutral

Preserving Net neutrality — that is, preventing the companies that provide the Internet's infrastructure from picking winners and...

Waters must wait

Waters must wait

Rep. Maxine Waters, the South Los Angeles Democrat who faces serious ethics charges, engaged in some political theater Monday, showing up...

'Don't ask' death knell?

'Don't ask' death knell?

We were skeptical in February when Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates commissioned a study on how a repeal of the military's "don't ask, don'...

'Slurpee Summit' gets chilly reception

'Slurpee Summit' gets chilly reception

The "Slurpee Summit" is over, and if its participants didn't sound as frosty afterward as 7-Eleven's brain-freezing concoction, they clearly...

Taxes made too simple

Taxes made too simple

Although the lame-duck session may be too short for Congress to decide which, if any, of the Bush-era tax cuts to extend, the outlines of...

Him, unlicensed; me, unlucky

Him, unlicensed; me, unlucky

I pulled my car over and stepped out into the night. The trunk and bumper were crushed and torn, but the car was drivable and there were...

Protecting California's prisoners

Protecting California's prisoners

Ordinarily, states rely on courts and prisons to protect the citizenry from criminals, but California seems determined to turn that...

Watch out for WikiLeaks

Watch out for WikiLeaks

Many disclosures of classified information, such as the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, have served the public interest by...

Parents as students

Parents as students

From the beginning, the education reform equation has been missing an important factor: parents. State and federal authorities have been too...

End-of-life uncertainty

End-of-life uncertainty

Americans have a near obsessive interest in death and dying. Today's most popular television series is about ...

Sinking the online pirates

Sinking the online pirates

Imagine having a nemesis who assaults you daily (often mocking you as it does) yet somehow stays beyond the reach of the law. That's a rough...

Planning for pensions

Planning for pensions

An eye-popping new report by an economist at Stanford University claims that the independent pension plans for city and county employees...

The DNA non-redemption

The DNA non-redemption

In 1990, a Texas jury convicted Claude Jones, a career criminal, of murdering Allen Hilzendager.

A needed House watchdog

A needed House watchdog

There aren't many policies established by outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- San Francisco) that Republicans are likely to embrace, but...

The 'highly qualified' gap

The 'highly qualified' gap

While states and school districts hotly debate the issue of whether student test scores should be used to evaluate teachers, the nation...

No on 21 but yes on parks

No on 21 but yes on parks

California voters signaled their lack of interest in new taxes when 58% of them cast ballots against Proposition 21, which would have levied...

They made our days

They made our days

Thanksgiving started out as a religious holiday, proclaimed by President Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War as a "day of Thanksgiving and...

Shellshocked by N. Korea

Shellshocked by N. Korea

Such Middle Eastern trouble spots as Iran and Afghanistan get most of the attention in this country, but North Korea is determined to...

Don't drill, baby!

Don't drill, baby!

Right about now in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, dozens of pregnant female polar bears are preparing to give birth in dens they dug...

First Thanksgiving got it right

First Thanksgiving got it right

This year Thanksgiving arrives at a propitious moment, delivering its message of gratitude at a time when many Americans would be wise to...

A papal surprise

A papal surprise

Opaque as it is, Pope Benedict XVI's statement that condom use might be justified to prevent the...

Battling over beach access

Battling over beach access

The California Coastal Act guaranteed public access to the coastline, ensuring that...

Out of wedlock, out of luck?

Out of wedlock, out of luck?

The Constitution makes clear that a child born in the United States is a citizen of the United States. But it is silent on the subject of...

Scared smokeless

Scared smokeless

It's easy to guess what would happen if a pharmaceutical company asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve a new product with the...

Break on through

Break on through

Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the iconic L.A. band The Doors, was guilty of a lot of things on the night of his most notorious...

To protect the children

To protect the children

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is easing out Trish Ploehn from her post as director of the Department of Children and Family...

Echoes of the Holocaust

Echoes of the Holocaust

The recent apology by SNCF, the French national railway, for transporting 76,000 Jews to Germany, where they were sent on to the Nazi...

Does the Constitution have a heart for boobies?

Does the Constitution have a heart for boobies?

The wisdom of the 1st Amendment has guided this nation through portentous and contentious debates. It has established judicial boundaries...