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Smaller paper tears into bullet train; LAT maintains editorial silence
The Riverside Press-Enterprise last week published a crisp, definitive take on the bullet-train project's recent legal setbacks. Which indirectly raises the question: When will California's largest and most influential paper weigh in on this big issue? Here's part of the
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Obamacare: Your insurance plan is cancelled
If you have a job and are a member of the middle class, that pain you are feeling is the burden of carrying the entire Obamacare system on your back. Obamacare has been live since only Oct. 1, and already
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U.S. ranks third-last in 'numeracy'
America's low-scoring public schools are making it difficult for us to compete in future decades. The latest: “The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on Friday released the initial results of an international survey of adult
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State media, Jerry Brown ignore CA’s worst-in-nation poverty rate
If you were a resident in the state with the nation’s highest poverty rate, wouldn’t you think you’d be aware of that fact? That a higher percentage of your family, friends, neighbors and others in your community struggled to make
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China surging
China's growth dropped from 12 percent in 2010 to “only” 7.5 percent during the second quarter of 2012. Now China is surging again, with growth of 7.8 percent in the quarter — and rising. The Wall Street Journal reported, “On a
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President Arnold?
Three years ago I reviewed Ian Halpern's biography of then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, “The Governator: From Muscle Beach to His Quest for the White House, the Improbable Rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger.” Back than it was by far the best biography of
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Oreo cookies and sustainability: the new drugs of choice
America’s favorite cookie is as addictive as cocaine or heroin. According to a new Connecticut College student-faculty study, Oreos are just as addictive as drugs in lab rats. Apparently the lab rats in the study devoured the cookie sandwiches. But is there
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High state income taxes once again haunt a California NBA team
In July, fans of the Los Angeles Lakers took a kick to stomach when free agent Dwight Howard, arguably the league's best center, signed a four-year, $88 million contract with the Houston Rockets for $30 million less guaranteed money than
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L.A. Times bans letters doubting climate change
Back when I was starting out in the editorial writing business in 1986 with the Washington Times, I also helped out on the letters page. I learned proper newspaper policy from William P. Cheshire, the editorial page editor. The policy
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