Hurtling toward economic chaos

The politics of earthquakes

Seismic risk mitigation is the greatest urban policy challenge the world confronts today. If you consider that too strong a claim, try to...

McManus: A boomlet of Perrymania

For a man who hasn't formally decided whether to run for president, Texas Gov. Rick Perry sure sounds a lot like a candidate.

No refuge from the mortgage crisis

From the front door of the house to the back is a straight shot unbroken by walls, handy for pacing, 24 steps each way.

A request, but no more, for summer dress modesty

Every summer when the temperature goes up, people start stripping down. At the risk of sounding like a prude, I find it unseemly. Toddlers...

Rutten: The threat of Nancy Grace

The sensational result in the O.J. Simpson murder case notwithstanding, it's an article of faith among criminal defense attorneys that...

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's plea: We can't allow Somalia to starve

Across the Horn of Africa, people are starving. A catastrophic combination of conflict, high food prices and drought has left more than 11...

Same-sex marriage: Married but unequal

On Sunday, New York will begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, further complicating the tangled legal mess of same-sex...

McManus: Doomsday doubters and the debt ceiling

President Obama says that if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2, the consequences will be dire. A long list of economists and...

The world's biggest problem? Too many people

Think back on what you talked about with friends and family at your last gathering. The latest game of your favorite team? "American Idol"?...

Daum: The Marcus Bachmann hypocrisy

Marcus Bachmann, the husband of GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, is having a bad month. Not only is his counseling clinic...

Baseball's error: No Marvin Miller in the Hall of Fame

Forget steroids. Forget Frank McCourt's mismanagement of the Dodgers. The biggest scandal in baseball at the moment is the Baseball Hall...

Rutten: Amazon's shameful California tax dodge

At the turn of the last century, as the robber barons' first gilded age lingered on, many Californians came to regard one powerful...

The Alameda incident: 'First responders' who don't

On Memorial Day, a suicidal man waded into San Francisco Bay outside the city of Alameda and stood there for about an hour, neck deep in...

Proposed NLRB rules are sensible and should be adopted

The embattled National Labor Relations Board has proposed rules to streamline union representation elections and give unions greater...

Tabloids don't deserve the 1st Amendment

The FBI opened an inquiry late last week into Rupert Murdoch's media empire amid allegations that British reporters tried to access...

Goldberg: The ideologue in the Oval Office

"I think increasingly the American people are going to say to themselves, 'You know what? If a party or a politician is constantly taking...

Public health: Not vaccinated? Not acceptable

What does society do when one person's behavior puts the greater community at risk? We make them stop. We pass laws, or impose economic...

Science and religion: God didn't make man; man made gods

Before John Lennon imagined "living life in peace," he conjured "no heaven … / no hell below us …/ and no religion too."

Newton: A new voice atop L.A.'s teachers union

Warren Fletcher wrapped up his work three weeks ago as an English teacher at City of Angels and moved over to the headquarters of United...

Israel: 'Delegitimization' is just a distraction

Suddenly, all the major pro-Israel organizations are anguishing about "delegitimization." Those who criticize Israeli policies are accused...

McManus: A deal with the Khartoum devil?

How do you deal with a genocidal dictator who says he wants to reform?

Britain's phone-hacking scandal and the power of newspapers

A few years ago my old boss, David Laventhol, had an extended conversation with Rupert Murdoch about newspapers. It was after some sort of...

Downtown L.A.: A nightmare on Every Street

"Look, Daddy, that man's going to the bathroom!"

The upside of living downtown

Eight years ago, as I watched a building near my work be converted from vacant offices into lofts, I couldn't stop thinking about it. If I...

Rutten: America's Murdoch problem

The Anglo-American democracies owe their durability to many attributes, but two of the most crucial involve restraint: No exercise of...

Grandparents can be a lifeline for kids caught in upheaval

My mother married my father, a violent and abusive man, when she was 17 — a week after she graduated from high school. We fled from...

Keeping L.A.'s taps flowing

What's the most reliable source of water in Los Angeles? Your kitchen tap, your bathroom shower, even your toilet.

Can Britain survive tabloid fever?

Britain's drama has penetrated even the carapace of American self-preoccupation.

McManus: One good debt debate deserves another

Republican leaders blinked this week in their standoff with President Obama over raising the nation's debt ceiling. That means we're...

Daum: Jaycee Dugard and the feel-good imperative

To watch Diane Sawyer's interview Sunday night with Jaycee Dugard was to wonder at times if that was Dugard herself on screen or an...