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Newton: Today's politicians could learn from Eisenhower

Newton: Today's politicians could learn from Eisenhower

When Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president in 1952, he came to office convinced that among the obligations he assumed was that of...

 

North Korea's carrot-and-stick strategy

July is typically the time of year when North Korea makes peace overtures toward the United States. This is when it tries to rekindle...

 

McManus: Obama's clarity gap

We all know by now that the eleventh-hour deal to raise the federal debt ceiling didn't solve much. Federal debt is still ballooning,...

  • Daum: Norway's paradise lost

    Anyone who's hung around in liberal circles and found himself in those perfunctory What's Wrong With America conversations has heard the...

     
  • The hidden costs of credit cards

    It seems like a no-brainer. Your credit card offers you a $1 reward for every $100 you spend. It's not a huge payback, but it's something: a...

     
  • How the GOP lost on the debt deal

    The chorus of liberal lament began even before the details of the deal to raise the debt ceiling were known. Rep. Raul Grijalva, co-chair of...

New voting districts give the GOP that boxed-in feeling

New voting districts give the GOP that boxed-in feeling

The Citizens Redistricting Commission has drawn its lines, and the latest redistricting, like all redistrictings, has lessons to teach us...

AIDS divides the globe

AIDS divides the globe

At the International AIDS Society's annual meeting in Rome last month, there was a lot of good news. Chief among it was the presentation...

Cutting back on housekeepers' heavy lifting

Cutting back on housekeepers' heavy lifting

Some hotel guests may be getting a better night's sleep these days, but at the expense of the housekeepers who clean their rooms. In what...

What about a war ceiling?

What about a war ceiling?

On July 25, while John A. Boehner raced around the Capitol desperately pressing Republican House members for votes on a debt ceiling bill...

Health officials, speak up

Health officials, speak up

An outbreak of food-borne E. coli infections have killed at least 50 people in Europe this year and sickened thousands of others....

Rodriguez: Zero-sum games in an interconnected world

Rodriguez: Zero-sum games in an interconnected world

What's wrong with this picture: Even as the world is becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent, we seem to be approaching...

Newton: The tangled web of DWP rate increases

Newton: The tangled web of DWP rate increases

Once the Los Angeles City Council quits its faux hand-wringing and approves AEG's proposal to build a football stadium downtown, it will...

McManus: The write stuff

McManus: The write stuff

The news from Washington — bickering over the debt ceiling, poor prospects for the economy — hasn't been uplifting lately. It'...

The myth of the extraordinary teacher

The myth of the extraordinary teacher

The kid in the back wants me to define "logic." The girl next to him looks bewildered. The boy in front of me dutifully takes notes even...

A free-market fix to the nation's housing hangover

A free-market fix to the nation's housing hangover

There's a reason California hasn't seen as much of an economic recovery as some states: It has a serious debt problem.

The contract L.A. Unified needs

The contract L.A. Unified needs

We are currently negotiating the most important labor contract in the history of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Teacher turnover and the stress of reform

Teacher turnover and the stress of reform

When UC Berkeley released a study this month showing alarmingly high teacher turnover rates at Los Angeles charter schools, I wasn't...

LAPD's Beck on Giovanni Ramirez arrest, clearance in Stow case

LAPD's Beck on Giovanni Ramirez arrest, clearance in Stow case

The March 31 beating of Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium was a horrific crime. On May 22, the Los Angeles Police Department's original suspect,...

Finish the 710 Freeway

Finish the 710 Freeway

In the best case, the political impasse over raising the nation's debt ceiling would lead to a new political reality for evaluating...

Hikers' families await justice from Iran

Hikers' families await justice from Iran

Two years ago, our families received an unexpected telephone call from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. We were told that our sons, Josh...

When the speaker wouldn't speak

When the speaker wouldn't speak

On July 22, a Washington Post story about how talks broke down on the debt ceiling contained a disturbing sentence: "Then Obama called...

Seeds of terror in Norway

Seeds of terror in Norway

America's violent far right would have no difficulty recognizing the tell-tale signatures of Friday's killing spree in Norway — and...

McManus: The political angle of the debt-ceiling debate

McManus: The political angle of the debt-ceiling debate

It's not hard to see what a compromise solution on the debt ceiling would look like. It's just hard to see how we get there from here before...

Daum: The siren song of Google+

Daum: The siren song of Google+

Google+, which launched a month ago to great fanfare, is so far feeling more like Google nonplussed. Reported to have crossed the 20-...

California's future homeowners

California's future homeowners

Four years ago, USC demographer Dowell Myers predicted, in effect, that in the not-too-distant future Americans might be worrying less about...

Rutten: The maniac challenge

Rutten: The maniac challenge

Sixteen years ago, I was one of The Times writers assigned to cover the Oklahoma City bombing. It was one of those wrenching stories that...

'Disincorporate' Vernon: It's the right thing to do

'Disincorporate' Vernon: It's the right thing to do

In announcing the guilty plea of yet another disgraced Vernon official this month, L.A. Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman put the issue...

Hurtling toward economic chaos

Hurtling toward economic chaos

When my old gang and I were 14 or 15 years old, many centuries ago, we yearned for immortality in the fiery wreck of a '40 Ford or '57...

In U.S. politics, the independents have it

In U.S. politics, the independents have it

Forget President Obama, House Speaker John A. Boehner and the less-interesting-than-their-name-suggests "Gang of Six." When the history of...

Tim DeChristopher's courageous bid to save our world

Tim DeChristopher's courageous bid to save our world

In March, Tim DeChristopher was convicted of two felony counts for a nonviolent act of civil disobedience. Acting out of his deepest...

Newton: Villaraigosa in his element as 'the nation's mayor'

Newton: Villaraigosa in his element as 'the nation's mayor'

The mayor of Columbus, Ohio, described his "utter disbelief" at the destructive "gamesmanship" as Congress debates the debt ceiling. The...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's misguided day of prayer

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's misguided day of prayer

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is dancing closer and closer to a bid for the U.S. presidency. He's talking to his wife (she's counseling him, he...

Rodriguez: White flight — to the city

Rodriguez: White flight — to the city

For nearly half a century, the term "inner city" has been code for poor and minority. But now white flight — the decades-long trend of...

The politics of earthquakes

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

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.