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To change the L.A. City Council

To change the L.A. City Council

In approaching next month's city elections, we have considered our endorsements with certain concerns in mind: Los Angeles is in bad shape,...

 

Day of reckoning on pensions

The housing bubble and subsequent Wall Street collapse wreaked havoc on the nation's retirement savings, as many pension funds and 401(k)...

 

Some backbone at the U.N.

Something odd happened Friday in Geneva: The United Nations Human Rights Council, derided by conservatives and liberal human rights...

Out front on gay rights

The Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage, deserves to sink into oblivion. That...

 

Apple's Jobs question

The Central Laborers' Pension Fund, a retirement fund for about 6,500 union members in Illinois, has invested a small but non-trivial...

 

Banksy was here -- we think

Banksy! Come out, come out, wherever you are!

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Wrong in Wisconsin

Wrong in Wisconsin

The state's attack on unions is misguided, but that doesn't mean the status quo is sustainable.

No Fannie, no Freddie

No Fannie, no Freddie

The Obama administration took its first, tentative step this month toward a future without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage...

Renewable energy 'on' switch

Renewable energy 'on' switch

California is blessed with renewable energy resources that it has barely begun to harvest, an enlightened electorate that understands the...

The scourge of Somalia

The scourge of Somalia

Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey lived a life many would envy, until it was cut short Tuesday by a band of Somali pirates. On their...

Thomas the silent

Thomas the silent

Justice, they say, is blind, but may it also be dumb? Critics of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas don't think so. They fault the court'...

Gun safety, Texas-style

Gun safety, Texas-style

When a 19-year-old sophomore named Colton Tooley opened fire with an assault rifle last fall near the UT Tower at the University of Texas,...

Digging up couch potatoes

Digging up couch potatoes

We now know where the couch potatoes lurk in this country, thanks to a new report from the U.S. Centers...

Target's turnaround

Target's turnaround

Target has adopted new guidelines for donations to trade associations that prohibit the use of the company's contributions in political...

Yes on Measure Q

Yes on Measure Q

There's something honorable, even patriotic, about entry-level jobs in city government being open to all comers and filled fairly on the...

Resettling the Uighurs

Resettling the Uighurs

It's a high compliment when someone seeks to live in a country that imprisoned and abused him. That's what five Chinese Muslims held at...

Yes on Measure N

Yes on Measure N

What if Los Angeles put something in the City Charter and then discovered that it was unconstitutional? It would probably remove it from the...

There go the Lakers

There go the Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are saying goodbye to broadcast TV, thanks to a lucrative new deal...

Saving sharks from the soup

Saving sharks from the soup

Sharks star in more than scary movies. Their predatory existence is vital to keeping the oceans' ecosystem and fisheries in balance; their...

Another bite by Apple

Another bite by Apple

As CD sales plummeted, music executives looked in hope toward a new business model: Instead of trying to sell albums for $15 to $20 apiece,...

Yes on Measures I and J

Yes on Measures I and J

Last spring, leaders of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power used a tactic that looked an awful lot like extortion, telling the...

Yes on Measure H

Yes on Measure H

Campaign reform is like a game of whack-a-mole: Knock down a special interest's ability to influence an election and it pops up somewhere...

The party of no-governing

The party of no-governing

If you're the leader of the minority party, the last thing you want to do is declare yourself irrelevant. Yet that's what the top Republican...

No on Measure O

No on Measure O

The "O" in Measure O stands for "oil," whose seekers would have to pay a premium for drilling in the city of Los Angeles if this measure...

Too deferential to Defense

Too deferential to Defense

House Republicans are using a bill to fund the government through Sept. 30 as a vehicle to roll back spending on many programs favored by...

Democracy by Internet

Democracy by Internet

After the revolution in Egypt, it has become a truism that the Internet can foster dissent and political freedom. But in a thoughtful speech...

Down on Rizzo's farm

Down on Rizzo's farm

What do the former city officials of Bell consider themselves today? Pigs or hogs?

A true terrorism list

A true terrorism list

Last fall, President Obama offered a sweet deal to one of the most reviled regimes on Earth: If the government of Sudan would allow a...

Misstating Measure H

Misstating Measure H

Being a responsible voter is a difficult job, especially when one is confronted with a big batch of confusing ballot measures. Conscientious...

Taking aim at pensions

Taking aim at pensions

Eager to expand the police force, then-Mayor Richard Riordan helped persuade voters a decade ago to sweeten the pensions for public safety...

The tongue-tied speaker

The tongue-tied speaker

When it comes to President Obama's policies, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is happy to tell the American people what to think....

A daring bet at Belmont

A daring bet at Belmont

If this were a standardized test about standardized testing, it would follow a format like this:

Vote no on Measure L

Vote no on Measure L

The Los Angeles Public Library system is one of the city's most valuable assets, but its budget is being stretched increasingly thin....

Foreign entanglements

Foreign entanglements

For 18 days, Egyptians sent a single, clear, powerful message from Tahrir Square to the world: that even the most brutal regimes...

A dependency court cure

A dependency court cure

Secrecy in California's dependency courts, where cases of child abuse and neglect are heard, has protected negligent parents, foster parents...