L.A. Times - Commentary

Winner take all on healthcare

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Trying to come up with bipartisan compromise is a a losing game. Let both sides place their bets -- and one will pay the price.

Ihereby forfeit my claim to a vast right-wing conspiracy decoder ring by offering two cheers for the Democrats. I congratulate them on their victory Saturday night in the Senate, and while I can't quite wish them continued success on the course they are following, I'm beginning to make peace with the possibility that they'll win.

Screaming kids and airplanes: Mayday! Mayday!

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Parents don't have a right to get on a jet with unruly children. In fact, they're stealing from the rest of us.

Alittle late in making those Thanksgiving flight plans? Wondering how you could possibly afford your ticket -- that is, without putting a kidney up for sale on Craigslist? Good news! You can get a free flight home on Southwest plus a $300 travel voucher. Just do what I plan to -- get on a Southwest flight in the next few days, and when it's taking off, shout over and over, "Go, plane, go!" and "I want Daddy! I want Daddy!"

What do scientists think about religion?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Members of the scientific community are often seen as doubting Thomases, but the reality is more complex. Even Charles Darwin may have made room for God.

Today, a century and a half after Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection," the overwhelming majority of scientists in the United States accept Darwinian evolution as the basis for understanding how life on Earth developed. But although evolutionary theory is often portrayed as antithetical to religion, it has not destroyed the religious faith of the scientific community.

Weighing the benefits of a mammography

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Public anger at new recommendations is understandable but misdirected. While the latest data should be evaluated, regular screenings ought to be an individual decision.

Although we all would like to think that public health pronouncements are the unmitigated truth about any issue, rarely is that the case. We can only give our best guess, based on the current available data and our current understanding of the disease. Luckily, research continues, hypotheses are reformulated and new recommendations are made.

Immigration reform, again

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Obama and the Democrats want another crack at it, but nothing is certain.

If any one person embodies the complex politics of immigration reform, it is Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. As governor of Arizona in 2007, she signed one of the nation's toughest state immigration laws, the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which imposed harsh penalties on businesses that knowingly employed undocumented workers. Now, as the nation's top immigration official, she will be asked to weigh in on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of that law. The case comes before the U.S. Supreme Court as Washington once again revives efforts to overhaul the nation's immigration laws.

Ft. Hood and the bugaboo of 'political correctness'

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Look deeper at a killer and what do you usually find? An angry, crazy person.

The Ft. Hood massacre was not the first violent tragedy that conservatives have blamed on political correctness. But it might be the first one in which they actually have a point.

A Luddite in the library

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Search engines are all well and good, but sometimes the best place to find something is a library.

Iam a Luddite. I refuse to use an electric toothbrush or can opener. I threw away our plug-in teakettle. I only read actual books; I don't listen to them on CD while I drive, and I can't imagine scrolling through "The Portrait of a Lady." But I am a lazy Luddite. I don't wash my clothes on a rock; I love my TiVo; and when it comes to research, I think nothing beats the Internet.

Permanent water wisdom

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Southern California has embraced water conservation, but it must be more than a temporary response to drought.

California did it. This month, the Legislature passed a package of bills that includes a statewide urban water conservation goal of 20% by 2020. We have confronted the kind of conservation that will be needed to secure the water supply of Los Angeles, and the state, in the face of population growth and climate change.

Understanding China

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The West has gotten it wrong on China for decades -- even as it embraces a market economy, it has shunned Western-style freedoms. And its power is only growing.

The dynamics of President Obama's trip to China were markedly different from those evident on visits made by President Clinton and President George W. Bush. This time the Chinese made clear that they were unwilling even to discuss issues such as human rights or free speech. Why? The relationship between the countries has changed: America feels weak and China strong in their bilateral ties. This is not a temporary shift that will reverse itself once the U.S. has escaped from its mountain of debt. Rather, it is the expression of a deep and progressive shift in the balance of power between the two nations, one that is giving the Chinese -- though studiously cautious in their approach -- a rising sense of self-confidence.

Monogamy isn't easy, naturally

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Swapping partners in the animal world is more common than once thought. Even birds do it. But while polygamy may be in our genes, fidelity has its benefits.

Right-wing pro-marriage advocates are correct: Monogamy is definitely under siege. But not from uncloseted polyamorists, adolescent "hook-up" advocates, radical feminists, Godless communists or some vast homosexual conspiracy. The culprit is our own biology.