Los Angeles Times - Editorials

Wind power stalls

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A number of factors have combined to make wind farms less attractive.

Ayear ago the Oracle of Oil, T. Boone Pickens, reinvented himself as the Wizard of Wind, launching a $58-million ad campaign to boost alternative energy and vowing to spend $10 billion to build the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle. It was a startling move from a staunch conservative who had made a fortune in the Texas oil fields, raising hopes that both ends of the political spectrum were coming around to the same point of view about weaning the country from its reliance on oil.

Ambassadorships for sale

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Fifteen of Obama's 62 ambassador nominees were campaign money 'bundlers.' Appointments should be based on merit, not fundraising.

When candidate Barack Obama spoke of change, we thought he meant a new way of doing business, but apparently he also meant coinage. Because President Obama has kept the unsavory tradition of doling out some of the cushiest ambassadorial posts to fundraisers who brought in some of the biggest chunks of change to his campaign. Fifteen of the 62 ambassadors nominated so far were money "bundlers" for the campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, among them Pittsburgh Steelers owner Daniel M. Rooney, retired Chicago investment banker Louis B. Susman and Los Angeles entertainment executive Charles H. Rivkin.

Making gay couples count

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Obama administration believes the Defense of Marriage Act doesn't prevent their number from being reported in the census. That's fine, but Obama should push for the repeal of the law.

Counting married same-sex couples should be easy; there aren't that many of them. Instead, the federal Defense of Marriage Act :H.R.3396.ENR: has forced lawyers to jump through legal hoops so this country can obtain a more realistic picture of the diverse families within its borders. And even when the U.S. census count begins in 2010, it won't provide useful information about the marital status of gay and lesbian couples. Nor is it likely even to call them married.

L.A. Unified and the price of school money

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Before school district officials put a parcel tax on the ballot, they must show they'll change their ways.

Our sympathies are with the children. As schools bend to the task of cutting teachers and programs, we wince at the thought of students lost academically in a class of 35 to 40, or unable to sign up for a summer school course, or making do with a shabby, outdated textbook. At the same time, few of us are in the financial position these days to shell out extra cash, and if we do, we want assurances that we're getting value for our money.

Global warming: The heat is on the U.S.

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A climate-change bill in the Senate is a test of this country's commitment to deal with the problem.

This week's Group of 8 summit has pretty much lived down to the low expectations it generated from the outset, yet it did produce a long-overdue agreement to fight climate change.

Cortines lays down the law

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The LAUSD superintendent tells teachers that they will administer benchmark tests -- or else.

With the Los Angeles Unified School District in financial peril, schools need strong direction more than ever. Recent letters to the instructional staff from Supt. Ramon C. Cortines provide it, by making clear that the district will not tolerate teachers' failure to administer benchmark tests throughout the school year.

The Michael Jackson memorial: City Hall blew it

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

With the exception of the Police Department, the city's handling of the event was disorganized, cheap and pathetic.

Michael Jackson, we can hope, now rests in peace. Embarrassment over the way Los Angeles handled his memorial service may be with us for a while.

In the struggle against racism, we haven't overcome yet

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Some conservatives say the U.S. has won the fight against racism, but the battle still has many fronts.

If a visitor from the first half of the 20th century were plunked down in America today, he'd find, among other things, that drinking fountains in the South are no longer segregated, black women in the workforce are no longer overwhelmingly maids and baby-sitters, and interracial marriage is no longer against the law as it was in 30 states in 1950. When he figured out how to use a remote control and managed to get his TV tuned to CNN and saw the ubiquitous image of the country's new president, he'd no doubt collapse in shock.

Orange County Museum of Art deal is too sketchy

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

OCMA officials may have had good motives, but the sale price and the secretiveness raise questions.

Aquestionable deal is a lot like art. No one can define it, but people know it when they see it. What everybody knows is that at least a couple of the paintings recently sold by the Orange County Museum of Art were stellar examples of California Impressionism. Yet no one except the museum's director and a few others know why they were sold so secretly, for such an apparently low price, or to whom.

Here comes the new GM

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The struggling automaker will likely emerge from bankruptcy this week. Can it return to profitability?

Having won the blessing of a federal judge , a new version of General Motors is expected to emerge from bankruptcy this week with fewer brands, dealerships and debts. Those cost-cutting measures will certainly help the reorganized company; in fact, without them, GM may have been unsalvageable. But they don't guarantee success either. And unless the company makes even more fundamental changes in the way it does business than it has already, it may not be able to halt its debilitating slide in sales.