Counting the cost in Iraq and Afghanistan
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that 2007 has been the deadliest year for American troops in Iraq. Today, the Associated Press reports that 2007 has also become the deadliest year for American troops in Afghanistan.
Of course, it’s not just Americans who are dying in Afghanistan. As the [...]

A toast to the late Jerry Thomas
People seem so much more interesting when you drink; and if you’re smart, you know it’s partly because you’re drinking–and partly because they’re just more interesting.
When you drink, everyone is someone like Jerry Thomas,

A new economy blooms in Afghanistan
If you remember when we first invaded Afghanistan, there was a lot talk from the Bush administration about how this was going to be an invasion done right. There would be security, freedom, new infrastructure, and the economy would blossom. Then, after we invaded Iraq, Afghanistan ended up with little [...]

Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. delivered the first atomic bomb
Let’s be honest: you probably didn’t know his name, or if you ever heard it, you probably forgot it–and maybe that’s the way he would have wanted it.

The Press-Telegram yesterday and the New York Times today report on the federal indictment of Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona. We tell you this not to indulge in a vestigial passion for our old beat, but to congratulate our former colleagues at OC Weekly, where investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley broke the story of sheriffial [...]

Helping the free market poison consumers
While California tightens consumer safety laws, banning testes-shriveling chemicals in children’s product, insuring that “California’s kids” will, in the delicate formulation of Will Swaim, “get bigger junk”, the head of the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission is fighting to shrink its proposed budget, so that the agency will remain as [...]

Who will speak for the landlocked ski boats and dry docks?
It’s been the better part of a week, but the cover story on the drought in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine is still one of our favorite pieces.
Why?

Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before
It’s interesting how the news sometimes gets out–and out and out and out.
On Sunday, the New York Times published a story on Long Beach’s vintage furnishings district on Fourth Street, otherwise known as Retro Row. Our comrades at Portfolio informed us on Monday–and we informed [...]

New York Times says LB’s Retro Row a tourist destination
Thanks to our friends at Portfolio for this story . . .