Once again we the people of California find ourselves at the mercy of stupid politicians who don’t understand the laws of economics. In an attempt to escape the financial rut they have created for themselves, Democrats in the State Assembly have proposed a cigarette tax of $2.13 per pack. Read more...

Liu’s cartoon shows misunderstanding It was with great disappointment to see Jason Liu’s political cartoon (“Revenge”, August 19, 2002). Clearly he doesn’t know much about the history of the conflict, and his opinion is based only on what he’s seen and read in the US media. How else can one explain his failure to distinguish between terrorists bombing a university cafeteria and Israeli soldiers undertaking preventive measures to protect their citizens? Read more...

By Robert Walsh The Westwood Village Business Improvement District was created seven years ago, encompassing the area from Wilshire Boulevard to Le Conte, and from Gayley to Glendon. Its mission has been “to help create an environment in which the BID’s constituents may prosper.” When it was founded, retail storefronts were almost 25 percent vacant, and there were virtually no major real estate investments on the horizon. Read more...

In the past few weeks, the sport of baseball has been climbing higher and higher in the headlines as a potential strike nears because the millionaire players and owners can’t agree on how to divvy up their billions of dollars. Read more...

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It just wouldn’t be summer without a huge wave of media-driven hysteria. Last year’s “summer of the shark” sent Americans scurrying from the beaches. This summer, round-the-clock kidnapping coverage has filled the fear-gap, leaving parents and children in a frenetic state of alert. Read more...

By Ali Moossavi University Wire George W. Bush is trying to wage war against Iraq in order to topple a dictator who poses a threat to his neighbors and the world, despite his diminished political and military importance. Read more...