The first in a series of submissions on the crisis in Liberia. I would not say that Charles MacArthur Taylor, president of Liberia, is a political creation of the United States even though in 1985 he mysteriously escaped from a high security prison in Massachusetts, where he had been incarcerated for 15 months pending extradition to Liberia for having stolen a considerable sum of money from an agency in the Liberian government. Read more...

History is being made in California ““ soon the people will face their first recall election. A special election is taking place in October to allow the people to decide whether or not to keep Gray Davis as governor. Read more...

Regarding your editorial on the recall effort (“Recall effort only distracts state leaders,” July 28), though you are correct in your characterization of Darrell Issa as engaging in political opportunism, there are many leaps of logic in your condemnation of the Davis recall that must be brought into question. Read more...

Kobe Bryant’s Aug. 6 trial hearing will draw more media attention than did this year’s NBA Finals. Even now, weeks before the prosecution or defense has had a chance to lay down their case, millions have already passed judgment on the young Laker, fueling online polls about Kobe’s guilt or innocence. Read more...

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I am writing in response to the column regarding the recent raise of student fees by the UC Regents (“Fee increase rational budgetary remedy,” July 7). Read more...

We all know this. It’s not news to us. Aside from sun and the beaches, California is known for its smog, its ridiculously obscene amounts of air pollution. Read more...