Articles by Doug Lasken

  • We need a good story - May 13th, 2011

    What do we demand from government? Jobs? Prosperity? These days those come to mind first, but during the post World War II years we had prosperity and jobs and discontent was rampant. Did we want something else then? I came of age with the first Boomers in the 50’s and 60’s and the country’s prosperity [...]

  • Notes on the upcoming political season - April 28th, 2011

    The season approaches when our national discussion will once again turn to the relative sainthood of our would-be federal leaders. And shadowed close by, in my own community in the fair city of Los Angeles, we will be able to choose a new mayor. This political season appears at both levels with time-honored tradition, festivities [...]

  • What does it mean to be partisan? - February 28th, 2011

    As a retired public school teacher, I find it useful to define terms by imagining how I would define them to children. The trick is to present a term with its most basic meanings. This works particularly well with political terms, since the media already defines them in childlike ways. Thus, if children ask me [...]

  • Response to Governor Brown’s State of the State address: Drop Race to the Top - February 17th, 2011

    Governor Jerry Brown is known for short speeches, and most people who watched Monday evening’s State of the State address were no doubt appreciative of that. I know I was, but I would have liked an additional few moments for consideration of a state budget problem that is currently beneath the public radar: In spite [...]

  • Beware: English Teacher! - May 18th, 2010

    Why is it, I’ve often wondered, that when I tell people at parties that I’m a high school English teacher, even adding, since June, that I’m retired, I note a brief wave of anxiety cross their faces? You’d think people would be delighted to have the opportunity to talk to someone who really knows which [...]

  • Personal Inflation (X-rated) - May 15th, 2010

    One of the most convenient targets of moral outrage these days is the “obscene” remuneration for corporate CEO’s. “Obscene” is in quotes, not because I disagree with the usage, but because it’s worthwhile to take a look at the word. It’s from the Greek “obscaenus,” meaning the familiar “abominable, repulsive,” but also, surprisingly, “ill-omened.” I [...]

  • Year of the Tiger New Year’s Resolutions - February 16th, 2010

    What is an American supposed to make of this almost offhand statement by Graeme Rowley, outgoing CEO of Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group: “The world hasn’t woken up to the fact that they (the Chinese) are going to replace America” (“Australia welcomes China’s investment, if not its influence,” Washington Post, 2/14)? The imminent danger might only [...]

  • L.A. Times minimalist account of Ron Paul - January 3rd, 2010

    Remarkable that in the 1160 words of this L.A. Times article there are only 28 words of direct, complete quotation from Paul. D.L. Ron Paul’s ideas no longer fringe Los Angeles Times, 1/02/10 http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ron-paul2-2010jan02,0,6923745.story With the economy still struggling, the lawmaker’s libertarian views are getting serious attention. By Don Lee January 2, 2010 Reporting from [...]

  • Duly elected gods - December 26th, 2009

    My consulting work at the Westin Grand in Georgetown absorbed each of five December days until early evening, so I thought I wouldn’t get to see much of D.C. on this trip. The first three nights I took long walks down M Street, enjoying the 40 degree air, such a contrast with L.A. (in the [...]

  • I read Obama’s mind - December 6th, 2009

    Is it really possible to read a president’s mind from afar? Without sophisticated CIA equipment? Robert Silverberg wrote a story about a telepath who stands along a parade route so he can be close enough to read Richard Nixon’s mind. As the president rides by, the man is struck with highly disturbing visions (left unspecified [...]

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