Blowback archive
Blowback is an online forum for full-length responses to our articles, editorials and Op-Eds. Learn more about Blowback and our submission policy here>>.
For Blowbacks published before 2009, .
- 1
In its April 23 editorial, “A college bargain for Californians,” The Times ponders what the state might do with “an extra billion dollars a year.”
- 2
In his April 8 Op-Ed article on the individual mandate, the aspect of the federal healthcare reform law that requires everyone to have coverage, William Voegeli advances a false dichotomy.
- 3
The Times’ April 3 article “Mayor Villaraigosa defends L.A. anti-gang program” mischaracterizes the findings of a study last year by the Urban Institute.
- 4
Art Kellermann, a doctor and a vice president at Rand Health, a division of the Rand Corp., responds to Christopher J.
- 5
A bill to tax plastic bags in California could end recycling programs that have seen great success lately.
- 6
Far more pressing to American servicemen and women are the rhetorical manipulations used by our leaders to justify going to war.
- 7
The Southern California congresswoman says a recent Times article mischaracterized her record.
- 8
The progressive radio station is committed to democracy and inclusiveness, both in its programming and management.
- 9
The Palestinian Authority canceled a ceremony for Dalal Mughrabi, yet in 2006, Israelis honored the terrorists who killed 92 people in the 1948 King David Hotel bombing.
- 10
The nontraditional public schools give poor families the educational choices once reserved to wealthier students.
- 11
Empowering parents, giving administrators more control over teacher assignments and other reform proposals sound good. But when teachers ask for details, they usually come away empty.
- 12
An electronics problem isn’t to blame for the sudden acceleration, say the carmaker’s engineers. That’s nearly impossible to conclusively determine through laboratory tests.
- 13
One in eight American children lives in California, where the budget crisis has already hit public schools hard and resulted in teacher layoffs.
- 14
The Brady Campaign is asking the chain to prioritize customer and employee safety, not take a position in America’s gun debate.
- 15
The focus should be on developing intra-urban rail networks, not connecting far-flung regions of the state.
- 16
Its recent editorial critical of increasing fines on cellphone scofflaw motorists ignores the gains in safety on California’s roads.
- 17
The disproportionate backlash against students who disrupted a speech by the Israeli ambassador could have a chilling effect on free expression at UC Irvine.
- 18
Columnist Tim Rutten implores L.A. firefighters -- and city residents, as a consequence -- to make sacrifices, as if they haven’t already accepted deep cuts.
- 19
Palestinians in Israel have protested the piecemeal destruction of Jerusalem’s Mamilla Cemetery over the decades. It’s just that their complaints have fallen upon deaf ears.
- 20
Failure to divert available funds to avoid layoffs and closures would have catastrophic effects on our economy.
- 21
A recent Times headline misleadingly said that county child welfare officials will abandon their focus on preserving families.
- 22
A former theater company director says the city did almost nothing to keep her group afloat before it shut down in 2003.
- 23
Handing over L.A. schools to outside operators will turn out to be yet another failed attempt at reform. Expanding vocational education holds more promise.
- 24
Taxing and regulating has worked with cigarettes and alcohol. Why not try it with marijuana?
- 25
Sorry, Los Angeles, but New York just isn’t that into you.
- 26
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s plan for managing the American mustang population repeats past failures.
- 27
Legalizing and taxing marijuana, as a state bill would do, is smart policy -- and there’s little Washington can do to stop us.
- 28
The Senate majority leader’s comments about Obama’s race reflect some truth about white Americans’ relationship with African Americans.
- 29
Only after multiple assaults was the motorist in the Mandeville Canyon incident finally punished. It should never have gone that far.
- 30
Capping executive pay is impractical. A new ‘excessive compensation’ tax bracket -- with the highest rate around 90% -- is the best solution.
- 31
In defense of religious and spiritual diversity in America.
- 32
The government’s limit on long taxi times and dismissal of industry concerns show how little it understands about the airline business.
- 33
A U.S. representative who accused Tehran of sponsoring terrorism has a track record of supporting terrorists herself.
- 34
A recent Times Op-Ed article got it wrong: The Fourth Geneva convention explicitly prohibits colonizing occupied territories.
- 35
They face multiple layers of accountability that put them on equal footing with normal school districts.
- 36
The South American nation should not be rewarded for demonstrating its hostility to U.S. interests and the rule of law, says a Chevron official.
- 37
Both sides of the debate stifle constructive action on safety by arguing only the extremes, writes a former gun lobbyist.
- 38
Comparing humans’ sexual behavior to that of animals ignores the fact that we are an extraordinary species.
- 39
A Times editorial perpetuates the myths that nuclear power plants are uniquely dangerous and too cost-prohibitive to build.
- 40
The Times and state regulators perpetuate the myth that fish populations off Southern California’s coast are dangerously low.
- 41
The important question is what community stakeholders will do for residents once they claim a neighborhood.
- 42
A recent Times Op-Ed article wrongly says violent extremism is rooted mostly in a ‘perverted political ideology.’
- 43
A Times Op-Ed article wrongly characterizes the mayor’s first term as merely upping the ante on his predecessor’s agenda.
- 44
California may well need one, but two voter initiatives proposed by Repair California raise several legal questions that must be considered.
- 45
A Times story on the victim’s testimony uses the kind of language that absolves the self-exiled film director of his real crime.
- 46
The Department of Public Health director defends the county’s H1N1 inoculation program, which The Times criticized for neglecting schools.
- 47
Allowing Turkey to continue its denial of the 1915-1918 genocide is too high a price for Armenia to pay for normalized relations.
- 48
The U.S. must put pressure on Beijing to end its brutal persecution of Falun Gong adherents.
- 49
Metrolink safety is a problem, but the deeper issue is Southern California’s hodgepodge of agencies that do not coordinate with each other.
- 50
Students and staff are asked to sacrifice more while the university system’s top earners continue to receive pay raises.
- 51
The county’s Department of Children and Family Services has plenty of problems, but removing too many kids from their homes isn’t one of them.
- 52
Southern California Edison’s CEO says the proposal has merit but would require a massive investment over too short a period of time.
- 53
Enforcement of marijuana laws disproportionately affects young African Americans -- even though their usage rates are lower than whites’.
- 54
Merging the state Senate and Assembly would make it easier for legislators to fly under the radar and pass bad bills.
- 55
The Supreme Court’s sweeping 1973 decision on abortion turned nonpolitical evangelicals into a powerful anti-government force that could kill healthcare reform.
- 56
Focusing on a few gun-toting protesters allows supporters of Obama’s plan to dodge real questions.
- 57
The former House speaker’s arguments against reform shouldn’t distract Americans from the basic truth that our healthcare system is sick.
- 58
All teachers are different, but we must still identify the link between what they do in the classroom and their students’ performance.
- 59
A massive education campaign for parents and children must be launched to fight inhalant abuse.
- 60
A Times editorial exaggerates an accreditor’s recommendations on program review.
- 61
The mismanagement at the state Board of Registered Nursing is a microcosm of a much broader issue.
- 62
The governor’s obsession with ‘waste’ in public services distracts lawmakers from dealing with the state’s crippling budget crisis.
- 63
Landlords who profited from the housing bubble should bear some responsibility for helping tenants who can no longer afford high rents.
- 64
Against the backdrop of a recession, the L.A. mayor’s approval ratings should be the envy of leaders across the nation.
