You wouldn’t think that it would be that hard to kill someone. History indicates that we’ve always been good at it. It took only one generation before Cain killed Abel in a fit of jealousy over divine approbation. Murder had been invented and we’ve never looked back. In fact, we’ve only gotten better at killing. Cain must have used a club or rock on Abel, but in modern times our killing capacity has gone ballistic -- literally. We’ve invented powerful and efficient

ViewpointsSept. 28, 2023

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pressed rewind and expressed his desire for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The overture last week was the same as last year. In between, Kishida has suggested high-level talks to set up a summit and North Korea has responded promptly and positively. But it also attached a caveat. “There is no reason for the DPRK and Japan not to meet, if Tokyo is not being shackled by the past,” said the North&r

ViewpointsSept. 28, 2023

When I first watched William Wyler’s 1958 movie, “The Big Country” as a little boy, I was mesmerized by the charming personality of the protagonist James McKay, played by major star Gregory Peck. McKay is a man from the American East who has just arrived in the West to marry his fiancee, Patricia Terrill, a daughter of Henry Terrill, a man who owns the biggest ranch in the region. In the eyes of tough Westerners, McKay is nothing but a weak Easterner who does not fit in with t

ViewpointsSept. 27, 2023

The United Auto Workers’ first-ever strike against the so-called “Big Three” (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler-owner Stellantis) underscores the need to bring climate action, economic growth, and workers’ rights into alignment. Public policies aimed at increasing the production and sales of electric vehicles have the power to catalyze innovation and private-sector investment in ways that benefit workers. But realizing that potential requires a new understanding of the r

ViewpointsSept. 27, 2023

Bank capital is back in the financial headlines. In late July, US banking regulators, led by the Federal Reserve, announced plans to finalize the so-called Basel 3 reforms (which banks like to call Basel 4, owing to their significant impact). The aim, according to a joint agency proposal, is “to improve the strength and resilience of the banking system” by modifying large capital requirements to better reflect underlying risks, and by applying more transparent and consistent requirem

ViewpointsSept. 25, 2023

First-generation college students are less alone than they were a decade ago. Today, more than half of America's undergraduate students have parents who never got bachelor's degrees. Many campuses have programs to empower them, such as by connecting them with mentors, academic support and financial aid. But there's a lot more that can be done. Now that the Supreme Court has struck down race-conscious college admissions, first-generation students are a logical group for universitie

ViewpointsSept. 22, 2023

There are more discussions that a so-called new Cold War is on the way. Similar to the Soviet-led communist bloc during the Cold War era, which confronted the US-led capitalist bloc, North Korea, China and Russia could form an international bloc against the US-led one. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recent visit to Russia drew attention because it was an opportunity to promote discussions of the new Cold War further. North Korea and Russia have mocked the UN Security Council's res

ViewpointsSept. 21, 2023

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dramatic statement in parliament that there were “credible allegations” Indian intelligence was behind the murder of a radical Sikh activist in British Columbia came as a shock to many in India for a couple of reasons. For one thing, most of us still believe that we’re the good guys and our government doesn’t do this kind of thing. More importantly, if India actually did conduct an assassination on Western soil -- which its

ViewpointsSept. 21, 2023

Since 1965, when a large number of Koreans began immigrating to the US, Los Angeles has been the undisputed center for the Korean diaspora community in America. Los Angeles means “city of angels” in Spanish and Korean immigrants have often looked to the city as a place of settling down in America. Koreans who went there overcame hardships and ordeals on foreign soil to pursue their dreams, just like pioneers in the Wild West. Given their motivation and drive, it is small wonder that

ViewpointsSept. 20, 2023

If anyone had lingering doubts about the fractured state of global rule-making, they should now be dispelled. The just-concluded G-20 summit in New Delhi attracted as much attention for who was not there -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping -- as for the discussions among those who showed up. But the real takeaway from the summit, as well as the gathering of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) that preceded it, is that global rule-making is

ViewpointsSept. 20, 2023

Ronald Reagan famously used the phrase, “There you go again,” to imply that his Democratic opponents were full of bull and hyperbole. I can't think of a more appropriate response to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's decision to pursue an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden, in a desperate attempt to throw MAGA House members a bone so they won't try to shut down government funding in September . Without a shred of credible evidence, the GOP will be fishing f

ViewpointsSept. 19, 2023