The murder of 17 students and teachers in Parkland, Florida, should cause all of us to ask, how many people must die before this country finally adopts meaningful gun control laws.　This, of course, is just the latest of so many instances of gun violence. They all share one feature in common: a disturbed man with a military-style semiautomatic weapon killing a large number of people in minutes.　Action to decrease gun violence is long overdue. Each year, more than 30,000 people in the United State

Feb. 26, 2018

Amazon recently received patents for an “ultrasonic bracelet” that tracks workers’ movements. Pitched as a labor-saving device, they monitor how efficiently workers fill orders as well as giving them positive “haptic feedback” -- a little vibration -- as they reach for the correct bins, reducing unnecessary motion.　If this sounds a bit like planning to turn humans into robots, you are not alone; the news prompted a minor hysteria. However frightening, though, it’s hardly new. In fact, several lo

Feb. 26, 2018

Faced with an unholy tonnage of chip bags, soda bottles, takeout containers and other disposable plastic items flowing into our landfills and our waters, winding up in wildlife, drinking water and food, policymakers in California have tried reining in plastic waste bit by bit. For example, more than 100 cities have adopted restrictions on polystyrene takeout containers, and the state has banned single-use plastic grocery bags.　Considering the magnitude of the problem, however, this item-by-item,

Feb. 26, 2018

The Russian presidential election is such a formality that President Vladimir Putin won’t even be filmed for his own TV spots. One thing, though, Putin is keen to ensure before the election: that Russians’ real disposable incomes as measured by official statistics don’t decline. So the State Statistical Service has made sure of it.On Monday, the government agency reported that in January, the disposable income measure was unchanged from January 2017. To produce that result, it had to disregard a

Feb. 25, 2018

Moviegoers have been going crazy over “Black Panther,” the new Marvel comic book superhero film. In addition to being a fun romp, the movie holds special emotional significance for many -- not just because of its mostly black cast, but because of its setting, Wakanda. A fictional country located somewhere in Africa, Wakanda avoided colonization by foreign powers, and is now wealthy and highly developed. That image speaks powerfully to many in the global African diaspora, and to many Africans as

Feb. 25, 2018

What are the limits of inequality? In a world with virtual reality, history might be an unreliable guide.　Time was you could imagine a peasant revolt: If the poorest were starving, they wouldn’t wait around patiently for political change. Riots would disrupt the status quo. If things were really bad, the army might join in. Self-preservation would then compel elites to respond by redistributing wealth, rather than continuing to hoard resources. For a while, society would be more equal.　In the de

Feb. 25, 2018

How do you like your cup of cancer in the morning? I take mine with fake sugar and skim milk. Lame, I know. But there’s no accounting for taste in carcinogens. Or, in this case, coffee.　You’ve probably seen the bemused headlines: “Coffee in California may soon come with a spoonful of cancer warnings.” There’s wacky California, doing its liberalism-through-regulation schtick again.　At issue is a lawsuit brought by the Council for Education and Research on Toxics against coffee purveyors such as S

Feb. 23, 2018

The Trump administration released its infrastructure plan this month, hoping to jumpstart more than $1.5 trillion in new investment. Digging into the details, however, it seems that’s not the only thing the administration hopes to spark.　Buried within the 55-page document is an outline for a new $20 billion federal “Transformative Projects” fund intended to boost “bold, innovative, and transformative infrastructure projects that could dramatically improve infrastructure.” In short, the administr

Feb. 22, 2018

America asks a lot of its first couples. Fairly or not, they become national marital role models. We don’t really care if they have separate bedrooms, but we do expect them to demonstrate a certain amount of mutual respect and fondness for each other.　We like it when they seem to be in love, like George and Laura Bush, or Barack and Michelle Obama. Even Bill and Hillary Clinton, for all their woes, seem to take pleasure in each other’s intellects and achievements. We also want them to be devoted

Feb. 22, 2018

People concerned about robots taking away jobs might want to consider where it’s already happened. Machines with varying levels of intelligence have quietly taken over the most glamorous, coveted and admirable job in the world -- space exploration.　 It’s not that people can’t still be astronauts -- it’s just there aren’t nearly enough jobs for all the people with the desire and ability to do it. And in terms of gathering data, we can’t catch up to the robots, which have in recent years been plun

Feb. 22, 2018

It was so heart-wrenching to see Noh Seon-yeong so sad and abandoned by her teammates. Park Ji-woo and Kim Bo-reum obviously lack the spirit of what the Olympics is all about. They should be ashamed of themselves and are very poor role models for the future young athletes of South Korea. I hope that South Korea does not condone “bullying” and will hold people, no matter what their status, accountable for their actions.From, Jo Ann NagatoriHonolulu, Hawaii

Feb. 22, 2018