Commentary, editorials and opinion, opinions

Once upon a time in Washington, the annual presentation of the president's budget was a big deal. But over the years -- the Reagan administration is as good a place to start as any -- the opposition would gleefully greet the arrival of the budget on Capitol Hill with the pronouncement that it was DOA, or "dead on arrival."

Islamic and Hindu fundamentalists are fighting a losing rear-guard action against an insidious Western custom -- Valentine's Day.

The current flap over mandating birth control services to employees of institutions owned or run by the Catholic Church is yet another example of mistakes brought on by political tone deafness in the White House and by President Barack Obama's decision to turn over the crafting of the giant health care reform package to Congress.

As the crisis with Iran continues to simmer, Albert Einstein's often-cited remark, in its own way as profound as his theory of relativity, comes to mind: "The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe."

WALTERS13 (Walters, Sacramento Bee; Column) -- California's Legislature once was a part-time body. One ballot proposal would restore that schedule and remove lawmakers from "the seductive atmosphere of the Capitol dome," a critic says. 425.

One of the delightful aspects of living in New York City is the opportunity to chance upon the "rich and famous" going about their daily lives.

Yet another intimate portrait has just emerged about one of the most prominent and pivotal world leaders of the early 1960s, arguably the most dangerous and highly charged years of the Cold War.

Add more ammunition to the arsenal of anti-smoking efforts with the latest report on secondhand smoke from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to researchers, more than 1 in 5 high school and middle school students are passengers in cars while others are smoking.

Redevelopment in California is dead after more than six decades as a multibillion-dollar government economic development tool.

Or is it?

As the decree to kill redevelopment takes effect, the Capitol is buzzing with efforts to bring it -- or something like it, or some substitute -- back.

Even the worst of presidents cannot stop the best of times, and it's beginning to look as if an unprecedented energy boom just might save President Barack Obama's re-election, despite his undying efforts to thwart energy development.