Jeannette Lee

Guam’s surfers fret about the impact of a $15 billion defense buildup on their island.… More »

The White House luau featured some favorites but left out many staples. SLIDE SHOW  I… More »

The director of a soup kitchen relying on its free meals for her own survival--the irony would be hilarious, if the prospect wasn't uncomfortably real.… More »

As the University of California system withers away, a vanguard squad of professors has stepped forward with a bold new plan to formalize a split between the UCs that 'matter' and the rest.… More »

I can be a bit of a problem for TV producers since I occasionally blab a bit too long. This time there was no such threat as it was clear that the Roland Burris decision was simple: No money, no credibility, no White House support. Brevity was my lone alternative.… More »

The analytic method worked well for Robert McNamara in terms of making Ford Motor Company processes and the Defense Department more efficient, which undoubtedly reinforced his belief in the approach. Unfortunately, the logic road has its limits.… More »

After nearly four hours crawling through the blueberry field, sweat drenched my hair; dark brown mud painted my pants and tennis shoes, and purple stains speckled my face and fingers. Yet all I had earned was $3.67--not even enough for a McDonald's super-value meal. … More »

Sooner or later, new technology will spawn an even bigger mega-star with even more global reach than Michael Jackson. That's been the pattern in the past. There's little reason to think it will end now.… More »

A provocative study of about three million Americans found racial and ethnic disparities in savings and investing behavior. That is, African-Americans and Hispanics contribute at far lower rates than whites or Asians. … More »

The digital age is exerting inexorable downward pressure on the prices of all things 'made of ideas.' But underlying it all is a steady stream of energy that keeps those ideas streaming from our computers, TV's, stereos, and twitter-enabled smart phones. Is there some tension between free ideas and limited energy and natural resources? … More »

There are some indications of incipient economic recovery, but as long as unemployment is rising and housing prices and personal consumption expenditures are depressed, prospects are uncertain. There have been too many false dawns and overoptimistic predictions.… More »

Our right to fantasize ought not be contingent on the moral content of our characters or fantasies; and if one man (no matter how despicable) can be imprisoned for email discussions of repellant sexual fantasies, then so can you.… More »

Taxing health benefits to pay for health-care reform is a fantastic idea -- exactly the kind of thing that deserves a flagrant Obama flip-flop. … More »

Being tied down to a house tends to make people less likely to leave an area in which employment prospects are deteriorating. One study found that a 10-percent increase in homeownership tended to correlate with a two-percent increase in the unemployment rate. … More »

If you don't know soccer, America's beating both Spain and Brazil would be a surprise akin to Ron Paul winning the Republican presidential nomination last year. Or Rahm Emanuel being named new boss of the Mormon Church.… More »

The post-9/11 watch-list laws empower the government to impose harsh, discriminatory economic sanctions on individuals and groups rightly or wrongly suspected of terrorism, and strongly encourage businesses, financial institutions, and charities to be complicit in such blacklisting. Whatever happened to due process and equal application of the law?… More »

Michael Jackson was one of the last figures of our time who could, in his very presence, describe the possibilities of pop. He wasn't just the King--he was the entire domain, the rules and regulations, the dream-horizon of the citizenry, the place where the land met the heavens. All of this despite a prominent, persistent loneliness in his music.… More »

The disturbing truth is that the loss of nine human lives in this week's DC metro crash would not be grounds for replacing the older cars with newer, safer models. The $888 million estimated cost would have been more than twelve times the statistical value of life used by government agencies.… More »

As the economy tanks, blue-collar romanticism blooms. A new book condemns "cubicle culture" and extolls the virtue of working with one's hands--to build something real. Dilbert could not agree more.… More »

Eastman Kodak is bidding farewell to Kodachrome, its oldest and first commercially successful film. Is there a reason to be sad, even in an age in which hacks like me can stumble onto a great image and send it to every village and hamlet on the globe? … More »