I was recently called to jury duty at a federal court in Los Angeles. Because it is a federal court for the Southern California District, I would have had to go to downtown Los Angeles to serve -- a distance of over ten miles. As I was without a car...

When my car was in the shop on and off last year, I found myself riding Los Angeles buses and subways, which cover a considerable territory and are clean, air-conditioned and not at loud as I remembered the older New York versions to be.

Quiet enough, in fact, that I...