You know summer is here when hordes of paparazzi descend, locust-like, on southern California beaches, angering locals as they pursue money-shots of sun-tanning celebrities -- while politicians, seeing an opportunity for self-promotion, promise new laws to tame the unruly photogs.

It has become a political rite of summer: Paparazzi behave...

As the world now knows, federal appeals court judge Alex Kozinski has looked at pornography and has stored some pornographic files on a personal, nonpublic website. This revelation, and the invasion of privacy that it entails, are apparently justified by the fact that Kozinski is currently presiding, as a temporary...

All newspapers from time to time should publish articles that give offense to a sizable segment of their readers. Such provocations -- challenging readers to think differently about an issue -- are part of the editorial independence that is the right and obligation of all credible news organizations.

Subscriber response...

The city of Vallejo, California has taken the extraordinary step of filing for federal bankruptcy protection. While the financial distress of this San Francisco suburb (population 117,000) is especially acute, its fiscal problems are fundamentally the same as those facing many California cities and counties--and, indeed, the state itself.

To...

A milestone of sorts was passed in the first quarter of this year when China blew past the United States to become the biggest internet market in the world. At 225 million users, and still growing at double-digit rates, China's internet is a business opportunity so grand and irresistible that...