Big Business

Among the thousands of interviews I've conducted as a human rights investigator over the last 24 years, one of the most difficult was in 1996, outside a refugee camp along the Thai-Burma border. I was no stranger to suffering in my country. I had fled from Burma (also known as Myanmar) just a few years before, escaping the brutal military regime after being arrested and tortured. I had gone to the camp to investigate reports that villages were being uprooted and brutalized to make way for a natural gas pipeline built by U.S. oil giant Unocal and other multinational corporations.

In his Wisconsin victory speech last Tuesday, Mitt Romney said, "Washington has to become an ally of business, not the opposition of business. " This to me is a more worrisome statement than his communications advisor's gaffe about Etch-A-Sketches or Romney's shout-out to NASCAR team owners. Over the last few years, the country has been subjected to a tutorial about the role of government. Thanks to the efforts of the tea parties and, of course, the teaching by example of the Obama administration, a lot more Americans understand the problems with corporatism, crony capitalism and industrial policy.

It strikes me that anyone who'd want to be the next mayor of Los Angeles ought to have his head examined, so Dr. Lopez has decided to begin seeing patients. Think about it. Services have withered, streets look like they've been chewed up by IEDs, budget shortfalls could become catastrophic, and the City Council always has an assortment of second-stringers who can't be counted on to lead or get out of the way. What kind of twisted person would want to wake up to that every day?

Hundreds of glow sticks luminesced over the sold-out crowd at Gibson Amphitheatre on a recent Friday night. Prepubescent girls snapped cellphone pictures and out-screamed one another as younger kids were hoisted onto parents' shoulders for better views. The cheers morphed into hysteria as Big Time Rush emerged. The scene onstage is familiar: five seemingly interchangeable young guys linked by one band name and an ability to dance with military precision, deliver harmonies and exude boy-next-door charm.

With respect to the Republican presidential candidates current themes, if big government and big labor are bad, why is big business good? D.F. JENSEN El Segundo

Re "A Pressured Bush Retreats" and "A Collision of Priorities" (Editorials, March 15): I want to commend you on your forthrightness and courage in pointing out what serious detriment will befall us and our environment if we don't call it to the people's attention and try to do something about it. What kind of world leaders are we if we show such disrespect to our climate, our oceans, our wildlife and our future generations, or if we continue to...

The editorial headline "Recognizing That Our Neighborhoods Belong to Us" (Dec. 8) omitted the caveat typically made by the editorial writers of the Los Angeles Times: as long as neighbors do not infringe on the absolute "right" of business, particularly big business, over our neighborhoods. Where is The Times' support of neighbors trying to help their neighborhoods from the noise, crime and traffic that will result from the doubling of the size of MCA / Universal? Where is The Times' support of neighbors trying to help their neighborhoods from the noise, pollution and safety concerns by the current and planned growth of Van Nuys Airport and Burbank-Glendale--Pasadena Airport?

Watching the 109th Congress, one would be forgiven for thinking our Constitution was the blueprint for a government of Big Business, by Big Business and for Big Business. Forget the people -- this is Robin Hood in reverse. Here's the agenda, as laid out by the president and the Republicans who control Congress: First, limit people's power to right wrongs done to them by corporations. Next, force people to repay usurious loans to credit card companies that make gazillions off the fine print.

Twenty-five years ago, the typical consumer at Erewhon, the Los Angeles natural foods store, was a stereotype: a sandal-wearing, long-haired, turquoise-bedecked flower child seeking a spiritually and physically balanced diet as a means to a calmer, more peaceful life. Erewhon started as a store dedicated to macrobiotic foods, the Zen-inspired system of eating healthfully, centered mostly around vegetables, whole grains and seaweed.

Travels to exotic countries fuel her imagination, but the wildly colored lions, birds and masks that Laurel Burch translates into jewelry designs emerge from a fantastic world where mythical animals prowl. "People tease me because I live in my own fantasy world. My drawings don't come from outside myself," Burch said. "Inside of me I have all these friends and characters. They come out on paper so I can share them. That is my motivation in designing. I see wonderful, exotic, happy things."

It strikes me that anyone who'd want to be the next mayor of Los Angeles ought to have his head examined, so Dr. Lopez has decided to begin seeing patients. Think about it. Services have withered, streets look like they've been chewed up by IEDs, budget shortfalls could become catastrophic, and the City Council always has an assortment of second-stringers who can't be counted on to lead or get out of the way. What kind of twisted person would want to wake up to that every day?

Among the thousands of interviews I've conducted as a human rights investigator over the last 24 years, one of the most difficult was in 1996, outside a refugee camp along the Thai-Burma border. I was no stranger to suffering in my country. I had fled from Burma (also known as Myanmar) just a few years before, escaping the brutal military regime after being arrested and tortured. I had gone to the camp to investigate reports that villages were being uprooted and brutalized to make way for a natural gas pipeline built by U.S. oil giant Unocal and other multinational corporations.

Mirabelle Vargas, 29, winds her way through the open-air stalls in downtown Los Angeles' bustling Santee Alley, hunting for Victoria's Secret underwear. Or at least undies with a tag that says Victoria's Secret. An authentic pair from the lingerie maker can cost $7.50 and up. But Vargas, a retail sales clerk, managed to find a table brimming with pink-and-white unmentionables. Price: two bucks a pop. "Of course they're not real, not at this price," said Vargas, decked out in a chocolate brown Victoria's Secret tracksuit, also counterfeit.

Like any concerned mother, Athena Hohenberg wanted to be sure her 4-year-old was getting a good breakfast. So she served up Nutella, a hazelnut and cocoa spread marketed as part of a balanced breakfast. "Start your day with Nutella spread," urge the TV ads. But Hohenberg was shocked to learn, she said in a lawsuit filed in February, that the sandwich spread is chock full of fat and sugar — "the next best thing to a candy bar," she alleged. Nutella manufacturer Ferrero USA Inc. has agreed to settle the suit brought by the San Diego mother on behalf of hundreds of thousands of consumers who may have been similarly deceived, even though the ads specified that fruit, milk and whole wheat bread were also part of that balanced meal.

One in a series of occasional stories At Wilson's Eastside Sports in the Eastern Sierra town of Bishop, employees have been ringing up sales at a hectic pace lately as rock climbers, hikers and mountaineers stock up for the summer season. But a few blocks away, Brock's Flyfishing Specialists was quiet and empty on a recent Saturday afternoon, the victim of dismal fishing conditions around the Owens Valley. Heavy snow this winter kept several mountain lakes frozen long into spring, and an early-summer heat wave had created a torrent of snowmelt in nearby streams and rivers.

We see them in airports or on the news: Men and women in military uniforms, reporting for duty, going to new assignments, returning home. We watch their tearful partings and joyous reunions. We may not know their names, but we have high regard for them and the institution they serve. In fact, the military is the most respected institution in American life. In poll after poll, the military and its leaders get high marks. That isn't true in many places around the world, where the military is often associated with corruption and brutality and has lost the trust of its citizenry.

ANAHIEIM -- Salt substitutes are a major focus of the food industry, especially since the federal government issued its updated dietary guidelines earlier this year calling for a big reduction in salt intake. We're not talking just table salt here. Many processed foods contain huge amounts of salt, and manufacturers are searching for ways to lower salt content without ruining taste. The natural products industry is way ahead in this game. A number of salt substitute products are on display at the Natural Products Expo, which runs Friday through Sunday in Anaheim.

Rep. Darrell Issa used to be an entrepreneur. Now he aims to use his position to help business owners reverse what they see as onerous federal regulations. As the new head of the House's top investigative committee, the conservative Republican from Vista, Calif., recently sent letters to more than 150 business leaders asking for their wish list of rules they think are too burdensome. Issa's effort also is aimed at setting up him and his GOP colleagues as business-friendly lawmakers who want to clear obstructions to job growth and competition.