Specialization

 An intriguing story from SFGate.com about injuries rising as young athletes focus on one sport should create lots of debate. There has been discussion about whether specialization was good or bad for young athletes. Now there's growing interest about injuries surfacing from overuse. Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com  

Monorom Neth sat in the tiny Long Beach movie theater, gripped by the emotionally wrenching scenes unfolding on the screen. There were scenes depicting executions, starvation and forced labor - a haunting reminder of Neth's own life under Cambodia's Khmer Rouge and its notorious leader, Pol Pot. When a young girl in the film cried out for her parents before dying of starvation, Neth saw the face of his older brother, who died from malnutrition while...

In reference to "One Casualty of Clinton's Health Plan: Freedom to Choose" (Sept. 22), I want to discuss reasons for specialization in medical practice and Park Nicollet cost saving and innovation. I agree with the main premise of the article, that medical care rationing is most likely in our future. Columnist James Flanigan is, however, perpetuating a myth that has gained wide acceptance through repetition by policy wonks and the media: that "the vast majority of medical students have gone into specialized practice because that's where the higher incomes have been."

Tia Smith clutched her new phone in one hand and a phone case in the other as she shopped at a West Hollywood Best Buy. She clicked away into her smartphone's tiny screen and searched for the case in other nearby stores. "I'm trying to buy this Otter phone case for my new phone," she said. "But I'm trying to see if Target or Wal-Mart has it for cheaper so they can honor the price match," she said, as she scrolled through Target's mobile site on her new phone. As more people turn to their smartphones and tablets when they're thinking about making a purchase, retailers and marketing companies are rushing to figure out ways to transform these mobile browsers into buyers.

As a doctor, Marvin, you surely must know the dangers inherent in practicing outside one's area of specialization. WES CLARK El Toro

The Soviet Union and nine Communist allies launched a 15-year program to upgrade their economies in areas ranging from microelectronics to atomic energy. Prime ministers of the 10-nation trade bloc Comecon signed the accord, prepared during the last 12 months by Soviet officials, after a two-day meeting in Moscow. The program calls for more cooperation, specialization by individual member-countries in certain branches of industry, increased labor productivity and higher-quality goods.

In a lifetime of work as a professional librarian and avid bibliophile, I have seldom read a book review as concerned and caring as the one by Lee Dembart of "The Civilized Engineer" by Samuel C. Florman ("An Engineer Extols Virtues of a Humanistic Outlook," April 28). It strikes me as an important book for educators and intellectuals alike to read and ponder over, especially in this age of specialization and computerization. For even if the cultural gap between science and humanism cannot be bridged, as Dembart states, at least with profound pleas such as Florman's, there can be communication.

Greenberg correctly points out that indeed some are given undeserved continuing medical education (CME) credits. In all fairness, it must be pointed out that given the cost for attending any medical meeting, it would be foolish for any professional not to try to get his money's worth of education. It is certainly utopian for anyone to believe that there exists a foolproof system to guarantee competence. With the increasing sophistication and specialization in medicine, it is nearly impossible to devise a reliable test to relicense each physician periodically.

"Neither reading nor writing flourishes in our blessed United States," Cleanth Brooks, the eminent literary critic, said recently. "In important respects, we are an illiterate nation." Anyone even mildly interested in literature, language and words knows the truth of Prof. Brooks' lament. Part of the problem, at least, is the increased specialization demanded by a highly specialized world.

This summer Harley-Davidson announced a new line of motorcycles and a plan to take the company in a new direction. The 2014 Street Glide Special is an example of the road ahead. This is an all-new variation on the 100-year-old American manufacturer's heralded “touring” line of Electra Glides and Street Kings, yanked into the 21st century by a bunch of high-tech additions. Among them are a dramatic new dashboard presentation that offers GPS navigation, AM-FM stereo, iPod plug-ins for your personal jukebox and a hands-free voice recognition system for your telephone calls.

Valentine's Day is one of the busiest times of the year for a restaurant. If all goes well, it can be an unforgettable meal a couple will remember for the rest of their lives. But with all that pressure to be perfect, things can go horribly wrong. There are countless rings to hide, requests for "the most romantic table" and fires to put out when couples decide to break up in the middle of the dining room. Oh those fires. Josie LeBalch, chef at Josie Restaurant and Next Door by Josie has seen her fair share of Valentine's Day proposals.

More than five decades ago, Arthur Rankin Jr., a producer-director working in stop-motion animation, had an idea to develop a family-oriented TV special around a popular Christmas song. He hoped a network would like it enough to run it two or three times. But when "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" aired in 1964, he and partner Jules Bass found they had a blockbuster - one that launched them into TV history as pioneers of the animated holiday special. Fifty years later, "Rudolph," with its catchy tunes and charmingly misfit characters, remains the longest-running Christmas TV special, "one of only four 1960s Christmas specials still being telecast," according to the Archive of American Television . The others are "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and another Rankin-Bass creation, "Frosty the Snowman.

Dave Grohl was on his way to rehearsals for a TV special marking the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' U.S. live television debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" when the panic set in. "Suddenly it hit me: Maybe I ought to listen to the record again before we rehearse it," the founding member of Nirvana and Foo Fighters said of his impending run-through of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with guitarists Joe Walsh and Gary Clark Jr. for "The Night That...

CAMBRIDGE, Md. - A Republican blueprint for immigration reform offers legalization for some of the nation's 11 million people who are in the country illegally, but no special pathway to citizenship except in the cases of children brought here by their parents, according to a draft presented Thursday to lawmakers by party leadership. The much-anticipated blueprint, while short on specifics, would offer legal status to immigrants as long as they admitted to wrongdoing, paid fines and taxes, submitted to a criminal background check and demonstrated a mastery of English and civics.

 Prime Ticket will broadcast a signing day special next Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Among the players scheduled to appear are Jabril Frazier of Verbum Dei, Tre Watson of Corona Centennial and Rashaad Penny of Norwalk. St. Bonaventure quarterback Ricky Town will discuss his decision to commit to USC after being committed to Alabama. Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com  

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has decided to delay action on the interim recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection until a final report is issued in April. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas signaled that he would continue to press to immediately begin a restructuring of the county system to protect children from abuse and neglect, but the four other supervisors said they were not prepared to join the effort until they can fully assess the commission's vision and the accompanying cost.

Prosecutors in the Randy Steven Kraft murder trial say a paper with 61 entries, found in his car trunk when he was arrested May 14, 1983, is a death list--Kraft's own score card of how many young men he had killed dating back to late 1971. Kraft's attorneys deny it is a death list, and call it meaningless information that will only inflame his jury. Kraft himself, in a 1983 interview, called the list nothing more than references to friends of his and his roommate at the time.

Dale Brown says Chris Jackson is "a very unique man." "Somewhere along his life," Brown said this week, "the good Lord reached down and touched him on the shoulder. He gave him special skills and He gave him a special attitude." He also gave Chris Jackson to Dale Brown and Louisiana State University. And ever since, it has been Jackson who has been doing most of the giving. With this 6-foot-1, 170-pound freshman point guard from Gulfport, Miss., averaging 28.1 points, 4.2 assists, 3.

Adam Silver won't have to familiarize himself with the minutiae of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement upon succeeding David Stern as league commissioner Saturday. Silver negotiated that deal himself. It was the most high-profile assignment Silver undertook during a 22-year apprenticeship that widely is believed to have prepared him for the league's top job. The longtime lawyer started as a special assistant to Stern before running the entertainment division and becoming deputy commissioner in 2006.

They missed the Polar Vortex over the weekend in Chicago and St. Louis, but the Ducks looked at the weather forecast upon arriving home and saw possible trouble - an expected high of 79 degrees in Los Angeles on Saturday. That night at 6:30, the Ducks and Kings play their NHL Stadium Series game at Dodger Stadium. "Kind of thought about it. … I don't know what they're going to do if it stays this warm out. It's going to be something different," Ducks center Mathieu Perreault said Monday after the Ducks practiced for Tuesday's home game against the Winnipeg Jets.