Unity

SAN FRANCISCO - It's a trend many public employees can relate to: Health insurance premiums climb year after year, while at the bargaining table workers have agreed to kick in more for pensions, take salary cuts and sign on to furlough days. But when Kaiser Permanente - which insures 45,000 public workers here - proposed another hike for 2014, San Francisco's Health Service System teamed up with labor unions to say "no more. " In a rare show of unity, they are demanding that Kaiser craft an alternative proposal, one that caps profits, links rates to the use of services and provides for more transparency.

KABUL - Secretary of State John Kerry joined Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday for a public show of unity, declaring that the two allies “are on the same page” despite weeks of unprecedented friction. Kerry, who has played a special role in soothing U.S. tensions with the Afghan leader, said the United States respected Afghanistan's sovereignty and remained committed to its security, even as it prepares final decisions about scaling back the U.S. commitment following the departure of all combat troops by the end of next year.

Christopher Knight's rubber-stamp approval of Komar and Melamid's angels ("Leave Them to Heaven," March 7), which derive from Italianate cliches, is poor justification for the faux pas of having three white angels purportedly represent "Unity" in Los Angeles (March 7). For Knight to say the accessories to the white angels--abstract, geometric patterns of a Buddhist banner, a halo burst borrowed from pre-Columbian images of an Aztec deity, and a headpiece derived from Nigerian masks--"are emblematic of a variety of cultures from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas that make up the democratic mix of latter-day Los Angeles" is like saying that because the all-white jury in the Rodney King beating trial wore black, brown, red and yellow shirts, they were representative of the multiethnic mix in Los Angeles.

Choosing compromise over division, leaders of the world's most important economies pledged Thursday to offer $1.1 trillion in loans and guarantees to countries most badly damaged by the global downturn, encouraging hopes that their concerted action could nudge the stalled world economy toward recovery. The measures announced at the Group of 20 summit in London may not constitute the "new global deal" called for by President Obama and the host, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

I disagree with Gloria Matta Tuchman ("Official Language Is Best Means for Multiple Cultures to Flourish," Orange County Voices, Aug. 18). The late U.S. Sen. S.I. Hayakawa was wrong when, in 1981, he introduced a constitutional amendment to make English the official language of the United States. Hayakawa meant well, but as you might recall, he slept more often than not in the Senate chambers as they were debating the social issues of the day. English-only legislation is unnecessary and biased against Chicanos, especially in the Santa Ana Unified School District, with a 50,000-student population, of which 78% are Latino.

One is a Pentecostal, mostly African American congregation of 22,000, led by a world-renowned bishop with global ministries that extend to Africa and Haiti. The other is one of the largest Latino evangelical churches in the city, whose Spanish-language ministries serve more than 4,000 members, most of them Salvadoran and Mexican immigrants and their children. Located just four blocks apart along Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles, the two mega-churches — West Angeles Church of God in Christ and Iglesias de Restauracion — had never broken bread together, as cultural and linguistic differences kept them apart.

LONDON -- Organizers of the London Olympics did exactly what they intended. They surprised the world. Roger Bannister, the first man to break the four-minute barrier in a mile race, did not take the final torch leg to light the Olympic flame as many had expected. Instead it was a ceremony of inclusion. Seven young athletes, the hope of the sports future in Britain, were joined by past icons in the torch ceremony Friday night in the opening ceremony. The youngsters moved to the center of the field of play and each lighted a stem that ignited more than 200 petals.

Reporting from Baltimore A former plastics salesman, House Speaker John A. Boehner stood before the unwieldy GOP majority with a pitch: Members must stick together like never before, not only for the sake of their agenda in Congress, but for the larger prize of reclaiming the White House this fall. It was a complicated sell at the GOP's annual retreat here as Boehner faced rambunctious lawmakers still intent on changing how Washington does business. Though Republicans said they were humbled and frustrated by last year's bruising political warfare, some in the tea-party-powered majority are ready to go at it again.

JERUSALEM - In a much-anticipated visit laden with symbols of friendship and words of assurance, President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to set aside past differences Wednesday and project a united front over how to tackle the threat of Iran's purported nuclear weapons program and other regional challenges. But even as they tried to strike a more conciliatory tone, the two leaders stuck to sharply different timetables for potentially taking military action.

Even in death, Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez will be a powerful force guiding his countrymen to elect Vice President Nicolas Maduro to replace him. Some call the widely predicted victory of Chavez's handpicked successor a “sympathy vote” for the charismatic president who died of cancer Tuesday at 58. Others will support Maduro out of respect for Chavez's anointment of the former bus driver as best suited to carry on in the role of Robin Hood,...

CARACAS, Venezuela - Subway commuters cried on their trains. Drivers blasted their horns in grief. The government called for seven days of national mourning. Meanwhile, other residents of the Venezuelan capital jammed into Plaza Bolivar and asked that President Hugo Chavez's body be brought to them there, in the colonial heart of the country he had transformed - for better or worse - with his outsized personality and unique brand of pan-Latin petro-socialism. " Chavez vive !"

Beyonce had belted her last note and President Obama, newly sworn in for a second term, had grabbed his last hand and given his last hug. But as he walked off the inauguration platform and through an archway to the Capitol, the president turned again to face the people who came to see him. "I want to take a look one more time," Obama said, stopping his Secret Service detail. He smiled, eyes fixed in the distance. "I'm not going to see this again. " What Obama saw was a throng of Americans filling their capital on Monday.

It's hard to recognize the Democratic Party these days. In recent decades, it's been a divided, brawling tribe. But this year, Democrats are one big, happy family. Sure, there was grumbling from the left over President Obama's agreement to keep tax cuts in place for couples making between $250,000 and $450,000 a year. But that quickly gave way to satisfaction that Obama had won the "fiscal cliff" fight, and growing confidence that he can win the next round over the federal debt ceiling as well.

Pasadena-area community leaders staged a peace and unity rally Sunday afternoon to denounce recent violence that claimed the life of longtime youth sports leader and community activist Victor McClinton, among others. About 250 people gathered on the steps of All Saints Episcopal Church near City Hall to hear city leaders, clergy members and law enforcement officials discuss ways to stem the violence. "It was a call for peace and for the community to come together in light of some of the recent gang violence and shootings that have occurred," said William Boyer, a Pasadena public information officer.

Winners in the gulf crisis? Of course there are. They are the merry munitions makers--those merchants of designer death. ELIZABETH NAUSS North Hollywood

Re "Catholics Will See Changes in Observance of Mass," Nov. 22: It is perplexing that the Catholic Church plans to encourage visibly "expressing the unity" by having people stand after receiving Holy Communion. I was taught (circa 1960s) that Mass was said in Latin so that we would find a familiar setting in whatever country we might visit. Then with Vatican II it was changed to the vernacular (language of the people) so that we could participate better. Yet even an English-spoken Mass in the Los Angeles Archdiocese may have parts sung or read in another language, leaving someone like me feeling left out, as I only speak English and cannot join in. I do understand that in our rich variety of blended cultures others may feel excluded when attending an English Mass.

CAIRO - Knots of men argue politics, barefoot boys grip stones, graffiti blooms, banners unfurl and wind whistles through the tents of protesters in the latest stage of a revolution that, at least for now, has revived passions and lighted new campfires in Tahrir Square. How long the fervor will last is uncertain. The opposition against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has called for mass rallies Tuesday in a final push to block a referendum on a new constitution - one that many fear would favor Islamist interests - set for this weekend.

GAZA CITY - The Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah are intense rivals that control different turf and employ contrary strategies against Israel, but they have managed in their separate ways to put the Palestinian drive for statehood back on the international agenda. The eight-day conflict between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip raised the profile of the Palestinian issue, bringing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a stream of Arab diplomats rushing to the region to help negotiate a cease-fire.