Doug Liman, director of “The Bourne Identity,” “Swingers,” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” is directing a film about torture, specifically government-sanctioned torture. He and I talked about making the film, Reckoning With Torture. Here is […]

Neither Proposition 28 nor 29 on Tuesday’s ballot aroused any significant emotion – and maybe that’s why the limited proposition action in this primary resulted in one smashing victory and one very close call. Term […]

It’s June, always a great time to get riled-up early about whether or not those nativity scenes with the mannequins should return to Palisades Park this Christmas. Before I launch into any discussion about that, […]

At budgeting time, when legislators and the governor decide how much state support each public school pupil should get, it’s pretty clear that some students are more equal than others, as the late “Animal Farm” […]

Less than two weeks after this column exposed a situation where tens of millions of state tax dollars were given to billion-dollar corporations – but only with approval from other billion-dollar corporations – the California […]

From the moment Gov. Jerry Brown announced his latest budget revision proposal, complaints poured in both from his political enemies and some interests that have usually supported him. Republicans griped that Brown’s plan depends on […]

Never mind those spinning lawn mower balls in the “Battleship” movie, although I don’t need to tell you to avoid “Battleship” since most of America is already doing so. Anyhow, don’t worry about aliens in […]

Education, environmental sustainability, development and traffic, and social justice are main concerns of Santa Monicans. The person we elect to be our Assembly Member can help or hurt us as we try to tackle these […]