It may be the ultimate irony of the conflict with Iraq that to glimpse the difficult home lives of our soldiers, their spouses, and their children, America needs a foreign war. And even as those …

If you are going to squirrel ill-gotten money in an offshore tax haven, you need the mental acuity and swiftness of a mountain lion -- not a squirrel, or in the case of a married …

On the eastern Angeles Crest, not far above the L.A. Basin's smoggy blanket of air, lies Big Pines Recreation Area -- a designated year-round recreation zone in Angeles National Forest. Blanketed by a heterogeneous mixture …

Hey, Einstein: Why do I have three buttons on the sleeves of my sports jacket but don't have three buttonholes or any possible reason to want three buttons on my jacket sleeves? Let's see you …

Matthew: Why do we always turn the pillow to the cool side? -- Snoozer, the net Sorry, Snoozer. That's not the name you signed. We put your question under our pillow to see if the …

Matt: Can you tell me why people get into the 10-item-or-less line in the grocery store, right under the big sign, the one that says "No Checks," then put their 15 items on the counter …

Hey Matt: I remember reading somewhere that primitive people didn't have as many names for colors as we have today. Was everything I olden times less colorful than it is today? -- M. Cook, elsewhere …

When Steve Scatolini walks through Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, it becomes home. He knows the vegetation by smell, taste, and name — buckwheat, coastal sage scrub, California sunflower, ladyfinger, lemonade berry, and acacia. Scatolini has …