NBA refereeing needs balance

In NBA playoff games, and perhaps in regular season games as well, the home team gets the benefit of the doubt on foul calls.

That was clearly demonstrated in yesterday's Jazz-Lakers game when the Lakers' Luke Walton was fouled by the Jazz's Ronnie Price while attempting a lay up. TV broadcaster Mike Tirico called it a great block of Walton's shot attempt by a little guy who had earlier been injured in a collision with the Lakers' Rony Turiaf (ruled a flagrant foul on Turiaf.) But Price blocked not only the ball but Walton's body as well, knocking Walton on his wallet under the basket. (If Walton had not been knocked down, he could have rebounded the blocked shot and scored.) The referees failed to make a call on the play.

The Lakers-Jazz series is even now with each team winning both their home games. The Spurs-Hornet series is similar. Favorable home-team foul calls have made it that way.

Myanmar regime cruel; White House at fault

The Myanmar regime would have done the right things but for White House scolding. That's the LAT's pitch in a piece by Paul Richter published Saturday on page A12 as news. Previously, the LAT made the same argument in an editorial.

Shahad wants to walk

On Saturday, the LAT published a piece by Tina Susman and Said Rifai on page A8 about a 12-year-old Iraqi girl named Shahad Abbas Aziz who lost both legs below the knee in a roadside bombing in Baqubah, her home town. A Yank, Staff Sergeant Luis Falcon of New York, befriended the girl and helped arrange for prosthetic limbs so that her one wish could be fulfilled. "All I want is legs to walk to school," the LAT quoted her as saying.

The picture that accompanies the article shows a cute young girl in a denim jumper wearing ear rings. She'd fit right in in a Southern California mall. Sgt. Falcon deserves a medal and the LAT deserves an award for publishing the story, though it should have appeared on page one.

LAT to Hill: Quit

The LAT argues today that Hillary's run for the Democratic nomination is over and she should recognize that and quit the race. The LAT says if Clinton would quit then the campaign between Obama and McCain could begin and the debate would be about serious issues instead of "lapel pins and pandering over gas taxes."

Where's the fire? What's the rush. Anyhow, the LAT may not find the McCain-Obama debate to be all that serious or educational or enlightening. The main question will be what kind of president Obama would make. From what has been revealed thus far -- Wright connection, Ayers connection, "bitter" remarks, Michelle's speeches -- Obama's prospects do not appear promising.

LAT favors shield law

The LAT argues today for a federal shield law for journalists, saying it's in the public interest. It must be, the LAT argues, because Bush opposes it and Senate Republicans are blocking it. The argument rings hollow. The LAT repeatedly violates its own stated policy of restricting the use of anonymous sources.

LAT anti-death penalty

The LAT argues today on behalf of a convicted murderer, saying he will escape the death penalty only because of pro bono work by a dedicated lawyer. It's hard to feel sympathy for a convicted murderer -- the case at issue is not about that murder but a second one. The lawyer, of course, deserves praise for his work. But the LAT argues against the death penalty because it is too costly. They can do better than that. The death penalty is wrong because it involves the taking of a human life.

LAT blasts White House, again

Some things never change. In an editorial this morning, the LAT chastises the White House for being critical of Myanmar's treatment of its people. Myanmar's dictators might not react kindly to White House criticism, the LAT fears. How much worse could they get?