Opinion

From the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, fallen soldiers are quietly and discretely flown home. Together, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have claimed the lives of some 4,825 American soldiers since the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. As casualties continue to rise on both civilian and coalition fronts, the media continues to debate policy issues in theoretical terms while following a Bush administration policy that bars photographers from taking images of the coffins of fallen soldiers. While there are many perspectives to consider over this issue, ultimately the Defense Department and the new administration should decide that the public should be exposed to images of fallen soldiers so that the visual reality of war is apparent for all to see.

A corporation – or rather let us call it an incorporation, for I am speaking generally and do not want to provoke those associations of a legal, social and moral character that the former carries with it – is an ingenious device...

Glenn Beck; Bristol Palin; Arkansas; democracy via SMS in Estonia.

I recently made one of the biggest mistakes of my life: I voluntarily chose to go see the movie "He's Just Not That Into You." Sitting through the agonizing two hours and nine minutes of the "chick-flickiest" film I have ever seen, I could feel the testosterone slowly leaking out of my body. Although the movie was mainly about relationships, friendship, love and all that other fluffy garbage, I found one particular scene very interesting and thought-provoking. This scene focused on this idea of how people have become dependent on countless social networks and technology to foster their relationships.

Maulana Fazlullah; Hillary Clinton talks North Korea succession; Taro Aso; California budget signed, but 'financial situation remains precarious'.

Things are now so bad here in California that it seems we can't even do what we're best at anymore: locking people up. Boy, do we know how to pack them in. Not only has California been sending prisoners to other states due to a lack of facilities, but it is also housing prisoners in our state's jails that are somewhere near 200 percent capacity, according to CNN.

While displaying your firm handshake, flex some muscles. In regard to his attempts at bipartisanship, President Barack Obama's White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel was quoted in The Wall Street Journal stating that Obama "has an open hand, but he has a very firm handshake."

I was intrigued by the proposal to make public students' evaluations of their UC Irvine instructors in the "Motion to Release Teacher Evaluations" article on Feb. 9. It would be a nice way to end the misguided dependence some have on RateMyProfessors.com (RMP), where anyone, student or not, can post an evaluation, and there is no control over sample sizes or bias of participants. A number of assertions made by interviewees in the New University article, however, need context and consideration before they serve as a basis for a new policy.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the largest ticket broker and the largest concert promoter, respectively, intend to merge, according to The New York Times. Barring anti-trust regulation, the merger would create the largest concert conglomerate worldwide.

Earlier this year, a compromising photo of wholesome American superstar Michael Phelps preparing to smoke from a bong surfaced. The photo, which immediately became the topic of the day in the sports world, as well as the rest of the world, has lead to eight arrests, public statements from Phelps, attempts at damage control from his handlers and actions from Phelps' sponsors.

The regents' Committee on Educational Policy voted unanimously for a controversial change in freshman admission standards that would take effect for fall 2012. On Wednesday, Feb. 4, the University of California regents gave preliminary approval to drop the requirement for two SAT subject exams, which would allow more students to be eligible for a review of their applications. Students would still need to take the main SAT or ACT entrance tests.

Picture this: You wake up each morning in a dirty cell and are hung by your wrists and interrogated while a government operative holds a gun to your head. This same operative takes a scalpel to your body, makes incisions and then pours stinging liquid into your open wounds.