If you've been wondering how Laura Ling and Euna Lee wound up prisoners of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, read the pair's Op-Ed today and find out. In addition to providing chilling details about their capture (sounds to me like they were set up, but judge for yourself), they also explain why they were so determined to report on human trafficking between North Korea and China:

It's a compelling piece. Rounding out the page, columnist Tim Rutten provides a history lesson about the observatory on Mt. Wilson that's now threatened by the rampaging Station fire, as well as some harsh words about the policies that have seemingly turned Southern California into a tinderbox.

On the editorial side of the stack, the Times board says it's too early to abandon comprehensive healthcare reform for a more incremental, less controversial approach. Besides, the board says, "piecemeal efforts ... quickly run into the same complexities" that a sweeping overhaul faces, such as the need for expensive subsidies. The board also endorses moves by Latin American countries to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and other drugs, while also praising the Obama administration for taking a "wait-and-see approach" to the changes.

Photo: Laura Ling, left, and Euna Lee. Credit: Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images

-- Jon Healey

Bet you thought that the business of your publicly elected California Legislature was, well, public, since your public dollars pay these public servants to make public decisions in the public's Capitol building. Is there a theme in that sentence? There ought to be, especially with the editorial board today bemoaning the Assembly's decision to expunge the record of the individual votes of its members on whether or not to allow drilling off the Santa Barbara coast. In other words, you can't find out how your own Assembly member voted.

Assembly members sometimes complain, privately, that their constituents just don't understand how difficult it is to make laws and balance a budget. But making the very public process of lawmaking into a secret ritual doesn't help matters. On the contrary, it makes Californians feel like they are part of the stuff being fed into the meat grinder.

The board also weighs in on the latest maneuvers to stop a worthy bill that would extend hate-crime laws to cover crimes against gays and lesbians. Since conservative lawmakers in Washington D.C. weren't getting anywhere with the specious argument that halting hate crimes against people because of their sexual orientation would somehow impinge on the perpetrators' freedom of speech and religion, they've come up with a new tactic: making certain hate crimes a capital offense, thus changing the congressional conversation from one about equal rights to one about the death penalty.

And though the people of Afghanistan have a million good reasons to mistrust the election process, the editorial board notes the importance of holding new presidential elections and giving voters hope that they can, at least eventually, have an impact on changing the government that has turned out a disappointment to many of them.

On the other side of the fold, Tim Rutten reprimands Police Chief William Bratton for the timing of his departure from Los Angeles and some of the dealings that took place beforehand:

...The manner and timing of Bratton's departure is almost breathtakingly irresponsible. It also raises troubling questions about his relationship with Michael Cherkasky, the court-appointed monitor who evaluated the LAPD's compliance with the federal consent decree, and about Cherkasky's role in convincing the federal judge to terminate oversight of the department.

And a professor in Mexico calls on President Obama to do more than praise Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his courage in the war on drugs; he must also remind Calderon that the human-rights abuses that his army is accused of in that war are unacceptable.

Photo: Philip Scott Andrews / AP

Is the Mexican army the solution to battling the violent drug cartels, or part of the problem? The Times editorial board considers the question in light of allegations of rape and other abuses leveled against troops deployed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon in the front lines of the drug war:

Calderon was taking a gamble when he sent combat forces to fight the drug war, which involves police and intelligence work among civilians -- a role the Mexican military isn't fully trained to play. Now, U.S. and Mexican human rights activists say they have documented the murder, rape and torture by soldiers of scores of Mexicans believed to be innocent civilians, and the country's National Human Rights Commission received 559 complaints against members of the army in the first six months of this year. Although Mexican law calls for the military to prosecute its own criminal abuses, advocacy groups note that there has not been a successful military prosecution of a human rights case in the last decade.

The board also notes that U.S. government actions on behalf of religions might be constitutionally banned if performed in this country, but might be a necessary part of foreign relations in nations with state religion--such as repairing mosques damaged in the Iraq War. Still, the board cautions, the government must not see this as an excuse to fund missionary work or in other ways promote religion abroad.

On the other side of the fold, two trade specialists chide resident President Obama for what they call his "de facto protectionism." And the author of a newly published biography of baseball legend Leroy "Satchel" Paige remembers back to when the Negro League player finally won recognition from the Hall of Fame -- and how racism in baseball did not completely die on that day.:

Six months after they announced his election to the Hall of Fame, Paige was in Cooperstown for the induction. The public had weighed in with outrage at the spectacle of a segregated museum, forcing baseball's rulers to agree to hang his plaque alongside the rest. He quieted his competing instincts by siding, as he always had, with moderation over militancy. "Thank you, commissioner, and my fans and baseball players from all around as far as Honolulu, Mexico, and I don't know where the rest of 'em come from. I know they're my friends, I know that," Paige said as he looked out at the mostly white audience.

His remarks were touching and funny. He talked about barnstorming across the country in cars so tightly packed that his knees were "sticking up in front of me. For five years, I didn't know where I was going. I couldn't see."

Photo of Leroy "Satchel" Paige from MLB Photos via Getty Images.

Obviously, some California public services will have to be cut, the editorial board observes, but what sense does it make to eliminate CalWorks, a program funded mostly by the federal dollars that enables people to get jobs and pay the rent? The board also notes that this is the big day for switching to digital TV, and it calls on the Federal Communications Commission to define the broadcasters' public-service obligations for digital channels.

CIA Director Leon E. Panetta might be right in saying that he can't possibly make public a single paragraph within 65 documents describing his agency's interrogation techniques, the board says, but that doesn't mean the federal judge in the case should take his word for it. The judge should review the documents personally before making a decision, the board advises.

 On the other side of the fold. a teacher of history and education says the use of the term "Hispanic" to denote an ethnic group is a relatively recent phenomenon in the nation's history, and one that has served to make those of Latin American descent feel more "other" than they used to. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor should be seen as the first person of Puerto Rican descent who might be appointed to the high court, Jonathan Zimmerman argues, rather than as Hispanic. And Bill Maher has had enough with the puppies and the hamburgers; he wishes President Obama were less visible and barking more orders over the phone. The man is in serious danger of cute media overexposure, Maher huffs:

We like you, we really like you! You're skinny and in a hurry and in love with a nice lady. But so's Lindsay Lohan. And like Lohan, we see your name in the paper a lot, but we're kind of wondering when you're actually going to do something.

Illustration: Pedro X. Molina

In Tuesday's letters, The Times features more on the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from pirates off the coast of Africa and thoughts on immigration, taxes and police pursuits, too. 

Readers also react to this story about older job-seekers, wondering if The Times isn't itself perhaps a little ageist in its approach to the topic.  Writes Ventura's Anthony Lewis:

I enjoyed reading the article regarding the difficulties in obtaining meaningful work for those of us over 50. However, the piece reinforced many of the stereotypes that the younger generation holds regarding baby boomers.

We older workers too could write an article stereotyping the younger generation workforce, with generalizations regarding their lack of social and interviewing skills (unless they are on a cellphone), their inability to write a coherent memo using fully constructed sentences (not texting), and their loyalty to a workplace seldom lasting longer than two years. However, I would refrain from such over-generalizations....

I started using a computer 25 years ago. I don't consider myself "technologically challenged."

Mark O'Connell, of Irvine, makes a similar point:

Your "helpful hints" counsel older job seekers to be coy about their age. Where is there any mention of our wonderful age-discrimination laws that protect older workers so they don't have to obfuscate to apply for a job?

How about The Times showing a little leadership in pushing for enforcement of discrimination laws or beefing up existing laws so they actually are enforceable?

Photo: A boomer job hunt at Kinko's.  Credit: Los Angeles Times.

The Times opinion pages prepare you for tax day on Wednesday with this cheerful thought: You probably owe use taxes on goods you bought last year over the Internet. From the Editorial Page:

Every book or appliance bought through Amazon.com, every autographed Manny Ramirez jersey or Hannah Montana lunch box bought from a vendor on EBay, carries the same tax obligation as if the item were purchased in a brick-and-mortar shop down the street from the buyer's desktop.

The page also grapples with the U.S. Supreme Court, which in turn is grappling with the question of punitive damages. The court has ruled that juries can't award grossly excessive punitive damages, but what constitutes grossly excessive?

In advance of President Obama's visit to Mexico, newspaper columnist and university professor John M. Ackerman urges the president to cement ties not just with his counterpart and with the national elite, but with other insitutions, including the opposition.

A meeting between Obama and like-minded leaders on the political left in Mexico would send a much-needed message that the U.S. president is interested in the future prosperity of all Mexicans, not just the wealthy and powerful linked to the present administration.

CBS News Chief Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen envisions a Supreme Court that pays for itself through advertising. And Columnist Gregory Rodriguez takes on the effort by Bangladeshi Angelenos to create a Little Bangladesh - out of a portion of Koreatown.

Last week conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh not only dominated the airwaves, he conquered our mail.  (We'll run some of the letters about him next week.)

During the week ending April 4, The Times received a larger-than-usual 857 usable letters, 432 of which were in our Top Five Topics.

• Limbaugh challenge: 260 letters, reacting to this op-ed by Andrew Klavan daring liberals to listen to Rush's show;
• Trouble in Detroit: 49 letters, discussing the latest developments in the auto industry bailout;
• Mexico: 48 letters, reacting to news over (and about) the border;
• Steve Lopez on teachers and the teachers' union: 38 letters, responding to this column about teacher seniority; and
• Vaccines: 37 letters, commenting on this front page report about families who choose not to vaccinate their children and the schools they attend.

How the Top Five is tabulated: Each week, your letters maven receives thousands of e-mails, dozens of letters through the good old U.S. postal service, and even a few faxes here and there.

After she cuts out spam, obscene mail, letters addressed to more than one recipient, letters that seem to be the fruit of letter-writing campaigns and letters with attachments (which gum up our computer systems,) she is usually left with several hundred eligible items, represented in the Letters Top Five tally. From these, she selects the somewhere around 100 that get published in the newspaper. Faxes and snail mail are not reflected in the chart.

For a second week, American International Group's woes had the most letter writers buzzing.

During the week ending March 28, The Times received 496 usable letters, 207 of which were in our Top Five Topics.

• AIG: 104 letters, reacting to Times coverage of bonuses at the company (including this column by Tim Rutten);

• Obama: 34 letters, responding to the president's trip to California and to this editorial about his campaign promises;

• Mexico: 30 letters, reacting to news about drug wars and the border;

• Oakland shootings: 25 letters, lamenting the murders of four police officers in Oakland; and

• Dementia drugs: 14 letters, reacting to this Op-Ed by psychologist Ira Rosofsky, who argues that Americans depend too much on drugs when treating dementia.

How the Top Five is tabulated: Each week, your letters maven receives thousands of e-mails, dozens of letters through the good old U.S. postal service, and even a few faxes here and there.

After she cuts out spam, obscene mail, letters addressed to more than one recipient, letters that seem to be the fruit of letter-writing campaigns and letters with attachments (which gum up our computer systems,) she is usually left with several hundred eligible items, represented in the Letters Top Five tally. From these, she selects the somewhere around 100 that get published in the newspaper. Faxes and snail mail are not reflected in the chart.

Isn't it enough that this country built about 700 miles of fencing along a 2,000-mile border with Mexico -- the previous administration's stunt gesture toward "border control" that ranks up there with the TSA yanking grannies out of line at the airport to show that it's protecting us from hijackers, and discrimination suits?

That infuriating fence despoiled hundreds of square miles of precious habitat and endangered thousands of species of flora and fauna while likely doing precious little to stop illegal immigration. (Funnily enough, what's slowed the northward flow most effectively is the crummy economy north of the border.)

Yet now this administration's Customs and Border Protection wants to Vietnamize the border. It wants to defoliate miles and miles of brush along the banks of the Rio Grande so that no one can hide in the canebrakes.

What, has some government contractor taken out a patent on some new chemical -- Agent Naranja?

More than 30 years after that fabled last helicopter left Vietnam, and this is what ranks as a big idea? The idea's on hold at the moment, mostly, I gather, to mollify the Mexicans. Americans living along the border have already had their property despoiled; the border law passed by Congress allows the fence to be no respecter of environmental concerns or property rights, all in the name of that unassailable imperative, homeland security.

I hope that the Obama administration will come to its senses, both about poisoning the banks of a vital river and about continuing the building of this ridiculous fence. Where is the Janet Napolitano who, as governor of Arizona, famously said: Show me a 50-foot-tall fence and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder? Has Homeland Security bamboozled her out of that?

You want to patrol the border and keep the habitat poison-free at the same time? I hear there are a lot of Americans out of work. Maybe some of them would like to put on a Border Patrol uniform. Maybe others of them would like to make topiary out of those bushes. And if we still can't persuade them to do the job, there's a labor hiring hall right across the border.

Should teachers be immune from the prospect of layoffs even in a dire economy? That's the question tackled by two writers at the top of the Op-Ed page today. David Tokofsky, a consultant with Associated Administrators Los Angeles and former Los Angeles school board member, says the district should, "fire people up, not fire them."  Larry Sand, a veteran Los Angeles teacher, takes issue with that position:

In Los Angeles, we have some of the highest-paid teachers in the U.S. -- most of whom have a world-class health plan in a state whose economy is falling apart, where the unemployment rate tops 10% and whose citizens are already among the most taxed in the country -- whining about the possibility that a few jobs may be lost.

Timothy Garton Ash notes that when President Obama attends the G-20 meeting next week, he'll be in Europe. But Europe, a poor partner in solving the global economic crisis, will be missing on the leadership front:

Europe's response to the biggest financial and economic crisis in 50 years has been weak and divided. China and the U.S. have launched massive stimulus packages. By comparison, Europe has brought peanuts to the table.

Rounding out the page is a tongue-in-cheek piece by New York writer John Kennedy that posits a novel question: why not give bonuses and exceptional reviews to workers who have destroyed their companies and the economy too? Really, why not?

Over in the Editorial stack, the board applauds Obama's online Q & A , noting that the public's questions may be as significant as the president's answers when it comes to gauging America's mood. The board also support's Obama's move to beef up border security to prevent Mexico's drug war from spilling into the U.S. It's a good first step, but other initiatives and reforms -- particularly ones relating to drug addiction here in the U.S. -- need to follow. Lastly, the Times takes aim at the hypocritical partisanship of Republicans who voted against the superbly qualified Elena Kagan, dean of Harvard Law School, for position as solicitor general.

Photo: Members of United Teachers Los Angeles protest budget cuts.

Credit: Getty Photos/David McNew