• Our View: Rehnquist's illness points to new judge
  Finally, something to cheer the spirits: Chief Justice William Rehnquist was hospitalized this past weekend for thyroid cancer surgery. Though no one deserves cancer, or the emotional trauma that comes with it, Rehnquist has reminded us that he will not live forever.

• Two party system not all its cracked up to be
  You'd be hard-pressed to slip a credit card between the two political parties, is the standard line I use when discussing the American political system.

• Wachovsky's Israel article flawed and biased
  Gerry Wachovsky's recent article on the Israel/Palestine conflict is replete with errors, major omissions, and outright falsehoods. I was surprised that the 49er printed Wachovsky's openly racist article, but regrettably, anti-Arab racism is still acceptable and even encouraged in the United States.

Diversions

• Eating cow at a Korean BBQ has never been so humane
  America would be full of vegetarians if everyone had to kill, clean and cook the cows ourselves before eating burgers. Sure it's easy to order a Big Mac and not think about it.

• Getty's "Close to Home" is a pictorial walk through history
  It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. "Close to Home: An American Album," a current exhibition at the Getty Center, speaks loudly of the decades dating from 1930 to the mid-1960s, depicting America's history and lifestyle through the art of photography.

• 49ers gearing up for official season with fall tournaments
  The 49ers' men's volleyball season doesn't officially begin until January but the team went 4-1 in a tune-up exhibition tournament in Las Vegas last Saturday.