Another Earth Day is upon us, and to me the 'celebration' of such seems to be about encouraging folks to hop in the Prius, rush out to the nearest participating retail establishment, whip out the charge card and purchase some (imported, of course) environmentally conscious thingamajig or three. In between the free concerts serving organic micro-brew, of course.......

An article in the NY Times advises renters are better off paying that monthly check to the landlord than actually buying property. In “A Word of Advice During a Housing Slump: Rent” writer David Leonhardt takes data from every metropolitan area (including LA) to forecast the benefits of buying vs. renting. Leonhardt writes: “Over the next five years, which is about the average amount of time recent buyers have remained in their homes, prices......