Baby Snatchers

The Los Angeles Times starts the year with a couple of gems. In "Child-Theft Racket Growing in China," Mark Magnier reports on how kidnappers are swiping babies in China and then forcing them into prostitution or begging, or selling them for adoption overseas. Magnier does a great job explaining the reasons behind this disturbing trend and gives us heart-breaking examples of its impact on Chinese families.
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-childsnatch1jan01,0,4305055.story?track=tottext
Also in Sunday's Times, Peter Y. Hong tells us what's happened to the members of the 1989 University of Southern California football team 16 years after they won the Rose Bowl. In "Winners on the Field, They Found Life Harder to Tackle," Hong tells us that some became NFL stars and some succeeded in business while others ended up in jail or struggled with drugs. Tracking down the players took some master detective work.
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rbintro1jan01,0,3450417.story?track=tottext